In late 2009, Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto ushered in a groundbreaking approach to money by championing a digital payment system free from third-party intermediaries and governmental control.

While this new worldwide economic system has advanced significantly over a relatively short period of time, it has yet to deliver a user-friendly approach to assist the everyday consumer with day-to-day commerce at retail establishments.

Do cryptocurrencies have practical use as a spending instrument? Will you be able to make purchases at a restaurant, grocery store, retail clothier or any number of brick and mortar storefronts with crypto anytime soon?

A rapidly growing startup known as Crypterium proves cryptocurrencies can become an everyday method of payments. Joined by former CEO of Visa UK Marc O'Brien, the company is building a mobile app to "pay with crypto anywhere in the world" converting digital tokens into spendable currency, the use of which will be as easy as that of cash.

Left to right: Austin Kimm, COO, Marc O'Brien, CEO, Pavel Ivanov, CTO

Want to Pay With Bitcoin? Get the App

O'Brien explains: "Crypterium is partnering with banks to launch virtual cards that will be attached to user's crypto accounts in Crypterium App. Every time the consumer makes a transaction we will execute a trade in fiat and mark their crypto balance for a trade. You can be in a store and all of that's done in a fraction of a second."

Once enabled, users will be able to top-up their mobile phones, or shop around the world with crypto at any spot with a near-field communication (NFC) terminal or QR code scanning capability baked into their payment setup. Purchases can also be made through online stores, and bills can be paid instantly. Moreover, money can be reliably sent across borders in seconds, all for a fraction of a penny.

On top of that, Crypterium has an incentive system. Through this system, up to 30 percent of the transactional income generated by Crypterium will form a monthly loyalty program fund and will be distributed among the most active users.

A Track Record of Payment Advancements

O'Brien calls Crypterium's promise a "Netscape moment," in reference to the web browser that sparked an innovative leap forward during the '90s internet explosion. The aim is to offer a simple tool that requires no learning curve - one that completely mitigates the barriers preventing a crypto-fiat system of global payment.

Crypterium's history of building payments processing solutions dates back to 2013 when it became the first company in Eastern Europe to release a mobile payments solution tied to QR code scanning. In 2015, the company facilitated 300 integrations with e-commerce retail services. Two years later, it began work on a direct interbanking debit protocol with the intent of lowering transaction fees.

Asked about the company's strategic trajectory O'Brien says Crypterium will offer instant payment of customers' crypto and create liquidity for these payments that doesn't exist today. "We will overcome the timing delay and fees that exist to exit crypto via an exchange into a bank account in fiat currency. And, for consumer commerce, we will immediately bridge the crypto and fiat worlds and start to facilitate crypto as an everyday medium of exchange," he explains.

O'Brien notes that the fully fledged version of the app is only accessible with invitation codes. The reason for this, he said, is that Crypterium, in an attempt to create a flawless product, is thoroughly testing everything before providing access to the wider audience. He said that the launch of the full version is planned as soon as the rigorous process is fully complete.

Note: Trading and investing in digital assets is speculative and can be high risk. Based on the shifting business and regulatory environment of such a new industry, this content should not be considered investment or legal advice.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.