Every big thing needs to start small. We are developing Eligma, our cognitive commerce platform, as a global undertaking; however, we need a smaller testing lab first and we have found just the thing. In the very vicinity of our offices lies an esteemed Slovenian retail, logistics, business and entertainment centre called BTC City. It consists of more than 4,000 diverse businesses (shops, bars, restaurants, etc.) that host more than 21 million visitors annually. Even though its name has a different meaning in Slovenian, it has the perfect crypto acronym, so naturally we christened it Bitcoin City. Apart from its name, it has an even more important feature that is ideal for Eligma. It presents a micro snapshot of global commerce because it encompasses a large number of very different establishments that present an array of challenges for Eligma on a scale, manageable in our first development phase.

EliPay — our MVP

A lot of people have been asking if we have an MVP (minimum viable product) and to demonstrate that Eligma is here to stay, we are proud to announce EliPay. Most of the stores we will be working with are currently operating strictly as brick-and-mortar stores, which gives us the opportunity to combine the online and offline worlds of commerce. EliPay’s primary purpose will be to enable visitors of BTC City to use cryptocurrencies in all the centre’s stores. As crypto enthusiasts, we are hoping this will help bring cryptocurrencies into the mainstream. All retailers will receive our cryptocurrency transaction systems and consumers will be able to use a mobile app. We will be launching the iOS version first, with the Android version to follow in the next few months. Here is a short introduction:

How it will work

Consumers will need to download and install the EliPay app, register with the service and deposit cryptocurrencies into their mobile wallets. We will support Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash in the beginning and enable the use of more cryptocurrencies in the future. Shopping in physical stores will look exactly as it did before. Consumers will enter the store, choose the products they want and complete their purchase at the register. Retailers will ask them if they want to make a cryptocurrency transaction. If the answer is yes (and we are hoping for as many of such answers as possible), retailers will convert the sum to cryptocurrencies and generate transaction QR-codes. Visitors will open their EliPay app and scan the generated code. They will confirm the transaction in the app and those funds will be automatically transferred to the retailer’s account on our platform, effectively completing the process by using cryptocurrencies.

After that, there will be two options available for retailers. They will be able to either choose to keep the funds in cryptocurrencies or take advantage of EliPay’s exchange feature. If they opt for the latter, EliPay will contact one of the crypto exchanges through an API, exchange the funds into a fiat currency on the retailer’s behalf and transfer the appropriate sum onto the retailer’s account. We will keep most of the funds in cold storage at a secure location and only a small amount will be kept on the online exchange to ensure uninterrupted transactions. This will assure that even in the unfortunate event that our platform is compromised, all the funds will be kept safe.

Mobile wallets will also include other functionalities that will enhance the shopping experience. Consumers will be able to check all their past transactions, see what stores they made purchases in and what cryptocurrencies they used, edit their settings, etc. BTC City stores will have the option to offer special discounts for our mobile wallet users and shoppers will be able to check store details and gain instant navigation to the selected store. We will enable direct transfers from one wallet to another in the future.

Registration screen of the EliPay mobile app

Our cryptocurrency transaction systems will be web-based applications, supported on all modern operating systems on desktop and tablet devices. They will also accept transactions from third party wallet solutions; however, only transactions conducted through our mobile wallet will be free of transaction fees.

The future is bright (and convenient)

This will only be the beginning. Our plan is to gradually transform BTC City into a unified online platform which will simplify payment and business processes and enable the creation of a central warehouse, used by all stores. By doing so, we will drastically lower retailers’ ownership costs, as they will be able to use their stores as showrooms and only keep the essential items in stock. In November, all retailers will be combined into a unified loyalty program that will enable users to earn and redeem our ELI loyalty crypto tokens with any retailer in the BTC City’s ecosystem.

During this process, we aim to gain as much information as possible to create starting points for all Eligma’s features. This will help us accelerate and improve machine learning and user profiling on the platform. In this way, we will be sure we are using correct methods in our future expansions when we make our transition from small to big.

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