At Gilded we have no doubt that cryptocurrency will eventually reach widespread adoption. The idea of taking back control of our finances, becoming our own bank, is so compelling. No more gateways telling us who we can and can't pay. No more waiting around for payments to clear. No more high transaction fees.

But before that can happen, the tools we use to transact in cryptocurrency have a long way to go in terms of usability.

That's why Gilded is laser-focused on creating simple, usable tools to help businesses adopt cryptocurrency as a form of payment.

Today we launch our new website and blog. Later this week, we will begin contacting our first private beta testers about exploring Gilded's first premium feature, Premium Invoicing powered by Request Network.

But first, here's a sneak peek at the new features we're working on:

A Fresh Coat of Paint

Have you been to our website lately? You may not even recognize it. We recently updated the site with a brand new design, including some captivating work by Alex the Illustrator. We'll also sprinkle some of Alex's illustrations right in the app. Sending crypto payments can sometimes be scary, so we're doing everything we can to make it as simple, straightforward, and fun as possible.

The Crypto For Business Blog

Are you searching for answers about how businesses can use cryptocurrency? You'll find answers to many common questions on our "Crypto for Business" blog. We aim to educate and make crypto easier for businesses to use, by covering topics like taxes and regulations, accounting trends, wallet reviews, discussions on technical topics like stablecoins, and more.

Have you ever been asked how to accept crypto, or which crypto wallet to use, or how to send a crypto invoice? You can now send curious minds to our blog for all of those answers and more!

Do you have a question about crypto that we haven't covered yet? Just send us an email or tag us in a tweet. We'd love to know what issues businesses in the crypto space are concerned about, and we're excited to explore them on our blog.

What Exactly Is Gilded?

You can think of Gilded as "QuickBooks for crypto".

Just as QuickBooks is not actually a bank account, Gilded is not actually a crypto wallet. We sit on top of your crypto accounts and make it easier to keep track of the who, how, when, where, and why of your crypto transactions.

We do this with two major feature bundles:

Invoicing: Creating invoices, paying team members, and receiving payment from customers Accounting: Labeling and categorizing transactions (e.g. "Office supplies"), attaching transactions to vendors, reporting (e.g. "show me all payments to John Appleseed in 2018"), and exporting to accounting tools like QuickBooks

Why Focus On Businesses?

To date, so much of the emphasis and enthusiasm in the crypto world is all about personal investors. There really aren't many people focused on how businesses can benefit from cryptocurrency. While investors have great tax reporting tools like CoinTracker, businesses are mostly left in the dark. That's a scary concept, especially when it comes to accounting and finances. And that makes for a big opportunity for Gilded.

How is Gilded Using Request Network?

With Request Network, businesses can store invoices on the Ethereum blockchain and receive payment in a number of cryptocurrencies. Request Network is particularly promising because of killer features in the pipeline, such as cross-currency payments and even fiat payment integration.

While Gilded does offer a free invoicing tool today, it's fairly limited in that it can only be used to receive payments (not send them) and it does not verify transactions on the blockchain to ensure that payment is sent.

Request Network's smart contracts and Javascript library will power Gilded's Premium Invoicing product. This makes Gilded a hybrid dapp. While some data that Gilded stores is maintained in a centralized database, key features like invoicing and payments will interact with the blockchain and will require a web-based dapp browser like Blue or MetaMask. In the near future we will also support hardware wallets like Ledger.

Private Beta, Phase 1: Ethereum Payments

This week we will begin sending out invites to our private beta list to try the first phase of our premium invoicing product. In this phase we are focusing on sending and receiving Ethereum payments using the Request Network infrastructure.

Phase 2, to be released soon after, will focus on greater Request Network support, including ERC-20 token integration and Ledger wallet support.

Phase 3, to be released in about a month, will focus on our accounting features, such as labeling and categorizing transactions.

Do you have an interest in crypto payments? Would you like to kick the tires in our private beta? If so, just complete the short private beta survey and we'll contact you as soon as we can.

Up Next

Look forward to weekly blog posts and more regular updates from the Gilded team. If you'd like to keep up with us, sign up for the newsletter below or subscribe to our Twitter and Telegram feeds.