The GRAFT Blockchain project, which aims to create a decentralized, alternative credit card-like payment network for all payment types (including, but not limited to, cryptocurrencies), has big plans for 2019.

GRAFT (Global Real-time Authorizations and Funds Transfers) is the world’s first decentralized payment network, using a two-layer privacy blockchain to create a trustless ecosystem of service providers, participants and users that operate as an alternative to the traditional centralized payment networks.

2018 has been very productive, with the project publishing early versions of key 1st layer network components including:

1st Layer Blockchain Node (mainnet)

Proxy Supernode (mainnet)

Full Supernode (testnet)

Mobile wallet (mainnet)

Mobile POS (mainnet)

2019 is going to be an exciting year of advancement for GRAFT with an extensive development roadmap, which includes the release of operational features related to the primary point-of-sale use cases onto the mainnet. These exciting releases will become the foundation of the GRAFT platform, enabling virtually anyone to participate in establishing an alternative, people-powered payment network, and include the following:

Full Supernode (beta on testnet and mainnet)

BigCommerce plugin

Update for Verifone terminal application

Updated wallet and POS

Payment Gateway for Merchant Service Provider

Reference exchange brokers (BTC, ETH, other altcoins)

Smart card software

New version of CryptoFind

In addition, the project team plans to release emulators and simulators for various components of the network to allow for testing.

With a core team of developers leading the project and with an engaged community of reviewers, coders, early adopters, and testers, the GRAFT project works together to build secure and leading edge platform that will advance the Open Decentralized Payment Network initiative.

While there are many established payments networks in the world, including those in the traditional payments card processing arena the centralization of these solutions creates an imbalance of power that is ultimately disadvantageous for the businesses and consumers that have become beholden to these networks for currency transactions. Initially, GRAFT is expected to be advantageous to those who are underbanked (or deplatformed), as well as high-risk merchants who are faced with disproportionately high transaction fees from traditional payment processing companies. However, because GRAFT Network will have lower transaction fees, tight privacy controls (based on the CryptoNote protocol), and the ability to create automated blockchain-based loyalty rewards programs, GRAFT platform and its ecosystem is expected to challenge centralized payment processors across the board as a conventional next-generation point of sale payment solution that is adaptable to market demands.

A decentralized payment platform like GRAFT will allow open, free commerce without intervention from central banks, monopolized payment card networks, and/or governments while initializing a new generation of economic opportunity by providing the means for anyone to participate in the payments network. Through the use of distributed Supernodes, the platform’s ambitious goal is to “Uberize” the payments space, where participants are incentivized to carry out automated payment network functions, including real-time authorizations, exchanges, fault-tolerant gateways, merchant service provider services, etc.

To learn more about GRAFT and its decentralized point of sale blockchain technology, please visit http://www.graft.network.