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CCN had the opportunity to speak with Paul Puey, founder of Edge Wallet and a veteran of encrypted entrepreneurship. Edge Wallet was previously called Airbitz. In the early days of encryption, Airbitz was a Bitcoin-only portfolio that contained a list of brick and mortar companies that accepted Bitcoin. It was one of the few mobile wallets that allowed the user to own his private keys without having to see them.
While it was very popular as the Bitcoin wallets, the era of Ethereum and beyond made it necessary to adapt to people who expect to be able to use more than one cryptocurrency.
Edge is AirBitz for Multi-Asset age
Today, his descendant is called Edge, a modern multi-asset portfolio, with a modular design, focused on ease of use.
Puey states that the Airbitz base code was so ingrained in Bitcoin architecture that it had no choice but to rebuild it from scratch, keeping the basic security model intact: Edge servers never see the private key, you own your coin and can take your private key with you between devices and wallets.
The security model is what we have gathered around. He was against many business models. So we called the Edge security model for data protection. When we moved to Edge, we said that this is the model we will use, making it a platform for other apps to use.
Puey also explains during the call that while the business directory was one of Airbitz's most popular features when it required a lot of staff to keep. "As soon as we added a Bitcoin business, another three would stop accepting it and we would not even know it," he tells us.
"You could easily find out when a company started accepting cryptocurrency, but nowhere could you find out when a trader stopped accepting it."
CCN recalls a very significant example of this: Rakuten made headlines around the world of Cryptoworld when it acquired a Bitcoin portfolio company and integrated Bitcoin into its flagship store. Then one day he stopped accepting crypto and nobody noticed it. Same with Expedia and others.
In-Person Crypto Usage Still Ways Off
This triggers a discussion on the lack of first-person adoption of cryptocurrencies. Puey believes that the real problem is the reliable point of sale systems that perfectly integrate cryptocurrencies.
Companies do not want to worry about which payment method they use their customers. They want convenience and integration with their existing inventory and inventory management systems. Puey believes that a crypto-native company, rather than a company already integrated into the point of sale, will be the one that will make this reality.
Where we are today is certainly not the time when we expected the sector to be from the perspective of merchants' adoption when we entered the space around 2013/2014. While we firmly believe that this is how we will interact with the crypt going forward, we have come to realize that we are at a different stage. It is in a phase of speculation because, number one, many people simply do not know what will succeed. Sure, Bitcoin is at the top, but there are a lot of bets that say it could be another currency. And in this sense, people have a bit of discomfort that they say well, ok, we're really hanging our flag on this or that.
Acceptance is only the first part of the merchant's enigma
This reporter said FIO (Foundation for Interwallet Operability) should help companies choose a cryptocurrency. Puey does not agree, saying that while FIO could facilitate the acceptance of funds, it does not make it easier to integrate cryptocurrencies into a business model. He said:
This is the biggest answer to your question. The biggest piece missing in merchants' adoption is that there are no tools to incorporate cryptocurrency into their entire business model. The point of sale is only the beginning. And even there, there are no great options available.
The essence of the thing is that the killer app for merchants will be a superior point-of-sale system that can do everything – to include the management of post-payment aspects of cryptocurrency acceptance. . A large combination of Node40, a cash register and an intelligent payment kiosk are required to support all relevant forms of payment.
Even the development of such a product would not be enough. The trader should also see an advantage in using it, such as lower fares and a larger customer base. While it is all but impossible, in today's market it simply is not where the focus is.
Augur Uses Edge
Puey says that Augur uses the Edge code without the need for Augur users to know the same. Augur is not their only partner, but it is one of their most recognizable brands.
From a business-to-business perspective, Edge is a code development engine, which creates enterprise-class software on a security model that is philosophically consistent with cryptographic natives. They work at the limit: users can be their own bank but still have a level of practicality that is difficult to achieve with standard portfolio implementations.
One of our key partners, Augur, integrates our Edge platform with our app. It allows people to use Augur much like Airbitz, where you just need to create an account and log in. Private keys are created, encrypted and backed up automatically.
He says that Edge is infinitely expandable at this point. Blockchain development teams can use the Edge SDK to create mobile products. Edge can more easily integrate new blockchains than it could have on Airbitz days, even when Bitcoin forks were difficult to make.
Each blockchain is now a plugin. In most cases you can find another blockchain similar to it, copy and paste it, and edit the code to query that blockchain and create and sign transactions on it.
Being open source, companies are able to use a white label version of the product, and Puey says that they exist at the moment.
Main member of the Interwallet Foundation for Operations
Edge is part of the Foundation for Interwallet Operability, along with wallets such as Mycellium and BRD. As we have already written about FIO:
The Foundation for Interwallet Operability is a kind of standard body and governs the FIO protocol, a protocol that "will provide an advanced level of usability functionality for existing and future portfolios and exchanges." Its goal is to increase the use of blockchain and the cryptocurrency user base generally by encouraging ease of use of the lack of friction in the portfolio and in exchange projects.
Puey says about the affiliation of Edge in FIO:
As one of the founding members of FIO, all portfolios that are founding members are getting the implementation of FIO added to the portfolio. So, when it reaches mainnet, you'll get FIO support on almost half a dozen major portfolio for the industry. […] The idea of sending a name is not a new idea in the industry. Many different projects have tried to do it. But their biggest problem is that they have had a faltering business development. They did not convince the industry to adopt those standards. And I think this is what FIO did well. They really focused on developing the business.
Enabling simpler acquisition and archiving of Cryptocurrencies
Edge, since it was called Airbitz, has always focused on the user experience. Their main belief is that mass adoption does not happen when the user is asked to do too many things they are not used to doing.
They strive to serve as many cases as possible. The Edge portfolio integrates Changelly and other exchange platforms. It also has Simplex, which allows users to acquire cryptocurrencies with credit cards and bank accounts.
Puey says that when a user goes to make an exchange, the wallet will understand which platform is best used for their use case. Check between Changelly, ShapeShift and ChangeNow to see which service will best meet the needs of the user. Users who do not want to create accounts are directed to exchanges that do not require them, although Puey says that most will do it in the long run. While Edge is not the only portfolio with integrated exchange functionality, it is one of the few US users can use without friction.
Edge is available for Android and iOS. Currently it is not available for desktop, although the open SDK can be used to develop a desktop portfolio that is compatible with private Edge keys.
Featured image and other images annotated by Shutterstock. Screesnhots provided by the author.
