P2P.me, A Crypto-to-fiat App, Raises $2M In Funding From Multicoin And Coinbase Ventures

Points to Know:

• P2P.me secured seed funding from Multicoin and Coinbase Ventures.

• The crypto-to-fiat platform utilizes a network of intermediaries to facilitate payments across different financial ecosystems.

Bitcoin's original vision of "peer-to-peer electronic cash" hasn't fully materialized as Satoshi envisioned. While more people are eager to pay with crypto, most vendors still prefer fiat currencies.

While this mismatch can be addressed through workarounds in countries with strong banking and credit card infrastructure, it presents a real challenge in regions with alternative electronic payment systems like QR codes, according to pseudonymous crypto developer Sheldon Cooper. The question arises: how can one scan a fiat-only QR code and pay with stablecoins?

Cooper’s proposed solution, P2P.me, resolves this by bypassing traditional on-and-off ramps. Instead, this blockchain-based service relies on a network of intermediaries willing to accept USDC from, for example, Alice and send the equivalent amount in fiat to Bob. The entire process takes about 90 seconds, he explained.

P2P.me also avoids traditional identity checks. Instead, it uses zero-knowledge proofs to verify users by checking for a genuine social media presence and possibly even a government ID, without storing any personal data like most financial institutions, from banks to exchanges like Binance.

"What we thought about is, 'How do we decentralize this? How do we create on and off ramps in a decentralized way?'" said Cooper. "The number one concern is privacy and self-custody. All these centralized exchanges share data with the government."

P2P.me’s unique combination of permissionless markets and privacy technology has processed $1.6 million in payments from around 1,100 users, mostly in Indonesia, Nigeria, and Vietnam. This growing figure has attracted venture capital interest, leading to a $2 million seed investment from Multicoin Capital and Coinbase Ventures.

The funding has already helped scale P2P.me’s team to 20 people in preparation for an expansion into Latin America, according to Cooper. He believes local communities struggling with traditional financial systems and crypto-savvy tourists whose credit cards don’t work but phones do, will be key adopters.

Built on Base, the open protocol is set to launch a token in the next year, which will decentralize control and shift it to the community, Cooper said.

"The strategic idea of the token is to scale globally, to break the network effects of centralized exchanges with P2P," he added.