Smart contract platform Solana (SOL) is launching a new peer-to-peer payments feature that lets customers directly pay merchants.
According to an announcement by Solana Labs, consumers can now deposit cryptocurrencies or fiat dollars directly into vendor accounts for less than the cost of a penny using Solana Pay, cutting out the need for expensive intermediaries and middlemen.
“Solana Pay, a new payments protocol, ushers in a new era of payments and commerce. Our team helped create the building blocks for a decentralized, open and truly peer-to-peer payment protocol.
We believe this will pave the way for a future where digital currencies are prevalent and digital money moves through the internet like data – uncensored and without intermediaries taxing every transaction.”
Solana Pay would also serve as a communication hub between buyers and sellers.
“The core premise behind Solana Pay is that the payment and underlying technology goes from being a necessary service utility to true peer-to-peer communication channel between the merchant and consumer.”
Solana Labs says that the next phase of the feature would allow merchants to send digital assets directly back to customers.
“The next phase of development of the protocol will enable merchants to send digital assets back to the consumers which will open up new capabilities in commerce not possible before…
When a customer buys something, it’s a vote of support. A merchant should reward that support with personalized offers, on-chain loyalty programs, and unique virtual goods to accompany physical purchases.”
is exchanging hands at $98.12 at time of writing, a 12% increase from its seven-day high of $87.63.
