Hey guys :) I’m back with another comprehensive Q&A piece, this time for the multi-asset digital wallet and Visa debit card platform – Swipe (SXP).
Swipe is a company that’s bringing cryptocurrency to commerce and standard banking through its decentralized SXP digital currency and the Swipe Network protocol.
Now, before we dive in, the following piece is similar to my latest articles on DeFi Money Market (DMM), UMA (UMA), and Gnosis (GNO), so if you haven’t already seen those, be sure to check them out as well.
Hope you enjoy!
The list of Q&A is kind of long so first comes the list of questions that I have prepared the answers to:
- What is Swipe (SXP)?
- Who and When Created Swipe?
- What is the Main Purpose of the $SXP Token?
- What are the Main Products of Swipe?
- How is Swipe Network Governed?
- What are the Key Differences Between CRYPTO.COM & Swipe?
- Where to Store Swipe $SXP?
- Where to Buy & Sell $SXP?
1. What is Swipe (SXP)?
Swipe website homepage
Swipe is a multi-asset digital wallet and Visa debit card platform that allows users to buy, sell, convert, and spend cryptocurrencies instantly in real-time. It’s a crypto-fiat gateway that’s built atop the Ethereum blockchain which operates the Swipe Network and protocol.
The mission of Swipe is to "make crypto finance mainstream by connecting existing payment networks to cryptocurrencies,” and it’s achieving this mission by offering two key products:
- Swipe Wallet - for users to deposit, store, and withdraw their cryptocurrencies
- Swipe Visa debit card - for users to spend crypto at any place that supports Visa payments
The Swipe wallet is available globally and the Swipe Visa debit card is currently available in 31 countries within the European Economic Area. The card will soon be launching in regions throughout Asia and North America and currently supports fiat transactions in Euros, British Pounds, US Dollars, Korean Won, and Philippine Pesos.
Moreover, the company behind Swipe was recently acquired by Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, to help them further mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies by bridging the gap between fiat and digital assets.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) had this to say about the acquisition:
“To achieve our mission of making crypto more accessible to the masses, off-ramps are a key component as well. By giving users the ability to convert and spend crypto directly, and have merchants still seamlessly accept fiat, this will make the crypto experience much better for everyone. Swipe’s exceptional team has made great strides in furthering this mission and has been instrumental in the industry for bridging the gap between commerce and crypto.”
2. Who and When Created Swipe?
Swipe Founder Joselito Lizarondo
Swipe was founded by its CEO Joselito Lizarondo in January 2019 and is backed by a team of 8 professionals who are dedicated to bringing Swipe’s vision of mainstream crypto adoption through crypto-fiat payments to life.
Not much is known about Swipe’s founder, Lizarondo, except for that he’s from the Philippines, he speaks two languages English and Tagalog, and he has over six years of experience with start-up businesses.
We do, however, know more about Swipe’s other key members:
Swipe’s Chief Operating Officer, John Khenneth Parungao is also from the Philippines and previously worked for Vibal Group as a Senior Creator and at ASEC Asia as a Designer.
Swipe’s Chief Legal Officer, Anecita Sotomil, is a seasoned tax consultant and legal executive who oversees the legal, compliance, and corporate matters of Swipe. She brings more than 13 years of experience in corporate registration, financial consultancy, tax planning, and company compliance to Swipe.
Swipe’s Chief Technology Officer, Eric Adolfo, has been in the Information Technology industry for over 14 years and has held several senior positions, including Web Developer, Software Engineer, Head of Software Development, Senior Web Engineer, and more.
Swipe $SXP Token Launch
The Swipe (SXP) Token was launched in August 2019 and was distributed via a private token sale and a public token sale.
The total supply of Swipe Token is 299,969,953 SXP and the circulating supply is 65,982,752 SXP.
The distribution of these tokens is as follows:
- Private Sale - 6.52% of initial total token supply
- Public Sale - 13.48% of initial total token supply
- Team - 20.00% of initial total token supply
- Reserve - 40.00% of initial total token supply
- Founder - 20.00% of initial total token supply
3. What is the Main Purpose of the $SXP Token?
Swipe (SXP) token logo
Swipe Token (SXP) is the native utility-based cryptocurrency of the Swipe protocol and it’s used throughout Swipe’s ecosystem of products to operate and secure the Swipe Network.
Swipe Token (SXP) use cases:
- Transaction Fees - Users can use SXP for conversion and withdrawal fees
- Network Fees - Every transaction requires SXP as gas for the network fees
- Payments - Spend SXP with the Swipe Card at merchants worldwide
- Staking - Stake SXP to secure the network, vote on proposals, and receive benefits
- Discounts - SXP holders receive discounts on fees
- Token Burns - A portion of SXP fees get burned
Transaction Fees
All crypto-to-fiat or fiat-to-crypto conversions are paid for in SPX tokens. If a user spends crypto with the Swipe Card or if a user buys crypto with their bank account, the fees will be paid in SXP.
Network Fees
Every single Swipe Network transaction requires SXP as the gas for the network fees. For instance, if a user withdraws or spends Bitcoin from the Swipe Wallet, they must pay a very small SXP network fee.
Payments
SXP can easily be used for payments using the Swipe Card at merchants all over the world. SXP is simply converted to fiat through Swipe’s payment gateway to perform the transaction. Alternatively, SXP can be used to purchase gift cards directly within the Swipe Wallet.
Staking
SXP can be staked for 3 different reasons:
- If a user stakes 30,000 SXP for 6 months, they receive the Swipe Slate Black Visa Card and receive all of the benefits the card offers.
- Users can become a validator node in the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Swipe Network by staking SXP in Swipe’s offline staking tool and earn fees from block rewards.
- Users can stake SXP for a chance to vote on protocol updates and proposals such as network fee percentages, amounts burned, and more.
Discounts
Per the SXP whitepaper, users retaining a higher SXP balance will be eligible for enhanced discounts on fees and various rewards.
For instance, users holding a balance of
- 500,000 SXP will be eligible for up to a 75% discount in fees and up to 1% additional cashback.
- 250,000 SXP will be eligible for up to a 50% discount in fees and up to 0.75% additional cashback.
- 100,000 SXP will be eligible for up to a 25% discount in fees and up to 0.5% additional cashback.
Token Burns
The Swipe Network is currently designed to burn (remove from circulation forever) 80% of SXP fees generated by the Swipe Network and 100% of SXP fees generated by the Swipe Wallet.
4. What are the Main Products of Swipe?
Swipe has two main products:
- Swipe Wallet
- Swipe Cards
Swipe Wallet
Swipe Wallet website homepage
Swipe Wallet is more than just a crypto wallet. It’s a decentralized finance app that enables users to store, buy, sell, spend, and instantly exchange over 30 different cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and fiat currencies.
Swipe Wallet Features:
- Multi-Asset - Access over 30 cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and fiat currencies.
- Buy/Sell - Link your debit card, credit card, or bank account with SEPA or Swift wire transfers to buy and sell crypto within the confines of your secure Swipe Wallet.
- Instant Exchange - Instantly convert and swap one cryptocurrency for another with instant settlement.
- Swipe Card - Manage your Swipe Visa debit card directly within the app for security and other features.
Swipe Cards
Swipe Cards website homepage
Swipe cards are cryptocurrency funded Visa-Debit cards that enable you to spend your cryptocurrency at over 50 million locations worldwide that accept Visa.
The Swipe Visa-Debit Cards essentially work like a cryptocurrency-fiat gateway, enabling you to spend your crypto as if it were fiat.
Swipe Card Features:
Spend Instantly
Spend Bitcoin and other cryptos instantly via the Swipe Card by simply funding your Swipe Wallet. Your crypto is converted to fiat instantly and automatically.
Use Anywhere
Swipe Card is available at over 50 million Visa merchants worldwide, at ATMs worldwide, and on Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.
Security Features
Users can lock and unlock their card instantly, view their PIN and security features within Swipe Wallet, and benefit from online shopping with fraud protection by Visa 3D Secure.
Card Tracking
Users benefit from real-time notifications of transactions, they can view their entire transaction history, and report fraudulent charges instantly.
Benefits & Perks
Swipe cards have benefits and perks supported by Spotify, Netflix, Apple Music, Travala.com, Uber, Amazon Prime, hulu, Starbucks, Airbnb, and more. Users can get cash back rewards paid out in Bitcoin from shopping at these places and more.
5. How is Swipe Network Governed?
(Source)
The Swipe Network, as it stands today, is governed and controlled by centralized entities including the Swipe team and Binance.
However, in an upgraded version of the Swipe Network, the Swipe (SXP) Token will be upgraded to a new v2 token contract to remove centralized control and enable all of the DeFi apps to be launched on the Swipe Network.
Once this upgrade commences, Swipe (SXP) Token holders will have the ability to create proposals and vote on protocol upgrades and changes to the Swipe Network. Also, all centralized control and admin keys will be destroyed and the protocol will only be governed by the community.
Only 1 SXP will be required to vote (1 SXP = 1 vote), and 300,000 SXP will be required to submit proposals. Swipe’s decentralized governance will have the power to adjust all smart contract parameters including but not limited to:
- Burn Rates
- Ecosystem Rewards Distributions
- Rewards Rates
- SXP Requirement minimums
- Transaction & Trading Fees
- Interest rates
- Adding Tokens on SwipeFi and Swipe Swap
6. What are the Key Differences Between Crypto.com & Swipe?
The key differences between Crypto.com & Swipe are:
- Crypto Wallet - Swipe uses a trusted and centralized custodial wallet while Crypto.com puts their users in full control of their crypto and keys
- Token Burns - Swipe (SXP) Token is a disinflationary cryptocurrency with periodic token burns while Crypto.com (CRO) is inflationary with no token burns.
- Governance - Swipe will employ a decentralized governance model where anyone can vote on proposals and people that have 300,000 SXP can submit proposals.
Crypto.com, however, employs a decentralized governance model where only Council Nodes are responsible for the governance of the network.
Other than these key differences mentioned above, both Swipe and Crypto.com are very similar. They both offer cash back rewards, staking rewards, and the ability to store, buy, sell, convert, and spend cryptocurrency.
But of course, they do have slight differences with these similarities as well, but nothing too significant.
7. Where to Store Swipe $SXP?
Swipe Wallet interface
The Swipe (SXP) Token is an ERC-20 token residing on top of the public Ethereum blockchain. That said, you can store SXP in any ERC-20 token supported wallet.
However, the best wallet for storing SXP is the official Swipe Wallet, which is described in detail in question 4 above. Other great wallets for storing SXP are non-custodial Web3 wallets that provide seamless access to the latest DeFi applications.
Popular Swipe (SXP) Wallets:
- Trust Wallet (mobile)
- Argent (mobile)
- Coinbase Wallet (mobile)
- Metamask (web)
- MyEtherWallet (MEW) (web)
In addition to the above-listed wallets, Swipe (SXP) can be stored on a wide variety of other reputable wallets supporting ERC-20 tokens.
8. Where to Buy & Sell $SXP?
Swipe (SXP) Token can be bought and sold on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis but the most popular way to buy, sell, or trade SXP is through cryptocurrency exchanges.
You can buy SXP with cryptocurrency or fiat currency at the following top exchanges. In most cases, you will be able to buy SXP with fBTC, ETH, fiat or stablecoins.
- Binance - BTC, USDT, BUSD, BNB
- KuCoin- BTC, USDT
- Bithumb - KRW, BTC, USDT
- Bittrex - BTC
- FTX - USD, USDT, PERP
In addition to the exchanges listed above, Swipe (SXP) Token is also traded on a variety of other exchanges and platforms that enable people to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies.
