[Comparative Interview] Airswift Co-founder: Web3 payments are a “revolutionary” for traditional commercial banks, and the global adoption of crypto payments is a foreseeable future

Web3 payments are seeking to revolutionize the financial system and the way it operates. Over the past few decades, payment and banking methods have changed dramatically. People have gone from queuing up to save money at banks to doing business online today. Furthermore, the entire concept of money has changed and has expanded to include booming cryptocurrencies and even NFTs.

Yan Zhang is a Web 3.0 native payment solution providerAirswiftThe co-founder and CEO of, he has always had a keen interest in cryptographic technology. From being a Wall Street trader to founding Airswift, Yan has seen incredible growth in the crypto space.In an exclusive interview with Bitrate, he said that Web3 payments are a “revolutionary” for traditional commercial banks, and that the global adoption of crypto payments is a foreseeable future.

As previously reported, Airswift has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding led by CE Innovation Capital (CEIC) to build a comprehensive Web 3.0 native payment infrastructure, including an easy to use on-chain payment gateway that allows merchants to accept cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies to enable frictionless purchases of digital assets.

Web3 Payments: The “Revolutionary” of Traditional Banks

Although there is no official definition yet, Web3 or Web 3.0 has been hailed by supporters as a blockchain-based version of the decentralized internet, the technology behind many cryptocurrencies or NFTs. Numerous entrepreneurs around the world are trying to design and build Web3-enabled technologies and protocols.

In the field of crypto trading, centralized exchanges have beenUniswapAs decentralized trading platforms catch up or surpass, the payment sector is facing the same process.

The technology that traditional commercial banks rely on is very old and hasn't changed much since the 70s, and Airswift's core starting point is Web 3 native, a complete user-centered payment system.

Yan Zhang said in a comparative review, “Centralized payments, usage habits, and product logic are not the same as the information flow corresponding to Web 3.0. It is generally platform-centered and has great usage limitations and problems. The conflict between information flow and capital payment within centralized payment gateways has always existed and has never been resolved, and we want to solve this problem.”

Zhang said bluntly:“I have always felt that we are friends of the government and the central bank and enemies of commercial banks. If we want to change the lives of these commercial banks, I think they will be eliminated by the times.”

Zhang also compared the crisis facing banks to Nokia's decline, saying that the monopoly of traditional giants has reached a stage where social development and technological progress are suppressed. He said, “When the basic operating model of social information changes, they are destroyed [overthrown]. Think about Nokia? How many of the brands you used 10 years ago are still in use today? Facebook, Google,MetaWhat is the target direction for these talented people from Web 2 companies looking for jobs? This era is undergoing drastic changes”.

Zhang believes that the current challenges associated with enabling encrypted payments are in the field of technology and capital aggregation, and Airswift is committed to solving these problems by protecting user privacy and using a decentralized payment gateway with a liquidity pool model supported by blockchain technology.

Zhang said, “This is something that is lacking in existing companies that make digital currency payments, that is, there is a lack of 'regular army' to do many things. Airswift does not help people buy coins (such as Moonpay/Bitpay), but rather a payment service. It is an underlying payment technology system. Coupled with our many years of rich channels and license resources, it provides standard and specialized payment systems and payment services for payment service companies or e-commerce websites. This field is currently a blue ocean, and we should be one of the first companies in the industry to make the Web 3 native digital currency payment gateway protocol.”

Payment demand has nothing to do with market “bulls and bears”

2020 and 2021 saw the biggest growth in the stablecoin market. crypto exchangeBinanceAccording to the semi-annual research report, the stablecoin market capitalization increased by more than 3,000% from January 2020 to January 2022, and the growth rate stabilized after entering 2022.

Zhang said in comparative analysis that despite poor bear market transactions, the development of stablecoins has not been hindered. The size of payment demand has nothing to do with whether the market is bullish or bearish, but is related to the growing acceptance of digital currencies.

Zhang explained, “From last year to this year, demand due to transactions has been falling because we are now considered a bear market, but the market value of these few stablecoins is still rising. What does this mean? The increase this year over last year is definitely not due to trading demand; it is definitely market demand, or application”.

Speed, efficiency, and privacy are what stablecoins will bring to the financial ecosystem, so stablecoins probably represent the best way to connect payments and other real-world applications to the crypto sector.

Regulation “makes it difficult to formulate policies for intermediate forms”

With decentralized finance (DeFiWith the development of), stablecoins have seen more and more use cases in the crypto sector, but they also continue to be subject to further scrutiny by regulators, who want to find a balance between consumer protection and cryptocurrency adoption. For example, the US President's Financial Markets Task Force and other regulators are expected to develop a set of guidelines for the stablecoin business before the end of the year.

Zhang believes that current digital currencies do not pose a threat to global finance, and for private stablecoin issuers, there is no problem as long as they have formal audit reports and custodian banks.

In comparison, he said, “Because the final form of digital currency is currently uncertain, it is difficult for regulators to formulate policies for the intermediate form. Last monthFederal ReserveA special panel discussion was held. Half of the experts believed that in the medium term, digital currencies, especially stablecoins, can strengthen the role of the US dollar.”

Comparative terminal data shows that in the crypto market, dollar-denominated centralized stablecoins account for about 98% of all stablecoin transactions. However, in the traditional financial sector, the share of the US dollar is far below this ratio. Therefore, the long-term promotion of digital stablecoins based on the US dollar will further expand the status of the US dollar as a reserve currency and payment currency.

Global adoption of crypto payments is a foreseeable future

Cryptocurrency is rapidly being incorporated into everyday life, and crypto payments reduce the possibility of fraud because all transactions on the blockchain are immutable and secure. By storing cryptocurrencies in wallets rather than leaving funds under the control of banks or investors, people truly own property. Cryptocurrency is changing the world by revolutionizing finance, investing, and money management, and giving investors more control over their assets than ever before.

By comparison, Zhang said,The global adoption of crypto payments is a foreseeable future, and “we are being chased by customers every day.”

Zhang explained that from a company perspective, Airswift's current appeal to merchants is cheaper and more convenient billing (seamless encryption/fiat currency conversion), better financial management methods (digital currency value-added), and more customers (young people or cryptographers). “No one can get along with money.”

From the perspective of the general audience, Crossing the Chasm theory tells us that a field always has pioneers and early adopters. After a stage, it enters the mainstream (mainstream). Blockchain is gradually crossing the stage of early adopters and mainstream, and it is only a matter of time before more people adopt cryptocurrencies.

Zhang said, “The information flow of digital currency payments is not the same as the flow of fiat currency information. In the fiat currency world, banks know what account you have and how much money you have; in the Web 3 era, only users themselves know. Naturally, digital currency is user-centered, because only the users themselves know. We've confirmed the numerical value, confirmed the added value of the data, and then determined that the data can be used. In this usage process, first, its' dish 'is ready, and the stablecoin is ready. I only need to solve the basics of information flow and digital currency grafting later; Airswift is doing this.”

Regarding the company's short-term goals, Airswift plans to continue refining its payment agreements, acquire customers, fully launch end-to-end services by the end of the year or the beginning of next year, and consolidate corresponding license resources according to countries and regions.

Author: Comparative Mary Liu

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