The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has provided $550,000 in convertible loan notes to SatoshiPay to support development of its B2B payment platform. The funding arrives at a pivotal moment for the company as it navigates operational adjustments prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Cryptocurrency payments provider SatoshiPay confirmed that the SDF invested $550,000 via convertible loan notes. This marks the third investment from the SDF’s Enterprise Fund and is earmarked to accelerate development of SatoshiPay’s B2B solutions for cross-border commercial payments and digital wallets.
SatoshiPay is one of the earliest commercial adopters of Stellar technology. To date, the company has processed more than €650,000 in payments from roughly 200,000 accounts. Its open-source Stellar wallet, Solar, has been downloaded over 25,000 times across 40 countries.
The SDF remains a key partner for SatoshiPay by providing maintenance and support for the Stellar decentralized ledger. This latest investment strengthens the existing partnership and serves as a meaningful endorsement of SatoshiPay’s product and strategy.
The convertible loan notes are expected to convert during SatoshiPay’s next funding round.
Proceeds will primarily fund development and marketing of SatoshiPay’s B2B product, which is currently in test phase. The company expects a closed alpha release in about eight weeks and aims to launch a public beta in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Initial feedback from early users has been positive. SatoshiPay also projects that the commercial cross-border payments market—its primary target—could generate approximately €170 billion in annual transaction fees, driven by the large volume of business-to-business payments globally.
In response to COVID-19, SatoshiPay has implemented immediate cost reductions and measures to protect employee health. Combined with the SDF investment, the company reports it now has sufficient working capital to cover near-term needs.
Meinhard Benn, CEO of SatoshiPay, expects significant growth from the company’s business model and credits the SDF for its ongoing support and technical collaboration.
“With growing demand for instant B2B payments and with blockchain technology maturing to enable a payments transformation, we believe our proven, scalable blockchain model gives us a head start. Our growth over the years would not have been possible without SDF, which has been an essential partner in developing our technology and continues to support us with this investment,” Benn said.
Tony Fabrizi, CEO of Blue Star Capital PLC—which holds a 27.7% stake in SatoshiPay and invests in payments, esports, and technology—also welcomed the SDF funding, noting that it “comes at a critical time in the company’s development.”