Please introduce yourself and your startup SatoshiPay to our readers!
I started coding when I was 12 and never stopped. In 1994, I discovered the early web, and in 2011 early Bitcoin. Similar to what I saw in the early Internet days, I saw a huge disruptive potential in blockchain technology, so I decided to start my own company, SatoshiPay, in 2014. Since then we’ve gone on to become one of the leading consumer-facing companies in the blockchain space with big media houses and international investors backing us.
SatoshiPay is a login-free, one-click payment widget for the web. Our blockchain-based technology makes it possible to transfer super-small amounts between content publishers and consumers. This means new revenue streams can be explored: publishers can sell content for as little as 1 cent without any friction, bundling, or signup. Just no-nonsense, direct micropayments everywhere.
How did you get the idea for SatoshiPay?
The blockchain makes it possible to execute cheap and fast transactions globally. When I saw the potential of blockchain, it became immediately clear that we must build a system that can disrupt the payment space. And thus Satoshipay was born.
How difficult was the start and what challenges you had to overcome?
Any start is difficult when you’re doing something as groundbreaking as we are. Blockchain is a new technology and we’re actually putting down the tracks while we’re driving the train. This is as exciting as it’s daunting. But we have great advisors and investors, who’ve helped us from the very beginning.
But it’s not just our technology which is groundbreaking – also the whole concept of nanopayments is a new idea which publishers have to get their head around from a business perspective. Nanopayments are small payments as little as 1 cent. However, with the increase in adblocking, which is killing ad revenues everywhere, we find that many publishers are eager to try out new solutions which has made it easier for us.
Blue Star Capital PLC (LON:BLU), the investing company with a focus on technology and its applications within media and gaming, confirmed on 31st July 2017 that it had completed its investment in SatoshiPay.