Fiat-in, fiat-out remittances via P2P crypto trades

YapBay is a Web3 P2P remittance platform that enables remittance senders to chain together fiat and crypto transactions, bypassing TradFi limits.

Censorship-resistant and KYC-free, YapBay fosters financial inclusion for the world's 2 billion unbanked and underbanked. With a user-friendly, transparent, and community-governed approach, YapBay empowers individuals to participate in the global economy on their own terms serving as a gateway to unlocking trillions in pent-up capital.

Problem

Sub-$200 remittances frequently incur high fixed fees compared to the modest sums sent. This makes them expensive for certain remittance corridors that terminate in Africa, SE Asia, and Latin America.

These steep costs hinder individuals from supporting their families, impede their participation in the global economy and frustrate capital formation in their home countries.

The World Bank reports that the average cost of sending $200 remains high at 6.2% in 2023, far from the 3% target set for 2030.

Solution

YapBay is a LocalBitcoins where remittance senders chain together 2 peer-to-peer trade offers into 1 fiat-in, fiat-out remittance transaction. Behind the scenes, P2P traders use stablecoins as a fast, hassle-free and low-cost transport layer. Remittance senders and receivers use their preferred fiat currencies and avoid any need for immediate onboarding, technical knowledge or exposure to volatility.

Remittance senders can also buy basic necessities, such as groceries and medicines, from merchants that are local to their remittance recipients. Often, merchants can deliver these products to the recipients' homes. We call these “combo remittances”.

Unique Value

YapBay has a few characteristics that set it apart, including the following:

• combo remittances.
• the focus on sub-$200 remittances.
• the acceptance of users who lack sufficient formal identification.
• 4 years of fieldwork in the developing world.
• no protocol-level KYC/AML.
• a strong network of local experts in the developing world.
• the perspective of the developing world as a business opportunity, and not a charitable endeavor.

Impact

YapBay has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of remittances for millions of people in developing countries, enabling them to send and receive more money to support their families and communities. By driving the adoption of cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange, the project also contributes to the broader goal of financial inclusion and economic empowerment.

YapBay addresses the clear need for more accessible, affordable, and efficient remittance services in the global financial ecosystem. By leveraging open-source technologies and decentralized infrastructure, YapBay aims to fill the gap in serving the world's unbanked and underbanked population, who are currently underserved by traditional remittance providers due to high fees, limited access, and slow transactions.

YapBay's impact can extend beyond the direct remittance market. By driving the adoption of cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange and empowering individuals to participate in the global economy on their own terms, YapBay can help unlock trillions of dollars in pent-up capital and stimulate economic growth in underserved regions. As the platform gains traction and establishes a strong network effect, it has the potential to become a leading player in the global remittance market and a catalyst for financial inclusion and economic empowerment.

Progress

YapBay is at a pre-seed stage and the development of an MVP is in progress.

From 2018 to 2021, I and my teams performed extensive fieldwork in Latin America educating new crypto users and learning what they want. We did a remittances pilot between Madrid and Caracas in 2019, which was quite popular among Venezuelans in Spain.

The project benefits from the contact information of about 10,000 people onboarded to crypto during our fieldwork.

Deck

Download the current YapBay deck.

Mission

Our mission is to facilitate access to cryptocurrency for people across the globe, without the need for onerous KYC procedures or the arbitrary limits and opaque reserve status of centralized exchanges.

We are building a peer-to-peer crypto exchange that provides anyone, anywhere with uncensorable, KYC-free, transparent, and open-source fiat on-ramps and off-ramps. By doing so, we aim to contribute meaningfully towards the goal of enabling access to prosperity for people worldwide who have been denied the full benefits of an accountable monetary system.

Vision

We envision a world of universal prosperity, where every human being has the opportunity to realize their potential. A world where everyone, everywhere, enjoys monetary freedom and can use and create money as they see fit, trading it on a voluntary basis across borders, from anywhere to anywhere, and from anyone to anyone. We strive for a world of crypto mass adoption, where everyone has access to prosperity, and no one is cut out of the system or left behind.

Team

Currently the team is George Donnelly, who has been working on crypto mass adoption since 2018. Visit GeorgeDonnelly.com for more information.

Join Us

By executing on our roadmap, We aim to create a robust, user-friendly, and inclusive platform that empowers individuals worldwide to participate in the global economy and benefit from the transformative potential of cryptocurrency.

We invite you to join us on this journey towards a more equitable and prosperous future.

Acknowledgments

• Gitcoin Grants 20 (GG20)
• Keon Kim (mentoring)
• Adam Killam (mentoring)
• Kain Warwick (mentoring)
• Mike Komaransky (mentoring)
• Simon Chamorro (mentoring)
• Backdrop Build Hackathon v3
• Jose Araujo (team member)
• Gabriel Mitacchione (team member)
• The people of the developing world who have taught us so much.
• The BCH community, most notably Mike Komaransky & Georg Engelmann.
• The Dash DAO.