You're absolutely right! We're still iterating on that one. "Banking account for crypto and fiat" rather than "cryptobank" seems to be the right way to mitigate risk for now (e.g. Mercury "banking built for startups"), but we certainly want to be extra cautious.
Thanks! For now, we will partner with regulated bank infrastructure providers - they have the licence. Just like neopbank players have been doing with Synapsefi in the US or Solarisbank in the EU.
1. Was fraud a big issue at ZenPayroll? I would assume this to be an issue for fortune 500 companies, not smbs
2. We're helping crypto companies for now - they get it. Hopefully non-crypto people will get it too as crypto becomes mainstream :)
3. e-merchants like Rakuten started accepting crypto. Amazon could follow. Consumer apps offering higher interest rates than traditional banking could also be compelling
4. You're right! that's why we're bullish on stablecoins like USDC or DAI - value is pegged to USD
5. Still grey, but moving fast - you can now pay people with bitcoin as long as they get minimal wage in USD. Paying bonus in crypto is an interesting use case
Fraud isn't something you can worry about after the fact. There are strict regulations around anti–money laundering and counter-terrorism that are less about de-frauding an SMB then spinning up fake businesses and using payroll as a conduit. The challenge with blockchain payments in payroll is anonymity and irreversibility (two of its significant differentiators.)
At that point, what are the benefits? Transaction speed is one, but you only really get that if the business pays in crypto (otherwise you still need to wait for the ACH payment from them or float the money (don't float the money.))
