How would you approach building a Bitcoin remittance company? \ stacker news ~bitcoin

How would you approach building a Bitcoin remittance company?

688 sats \ 30 comments \ @krinkov 22 Nov 2023 bitcoin

Hi stackers,

I believe there's a good opportunity for a Bitcoin remittance company in my region. I don't see any bigger players expanding here anytime soon.

How would I go on in terms of building a remittance company in terms of technicalities and legalities? Just looking to collect some points and ideas from anyone who can contribute so that I can expand my train of thoughts.

In terms of operations / technicalities, what's the best way for a normie to buy BTC in US for example and send it abroad? I am still failing to understand the best method to do so in terms of fees, ease of use, and speed. For example, how does Strike do that in the backend?

In terms of regulations, besides tax considerations for US residents, what else should considered?

Any thoughts and shit posting are welcome!

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110 sats \ 5 replies \ @nerd2ninja 22 Nov 2023

Uh so US based right? I think you'd need a money transmitter license. Uh, probably want the whole thing set up by a lawyer. Maybe https://www.legalzoom.com/ could help you? I don't really know just giving this my best shot here.

121 sats \ 2 replies \ @siggy47 22 Nov 2023

I think this might be beyond their capabilities. I was just looking into Charlie Schrem's legal problems with bitinstant, and CZ's mess. The whole money transmitter license process is a nightmare.

63 sats \ 1 reply \ @nerd2ninja 22 Nov 2023

Gave it my best shot XD

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 22 Nov 2023

Yeah. Honestly I don't think even the best lawyer a money could buy could wade through the bureaucratic bullshit which is placed there intentionally. As George Carlin said: "It's a big club, and you're not in it."

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @quark 22 Nov 2023

Money transmitter license? It is just some random numbers! 😅 Now seriously, for that purpose, is it considered money? Or property?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @krinkov OP 22 Nov 2023

You can do it without a license (under the table) but you'd set yourself up for a huge regulatory headache down the road and you would negatively affect user adoption..

It could be as easy as giving senders a gateway or clear instructions to buy from onramps in US and withdrawing to the receiver's wallet. Then the receiver would sell it p2p in the local market with your assistance. But not scalable, high fees, and an unpleasant experience overall..

10 sats \ 14 replies \ @DarthCoin 22 Nov 2023

Just use Bitcoin and do not touch fiat. Done.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Natalia 22 Nov 2023

0 sats \ 12 replies \ @krinkov OP 22 Nov 2023

That's the plan but sometimes reality gets in the way, for example swapping bitcoin to stable shitcoins, else normies would stick with Western Union😅

510 sats \ 2 replies \ @Natalia 22 Nov 2023

Focusing on pilling people rather than putting them back into fiat is the way.

400 sats \ 1 reply \ @DarthCoin 22 Nov 2023

Wow, true words, right here!

FIAT DELENDA EST!

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Natalia 22 Nov 2023

0 sats \ 8 replies \ @DarthCoin 22 Nov 2023

Once you are in Bitcoin, NEVER EVER go back to fiat. Is so fucking simple, damn it.

What you want to do is creating another Paypal over BTC/LN... that is just what is doing Strike (aka a shit service that keep people into fiat).

110 sats \ 4 replies \ @Natalia 22 Nov 2023

then once you get big, you would need to bow the knee for a license or get into trouble...

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @krinkov OP 22 Nov 2023

you're right on this one not gonna lie

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @Natalia 22 Nov 2023

saving you from foreseen troubles 😂

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @DarthCoin 22 Nov 2023

exactly, another truth words... Natalia is hitting hard today...

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Natalia 22 Nov 2023

resting mode on - finally able to sit down and write!

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @krinkov OP 22 Nov 2023

haha you guys are the best, totally with you but this could be a good trojan horse to get normies into Bitcoin as well, for example slapping a PoS system on top of the remittance app whereby users can use remitted bitcoin to purchase stuff for a discount (decent incentives).. or building a DCA feature with withdrawals to self-custodied wallet so that people can save a bit with the rampant hyperinflation we're going through..

Keep in mind that the target market is mostly a cash based economy (I would say > 80% cash payments) after the banking's sector collapse so this is a great way to leapfrog fiat payments companies and fintechs that are popping up everywhere

100 sats \ 1 reply \ @DarthCoin 22 Nov 2023

Read: https://darthcoin.substack.com/p/how-bitcoin-will-save-the-world

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @krinkov OP 22 Nov 2023

this hits hard for sure

100 sats \ 1 reply \ @pats2sats 23 Nov 2023

I launched a wallet last year: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7003216362433040384/

Our biggest challenge was by far regulatory. Investors wanted us to be US incorporated, since that's the standard. But US money transmitter licenses are impossible. Our most realistic option would have been using someone like Prime Trust, such that we could piggy back on their licenses. Starting costs for those types of services where $20,000/month. And even at such high prices, you'd still get rugged/shut down by them.

Best approach in hindsight would be waiting for stable-coin type inventions on lightning, such that you can offer fiat balance, but only spendable via lightning rails, and your own responsibility is just reliably running a node. Maybe you can hook into bitrefill type services or disposable digital VISA cards, such that new users immediately know they have somewhere to spend their sats.

Then again, lightning adoption is mad. I'm from a seaside retirement town, and already have a barber, taxi, pizzaguy, gym coach, and cafe all paid for via lightning. Maybe we really don't need fiat rails to be a valid product, especially when Revolut etc add lightning rails.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @krinkov OP 23 Nov 2023

Very insightful, appreciate it.

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @NewsnNudes 22 Nov 2023

All the best and good luck!

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @mikhael28 22 Nov 2023

Such a concept is literally useless. You don’t need a remittance company, to take middleman fees. Just send the bitcoin directly.

Am I missing something?

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @krinkov OP 23 Nov 2023

You don't need it in a hyperbitcoinized world where most people (including seniors) know how to deal with bitcoin and have the possibility to spend it easily on products and services, etc. Until then, I still find bitcoin remittances a much needed application.

Context matters here as I am talking about a hyperinflated third world country that runs mostly on remittances from expats with senior population who isn't tech savvy..

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @mikhael28 23 Nov 2023

No offense, but ‘non tech-savvy’ senior populations will have just as hard of a time learning to use a remittance app as they would understanding how to set up a Trezor wallet.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @mikhael28 23 Nov 2023

In both cases, they will need someone to hold their hand through the whole process. Why not just skip the middleman?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @mikhael28 22 Nov 2023

If you buy a Trezor wallet, their software literally makes it easy to send bitcoin to any address.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @fred 22 Nov 2023

You just need to get a mentor/coach from the strike team so it will be easy building