Hi all, this is John and the Zaprite team. Feel free to ask us anything. Zaprite is a non-custodial payments platform offering merchant tools for getting paid in bitcoin. You can learn more at zaprite.com
What do you think the role is for companies that require permission slips from governments to further technology that subverts governments, without assisting governments in subverting the subverters?
To expand on John's note: Wallet connections are front and center as are primary integrations with other e-commerce platforms. A core part of our strategy is to bring Zaprite payments to where you already are; the wallet/custody arrangement you like, and the platform you like to sell on. Let us know if there is a particular wallet or e-commerce platform you'd like to see us add.
We're also keeping a close eye on BOLT12, creative ways to do subscriptions that could be productized etc...
Indeed. We love Shopify. Their app store is a bit more locked down than WooCommerce's, but we've been talking to them and hope to be in there this summer. The main issue we're working through is that we don't take a transaction fee, which looks odd to Shopify. We'll get through it though!
To expand on John's note: Wallet connections are front and center as are primary integrations with other e-commerce platforms. A core part of our strategy is to bring Zaprite payments to where you already are; the wallet/custody arrangement you like, and the platform you like to sell on. Let us know if there is a particular wallet or e-commerce platform you'd like to see us add.
Being wallet/platform agnostic is gonna be huge for Zaprite. Earning and getting paid in Bitcoin is gonna be the future.
We are in final testing stages for our API + Webhook feature, which I'm personally really excited about. This will open up Zaprite to be used on any platform.
After that, we'll be adding more Connections as always.
We'll also be increasing the Roles available under the teams feature.
We've found fiat optionality to be a requirement for the majority of our customers. We've invested a lot in making sure the fiat options sitting side-by-side with bitcoin are the best at what they do. Most businesses, even bitcoin businesses, still have obligations in some fiat currency or another, and they appreciate being able to stack both. It also helps sales. More discerning customers have found success in adding a premium to fiat payments, showing a clear preference for bitcoin. Wilson Mining did a nice video that covers some of this: https://twitter.com/WilsonMining/status/1766544769281413572?s=20
Not sure if this dynamic can or will happen but would be cool to see you guys onboard more fiat customers, due to the customer experience. And for those businesses to get orange-pilled when their customers start using bitcoin as a payment method. Or that they then see the amount of fiat processing fees they are spending vs other customers on your platform.
Also, what are your plans for getting the boot seller in Fort Worth to use Zaprite so we don't have to convert our Bitcoins to dirty fiat when we buy them boots?
A Bitcoin country is in each of its users.
Each body is a country.
Don't believe me?
Research about the Montevideo Convention in 1933 about what represent a country.
I don't have specific questions to ask.
But I can say that I used Zaprite and I like it. I also recommend it to those that need something like this.
I think is a good niche for this kind of services in Bitcoinlandia.
Good work guys, keep going!
Thanks for the feedback. Making it easy for merchants to accept bitcoin is a critical part of how we all succeed. And we believe our service fills a need that is only growing.
Making it easy for merchants to accept bitcoin is a critical part of how we all succeed.
THIS is my focus too. I onboarded many merchants during these 10+ years in Bitcoinlandia. Without merchants adoption and circular economies, Bitcoin is nothing. Is all for nothing.
Because we are non-custodial it makes it much easier for us to operate globally. As a US-based company however, we do have to block OFAC sanctioned countries.
As a zaprite customer the $25 a month fee is very expensive for my needs. I hope a pay as you go model can come out to help those why might only need to use it a few times a month.
But I pay as I need it to support bitcoin businesses!
The reason we started at $25 is that we built our own custom subscription functionality, which we plan on releasing as a feature to our users in future. So we had to start with something simple and go from there. For some, $25 is a little high, for others $25 is very low (as we don't charge transaction fees on volumes). We knew we had to land somewhere in the middle as a first offering.
But we will be looking at expanding the available subscription tiers at some point in the near future. We understand that there are users with varying needs and we will certainly do everything we can to accommodate those use cases as we grow.
But I pay as I need it to support bitcoin businesses!
You've already done a lot for the community. This invoicing product works beautifully and solves a major pain point and you're helping businesses migrate to a Bitcoin standard. Thank you!
Not to my knowledge. We've looked into a couple, but haven't found one with the right combo of customer base and open API/payments model that would let us slide in. We could be missing an obvious one, so let us know if it's out there. It's an obvious next step to e-commerce.
Do you have specific plans for India and China? How do you think you will cope with the regulations there considering both countries don't allow such services for businesses at all?
We are a non-custodial SaaS platform so we don't fall under money transmitter regulations like, for example, exchanges would. While we don't have specific plans for specific regions, we do make our platform available to all non-OFAC countries.
One key difference is that Zaprite is non-custodial. This is not just a stance, but provides many benefits over other similar platforms:
We do not require personal information to use the app. You can sign up with just an email.
We are wallet agnostic and enable multiple wallet connections. This allows users to easily switch between rails and customize Checkouts on-the-fly.
We don't touch user funds, so cannot take a transaction percentage. All payments are peer-to-peer.
We offer bitcoin and fiat payments side-by-side.
We also believe our platform is the easiest and most user-friendly way to accept bitcoin payments. We don't believe any competitor comes close in this regard.
Our goal is to onboard merchants who understand the bitcoin store of value thesis, and who understand that accepting bitcoin for payments is the next logical step.
This is an ever-expanding market.
So we need to make sure we provide the best possible bitcoin payment experience. If we continue to do that, then we will remain in a strong position to grow as bitcoin becomes a more accepted means of exchange.
It's extremely satisfying to be a part of people's journey to stack sats. Previously, my favorite product I had ever built was the trading feature at Unchained Capital. Helping people stack sats directly to cold storage with keys that they control.
Zaprite helps you do the same. Stack sats directly to a wallet of your choice. Often times that is directly to cold storage with keys you control. I wanted that for a decade before being able to build the products to encourage that behavior.
I'm extremely lucky to have found bitcoin and be part of the journey. Being able to work directly in the industry is a blessing. And with Zaprite, I truly believe we are providing tools that will increase bitcoin adoption around and that's where I get my daily inspiration.
Honestly, we focus a lot on direct sales, and all our inbound is from folks who get bitcoin and understand the store of value aspect and want to accept it as payment. So we don't get a lot of push-back from a sales perspective.
But the biggest questions we get are probably around accounting and taxes.
Nostr Login and the Nostr contact list would be cool.
I'd almost like to see a zaprite wallet that could properly track my incoming and outgoing zaps, although its probably a selfish request, and I think Clams might be working on something that's more along those lines.
Yes, I think nostr login makes sense. And we do plan on expanding the functionality of our Contacts section. Adding a Contact's npub would be cool, and that would give us added options like nostr DMs for payment notifications, and encryption of public Invoice URLs.
How do you look at SN AMA as a marketing campaign? Do you believe that this is more effective than traditional marketing campaigns such as doing google ads or FB marketing?
Having the word "lightning" below bitcoin and above credit card implies that they are different assets. I've seen 2 different YouTubers think that lightning was some other crypto.
Maybe y'all can't change that misunderstanding alone but consider maybe a Bitcoin button that then gives the option for on chain or lightning.
With that said, my question is, do you think it's a problem worth addressing?
state: basedstate: based // bitcoin is the solution, opt out