Metal Pay, a peer-to-peer payments platform run by Metallicus, has seen the price of its MTL token jump on cryptocurrency exchanges this week after receiving an undisclosed amount from the youngest bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman.
According to a report published by CoinDesk, Metal Pay’s CEO Marshall Hayner partnered with Erik Finman to develop an “all-in-one” cryptocurrency banking platform that’ll haven exchange with 17 digital assets, a digital bank, and a payments applications with social features similar to those of PayPal’s Venmo.
The report notes Metal Pay has so far processed around $11 million in payments from nearly 130,000 registered users, across 38 states. Per month, it adds, Metal Pay processes $1 million in crypto or fiat.
Finman reportedly invested a “modest amount of bitcoin” to finance the development of the startup’s banking and exchange ecosystem, which reportedly holds around $2 million in cryptocurrency and fiat. The young bitcoin millionaire added however, he would be willing to put his “400 something” bitcoin fortune on the startup.
After CoinDesk’s report was published users seemingly flocked to cryptocurrency exchanges to get their hands on MTL tokens. At press time, CryptoCompare data shows the token’s price has risen 20.9% against BTC in the last 24-hour period, and 22.2% against ETH.
Metal Pay’s CEO, Hayner, reportedly helped build Stellar and Dogecoin before he founded the payments startup in 2016. The firm has received $3 million in a funding round from ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees, G2 Ventures, and Gateway.
The company is said to be actively working with regulators, and to have partnered with Arkansas-based Evolve Bank and Trust to provide FDIC insured deposit accounts, as well as other financial services in the future.
Proof of Processed Payments
Last year, Hayner developed a protocol known as proof of processed payment, which distributes MTL tokens to Metal Pay’s users according to the amounts they transact using the platform. It helps reach consensus and validate transactions.
Through it, users can earn up to a 5% reward on their transaction volume, which Hayner notes “for consumers, is construed as cash back.” These rewards can be converted to fiat, sent to another user, or held.
MTL holders may also receive other rewards, Hayner notes, as those who hold “over 10,000 MTL on an average spot price between Binance, Kraken, and Bittrex” won’t be charged fees. Feeless options for merchants are also being considered.
