Ben NormanPhoenix-based financial tech startup Bravo has revolutionized tipping, allowing consumers to anonymously tip and pay others through a mobile application. Next year, they will be introducing crypto as a form of payment currency.
Bravo plans on unveiling its own cryptocurrency BVO in 2019, which users can purchase and then use to pay anyone else who has the app. By introducing blockchain functionalities, the fintech startup opens doors to international markets. People around the globe frequently look for inexpensive means of paying others, and the Bravo app will allow just that.
“The cryptocurrency market is worth over $290 billion dollars, but many users don’t know how to acquire coins, let alone where to spend their coins,” explains Bravo CEO Maria Luna. She continues, “Even though there is a strong and real use case for service professionals, artists, small merchants and everybody else, at the moment, many shops and service professionals don’t have the ability or a simple solution to accept cryptocurrency. Bravo will change this and will let anyone pay or get paid in cryptocurrency seamlessly as we already do for fiat currency transactions.”
Bravo currently has tens of thousands of users, according to Luna, and although these are all domestic users, the introduction of BVO will allow them to penetrate global markets. Luna explains that because cryptocurrencies are growing rapidly, especially on an international scale, their blockchain functionalities will appeal to many people across the globe.
When asked about what sets Bravo apart from other crypto exchanges, she explained, “The ability to get approved [for exchanging cryptocurrencies] is kind of cumbersome and takes time. After you get approved, which can take months, you have to set up an account, which also takes a while. After all that, you can finally buy and sell cryptocurrencies. The entire process takes a long time – Bravo’s goal is to make this process a lot easier.”
Because of cryptocurrency regulations, their initial coin offering will not be available to users in the U.S., Canada, and Singapore. However, Luna does not think that regulations will prevent users from buying BVO in the future.
She states, “We’re doing everything by the books and complying with all the rules. It’s a completely new field, and people are learning about it every day. Regulation is good, and I welcome it. Cryptocurrencies are very new, and once people have more information about it, they can gain more popularity.”
As cryptocurrencies gain popularity, Bravo and other exchanges will certainly thrive. Just as Luna stated, the crypto industry is very new – as more people learn about it and have effective ways of utilizing it, the more valuable it will be.
Noemi Santaella
Joseph Kavetsky
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