A professional team of Fintech veterans have introduced Meso, a payment platform which brings crypto-assets and fiat currencies closer, thus making it seamless for clients to transfer funds on- and off-chain.
In statements shared with Fortune, Meso co-founder and CEO Ben Mills explained that a crypto app, such as a self-custody wallet or a centralized exchange, may now build in a frictionless manner for a user to load funds in and out of their wallet.
As noted in the update, the on-ramp product integrates customer banking accounts and cards within crypto apps, enabling the latter to onboard clients without having to first direct them to a centralized exchange to fund their digital wallets. This reportedly results in a smoother onboarding process.
A frictionless transition between cryptocurrency wallets and fiat banking apps is required for mainstream adoption, Mills stated.
Challenges during the fiat-crypto transfer stage may lead to an abandonment of as much as 90% of total potential purchases, with around half or 50% of such digital transactions failing, according to recent research findings.
Mill claims that they have a solution that “allows you to keep the user where they are, which is, frankly, just better for everyone.”
The project founders reportedly have prior experience working at PayPal, Braintree, as well as Venmo, and are currently leveraging their consumer fintech know-how and experience to effectively integrate the TradFi and DeFi ecosystems.
Mills added that Meso envisions a future where users are not required “to use centralized exchanges to get started in crypto.”
Clients need to pay a 1.5% surcharge to transfer money between their banking accounts and wallet and the integration is reportedly compatible with various web apps, Internet browser extensions, and mobile-based services.
Mills claims that one challenge he encountered at Venmo, where he was head of product, had been how to motivate clients to maintain their funds in-app.
With the support of a smooth and intuitive user experience of topping up and withdrawing money from the Venmo balance, users got used to keeping their funds there, which is a key takeway he’s brought to Meso.
Unlocking the concept that it’s simple to transfer money between a banking account and a online wallet should be essential to bringing crypto to the masses, Mills claims.
During Venmo’s early stages, there was this perception that this is “fake internet money, and that’s really similar to crypto” however there is also “the moment they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s actual money, it’s in my bank account—this is very tangible to me now.’”
Notably, Meso has teamed up with Cross River Bank and Circle following the struggles and demise of Silicon Valley Bank.
Meso has also finalized a $9.5 million seed round that was co-led by Solana Ventures as well as Ribbit Capital, along with contributions from Canonical Crypto, 6th Man Ventures.
The investment round includes contributions from angel investors, such as Phantom cofounder Chris Kalani, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready, and Archie Puri from Bodhi Labs.
Ribbit Capital’s Justin Saslaw stated that Meso’s work on seamless fiat-blockchain transactions is “helping to create a ubiquitous payment platform, connecting disparate parts of the financial grid.”
Although these kinds of projects seem promising, considering that they aim to enhance the user experience, there is nothing really wrong with using centralized exchanges as part of crypto transactions. In fact, centralized crypto platforms have become a lot more seamless, and have implemented robust AML/KYC guidelines which can be quite easy to follow (assuming you are not trying to do anything illegal). Given that the market is becoming overcrowded / extremely saturated at this point, it would be better for company founders to focus on other areas.
There are also many other initiatives that are working on enabling frictionless crypto transactions. At present, it is more critical for new startups to focus on education and help improve communication between regulators and service providers. This will go a long way in helping to bring more clarity to this space while increasing consumer confidence in the future of DeFi and TradFi.