Decentralized Banking Is Not a Dream Anymore but is Actually Happening

I’m not sure how I missed this being rather engaged and vocal in that particular niche, but it seems that barely ten years after the first crypto-related whitepaper, true (financial) decentralization is becoming a reality. Luckily @prufarchy noticed it and posted about it on Steemit: AriseBank is Aiming to Decentralize Banking - With Help from Bitshares.

What truly matters about this is that it isn’t just a dream, or a whitepaper (although they have that too, obviously), but it is a reality happening:

Founded in 2016 and currently headed up by Jared Rice, AriseBank is unusual in that it already has a working platform and suite of products, albeit in Beta.

As many who follow me, or who interact with me in chat, know, I like teams who actually get stuff done and most of my focus goes to those teams, or to teams with a track record and an advanced understanding of the Lean Startup Method (when applicable to their model). Thus the reality of an already operational platform is a big thing.

But things get better. Better, bigger, and wilder when looking at AriseBank.

In mid-December the Arise team announced they'd reached an agreement to acquire a century-old FDIC-insured bank. Let that sink in for a moment and you'll start to see that this could be the start of a really big deal.

As @prufarchy says: ”Let that sink in for a moment.”

That is a big thing, especially in the world of cryptoes. Because not only does it mean that the Arise Bank is acquiring actual outlets but it means that they are acquiring an existing license to operate as a bank. Meaning: regulatory approval.

Yes, zealots. Regulatory approval matters to evolve further mainstream. And to protect Jane and Joe Average.

Obviously, with the acquisition of an existing bank come additional elements:

With this acquisition, AriseBank will be able to offer their customers ATM services, debit/credit cards, POS for merchants to accept any of about 700 Cryptocurrencies and even more.

Considering that AriseBank is working together with the Bitshares network, the whole existing network they are acquiring is a massive asset for the decentralization of money and also the roll out of a decentralized network.

Finally it will be able to pay directly with cryptocurrencies. To pay merchants directly, that even based on a blockchain which operates on zero fees. If AriseBank will keep the transaction fees low, they could be on to something really big and a disrupt the world of old money.

Which they seem intent to do, as per their different account offerings:

1. Fully decentralized: If you are interested in only trading crypto or converting it, this account will allow you to do so, purportedly without any KYC/AML.
2. Semi-decentralized: To transact in any way with Fiat you will need to undergo some KYC/AML.

As somebody who is not bent on a crypto future with debit cards (Twitter thread) issued by the main forces of evil, I am eagerly looking forward to more solutions and decentralized payment/banking options to cater to a huge demographic of the unbanked.

Personally, I would love to see a multi-crypto payment platform/wallet app which allows its users, touchless or via QR code, to pay merchants and transact with other users from any crypto balance currently available in the wallet.

AriseBank, by virtue of acquiring an existing licensed bank, and thus clients base and network, will be perfectly positioned to roll out direct B2C payment opportunities in cryptocurrencies.

Add to that the fact that they are building their own hardware wallet. Personally I think that a hardware wallet may be too much of a hassle as a roll out option, but it surely shows that the AriseBank team is focused and also values security. Hopefully a hardware wallet will not be too expensive for the unbanked demographic, people in need of decentralized banking alternatives much more than anyone else.

AriseBank is one of hopefully many to follow. In this era of both mobile apps and cryptocurrencies, change is finally happening and actual developments like Arise Bank, and also tenX and the more Asia local Coins.ph, are encouraging. They are what the crypto scene need most to avoid the cryptocalypse (Twitter thread by Vinay Gupta).

Visit the AriseBank website or check out @prufarchy’s extended and excellent post thanks to which I first heard of AriseBank. Also check out his follow-on post about his conversation with Arise Bank’s Jared Rice Sr..

And if you haven’t yet, now is most definitely the time to open your Bitshares account if you want to participate to the revolution.

_{All screenshots in this post come from the AriseBank website.}

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