Kate Irwin

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A crypto researcher has whipped up an open-source payment processor within a week that lets a buyer tap a crypto wallet on a mobile device to pay for items without any processing fees typical of credit cards and terminals like Square.



Tim Robinson, head of crypto research at VC firm BlueYard, shared a video of the device in action this week making a payment with the MetaMask app on his phone.&nbsp;



The terminal, which he’s dubbed <a href="https://paragraph.com/@blueyard/building-a-crypto-payment-terminal">FreePay</a>, has a few different components, including an NFC reader and a screen for the seller to type in the amount they want to charge.



“We’re supposed to be replacing TradFi, not joining them,” Robinson said.



Robinson built a companion app for sellers using FreePay and an Android app for customers, but notes that FreePay only works with MetaMask and Coinbase Wallets (at least in its current form).



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">I was sick of seeing all these crypto debit cards for wallets, we&#39;re supposed to be replacing TradFi not joining them! How hard could it be to do it crypto native anyway? So I created this &#8211; FreePay &#8211; the worlds first open source, fee-free payment terminal. <a href="https://t.co/zLyZAY81fY">pic.twitter.com/zLyZAY81fY</a>&mdash; Tim Robinson (@timjrobinson) <a href="https://twitter.com/timjrobinson/status/1940331404627411261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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In recent months, crypto firms — from <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-amex-shopify-card-payments">Coinbase</a> to MetaMask, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/avalanche-visa-card-payments">Avalanche</a> to Solayer — have all unveiled their own various crypto payment cards using traditional payment processors like Visa, Mastercard and even American Express.&nbsp;



But while these big-name TradFi firms have widespread reach, their fees aren’t inconsequential and can cut into businesses’ bottom lines or result in those higher costs being passed on to consumers.



Visa credit card <a href="https://usa.visa.com/content/dam/VCOM/download/merchants/visa-usa-interchange-reimbursement-fees.pdf">fees</a> per transaction can be anywhere from 1% to over 2%, while Amex fees are typically higher, and can range from 1.4% to over 2.5%.



Of course, blockchains come with their own set of fees, but ultimately that depends on the chain used. Ethereum L2 and Solana fees are much, much lower, especially when considering credit card fees plus the 2.6% and up additional fee added just for using a Square terminal.&nbsp;



“I started with L2 support because that&#8217;s what I know best, but because it&#8217;s open source anyone can extend it,” Robinson told me in a DM of FreePay, adding: “Would love to see others add more chains and more wallets to support the standards needed to work with it.”



Crypto use in the US does come with some tax rules, though, which can deter some from using it as a payment method because it’s more complex than a stablecoin or fiat currency payment.&nbsp;



But hey, if you want to spend your crypto directly from your wallet in a tap-to-pay method, FreePay looks like one potential way for merchants to let you do just that.



I personally think we’re still a little ways away from actually seeing crypto being used for daily, small payments at scale, but the crypto industry really should reconsider its full-tilt embrace of fee-heavy, decidedly centralized payment systems (and systems that refuse to bank businesses like legal dispensaries and sex workers).



As others have <a href="https://x.com/zachherbert/status/1938364193700450395">pointed out</a>, crypto could also benefit from more open-source tech more broadly, including hardware wallets. Open-source tech is inherently more decentralized by design — and allows different motives besides maximizing profits alone to come into play.&nbsp;



A lot of compromises have been made by big crypto firms in pursuit of “mass adoption.” But maybe it’s time we look back at history and remind ourselves why bitcoin was even invented in the first place.



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decentralization

Crypto needs more no-fee, open-source payment tools

Ben Strack

<div id="highlights-block_60f09138f6b92" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Cash App could increase its average revenue per user by five times in the coming years, according to research by Mizuho Securities</li>
 <li>Square’s bitcoin trading capabilities are among its most important services in terms of driving engagement, and in turn, revenue, Rosenblatt Securities analyst says</li>
 </ul>
 
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Digital payments companies such as <a href="https://squareup.com/us/en/campaign/cross-product-center?device=c&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwub-HBhCyARIsAPctr7wIvH42bDDxJSU6ITAmhulhL8Bq83jEWVnnJkBEATG6TRQlASVXjmkaAsPIEALw_wcB&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&amp;kw=square+inc&amp;kwid=p53639037657&amp;matchtype=e&amp;pcrid=522370665599&amp;pdv=c&amp;pkw=square+inc&amp;pmt=e&amp;pub=GOOGLE">Square</a> are in a position to steal major market share from traditional banks over the next decade, analysts said, as crypto services are driving engagement for such businesses.



Cash App, a service developed by Square, could become the “money center bank of the future,” according to research by Mizuho Securities.&nbsp;



“This could make buying [Square] analogous to buying JP Morgan in 1871,” Senior Analyst Dan Dolev wrote in a July 15 note.&nbsp;



Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who has long been a proponent of cryptocurrencies, co-founded Square in 2009 and serves as its chairman and CEO.&nbsp;



Mizuho’s bullish outlook for Square comes after the digital payment business announced in February that it had purchased 3,318 bitcoins at an aggregate purchase price of roughly $170 million. The buy raised the company’s held bitcoin to five percent of Square’s total cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities as of the end of 2020.



More recently, Jesse Dorogusker, the hardware and TIDAL lead at Square, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jack-dorsey-confirms-square-will-make-bitcoin-hardware-wallet/">tweeted last week</a> that the company has decided to build a hardware wallet service to make bitcoin custody more accessible.



Dolev called Cash App “the ultimate challenger bank,” noting that Mizuho’s analysis of the business indicates a path to an average revenue per user of between $150 and 200 in the coming years, which is between three and five times above current levels. The average revenue per user ranges from $400 to $700 at consumer banks like JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, he added.



Still, Sean Horgan, an equity research analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, told Blockworks that he believes digital wallets as a group are going to disrupt traditional incumbent consumer banks over the next five to 10 years.



The customer acquisition costs for companies like Cash App and Venmo may range from $5 to $100, he added, as they are helped by the “network effect” of millennials helping older adults adopt the services. This is compared to incumbent banks who may spend $1,000 to gain a new customer, Horgan noted, as they may entice prospective credit card users with free rewards and build out costly bank branches around the country.



“Traditional banks [have] about $1 trillion of market value,” he said, “and as they steal revenue share and user share, that market cap is also going to transfer from the traditional banks to the challenger banks.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Crypto services driving engagement, revenue</h3>



Square was a pioneer of gathering users through a free peer-to-peer offering and then rolling out additional products over time, Horgan said. The company’s bitcoin trading capabilities, which were added in 2018, are among the most important services in terms of attracting users to use the platform each day, he argued.



Cash App allows users to buy and sell bitcoin straight from their Cash App balance. Unlike other apps, most of the buying and selling happens in seconds, according to the company’s website, and users can spend their proceeds from a free Visa debit card.



“Bitcoin drives engagement and engagement drives monetization,” Horgan explained. “The more funds you’re bringing onto Cash App, the more you’re considering this thing your primary bank account or primary spending account, the more likely you are to take a debit card or credit card offering out and start using that.”



Venmo followed Square’s footsteps when the company <a href="https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2021-04-20-Introducing-Crypto-on-Venmo">announced in April</a> that it would allow customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency directly within the Venmo app.



British fintech firm <a href="https://www.revolut.com/en-US">Revolut</a> revealed this week that it had raised $800 million in a new funding round led by SoftBank and Tiger Global, which values the company at $33 billion. People can use Revolut’s app to buy, sell, receive or spend cryptocurrency, as well as send crypto to other US Revolut accounts.&nbsp;



Moving forward, Horgan said he expects crypto rewards to gain more popularity.&nbsp;



Square offers a service called Bitcoin Boost, in which a user can select to have bitcoin automatically placed into their account upon each cash card purchase. Similarly, BlockFi earlier this month <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/blockfi-releases-visa-rewards-credit-card-to-us-clients/">launched its Visa rewards credit card</a> for a handful of its US-based clients, providing users with crypto returns when they use the card.&nbsp;



“I’d rather get 2% back in bitcoin than 2% back in a 2% depreciating asset per year, which is cash,” Horgan said. “We’re going to see a lot more of that, and that’s just another reason to use these digital wallets like Cash App rather than traditional banks.”

payment apps