A couple weeks ago, we did an episode on LeoDex and how it is an important component for the Leo platform.
This is a feature that is overlooked. Most view it simply as a decentralized exchange, for trading of tokens. However, it is a vital bridge to the outside world.
The Leo account did a post announcing how LeoMerchant went live. This is an important step for the Leo platform and the Hive ecosystem in general.
LeoMerchant: Payment Rails
One of the barriers with Hive is the isolation it experiences. This is most noticable when it comes to the coins related to the ecosystem. Both HIVE and HBD are difficult to deal with since they are not carried on many major exchange. Thus, we are operating within a vacuum to a degree.
This becomes extremely noticeable when it comes to payments. Merchant services are difficult because it is the addressable market is small. LeoMerchant allows for the bridging to the entire crypto world.
LEO Merchants allows any Hive merchant to accept ANY crypto (that is listed on LeoDex/Maya Protocol - Native BTC, ETH, DASH, CACAO, RUNE, etc.) as payment for their products and services.
This is an important milestone. People can choose from a variety of coins or tokens to pay for goods or services, with the merchant receiving HBD as the payment. As we can see from the article, this is now applicable with the Leo Premium service, something that is vital as new communities such as Dash are onboarded.
Web 3.0 Commerce
It is vital that crypto be used to pay for goods and services that people need. This is also a defense against governments hindering the growth of the industry.
The one area where governments can insert themselves is when fiat currency is involved. Since that means going through exchanges, which are required to have some type of government approved license (usually banking), regulation is applicable.
Where goverments are importent is when crypto is used to pay for a good or service. When used as a medium of exchange, this becomes problematic. Of course, with stablecoins such as USDC, the companies behind them are regulated.
This is where HBD can excel. Nobody is in control of that and it runs entirely on the Hive blockchain. There is no company involved, meaning commerce cannot be stopped.
For commerical applications to excel, payment rails are required. This is what LeoMerchant is now setting up. Expanding the payment mechanisms is a bit step forward.
Web 3.0 is still in the stage of doing a lot of infrastructure building. Pieces like this are necessary to serve as a foundation upon which more can be built.