Helio: Crypto Payments Pioneer Navigating Market Immaturity Amidst Innovation

Stijn Paumen, Helio's CEO, discusses the burgeoning cryptocurrency payments market. He acknowledges the innovation of decentralized blockchain protocols like Bitcoin and Ethereum but highlights the limitations of their foundational layers compared to traditional financial infrastructure. However, he notes advancements in second-generation blockchains like Solana and the potential to bridge the gap, citing the launch of Helio in March 2022 as an example. Paumen emphasizes the need for seamless user experiences in crypto payments, which Helio's platform addresses by enabling retailers to accept Bitcoin payments and targeting the Web3 ecosystem. He also discusses the challenges of Web3 payments and the potential for companies like Apple Pay to settle payments on their blockchain in the future.

Crypto Payments Platform Helio: Innovation Amidst Immaturity

Stijn Paumen, CEO of the burgeoning cryptocurrency payments platform Helio, paints a vivid picture of a market still in its nascent stages. While acknowledging the groundbreaking nature of decentralized blockchain protocols like Bitcoin and Ethereum, Paumen emphasizes the continued superiority of traditional financial infrastructure in terms of functionality and performance.

"The benchmark is Apple Pay," Paumen asserts. "How can you beat the convenience of simply tapping your phone and completing a payment within three seconds?"

Acknowledging the emergence of more recent blockchain networks, Paumen notes their potential to bridge the gap with traditional systems. "With second-generation blockchains like Solana, we have the engineering resources to address the congestion issues that have plagued earlier iterations," he explains.

Born from the shared vision of Paumen and Chief Technology Officer Jim Walker, Helio was launched in March 2022. Seeking to harness the high transaction speed and rapid finality of Solana, the duo abandoned a lucrative enterprise to venture into the cryptocurrency realm.

"The concept of crypto payments has been around since the infamous 10,000 BTC pizza purchase," Paumen reminisces. "However, the user experience has been abysmal, with lengthy payment times and frequent processing failures."

Helio's platform provides merchants and e-commerce websites of all sizes with the ability to accept bitcoin payments. Despite processing $30 million monthly, Helio's primary focus remains on the burgeoning Web3 market for both merchants and users. Its payment plugin has played a pivotal role in the Solana ecosystem, facilitating the sale of approximately 80,000 Solana mobile phones.

While acknowledging the potential of Web3 payments to disrupt established players, Paumen cautions about the challenges it poses.

"We have an internal concept called 'crypto granny'," Paumen elucidates. "It refers to the need for even the most tech-averse users to be able to make crypto purchases without owning crypto or understanding blockchain technology."

Speculating on the future, Paumen envisions the possibility of technology giants like Apple Pay integrating blockchain technology into their payment systems. He remains an ardent advocate for decentralized methods of global money transfer, characterized by "fast or instant settlement with low fees, eliminating the need for intermediaries."