Aussie Uni Students Invent Huge Change to Crypto
What do you know? Two Aussie University Students have gone and changed the crypto world forever. The unwitting students had come up with the idea several years ago whilst studying at University in Sydney. Who knew that their idea would go on to change the world. Today we're delving into all of the facts surrounding these now-famous Aussie students and other crypto news.
Andrew Grech and Richard Voice are two names that you are likely to hear a lot more from in the coming weeks. These two have gone and changed the landscape of the Australian crypto market for good and we're all better off because of it. The pair, now twenty-four, met at the University of Technology UTS) in Sydney. Both were enrolled in a joint honours program studying both IT and business. "We were in the same tutorial together. The topic in the tute was ‘does anyone have any business ideas’,” Mr Voice told news.com.au.
It was always a dream for Grech to be able to use cryptocurrency as a means of purchasing goods, just like real money. He felt let down by the black market nature of crypto and urged Voice to join him on his mission. The pair found that there was no real way to spend crypto at the time and wanted to find a way to bridge the gap in their investments. “I trade crypto and there’s no real easy way to spend it,” Grech told Business Insider on Thursday. It just so happens that Voice “loved the idea” too and decided to chase down Mr Grech after class, who delightfully handed him a business card.
As fate would have it, the two young Aussies hit it off and became close friends. Both Grech and Voice knew that they were onto something special and decided to pursue their dreams and become independent business entrepreneurs. Their goal was to become detached and none reliant on the current financial banking system and focus all of their energy on crypto. They knew they could fundamentally make crypto better by making it more attainable and easier to spend.
The pair launched their first company together last year. It's called CryptoSpend and is a way to simply spend your cryptocurrency to pay your bills online. It's a revolutionary moment for the crypto world because it legitimises crypto more than ever, bringing it out from the depths of the dark web and into the realm of big finance. The uni students have even gone so far as to convince none other than Visa to partner with them on this deal. The industry financial giants have made a historic agreement with CryptoSpend to issue physical debit cards to crypto holders. This then allows holders to spend their bucks in real-time as the market fluctuates. This industry-first will surely make a lot of headlines but better than that, it'll be a long-overdue payoff for the pair who have put their heart and soul into their fledgling crypto business. New crypto debit cards supplied by Visa will be available in Australia from next month.
The new crypto card, backed by Visa, is a first for the Australian market. The card can be used in a multitude of different ways just like a normal debit card. You can use it online, at the stores and wherever you see a visa sign. The only difference is that your money fluctuates in real time depending on the market, so you'd better check your bank balance before making any expensive purchase. You don't want to be left twiddling your fingers at the counter wondering why your card has been declined.
The smarty-pants entrepreneurs saw a gap in the market and decided that they would be the ones to fill it. “We’re incredibly excited. We’ve built this to bring a solution into a market where we’ve seen a space…Another exciting thing is digital cards as well as physical. You’ll be able to get it (a crypto debit card) in your Apple Wallet straight away.” Voice told the New York Observer when asked about his new venture.
Even the head of Visa Solutions for Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific had backed the boys. She thinks that it's a perfect time to enter the market with a real need for this type of technology. She went on to say that " it's great" for daily purchases and added that the tap to pay check out experience wouldn't be affected by the introduction of crypto. Even the smallest businesses don't have to worry about Visa crypto transactions because they are backed by Visa, who take a snapshot of the market rate value of the crypto payment and release it accordingly.
So, how does it all work? We're glad you asked. Australians will be able to order a new crypto card from next month. The cards are issued by ASX listed Novati and will be officially introduced in September. Grech and Voice launched an app to accompany the release of the debit cards called CryptoSpend Wallet. With this app downloaded, you can easily add your existing crypto portfolio and spend it directly with Visa's partners. This will revolutionise the market in ways that we can't even predict now because crypto no longer needs to be converted into fiat currency in order to be spent.
CryptoSpend has only been available for ten months and has already amassed over 1400 customers, with a sharp rise predicted at the end of the year. It hasn't been the smoothest of year's for cryptocurrency as a whole with sharp rises and even sharper falls shocking early investors. But the only way is up for the young Aussies who have seemingly managed the impossible and landed crypto with its biggest win to date. The number of customers are expected to make a dramatic rise once debit cards are available. The duo think they've spotted a trend in the market with some nervous consumers wanting to cash out early, fearing they might lose their investments. “Some people think the price is going to go down, so they may as well cash out now,” Mr Voice said. “Others hold onto it...Some use it regularly because they need money now.”
Another win for CryptoSpend is their "new payments platform" agreement with RBA backing. The deal allows customers to go a step further and pay household bills from within the app. This is good news for energy-focused consumers who now have a way of consciously choosing who their money is spent through. A lot of cryptocurrencies have announced plans to reduce their energy costs in line with fiat currency. In fact, some believe that it will only be a matter of years before data farms are fully solar-powered. The energy-conscious flare came from Tesla stopping online payments with crypto after Elon Musk announced his dissatisfaction with energy consumption.
The unique thing about the app is that even in its fledgling state, it's being used by both businesses and average consumers and this is by no mistake. Grech and Voice have been working hard with Visa for an entire year just to make this happen. It was always their goal to have everyone use it, not just crypto experts or industry insiders. This is the key in their eyes to succeeding in this niche, they need to be accessible by everyone to make things truly work. Grech told news.au. “Some people think it (the crypto price) is going to go down, so they may as well cash out now...Others hold onto it..Some use it regularly because they need money now". It's as simple as that, if people need access to their money and CryptoSpend allows people to do that, then why wouldn't they use it?
This might be the first crypto debit card down under, but other countries have already released their own versions. In the United States only, the online payment system PayPal allows users to convert their digital currencies into dollars at online checkouts. Both Visa and Mastercard have been trialling different versions of crypto debit cards in different parts of the world to see what works and what doesn't. What may work well in the best might not work well for say China or Africa.
This is some great big news which we're sure has shocked a lot of people. The fact that crypto debit cards are viable in the Australian market speaks volumes about the amount of hard work Grech and Voice put into their business. From an idea at University to a fully functioning business backed by none other than Visa themselves. The pair should be proud of their achievements, tackling a problem that needed answers and getting the job done.
They've now made history and set the foundations for everyday people to enter into the crypto market with confidence. People now have a way to safely and easily spend their crypto, without fear of losing it or it depreciating in value. It opens up the door for the crypto market to gain momentum over the coming months. With the recent price swing, it now seems likely that crypto prices will continue to rise with more and more people capitalising on their investments.
The recent news that Ethereum cofounder made a sharp exit to the crypto game wasn't even enough to shake the markets. The market will only get stronger and the idea that was only an idea a couple of months ago is now a multi-million dollar business. We take our hats off to you Mr Grech and Mr Voice.
Do you think that Grech and Voice deserve their newfound game? Can you think of a better way for Australians to spend their cryptocurrency? Do you think that Visa is a good way to go or would you have preferred CryptoSpend partner with Mastercard? If so, don't be shy and let us know in the comment section below.
