The problem Flux solves

Today, it's difficult to find merchants who accept crypto payments, whether online or in person. We believe that if this issue isn't addressed on the merchant side, it will be hard to encourage users to hold and spend crypto. After all, where can they spend it if not in the real economy?

By solving this, we can encourage more people to hold and spend crypto, helping to grow the crypto economy in everyday life beyond web3 native people. That’s why we developed Flux: to allow users to pay with any token on any chain while allowing merchants to receive either FIAT or crypto. Merchants can easily configure their products and payment methods, just like they would with Stripe.

Additionally, the web3 user experience can be overly complex for merchants, so we focused on building a simple, intuitive UX: social login, smart accounts, gasless transactions, and one-click off-ramps. This creates a seamless experience accessible to anyone, anywhere, and for any in-person and/or online business.

Challenges we ran into

• Merchant onboarding: We needed to simplify the onboarding process for business owners with no web3 experience. Our solution combined technologies like embedded wallets and social login, creating a wallet for users automatically. We also used smart accounts and paymasters to abstract complex blockchain elements, such as gas fees, native tokens, and signatures.
• Off-ramp: Another challenge was providing a seamless off-ramp solution integrated into a Stripe-like user experience. We partnered with bridge.xyz to offer on- and off-ramps between fiat and stablecoins. By building a cross-chain swap to USDC on Base, we ensure that buyers can pay with any token on any chain, while merchants automatically receive USDC on Base. They can then choose to hold USDC or convert it to fiat.
• Subscriptions: Enabling recurring payments similar to web2 systems was another hurdle. We created a smart contract allowing buyers to make one transaction to set up a subscription, then delegate the execution of future payments to a third-party "worker" address when the payment is due. This contract also facilitates cross-chain swaps, converting recurring payments to USDC on Base, giving merchants the option to keep USDC or off-ramp to fiat.