Safe to Launch Cryptocurrency Payment System

Developers of the digital asset management platform Safe have announced the launch of a cross-chain transaction processing system, Safenet.

? Safenet is coming in 2025. The waitlist is open!
? https://t.co/WkBM6O26hN pic.twitter.com/6jwgOWE0QL

— Safe (@safe) December 3, 2024

According to the project’s website, this is a transaction processing system on the Ethereum blockchain, based on the concept of Optimistic validity proof.

The creators claim that Safenet will provide “instant and secure cross-chain transactions” between multiple networks, including centralized exchanges and fiat accounts like Visa.

❇️ SAY GM TO SAFENET ❇️

We are here to move the world’s GDP onchain.

? https://t.co/WkBM6O26hN pic.twitter.com/8duPs9Gb62

— Safe (@safe) December 3, 2024

Safe co-founder Lukas Schor was inspired by the VisaNet payment system, which processes transfers in the Visa network, and decided to create something similar for the crypto market.

“We want the same experience in cryptocurrency. The same speed. Therefore, we do not want to wait for transactions to be processed by miners. When you do cross-chain, it takes too long. We want to scale it,” Schor emphasized in a conversation with Cointelegraph journalists. 

The main idea of the system is not to rely on cross-chain bridges. By focusing on a set of rules, Safenet “finalizes” a user’s transaction even before the actual settlement with data entry into the respective blockchains occurs. Developers promise that payment processing will take less than 0.5 seconds.

A key element of Safenet is the concept of optimistic validity proofs, similar to slashing in the Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm. Guarantee participants who process transactions are required to lock assets in staking within the system and risk losing funds as a penalty for dishonest behavior. 

Bridges and security issues will be handled by a network of processing companies, validators, and liquidity providers.

According to the project’s documentation, Safenet will use traditional “costly and slow” methods of working with blockchain transactions only in exceptional disputed situations.

The native token will be SAFE. It is planned to be used for staking and rewarding participants. 

The alpha version of Safenet will be released in the first quarter of 2025. In the second quarter, the beta and validator network will launch, and in the third to fourth quarters, the full version of protocol version 1, processors, and liquidity network will be available.

In October, the payment service Stripe added the option to pay with stablecoins USDC and USDP.