There are some projects taking place that are very committed to making Steem one of the best ecosystems there is.
One such project is FreedomEx. They are seeking to provide services that are desperately needed for Steem to grow. It is amazing how their announcements flew under the radar.
A few weeks ago, they announced that STEEM was going to be the pair for all other tokens on the exchange. This is vastly different than what is out there with STEEM being traded against BTC, LTC, or whatever other token the exchange puts forth. In other words, STEEM is a base pair on this exchange.
The team announced its short-term roadmap and it is a stunner.
According to their announcement, April 30th is the date when they will have a fiat gateway. Through the Netcoins platform, people will be able to buy STEEM with an ACH transfer. Individuals will be able to use USD, EURO, and CAD.
This is a huge step forward. Being able to go directly from fiat to STEEM opens up a new pathway for people to onboard. At present, STEEM is acquired by going through another token such as BTC or LTC.
They announced that on May 8th, there will be an update to their interface along with back end features. One change is going to allow people to log in with their Steem account.
While this is nice, here is what really caught my attention:
FreedomEx Debit Card While we have our partner contract ready to go for this development, we are choosing not to announce a date for this. We prefer to under-promise and over-deliver than announce dates that might have to be pushed back, which would let people down. Do know that after the updates listed above, we will soon be integrating a mechanism for our users to apply for a debit card that will allow the spending of STEEM at any vendor that accepts a debit card. (emphasis mine)
https://steempeak.com/freedomex/@freedomex/freedomex-road-map-update-big-things-are-happening
Holy Chit Lucy!!!
Providing the ability to spend STEEM wherever debit cards are accepted? This is an amazing step forward. We hear the growth of the Bitcoin payment system which is getting people projecting enormous gains for that coin. If STEEM suddenly is able to be spent wherever debit cards are accepted, this would lap most other cryptocurrencies out there.
I know it is only a road map and we will have to temper out expectations until it comes in being. The fact that it is on the radar is very telling. This team seems upfront with what they announce. In fact, in their post they were trying to temper it a bit.
This is some exciting news. We see the foundation of Steem being built. It is hard to attract the masses without having the proper pieces in place. The average user is not going to deal with difficult to use technology nor something that doesn't make a lot of sense to them. Few are aware how money works, hence cryptocurrency is outside their comprehension.
Having a means to use STEEM to purchase everyday goods and services will help to alleviate this. At the same time, since STEEM is a base pair on the FreedomEx platform, any other token on there can be converted into STEEM. This provides an outlet for that also.
This is a project that is worth paying some attention to.
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Images from article linked.