Request Review: The Decentralized Payment Network Explained In Detail
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In a bid to enhance the online payment process, the online payment industry seeks to adopt better payment platforms. These new payment platforms are expected to possess better features than PayPal and other existing payment platforms.
An excellent example of such that attempts to change the entire online payment industry is Request REQ. It seeks to eliminate the need for intermediaries to take commission fees and sharing of banking information.
Request REQ is a decentralized payment platform built on Ethereum for carrying out secure payments on the blockchain.
This Request review explains what the protocol entails, its crypto, technology, features, and working mechanism, among others. It’s an eye-opener to the totality of this new payment network and will serve as a guide for interested persons and investors.
Contents
What is Request (REQ)?
The Request REQ is a project that creates a payment system for sending, Requesting, and receiving money easily and quickly. It’s a decentralized network built on the Ethereum blockchain and targets to replace the existing third-party solutions.
The Request REQ seeks to offer its customers a cheap, compatible, and relatively secured payment solution with all currencies globally. In addition, it intends to go global through its compliance with each country’s trade law in the world.
In addition to offering a better payment solution, the Request has also adopted blockchain technology. This will enable it to provide immutable auditing and accounting services similar to Paypal’s technology.
Though Paypal is the world’s top online payment system, Request REQ thinks bigger adopting lots of features. It also plans to adopt invoicing, Government uses, and B2B in addition to the auditing and accounting services mentioned earlier.
The Request enables anyone to pay and receive funds in a secured manner without the need for any third party. It has a native utility token launched in 2017, referred to at the REQ token or crypto.
The REQ crypto ensures that the Network is stable and performs efficiently. As a Request REQ user, you create a payment Request, including the receiver’s address and payment amount.
You can also state the payment terms and conditions, compiling the simple Request to an invoice. As soon as the Request is completed, you can then share the Request with a payment counterpart.
Request documents and store every step, allowing all concerned users to track and account for all invoices and payments easily.
The Founders of Request?
Etienne Tatur and Christophe Lassuyt founded the protocol in collaboration with other team members. They are competent with sound experience in the online payment industry and have created a money transfer service-MoneyTis.
Christophe Lassuyt, a formal co-founder of MoneyTis, is the current chief financial officer at Request. While Etienne Tatur, also a co-founder of MoneyTis, is the Request chief technical officer.
Etienne Tatur has formally worked at QOBUZ, a music streaming service, as the lead developer. The Request is backed by YCombinator, a famous VC firm with a record of funding over 1,400 startups.
It has a joint valuation of over $80 billion with YCombinator, which backs Dropbox, Coinbase, Stripe, Airbnb, and Reddit. The acceptance of YCombinator gave these projects great credibility with an acceptance rate between 1-2%.
However, the MoneyTis project handled by the Request team recorded a lot of success with a growth rate of about 20%.
The team decided to explore the advantages of blockchain technology in developing the Request token. They noted the prevalence of invoices on MoneyTis and decided to concentrate on it while developing the new Request Network.
The team members are transparent, give progress reports bi-weekly and remain very active on social channels, including Reddit.
The team was able to launch the project Mainnet in March 2018, which was a major achievement. They have also partnered with Kyber Network to activate payments between currencies, among other important partnerships. More so, the team provides blockchain solutions for PwC business clients in partnership with PwC France.
Request REQ Payments
The basic payment model of the Request REQ is simple, as seen in the illustration below;
- A sends an invoice to B through the blockchain.
- B pays with a click after receiving the invoice.
- Then A gets his money paid by B.
You can use the Request REQ payment for B2B invoices, online purchases, and payments in IoT systems via smart contracts.
Payments generated by Request push have some outstanding advantages, including the needlessness of sharing bank information. And the guaranteed transaction security at a lower cost using blockchain technology, unlike the existing counterparts.
The Request REQ Ecosystem
The Request network adopts a three-tier technology or architecture to make the platform flexible. You need to study the Request technology, otherwise called the Request Layers, to better understand the Network. The visual representation below shows the
Core Layer, the Extensions Layer, and the Applications Layer as the three-tier model.
The Core Layer
The Core Layer is the lowest layer of the Request, referred to as the foundation. It supports the smart contracts and the ledger that it’s relying on. It also handles payment Requests and development.
It’s built on the Ethereum Network and can detect invoices that are based on ERC-20. It also uses Oracles to integrate other invoices; nobody can penetrate it or alter the input information.
The Layer is immutable and handles basic payments, while simple invoicing is handled through smart contracts linked to payment. This process is free; it encourages users and discourages the development of other payment systems.
Furthermore, the entire Core Layer is open and allows anyone to access any relevant information. Here, currencies are converted automatically using the oracles.
The Extensions Layer
The extension Layer is the second Request Layer that handles more difficult payments compared to simple invoices. For instance, a firm places an invoice with multiple calculations like advance payments, texts, or escrow payments.
This Layer enhances the Request’s complex functionality by adding extensions to invoices from the Core Layer. It’s also used for payment purposes like continuous bills. For example, a tenant can automatically pay house rents via a bank account.
This payment is always the same. The tenant only needs to maintain enough balance in the account every month. The Layer can also diverge 10% of all payments for tax settlements and pay daily salaries. The system automatically handles the taxes or other required payments together with each transaction.
Another important function of this Layer is eliminating the need for bulky payments and giving users more flexibility. This ability to make unconventional payments enables users to remain tax compliant. Third-party developers can presently build on the Layer.
There is a token charge fee in REQ payable by Extension users. The team burns a portion of it and sends the remaining REQ to the developers.
The Applications Layer
This Layer is the third and final Layer of the Request, and it’s seen outside the blockchain technology. This is where third parties (external applications) utilize Request as an intermediary for taxes, invoices, etc.
Application developers also take place here with an interface for developers and a traditional API. The payments are made immediately and require less or zero transaction fees.
This Layer also includes an application known as the Reputation Application. It’s designed to eliminate fake payments or phishing attempts.
All the Request entities have a reputation system attached to them. However, the Reputation system takes a hit once there is an attempt for fraud, phishing, or failure to make invoice payments. This technology will prevent future users from associating with such a negative attitude.
However, the Request rewards the system with a high reputation like cost reduction or custom add-ons access. In addition, the Application Layer allows for integration with third-party applications to access information or interact with invoices.
Its developers can access a $30miilion fund reserved by the Request team for incentivizing the development of applications. This assessment involves presenting your project information to the Request team and gaining their approval.
The Request Token REQ
The Request has a unique ERC-20 token that powers its ecosystem known as the REQ. It’s used to settle fees, create advanced invoices, and invoice extensions on the Network.
The Request Fees were initially set at the range of 0.05% to 0.5%, expected to decrease as the network expands. This fee structure will change at the release of the V2 (Version two) of the Request.
The V2 new fees charge is based on the data size of each Request and was released few months into 2019. It will be $0.10 for the first 10KB and $0.03 for every additional 10KB of data.
In addition, though yet to be confirmed, there had been a rumor that the Request has adopted a proof-of-stake mechanism. This implies that holders of the REQ tokens can earn staking rewards for their holdings.
However, the REQ token also functions as an intermediary for exchanging cross-currency and the system’s governance voting tool. The Network team in October 2017 had their ICO and made a sum of $33.6 million at $0.0672 per token.
The REQ price remained flat afterward till December when it started rising with the market trend. On January 6th, 2018, it skyrocketed, reaching an all-time high of $1.03. It fell afterward to $0.027108 on November 28th.
The main exchange for the REQ token is Binance; it’s also traded on Huobi Global and other exchanges like KuCoin.
The REQ trade volume is below $10k in all these exchanges, and you can store it in any ERC-20 supported wallet. The popular wallet choices are MyEtherWallet, Ledger, Trezor, and MetaMask. A hardware wallet is more secured and the best option.
REQ Price Live Data
As of the time of writing, the Request REQ trades at $0.2114 with a 24-hour trading volume of $106,589,387. It has a significant CoinMarketCap ranking and a live market cap of $212,760,229.
The current circulating supply is 991,298,297 REQ coins, and the maximum supply is 999,983,984 REQ coins.
What Makes Request Unique?
There are many features and working mechanisms that distinguish the Request from its counterparts. We will be looking at these unique features and mechanisms in this section in the following bullet points.
- Request payments are made by sending the desired invoice via the blockchain to a counterparty. He will then receive the payment Request and action it with a click via a peer-to-peer method.
- The payments are not pull-generated but push-generated; hence, users don’t need to disclose any account information. This is another key advantage of the Network over others.
- The integration of blockchain technology eliminates the demand for third-party processors leading to a price reduction in the transaction cost.
- The Request leverages decentralized blockchains like IPFS and Ethereum to enhance end-user security, ownership, and privacy.
- The Request platform charges transaction fees. This is a cost required to alert the blockchain in case of any change. These transaction fees are for incentivizing miners to reach a consensus on the Network status.
How to Buy Request REQ
You can buy the REQ token from any aforementioned exchanges following the same pattern as every other token. The only difference is that you cannot buy REQ with fiat currency or traditional money.
The easiest way to purchase the REQ is by first buying bitcoin or Ethereum from Coinbase or any other exchange. After that, you can use a debit/credit card or a bank transfer to buy, then trade the purchased crypto for REQ at, say, Binance.
We mentioned Binance because it’s the best exchange for REQ with the highest trading frequency. At Coinbase, you will need to follow the normal registration process where you will be required to input your details. Again, you will need to provide a valid Identity Card issued by the Government, like an International passport. And your proof of residency like your recent bank account statement.
Why Use the Request REQ?
The Request aims to enhance the online payment system, focusing on job automation, invoicing, and auditing.
Invoicing
There are many error reports accompanying millions of invoices from taxes and advance payment options being sent across companies yearly. The Request automates these functions by sharing them with the blockchain ledger directly. It prohibits duplication and eliminates delays.
The issue of delay in invoice remittance has made thousands of firms go bankrupt each year. This is the problem the Request Reputation system seeks to solve by enhancing instant payment.
Online Payments
With the prevalence of online shopping, popular websites like eBay or Amazon now Request personal information. This includes addresses and debit card details that hackers can misuse. The Request secures this information. However, it doesn’t allow the companies access to them and takes below a 1% transaction fee.
Accounting, Expense, and Audit Automation
The Request, through its smart contracts, automatically and instantaneously carries out accounting requirements. It makes the payment or refunding process easy and accurate, eliminating the need for paperwork digitalization like checks.
You need to input all payment details into the system in the Request, and audits are on algorithmic checks. So there won’t be any need to check for false invoicing, and evasion won’t be necessary anymore.
The Network’s white paper referred to this a ‘Smart Audits.’ This is because it’s more reliable and cheaper compared to the present manual techniques. In addition to other documents, the expense reports are stored in the Request with an efficient expense management system.
This expense manager enables employers to send all expenses to their respective managers, who can accept them immediately.
Conclusion of Request Review
The purpose of the Request REQ is to provide a viable solution to the challenges of the online payment system. This problem, according to this Request review, includes inconsistent payment, scamming, and delayed payment.
The Network seeks to achieve this through its solid team, great potentials, features, and readiness to explore the payment industry. The project team has also launched a native ERC-20 utility token that will power the Network and help keep it stable.
The Request token represented as REQ has a shrinking supply which continues to shrink with the Network’s increased used cases. Therefore, the token seems to favor its holders as they can use it for many things like voting.
You can buy REQ from various exchanges, including Binance, Capital.com, KuCoin, Coinbase, and OKEx. You can also store it using any ERC-20 supported wallets like MyEtherWallet, Ledger, Trezor, and MetaMask.
The Request protocol, rather than developing a simple Network for payment, attempts to utilize the advantages of blockchain technology. It adopts this technology in its payment, accounting, invoicing, and auditing; it’s more like a standalone product.
The REQ value may be down, but they will surely change the entire payment industry with the team’s persistent effort. We hope you found this Request review informative, and we advise that you do due diligence before getting financially involved.