Utopia Labs, a payments company supported by Paradigm, just introduced a new tool that lets US-based businesses deposit USDC into domestic bank accounts. The move is an attempt to eliminate the need for centralised exchanges, which would both speed up and simplify transactions between fiat and cryptocurrencies. This is pretty bullish news, especially in the wake of banks avoiding crypto exchanges following the Silicon Valley Bank crisis.
How this could impact businesses
The news is likely to incentivize more businesses to adopt crypto. Mainstream banks have been unwilling to work with crypto companies, but Utopia Labs says that its solution eliminates this problem. The company has a flat rate transfer fee of 0.3% of the transaction conducted through the platform. However, this rate is subject to change. After getting the green light, firms can begin off-ramping USDC at a fixed 1:1 rate.
The service is provided in conjunction with a number of other companies; for example, the front-end interface is provided by Safe Wallet, and the back-end conversion and compliance services are provided by Bridge. In order to use Utopia’s off-ramp service, businesses need to register with the company. To get started, they need to provide Utopia Labs with the information necessary for KYB and KYC verifications, and the company says it can accept applications in less than two working days.
Utopia allows businesses in most nations to send USDC to U.S. bank accounts, with the exception of those based in sanctioned countries like Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Belarus, and Russia.
Utopia Labs’ ultimate goal is to streamline the process by which cryptocurrency-using businesses can transact with the traditional banking system. In addition, the service can simplify the process of withdrawing fiat currency for users.
It takes three business days for the company to process a transfer and then the money will be available in the user’s designated bank account in the United States, the company says. Utopia plans to add onramps to convert fiat into cryptocurrency, expand to additional blockchain networks, and offer offramps for any other tokens, not only USDC.