I have a dream. And today, that dream is one step closer to reality.
The dream is simple; nobody tells me what I can or cannot do with my money. This is the Bitcoin promise – freedom.
However, despite solid efforts from groups like CoinOS (who have onboarded nearly 100 merchants to accept bitcoin in Canada), the sad reality is that we are still beholden to the bank’s decision on whether or not our desired purchase is valid. Until now.
This week, Bitcoin Well released Bitcoin Well Payment Addresses. This concept in and of itself is not novel. However, the way it is implemented is a clear indicator as to how Bitcoin Well intends to differentiate themselves from the rest of the market.
They are on a clear path to couple the convenience of modern banking, with the benefits of bitcoin in self custody.
Bitcoin Well offers both lite accounts and fully verified accounts the ability to sell bitcoin on the Lightning Network, instantly, and receive an e-Transfer. The Payment Address is easy to remember as “[welltag]@sell.btcw.app”.
This, on the surface, is pretty cool. You can sell bitcoin without logging in from any Lightning Wallet that supports Payment Addresses (which is most of them).
But the more we dig into this feature, we can see how it can really be used to preserve your privacy and move closer to living on a bitcoin standard.
Without directly saying it, this feature removes every single objective from any merchant who doesn’t accept bitcoin because they “don’t like the volatility”.
The Bitcoin Well Payment Address automatically converts the bitcoin into dollars and delivers an e-Transfer to the email address associated with the account. Moreover, the e-Transfer email that comes to your email can be copied and sent to anyone.
That leaves you with two options to use bitcoin to pay literally anyone in Canada.
- Get them to make a Bitcoin Well account.
This will give them the simplest experience. Anyone who signs up with an email address, password and username can receive up to $995 e-Transfers directly from their Bitcoin Well Payment Address.
For example, if your cleaner wants a $250 e-Transfer, and their Bitcoin Well Welltag is “squeakyclean”, simply send sats from your personal Lightning Wallet to squeakyclean@sell.btcw.app. Your cleaner will receive an e-Transfer immediately.
You send sats. They receive e-Tranfser.
However, I recognize not everyone you interact with will want to make a Bitcoin Well account (even if it is the fastest and safest Bitcoin Platform in the country). So, send an e-Transfer to an email not associated with Auto Deposit. - Send yourself an e-Transfer, then send them the link.
If the email address that you use for your Bitcoin Well account is not associated with Auto Deposit, then you will receive an email from “Remit Payment” that will have a link to deposit into any bank in Canada. By anyone.
To use our example above, you could simply send sats from your personal Lightning Wallet to your [welltag]@sell.btcw.app. YOU will get an e-Transfer immediately, which you can either forward to your cleaner or copy/paste the relevant link.
Just like that, you are able to utilize the legacy fiat financial system, while still keeping your bitcoin in self custody. This is how we increase adoption.
We started using it. We started showing people how easy it is to live on bitcoin. We tell everyone we know “I am using bitcoin” and make them curious. This is the last step before mass adoption. And I can’t believe it’s here.
