Nimiq Pay Launch: A New Standard For Self-Custodial Crypto Payments

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 16th, 2024, Chainwire

Nimiq, the blockchain ecosystem for payments that is designed to make cryptocurrency easy for everyone to use, has taken the first concrete steps towards its goal of becoming the world’s most widely-accepted digital asset for payments with the launch of Nimiq Pay.

Launching during this year’s Token2049 Week in Dubai, Nimiq Pay is an easy-to-use self-custodial crypto payments app that will support payments across multiple networks spanning both crypto and traditional finance. As the first-ever crypto payments app to integrate cross-chain atomic swaps to the BTC Lightning Network, Nimiq Pay users will soon be able to pay at more than 15,000 global locations that accept BTC LN payments.

These capabilities, which will be released in a second version of Nimiq Pay that’s currently in testing, will make it possible for users to spend their NIM at places that traditionally accept Bitcoin Lightning payments. In line with this plan, Nimiq is also partnering with Bluecode, a European payment scheme which offers more than 20,000 payment locations across the world, plus other stealth-partnerships with traditional payment providers. These collaborations will vastly expand the reach of Nimiq Pay’s solution. 

Nimiq is an open-source blockchain ecosystem for payments that aims to make its native payment coin NIM the world’s most widely used cryptocurrency, as a favored mechanism for everyday payments, both in stores and online. Originating in 2017, Nimiq’s grand vision is to create an easy-to-use crypto payment experience that retains the self-custodial, censorship-resistant and decentralized characteristics of true cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. With this effort, Nimiq is expanding its focus beyond platform-independent browser apps to smartphone native apps to leverage mobile device native functionalities, such as NFC, push notifications, etc.

Nimiq Pay is the culmination of this vision. Because Nimiq Pay is being launched via Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store, users can be sure it meets their most stringent security requirements. To secure user’s assets against unauthorized access, Nimiq Pay uses a 12 word seed-phrase alongside a combination of native smartphone technologies such as fingerprint scanners and facial recognition. 

By combining these robust security features with an intuitive user-interface, Nimiq Pay has all the essential ingredients needed to become the go-to mobile payments application for billions of consumers, with support for near-instant transactions and self-custody of assets. 

The initial version of Nimiq Pay will enable users to transact at more than 2,400 NAKA point-of-sale terminals globally. To locate a store that accepts Nimiq payments, users can navigate Nimiq’s built-in crypto payments acceptance map to identify those nearby.

"Through enabling BTC Lightning network payments with NIM in a self-custodial way and constantly integrating new payment partners into our expanding network of acceptance locations, Nimiq is poised to become the world's premier crypto payment ecosystem." said Max Burger, Ecosystem Developer of Nimiq.

Besides supporting consumers, Nimiq Pay provides an opportunity for businesses large and small to explore the potential of crypto payments. One way it’s doing this is through its industry-first reward points scheme, which will enable any sponsor to launch a crypto rewards program for their users. Through this program, businesses will be able to target specific areas, such as cities and provinces across the world, or various merchant brands or franchises, with adoption campaigns. Through these campaigns, brands can provide loyalty points to consumers who pay at their stores or purchase their products with NIM, participate in various challenges and tasks, and learn more about Nimiq’s ecosystem. 

Nimiq’s goal for Nimiq Pay is to ultimately surpass Bitcoin in terms of physical acceptance locations, as early as the end of next year. But its ambitions go much further, Nimiq aspires to offer a global network of payment acceptance locations, surpassing the number of Bitcoin acceptance points by twofold within the next three years.

About Nimiq

Nimiq stands out in the crowded cryptocurrency space by focusing on accessibility and real-world utility, powered by its own world-class technology. It's the first installation-free blockchain payment platform bringing crypto to a broader audience without compromising on cryptocurrency foundational cypherpunk ideals.

Nimiq is building a growing ecosystem of acceptance locations and evolving strategic partnerships. These efforts are geared towards real-world adoption, making Nimiq a pivotal player in the push for cryptocurrency acceptance and use.

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