Cryptocurrency-to-fiat app P2P.me raises $2 million from Multicoin and Coinbase Ventures

Cryptocurrency-to-fiat app P2P.me raises $2 million from Multicoin and Coinbase Ventures

P2P app brings stablecoin payments to the QR code space.

Danny Nelson | Edited by Aoyon Ashraf Updated April 4, 2025, 5:45 PM Published April 4, 2025, 4:24 PM

What you need to know:

• P2P.me has received seed funding from Multicoin and Coinbase Ventures.
• The crypto-to-fiat alternative uses a network of intermediaries to move payments between financial systems.

The original idea of Bitcoin as “electronic cash for equals” is not quite in line with Satoshi’s intentions. More and more people are looking to pay with cryptocurrency, but most merchants prefer fiat money exclusively.

By subscribing, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy .

While the issue has many workarounds in countries with developed banking and credit systems, it is a serious problem in regions with alternative electronic payment systems such as QR codes, says pseudonymous crypto developer Sheldon Cooper. How can you scan a code that only supports fiat money and pay with stablecoins?

Cooper’s solution, P2P.me, does this without the need for traditional inputs and outputs. Instead, the blockchain service relies on a network of intermediaries willing to accept Alice’s USDC and send the equivalent amount in fiat currency to Bob. The entire process takes about 90 seconds, he says.

There is no need for traditional identity verification. P2P.me verifies its users with zero-knowledge proofs that verify a real social media presence and possibly even a government-issued ID. However, this personal data is not stored, unlike most financial institutions like banks and Binance.

“We were thinking about how to decentralize this process. How to do both on-chain and off-chain transactions in a decentralized way,” Cooper says. “The main issue is privacy and self-protection. All these centralized exchanges are handing over data to the government.”

P2P.me’s unique combination of permissionless marketplace and privacy technology has processed $1.6 million in payments from about 1,100 users, mostly in Indonesia, Nigeria, and Vietnam. This modest but rapidly growing amount has attracted the attention of venture capitalists: Multicoin Capital and Coinbase Ventures recently invested $2 million in P2P.me’s seed round.

Cooper says the funding has already helped P2P.me grow its team to 20 people ahead of its planned expansion into Latin America. He sees local communities struggling with existing financial systems as key adopters, as well as crypto-savvy tourists heading to places where their credit cards won’t work but their mobile devices will.

As Cooper noted, the open protocol built on Base plans to launch a token within the next 12 months that will hand over governance to the community.

“The strategic idea of the token is to scale globally to break the network effects of centralized exchanges using P2P,” he added.

Источник