While crypto has certainly revolutionized online payment in many respects, the sector still has more room to grow and advance further. There have been lots of different initiatives and developments dedicated to solving some of the things that have plagued crypto payments. Stablecoins and Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, for instance, were all dedicated to bringing some much-needed improvements to the sector.

Now, Solana Labs is hoping to make its play for the crypto payments sector with a solution it believes will be a gamechanger. The company has co-developed software that it will use to help merchants accept payments via the Solana network.

While still relatively new, the Solana network has been steadily growing in popularity. Today, it is the blockchain network that is the Ethereum network’s biggest competitor. That is because it offers a solid range of products and services. The most notable ones are the cheaper, faster, and more scalable transaction processing capabilities that the network boasts of.

Its new product is aimed at facilitating merchant payments and commerce rails. Both are very lucrative and thus a provider that offers the most value in terms of costs and instant payment settlements can tap into this unique growth opportunity.

No Middleman

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Solana’s new venture is that it lives up to the promise of crypto. Using QR codes, users will be able to make direct peer-to-peer (P2P) payments. All they need to have is a valid cryptocurrency wallet.

According to Solana Labs Head of Payments Sheraz Shere, the new product has the potential of paving the way for the future of mainstream crypto use. The fact that there is no need for a middle man taxing every transaction makes it very appealing to both merchants and consumers.

“Now that we have a blockchain that has the throughput, speed and scalability and low fees of traditional payment networks – 50,000 transactions per second and sub-second transfer times, we can potentially build a merchant payment system that’s truly on the blockchain, and most importantly, that’s peer-to-peer and decentralized and permissionless.”

Sheraz Shere, Solana Labs’ Head of Payments.

For those who may be concerned about volatility, the new product is particularly focused on USDC. According to the company, USDC transfers are the best way to go as they are not only simple to execute but also unlikely to add any stress to the network.