Wirex Launches Blockchain-Based Network With 80 Million Merchants

Wirex has launched its mainnet, making its decentralized payment method, Wirex Pay, live and ready to use.

This blockchain-based payment method allows users to make transactions using cryptocurrencies at more than 80 million merchants in more than 200 countries, the company said in a Wednesday (Aug. 28) press release.

“With the mainnet now live, Wirex Pay is ready to change the way we think about payments,” the company said in the release.

The launch of the mainnet follows a node sale that will ensure the network is “community-driven and secure,” Wirex said in the release.

The company also plans to launch a governance token called WPAY in September, saying this will give users a voice in determining how the platform is run, according to the release.

This news comes about a month after Wirex and Visa teamed up to promote the use of digital currencies in Europe and the United Kingdom, saying their collaboration will “explore new opportunities to leverage and integrate innovative Visa cards and reduce friction in payment experiences.”

The companies said their partnership brings together Visa’s payment network and Wirex’s product innovation to develop products — including Wirex Pay — that integrate blockchain technology with traditional financial systems.

“At a time when the financial world is boldly moving towards Web3 and decentralization, the need for robust solutions for global funds movement remain essential,” Sviatoslav Garal, global head of payments at Wirex, said in a July 15 press release. “Key ecosystem players like Visa play a tremendous role in this shift.”

In another recent development in this space, Ripple and Archax said in June that they extended their existing collaboration, aiming to bring hundreds of millions of dollars of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) onto the XRP Ledger (XRPL) over the coming year.

In May, MoonPay launched a platform called Web3 Tools that is designed for “building mainstream-ready digital experiences.” By offering services such as authentication, identity verification, advanced token-gating, ticketing and insights, the platform is meant to help brands “confidently bring new commerce opportunities to market” and make “digital ownership simple, accessible and valuable for everyone,” MoonPay said in a press release announcing the launch.