Right. I could also buy a gift card and use that. But that was not what I was talking about. As I am aware there is no way that I send my crypto directly to one of these companies.
If you want to solve a problem that Storj appearantly has then you have to analyze it and finde the cause. Only then you will be able to work out a solution.
Here one of the causes is that crypto is not used widely as it is still a niche. That’s what my examples show as the big companies don’t even touch it. People and companies are still using credit cards, Paypal and banks. So the question is, if it is worth for Storj to put any effort into that niche instead of focusing on growth in customers and revenue. As it is a niche whatever amount of resouces are spent, the outcome will be small.
Here are some:
- Allow and promote payment in STORJ for GPU compute
- Allow and promote payment in STORJ in Storj store (if it still exists)
- Allow and promote payment in STORJ for Object Mount
- Allow and promote payment in STORJ for all other products that Storj offers.
- Offer higher discounts for payment with STORJ. Something like first bill off 25% when paid with STORJ.
- Promote the STORJ token (I think I have never seen the STORJ token mentioned on Storjs LinkedIn page for example)
- Improve the token website and name swap services that are hassle free to use
- Integrate Swap service into website
- Partner with swap services and exchanges
- Make potential users like customers with minimum fee aware of STORJ token usage instead
- Make a customer survey and ask the if they are aware of the token, the benefits and if they are, why they are not using the token
- Offer token rewards in communites and on Github for issues or for PRs.
- Offer kickbacks for resellers in STORJ
- Make a survey among resellers and partners if they already accept crypto and suggest to them to accept STORJ as payment for their services as well.
- Make every partner or reseller who accept STORJ a preferred partner and offer additional benefits to them (blog mention, case study, preferred coding and integration support)
But again, you have to analyze and find the root cause for the problem. And it may be that the root cause is using the STORJ token at all. You should not spend your time and resources to find a problem for your solution.
Not implementing something only because you believe it is a legacy is a terribly weak argument.
I am wondering that you are failing to see the improvements from my suggestions. Let me tell you that from my perspective as a SNO it would be a huge improvement for me if I could receive my payouts into my bank account and not have to touch crypto at all. It also would be cheaper for me as well as for Storj. Why do you think this would not be an improvement?
I am advocating to remove the STORJ token because it is expensive to send, because there is a huge spread when selling it, because its value is not stable and it is prone to becoming a risk for Storj when they are forced to buy it back. Removing these issues would be an improvement for customers, SNOs and Storj itself. Don’t you see that? This suggestion does not necessarily advocate for using fiat. It advocates for removing the failures that the STORJ token has built in.
Additionally by using a different and stable coin this would also open the door for Storj to already existing crypto eco systems. How is this not an improvement? There would be effectively more users, businesses, exchanges etc. that use already e.g. USDT. The whole ecosystem of an existing and established coin would open up for Storj. More places to buy, more places to spend, more places to sell, less volatility, less spread, potentially lower transaction cost, easier to handle. How is this not an improvement?
My main suggestion though is to make use of a service provider who is specialized in doing such payments and let the SNO choose how they want to get paid. With a payment provider Storj would be able to let the SNO choose if they want to get paid in crypto or to their bank account or Paypal or whatever at stable and predictable transactions cost. No more worries for the SNO if gas prices are going crazy and they might not get paid. How is this not an improvement?
As the transaction costs with such a provider are low, let the SNO bear the cost. This would mean zero transaction cost for Storj and as said in a previous post less than 2 USD for me to receive the funds into my bank account I would happily bear. How is this not an improvement and cheaper than the current solution?
With such a payment provider Storj would be able to distribute their payments at a mouse click to SNOs worldwide how they prefer it and SNOs would even receive an invoice. How is this not an improvement to the current situation?
I see that you are failing to see the improvements of my suggestions.
But what I am doing is to look at other companies that are facing the very same challenge like Storj: To conduct micropayments to a globally distributed workforce, cheap and efficient. I don’t see other companies doing it the Storj way. Instead they rely on specialized providers so they can focus on their core business. This naturally raises doubts that the Storj solution is the superior one.
If you really believe that the current solution is the best and cheapest to do your payouts, why don’t you make a stand-alone product out of it and offer it as Storj payment service to companies that face the same challenge? Of course it would be easier to contact payment providers first to discuss your issues and find out how they can help and at what costs. Then Storj could compare if their system is better. I doubt that Storj is doing what those provider do cheaper and more efficiently.
Yes. The root cause is the STORJ token itself as its features are not aligned with what the company wants it to be used for today.
I have suggested already when the minimum fee was introduced to make it easy to buy STORJ and send it to the Storj account for payment buy naming swap or exchange service who provide that without the hassle of opening an account, KYC or also buying ETH first:
I know some providers that can even be integrated into the Storj website and I am sure there are many more that would be suitable.
This way users can buy STORJ token and send them to the Storj account address only by using their credit card.
In general I agree that using Ethernet with at least volatile gas prices and basically having to manage 2 crypto currencies to be able to use STORJ token was a bad decision for the todays intended use cases. A stand-alone blockchain where whatever crypto is the only means of payment with e.g. fixed transaction costs would better suits todays requirements.
If I remember correctly the smart contract idea was one reason named in the past why Ethernet was chosen in the first place. But it seems that nothing in that way has been done or either it was not working out well. At least I am not aware of anything using smart contracts and STORJ.
I agree that with todays situation where you can achieve the same result with fiat as with token but with less headache, there is no strong incentive to touch the STORJ token.
This is what it looks like. Hopefully, a VC investor from whom they want money will pull this tooth out of them.