Wirex is leading the way with innovative innovations that could completely change the way we view cryptocurrency wallets and payments.
Georgy Sokolov, co-founder of Wirex, gave an exclusive preview of these newest innovations during the recent AMA session with BeInCrypto. The newly unveiled COCO wallet — a result of Wirex and COCA’s strategic partnership — was the topic of discussion during the session.
As a result of this partnership, the first Multi-Party Computation (MPC) wallet in history and a non-custodial debit card have been created, raising the bar for security and control in the field of digital finance.
In addition to answering questions from the Community and rewarding the most interesting ones with Wirex tokens, the AMA session explores how this new offering stands out in the web3 market.
Wirex X AMA Session With BeInCrypto
BIC: We’re getting ready for our first AMA session in 2024 😎
🗣 COMMUNITY
As usual, I’ll have some questions for today’s speaker. After that, he will answer the 5 most interesting questions from you (quick reminder: we collected these questions in advance!) 🔥These 5 lucky Community members will get $20 in WXT from Wirex 😏
Ok, I’m sure that your name is already familiar to many in our community, but let’s keep things formal. Please introduce yourself.
Georgy:
Hi everyone! My name’s Georgy – I’m the Vice President of B2B (Global Partnerships) and also co-founder of Wirex.
BIC: I want to dedicate today’s AMA to your recent partnership with COCA. Can you please tell us a bit more?
Georgy:
Sure thing! Wirex recently teamed up with COCA and released the world’s first Multi-Party Computation (MPC) wallet accompanied by a non-custodial debit card.
With this new wallet, users have more control and ownership of their money, making transactions more secure. Unlike regular services where someone else manages your funds, this non-custodial approach lets you be in charge all the time.
The COCA debit card, powered by Wirex’s technology, is a big deal in terms of making digital finance more secure and convenient.
On that note, COCA has recently won the ‘#1 Product of the Day’ award on Product Hunt for getting over 250,000 wallets just a week after its launch. It’s a go-to website that spotlights the most promising tech products and services. And apart from that, COCA Wallet has been accepted into Money20/20 Asia’s startup program!
Wirex is really excited about teaming up with COCA! This partnership is all about bringing our users some awesome new features and benefits.
BIC: COCA is based on MPC technology. Please explain to our newbies what it is and how this technology is implemented in COCA Wallet.
Georgy:
Multi-Party Computation, often referred to as MPC, is a cryptographic process that allows several parties to work together on a calculation using their inputs without disclosing those inputs. To put it simply, it enables different entities to cooperate on finding a solution without sharing their personal data.
The COCA Wallet uses MPC cryptography to eliminate typical vulnerabilities linked to seed phrases and private keys. Holding your own keys all sounds good in theory – no one has access to or control of the keys except the wallet owner, but in reality they are not easy to store securely and manage efficiently. If I am not wrong, 20%+ of all crypto has been lost forever due to owners losing their private keys. Using MPC guarantees that your wallet remains easily recoverable and resistant to hacking, offering an unprecedented level of security.
BIC: For verification, COCA Wallet uses biometric technology. Is it more secure than classic data verification?
Georgy:
Certainly! Using biometric technology for verification in the COCA Wallet is safer than the traditional methods of verifying data. Biometrics, like fingerprints or facial recognition, rely on unique physical or behavioural traits, making it harder for unauthorised people to access your information.
Unlike passwords or PINs, which can be stolen or hacked, biometric data, especially the very advanced and AI powered facial recognition used by COCA, is personal and tough to replicate. This makes the verification process in the COCA Wallet more secure and reliable for users.
BIC: Best rates guaranteed, said the COCA website. Please tell us how you provide these low rates.
Georgy:
COCA’s advanced routing engine checks and compares prices across 17 different fiat on-ramps and 182 local payment methods.
When it comes to exchanging crypto, whether on-chain or cross-chain (between different blockchain networks, for instance, exchanging USDC on Ethereum to AVAX on Avalanche), those are powered by leading DEX and bridge aggregators.
This means you always get unbeatable rates when trading or converting your cryptocurrency.
BIC: Wirex’s card infrastructure also powers COCA’s non-custodial debit card. What’s the main difference between COCA Card & Wirex Card?
Georgy:
In short, Wirex launched the first crypto-enabled custodial card that offers up to 8% Cryptoback™ on all transactions while COCA offers a non-custodial card, eliminating the need for third parties.
For the time being the Wirex card allows to spend both crypto and fiat, as well as supports way more crypto assets.
Apart from that, Wirex offers 2 step-verification, while the COCA card has 3FA making sure your crypto is retrievable through your email, 3D FaceLock, and COCA’s distinct recovery file.
BIC: What can I pay with a COCA Card? Online and offline purchases? Can I use it during my trip to Europe?
Georgy:
COCA offers both virtual and physical card formats, allowing users to spend cryptocurrency at over 40 million merchants across more than 200 countries. Another good thing is that COCA enables direct crypto transactions without the need for preloading.
Both Virtual and Physical Cards are available in the UK and EEA, with plans to expand to additional regions soon.
BIC: What about ATM withdrawals?
You can withdraw up to $200 per month from any location worldwide without being charged, making global transactions hassle-free. After that there is a small ATM fee, in line with what most neo-banks offer these days.
BIC: Many web3 companies integrate IBAN (you can use it for making or receiving international payments) into their cards. Does COCA plan to do the same?
Georgy:
Really? How many? 🙂 I can almost bet not many people would be able to name more than a handful – even if that.
But to answer the question – yes, it is coming soon, thanks to account abstraction. With this feature, users can smoothly handle Euro transactions and tap into banking services effortlessly, closing the gap between digital and traditional banking experiences.
BIC: Can you share COCA fees with us?
Georgy:
COCA provides a fee-free experience, removing monthly and foreign exchange fees.
Besides, the COCA Wallet allows you to participate in cross-chain swaps using a large liquidity pool, all without incurring any fees.
Additionally, it offers protection from sandwich attacks and Miner Extractable Value (MEV) through Flashbots, guaranteeing that you receive the optimal price without any hidden costs.
BIC: Is there any other interesting news at Wirex?
Georgy:
Yes! Wirex is set to announce the launch of W-Pay, our ZK-powered App Chain very soon.
This decentralised payment network, utilising the capabilities of the award-winning Wirex platform, addresses the key challenges of integrating Web3 with traditional finance.
Here are some of the standout features of W-Pay:
- W-Pay is built on Zero-Knowledge technology, ensuring compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
- Designed for rapid transactions, ensuring users experience swift and efficient payments.
- The Wirex Token (WXT) powers W-Pay, serving as the primary gas token for all transactions.
- W-Pay offers near-instant and secure interoperability with all other Polygon chains.
- Users benefit from automatic, seamless access to the shared liquidity of all Polygon chains.
- W-Pay is specifically tailored for payment use cases, ensuring optimal user experience.
- Account Abstraction (AA) lies at the heart of W-Pay, forming the backbone of the new on-chain infrastructure.
Follow this link to secure your exclusive spot for early access and become a part of this exciting journey!
BIC: Cool! It’s time for the questions from our Community 😎
@TamekaHopson asks:
Could you explain how Wirex’s in-app biometrics confirmation feature simplifies the authentication process for users, eliminating the need for constant SMS-based OTPs and providing a more seamless and convenient experience?
Georgy:
There’s a tough balance between simplicity and security. On the one hand, all those SMS codes and confirmations when making a purchase online can get quite annoying, on the other – imagine someone stealing your card details (which can happen even without you or Wirex doing anything wrong or silly!) and emptying your balance in a matter of minutes by making online purchases.
That is why strictly follow the best practices and rules for SCA (strong customer authentication) and ensure the customer needs to confirm it is actually him or her using the card, and not someone who managed to get hold of the card number and details.
Confirming the purchase with a code received via SMS is one way of adding that extra layer of security. But it is not the safest way possible. Most of you have probably heard of ‘SIM highjacking’, when criminals manage to get access to the victims’ mobile phone numbers by various social engineering tricks.
In that sense, confirming the transactions from inside the app is way more secure. And also more convenient, as you don’t need to enter any codes, just tap ‘Confirm’ within the Wirex app itself.
Of course, you need to make sure that you secure your mobile device – use a complicated PIN code for the phone itself, make sure you have a PIN-code and/or biometrics set up to access the Wirex app itself, make sure you have 2FA on, etc.
BIC: The question from @JuliusDunham:
With Wirex attending over 20 industry-leading events across Europe, North America, and Asia in 2023, could you elaborate on the significance of these events in terms of connecting with the crypto community, sharing insights, and fostering collaboration within the industry?
Georgy:
Not an obvious one, but good question. Firstly, it is not just the crypto community that we aim to connect with, get insights from and find collaboration opportunities with. It is also the various companies and stakeholders from the more traditional finance industry, such as banks, acquirers, various BaaS and SaaS providers, etc.
Wirex has always been the connector between traditional finance and the emerging crypto industry. Funny enough, when we come to the more traditional events like Money20/20, when people see us they say: ‘Ah, Wirex, yeah, we know you, you’re the crypto guys’. And when we come to the crypto events, especially the more OG and developer-focused ones like Devconnect, for instance, people say: ‘Ah, Wirex, the bankers’. Of course, we are not ‘the bankers’, certainly not in the evil sense of the term 🙂
And, quite honestly, as important as the partnerships in the traditional finance space are (such as our principal membership with Visa and Mastercard, the multiple banking relationships, the licenses we hold, etc) we tend to learn quite a lot more and get inspired by talking to the crypto community.
It is the conversations we had at Ethereum’s Devconnect in Istanbul last autumn that confirmed our hypothesis and made us make the bigger move into the on-chain non-custodial space. We have been involved with various on-chain and DeFi partnerships before, of course, but this new one with the non-custodial card powered by Polygon’s ZK stack is a true innovation – connecting not just crypto wallets, but self-custody wallets to the traditional financial infrastructure.
Now not only we will be able the crypto holders all kinds of real-life use cases, but do so without making them rely on a 3rd party to hold custody of their funds.
BIC: I love this question from @Zhaolong8888!
The value of WXT is not linked to the value on Wirex and is subject to market fluctuations on the OKEx trading platform. Therefore, buying WXT is not the same as buying stocks or equity. So what is the true purpose of wirex when releasing WXT?
Georgy:
You are exactly right – the value of WXT is not directly linked to either the value of Wirex as a company, or its products and features, or its overall performance. Most tokens aren’t, and largely because there are too many projects out there with little-to-no value or product, or features, or performance – nothing much but the token itself.
It is different for Wirex. The (true) purpose of releasing the token has always been for it to be a utility and loyalty mechanism within the Wirex ecosystem. Token holders get additional benefits when using Wirex – higher cashback, higher yield on their X-Accounts, etc.
As the industry is moving on-chain, we are, of course, keeping an eye on that trend and want to be part of it. Hence, WXT will have a role to play in this widening ecosystem, too – not just within the Wirex app itself. So, its utility and benefits will only grow. Whether the speculators on OKX and other exchanges appreciate that or not – we have always focused on the real utility and use cases 🙂
BIC: @glukhova1_lena asks:
Could you elaborate on the rewards program associated with referring friends to Wirex, including the criteria for earning rewards and the benefits for both the referrer and the referred friend?
Georgy:
You can find the full details here. But in short, both, the referrer and the referred friend can get a bonus of up to $60, provided the qualifying criteria are met. Those change from time to time; right now the promotional offer is focused on X-Accounts Plus, our market-leading high-yield account offering.
Not only can you earn a very attractive APY on your crypto or stablecoins, but also receive a bonus for joining. These bonuses won’t last forever though 🙂
BIC: The last one – @ShaundaRobson:
I’ve invested in so many projects made alot of promises without accomplishing them, they tend to base the survival of project solely on price movement of which if investors dump they team give up and stop developing ( which hurts the long term holders) then jump into creating a different new project, instead of developing a functional revenue generating utilities. How can you ensure us that holding this token is more beneficial for long-term and that you won’t give up when things gets tough?
Georgy:
I think it would be sufficient to look at the history of Wirex. We launched an actual working product – the world’s first crypto card as early as 2015. In fact, it wasn’t even a crypto card, rather a Bitcoin card, because Ethereum wasn’t around yet.
Not participating in the ICO boom, holding multiple licenses, being the only crypto company in the world to have principal membership with both Visa and Mastercard – ‘jumping into creating a different new project’ just doesn’t seem logical with all that history behind us 🙂
Not to mention giving up when things get tough – we have been through and survived 3 bear markets already. NO, it wasn’t easy, but we never gave up. Let’s talk about things being tough. Hope I’ve answered the question 🙂
BIC: Cool! Done!
Georgy, thank you very much for your time and availability today!
Community, if you want to explore Wirex platform & COCA Wallet on you own, here are the links:
That’s it guys!
Conclusion: Interesting insights from Wirex
After an interesting AMA with Georgy Sokolov from Wirex, we’ve learned a lot about the cutting-edge COCA wallet, the ground-breaking collaboration with COCA, and the direction of digital finance. Georgy’s thorough responses clarified the special qualities of the COCA wallet, how Wirex is continuously evolving in the cryptocurrency market, and how it uses MPC technology for increased security.
We appreciate Georgy sharing his knowledge and our community members asking insightful questions. Don’t forget to check out the COCA Wallet and Wirex platform to see their newest products up close. We are grateful to everyone who attended and helped to make this AMA session a success!
Join our BeInCrypto Trading Community and receive bonuses for asking the most interesting questions to the speakers during future AMA sessions.
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