Zebec Protocol, which enables real-time, continuous payments to employees, has launched on Solana. The company also announced a $5.5 million funding round co-led by Republic Capital.
Zebec Protocol’s first application is Zebec Payroll, a tax compliant on-chain processing system that allows workers to be paid by the second based on their pay rate in USDC or other stablecoins. Employees have the option to withdraw all of the money, automatically convert a portion of their paycheck into top cryptocurrencies or allocate funds to compliant crypto IRA and 401k accounts.
How it works
Payers connect with Zebec using Phantom Wallet, enter the recipient’s wallet address and then start streaming. The recipient receives the funds in their stream wallet and can withdraw that balance to turn into real-world cash. Throughout the process, Zebec handles the money completely on-chain.
The Solana blockchain can power up to 50,000 transactions per second for relatively low fees. Zebec says a new cash stream on the protocol can be established in minutes for a Solana gas or transaction fee of a fraction of a cent.
“What we are basically enabling is making money continuous.” Zebec CEO Sam Thapaliya told CoinDesk in an interview. “Imagine I send you $100 over 10 days, and you’re receiving money every single second. It makes money programmable. It makes money a continuous flow and enables completely new possibilities for how money can function in the world.”
Funding round
The funding round was led by Republic Capital, Shima Capital and Breyer Capital with participation from Launchpad Capital, Meltem Demirors, Resolute Ventures, Infinity Ventures Crypto and Joe McCann.
Thapaliya told CoinDesk that half of the money will go towards increasing Zebec’s developer ecosystem. The rest will help get the product out as fast as possible and with as many features as possible.
“The growth of the digital economy has been hindered by a lack of tax-compliant, frictionless payment processing technologies. Zebec finally makes it easy for anyone to send and receive cash in real-time without intermediaries, delays or risks of non payment,” said Republic Capital co-founder and Managing Director Christian Sullivan in the press release.
What’s next
Zebec’s near-term plans include getting the product out, a private sale in December and a public sale in February, Thapaliya said. The company is also gearing up for its SHIP 2021 hackathon, sponsored by the Solana Foundation, which encourages developers and hackers to build products on the protocol.
The ultimate goal is to take Zebec global. Thapaliya was born during the civil war in Nepal and grew up without access to bank accounts.
“I lived through a couple of dictators, a couple of communist rulers. And the one thing that was not there for us was bank accounts.” Thapaliya said.”
“I hope to make [this product] global so that one day everyone in the world is able to get access to capital in real time without middlemen withholding money and taking cuts,” he added.
