Plutus it Tap and Pay Anywhere with Bitcoin and Ethereum

 Plutus, a new start-up based in London, allows any merchant with contactless card terminals to accept bitcoin and ethereum payments regardless of whether the merchant has in fact adopted bitcoin or ethereum. 

 Utilizing the new NFC technology, Plutus aims to make physical Bitcoin and Ethereum payments as easy as tap and go, with merchants not being aware the payment was a digital currency based transaction, ensuring almost universal acceptance of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The Plutus app, showcased in a video, converts Ethereum or Bitcoin on the fly, with the actual payment made in fiat. Showcasing the prototype, after depositing ethereum, a Tesco’s customer, one of the largest supermarkets in UK, simply taps the phone on the contactless terminal and in seconds finishes his payment. 

 Exchange Out by Autumn, App by Winter 2016

The app is not yet ready to launch. Filip Martinka, CCO of Plutus, speaking to CCN stated that plutus’ was using a “centralized exchange for the prototype.” They aim to use a decentralized exchange for the actual product, called PlutusDEX, “which will be a smart contract, and liquidity will be provided by the users themselves.” 

 The exchange is in the “very, very early stages of testing” and a “one way exchange process.” Buyers deposit fiat to an “escrow”, which is a bank account controlled by Plutus, with sellers sending their instant orders as they deposit their btc or eth to the app.

The exchange is expected to launch sometime during Autumn 2016, after a “formal security audit” combined with bounties for the prototype. The app, however, is ready to go, but won’t launch until winter 2016.