
Popcoin – Let's get you paid - tyvdh
https://popcoin.ws/
======
tyvdh
I’m so excited and proud to announce the launch of my latest side project
Popcoin, a usage based billing service built to be the best way to get paid
for just about anything It’s built on top of the Stellar SDK and utilizes
Stripe Connect. It was built as part of this year’s 3rd Stellar Build
Challenge.

== What does it do? == At it’s core Popcoin is a usage based billing service.
You identify users within your product and then create micro charges within
that product to slowly (or quickly) use up individual user’s credits. Things
like, “view this page, charge 1 credit”, “call this API endpoint, bill 0.17
credits”, “download this song, spend 13 credits”, “every month, burn 100
credits”, “read this article, expense 7.65 credits”. It’s completely up to you
how, when and why credits are burned for users as it’s just API charge calls
to the Popcoin network. As soon as a user attempts to take an action that
would put them below a threshold you’ve set within Popcoin we’ll send out a
customizable refill email. Once that invoice is filled we’ll reload the user’s
credit, slip out our fees and pass the rest on to you.

== What does it cost? == Popcoin has a fixed fee of 5% per invoice. This added
on top of Stripe’s already low fees of 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction will leave
you with loads of cash for the piggy. As an example if a user were to clear a
$10 invoice, Stripe would take 59¢ and Popcoin would take 50¢, leaving you
with $8.91.

== How does it work? == Popcoin operates on three core services. Stellar,
Stripe and the Popcoin API.

Stellar acts as the financial undergirding for Popcoin. Providing a
tokenization engine much like Bitcoin or Ethereum. Within their network
Popcoin creates and maintains a network of accounts which give and receive a
token unique to Popcoin. Stellar acts as the financial ledger keeping track of
who has what and how much.

Stripe acts as the currency platform allowing Popcoin to move from tokens,
cryptocurrencies and computers to cold hard cash in your bank account. Their
service Stripe Connect is a top notch tool allowing Popcoin to safely,
securely and in a controlled, maintained environment move money from your
users to you. All without you ever having to really do much of anything beyond
creating an initial connection.

The Popcoin API is the last piece of the puzzle and while it might sound
tricky or feel like black magic at times. It’s actually just simple, smart and
straightforward. You give us a user and then begin spending their credit
balance.

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sharemywin
Seems like there should be a threshold so the end user doesn't lose service.

~~~
tyvdh
It's up to the developer to decide what it means when an user's account has
been overspent. The API will just return a 402. They don't have to disable
service for that 402.

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angryasian
why convert to coins ? why not just use stellar directly ?

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tyvdh
It does use Stellar directly. The real question is why use Stripe at all, and
the reason being because for now Stellar doesn't have enough connected
Federation servers that can translate coins directly to native fiat
currencies. Or in other words I can't get the Stellar currencies out of
Stellar and into your bank accounts without Stripe. This is hopefully only
temporary though. Once more banks become federation endpoints and are issuing
native fiat currencies on the platform the need for Stripe will go away.

~~~
angryasian
It was my understanding that Stripe would be used primarily for credit cards
payments to convert to this coin.

~~~
tyvdh
Sure, that happens, but not because of Stripe or through Stripe. Stripe just
acts as a means of transferring a user's coin balance into a fiat currency
that can move into a devs bank account from a users bank account. Stellar acts
as the ledger for the coin or token system. Stripe facilitates a means to do
something with that system that actually moves real money around.

