DeFi has been one of the largest catalysts of growth within the blockchain sector recently, but this growth has come at a high cost. The majority of the DeFi economy runs on Ethereum, which has been experiencing a massive transactional overload, resulting in transaction fees that have surpassed $100, with prices of 1,000 gwei seen at peak times.
With user demand for DeFi at an all-time high, smart contract platforms like Cardano and COTI have stepped up to the plate, providing alternative services that offer the same value with much faster and cheaper transactions. The adoption of competing smart contract platforms has seen an explosion in trading volume for ADA, Cardano's native currency. This upswing in interest has also boded well for many projects developed on or integrated with Cardano, such as COTI.
The Right Place at the Right Time
Decentralized finance recently hit an all-time high of $40 billion in total locked value before slightly receding. When comparing this to the less than $1 billion DeFi market seen in early 2020, the dramatic growth within the space is evident. COTI is tapping into this crypto narrative by providing a framework for developers and enterprises to build payment solutions for the future. Using COTI, any currency can be digitized, allowing for the easy issuance of branded stablecoins. COTI also facilitates the acceptance of cryptocurrencies by merchants.
Cardano and COTI have a rich history of working together, which explains why COTI is seeing so much momentum alongside the adoption of Cardano. COTI team members regularly participate in Cardano-focused events, with COTI's CEO, Shahaf Bar-Geffen, discussing ADA Pay at Cardano's Virtual Summit last July. ADA Pay is a payment gateway designed by COTI on the Cardano network, allowing merchants to accept ADA as a form of payment. With this collaboration, the merchant can choose to hold onto the ADA or convert it to 35 different global currencies. All payments are made on-chain on Cardano, pointing to the increased growth of COTI as more buyers and merchants use ADA.
ADA Gateway Brings Cardano to Ecommerce
COTI has been working to establish itself across the entire crypto spectrum, with Cardano playing an important part in raising its profile. COTI has announced the release of its first Crypto Gateway that allows merchants to receive payments in BTC, with the release of the ADA Gateway coinciding. This milestone comes in collaboration with Cardano, showing the two projects’ knack for exploring synergies that can grow their respective ecosystems.
The partnership to develop a proper payment gateway for ADA is a coup for both parties, as the Cardano Foundation is able to leverage COTI's Universal Payment Solution to provide further utility to the ADA token. The two projects will propel each other forward: as more users adopt and use ADA as the Cardano platform becomes more popular, more merchants will accept ADA and introduce COTI's crypto gateway, for the benefit of COTI, Cardano, merchants and buyers.