The Future of Global P2P Payments: Stablecoins and URL Links
Both Cash App and Venmo struggle with the classic cold-start problem—you can only pay someone if they’re already on the app. And even if they are, billions of people worldwide can’t meet the sign-up requirements (like having a U.S. phone number or bank account). The payments app of the future needs to solve this. It must make sending money as easy and fun as sharing any other digital content with your friends—while letting you pay anyone, anywhere.
Gray Newfield
|Jan 21, 2025
Building the best payments app on Earth isn’t just about speed or cost—after all, platforms like Cash App and Venmo already provide instant, free transfers. It’s about finally delivering on the original promise of these platforms: true person-to-person (P2P) payments.
Both Cash App and Venmo struggle with the classic cold-start problem—you can only pay someone if they’re already on the app. And even if they are, billions of people worldwide can’t meet the sign-up requirements (like having a U.S. phone number or bank account). The payments app of the future needs to solve this. It must make sending money as easy and fun as sharing any other digital content with your friends—while letting you pay anyone, anywhere.
That’s why we built BeerMe, the fun, global alternative to Venmo powered by USDC. One of BeerMe’s core features is the ability to send money and tokens to anyone via a simple URL. And thanks to our collaboration with Privy, each user has a self-custody wallet embedded in the BeerMe app. This means users enjoy a seamless, crypto-enabled experience—without even realizing they’re using crypto.
Why Simple URL Links Matter
1. Cross-Platform Convenience
Token links can be shared on any secure messaging platform—iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, you name it. No matter how you chat, you can send assets to your friends as easily as dropping them a link.
2. Built-In Trust
You don’t need to hassle someone for their username or try to guess which Max Segall is the real one. Send money on any channel you already use and trust, where you know exactly who’s on the other end.
3. Freedom to Initiate
“Are you on Venmo?” “No, I use Cash App.” “Oh, how about PayPal?” We’ve all been there. With BeerMe, skip the platform coordination dance. Send a payment whenever you want. If the recipient isn’t a user yet, they’ll receive a URL that walks them through creating a BeerMe account (and a Privy self-custody wallet) in seconds.
How BeerMe Sends Tokens Without an Address: Token Locker Protocol (TLP)
A major hurdle in sending tokens on most blockchain systems is that the sender needs to know the recipient’s wallet address. Not only can addresses change; new users won’t have one at all. Relying on addresses forces people to coordinate ahead of time, which undermines the spontaneity of P2P payments.
Introducing Token Lockers
Token lockers remove addressing from the user’s concerns by allowing you to send tokens using channels you already trust (like messaging apps). It’s somewhat like a package locker: You can drop off a package without needing the recipient’s home address, and the recipient can pick it up without publicly sharing where they live.
How It Works
A Key-Pair Is Generated
When you create a token link in BeerMe, a key-pair is generated locally. The public key is stored in the locker contract onchain, while the private key is embedded in a one-time-use link.
Share the Link
The sender passes that link (containing the private key) to the intended recipient via any messaging channel.
Receiver Unlocks the Tokens
When the recipient clicks the link, they generate a signature using the private key. Only someone with the link is able to generate a valid signature. To prevent frontrunners from hijacking the payment, the user’s desired deposit address is included in the message.
The locker contract checks this signature against the stored public key.
If the signature is valid, the desired deposit address is recovered from the signature, and the tokens are transferred to the address.
Trustless Transfer
The tokens transfer onchain directly to the recipient’s address, without any third party controlling or holding them.
In short, TLP enables non-interactive token transfers: You don’t need the recipient’s address first, and you don’t have to trust an intermediary to forward the tokens. It’s a 100% trustless design.
Why Not a Centralized “Store-and-Forward” Service?
It would be simpler to spin up a centralized server and wallet to store your tokens until the recipient is ready, then forward them. But that design would violate the core principles of decentralized systems—you’re handing control of your assets over to a third party. We believe in a true P2P future for money, and that means avoiding centralized choke points.
Privy Integration: Self-Custody Without the Headaches
A big part of BeerMe’s user experience is thanks to our core technology partner, Privy, which handles secure, embedded self-custody wallets for every BeerMe user. This means users can:
Send and Receive Tokens without ever copying or pasting scary-looking wallet addresses.
Control Their Own Keys without needing advanced crypto knowledge or managing a separate app or browser extension.
Onboard Instantly simply by clicking a link. The process of creating a wallet feels like signing up for any modern app—no friction or confusion.
Privy ensures that nobody but the user ever controls their private keys—even BeerMe can’t access them—so BeerMe functions as a true self-custody app by default.
One Beer at Time
BeerMe sets out to be the digital wallet of the future, where money (and tokens of all kinds) can flow as freely as text messages. True P2P payments aren’t just about paying friends in your own country; they’re about paying anyone, anywhere, with no extra coordination or infrastructure needed.
This is the type of crypto-enabled experience that unleashes the full potential of decentralized technology, while keeping the user experience as simple as “tap, send, done.” Most importantly, the user doesn’t need to be a crypto expert or even know what a blockchain is. It’s just as intuitive as sending a link.
We believe that money is meant to be free—free from excessive fees, free from gatekeepers, and free from the friction of platform lock-in. By integrating Privy’s self-custody wallet solution and innovating on the Token Locker Protocol, BeerMe is bringing user-friendly, global P2P payments to the mainstream. We’re proving that crypto can be both powerful and invisible, delivering on the promise of a truly open financial system.
Ready to BeerMe? You can learn more and try it out for yourself here. We’re excited to partner with Privy to make this vision a reality—one beer at a time.
