To understand better how crypto works, the BNB Chain Research team draws a map of the web3 payment ecosystem

Leaving aside both the philosophical questions and the independence of the monetary policies of the central banks or any type of intermediary, Bitcoin was born as a network of payments between individuals. Payments have been a cornerstone for cryptocurrencies since their inception – including pre-Bitcoin experiments like DigiCash and BitGold – but its use, although increasingly widespread, is still not massive. Aside from the evident reluctance of some individuals to cryptocurrencies, there are certain technical barriers that hinder their adoption as a leading means of payment.

Today, the current crypto landscape is quite different from the end of the first decade of 2000 and has evolved by leaps and bounds, but some of the limitations inherent in a permissionless P2P network are still in place, which limits the possibility of paying with cryptocurrencies on a day-to-day basis.

General overview of payments in web3

Before getting into the limitations or trying to fix anything, it is necessary to review some concepts that make it easier to draw a map of the web3 payment ecosystem (powered by blockchain technology).

Payment can be simply defined as the exchange of an asset between two individuals generated by an agreed transaction. What is the reference asset in a web3 payment? Where and how are those assets stored? A web3 payment transaction…