If it's not apparent by now, WietseWind loves birds. He owns two Eclectus' and they have featured in his appearances on social media and have even crashed a well-known YouTube interview. And now he's made the logical progression of naming one of his new websites after a particular bird species, along with an appropriate icon to represent the new site: https://xrparrot.com/
The website's goal is simple, yet very ambitious: To facilitate the easiest fiat-to-crypto conversion, starting with Euro-to-XRP.
Simplicity Of Design
One of WietseWind's strengths is his "Apple-esque" focus on creating a smooth user experience, whether it be for an online wallet, the XRP Tip Bot, or browsing statistics on the XRP Ledger. His new XRParrot website is no different, and it contains, at its core, a set of simple steps for a user:
- Enter your mobile number
- Enter source IBAN from your bank account
- Enter destination XRP wallet
- Confirm Information
- Activate Transfer
- Receive XRP in your wallet
The website will automatically transition Euros to XRP using the best possible rates and lowest fees, completing as fast as the user's bank can process an IBAN transaction. No human intervention is necessary - the entire process is automated once the user activates their transfer. The user defines all aspects of the transaction, including the destination wallet: This could be their own private wallet, an exchange wallet, or even their XRP Tip Bot account.
Banks within Europe have a mixed reputation for IBAN transfer speed, so it could take anywhere from 'instant' in the case of ABN or BUNQ (Netherlands banks) to 4-8 hours for other banks. The worst-case scenario would be a Friday-to-Monday transfer, depending on the bank.
How Is It So Simple?
Due to new European banking regulations known as the PSD2 (Revised Directive on Payment Services) 1, banks must make their customers' accounts available for connecting freely and securely with other banks and financial services companies, thereby encouraging competition to the benefit of European citizens.
This allows websites such as XRParrot to connect with European bank account holders via an IBAN and identifying telephone number.
Monthly XRP Deposit
WietseWind indicated that the website, when live, will also allow a user to set up a periodic withdrawal from their bank account to a specific wallet address of their choice, just like the one-time transfer option.
Like the one-time transfer, a periodic transfer can be any XRP wallet: The user just needs to specify their public key and a tag number, if applicable.
How It Works
XRParrot purchases Gatehub Euro IOUs with the customer's transferred Euros, and then immediately trades these Gatehub IOUs for XRP on the decentralized XRP exchange.
For those that don't know about XRP's native decentralized exchange, this information may surprise you. The XRP Ledger has always supported a decentralized exchange, and those exchanges that operate a "gateway" on the XRP Ledger can issue their own redeemable tokens.
In this case, Gatehub, an exchange that has long traded XRP and various redeemable tokens on the XRP Ledger, has issued its own redeemable tokens for Euros. This means that various Gatehub customers that hold XRP are willing to trade their XRP for these Gatehub IOUs if the price is right.
XRParrot automatically creates offers on the XRP Ledger when the Euros are received, and then trades them immediately for XRP at the best available rates, depositing them in the wallet specified by the XRParrot user:
The XRParrot user doesn't even know this is happening behind the scenes; all they see is the their Euros being converted to XRP and sent to their wallet!
How Are The Fees Kept So Low?
Thanks to the PSD2 European banking regulations, IBAN transfers are free for consumers.
The XRParrot website will charge €1 Euro per transfer, plus a .3% platform fee. In addition, Gatehub charges a fixed .2% on its IOU trades. There is no concept of a 'withdrawal fee' because XRParrot sends the XRP directly to the wallet of your choosing.
Fee Example:
- €50 to XRParrot to fund your XRP wallet
- 50-1=49-0.5% = €48,76 worth of XRP into your account
This service charge is is lower than most other exchange transfer rates for fiat conversion, and should prove to be a very attractive option for crypto users in Europe.
Limitations
WietseWind indicated that he's going to restrict users to a maximum deposit of €500 Euros per month from their bank account. He may consider increasing this limit in the future if the increased transfer amounts are within regulatory limits, and the limits of XRParrot partner services such as Gatehub.
Also, users of the website need to keep in mind that the service is unidirectional - it's only meant for the purchase of XRP.
Get Ready For XRParrot!
WietseWind indicated that XRParrot will be ready for an invite-only Beta release in "early Q4" which is now only weeks away.
With these competitive low fees, the XRParrot site is sure to face quick and massive adoption from all crypto traders and buyers in Europe; the service will be fast, easy, and inexpensive - a potent combination that may just trigger mass adoption!
Sources and Credits:
Cover Art: Thank you to David Clode
XRParrot Diagram Art: Thank you to Christian Wiediger
XRParrot Diagram Art: Thank you to Tim Evans
