I've noticed that there aren't many USD anchors around. And no surprise; dealing with dollars is hard. Hopefully some serious financial institutions will come around to Stellar in time, but for now small businesses have some tools to deal with money. One such tool is the Stripe API, and in fact using Stripe you can run an entire anchor which takes deposits and allows withdrawals. What's an anchor you ask? Look here: https://www.stellar.org/developers/guides/anchor/ My SBC entry is a full-stack software package which, with minimal setup, runs a website, Stellar bridge, and backend server and talks to the Stripe API. Thanks to Stripe, you never touch user payment information, so you're not subject to some of the more tricky regulations. The package can be found here: https://github.com/jackkleeman/stellar-stripe-anchor And the README contains a full set of instructions for getting everything up and running. It's genuinely really easy to become an anchor. I really hope that people help me develop this and build on top of it, and soon we might have many options for USD anchors. Please, give it a try; Stripe provide great testing tools so it's really simple to test.

This looks like a huge deal. Can someone check if it’s really working within regulations (and with Stripe ToS?)

I like the initiative. Is there a reason why it only works with a USA account? Would it not work in other countries?

beans_lel I don't see why it wouldn't work in other countries, the issue would probably be Stripe fees though: in Japan the Stripe fee is 3.6% which would eat your margins quite a bit. you never touch user payment information, so you're not subject to any tricky regulations. Also that statement is patently untrue and believing it could very likely get you in deep trouble.

frejete good point, I meant specifically the regs around payment info storage. Edited.

beans_lel Stripe requires USA account to make automated payouts right now, basically

Stellar Stripe Anchor - Out of the box USD anchor software

mitostream

cryptobrant - https://stripe.com/us/prohibited-businesses
"By registering with us, you are confirming that you will not use the Service to accept payments in connection with the following businesses, business activities or business practices."
........
"Virtual currency that can be monetized, resold, or converted to physical or digital products and services or otherwise exit the virtual world (e.g., Bitcoin); sale of stored value or credits maintained, accepted and issued by anyone other than the seller"

jackkleeman

mitostream oh dear. I am an engineer not a lawyer. Let's call this a proof of concept until stripe can be persuaded (they are a stellar investor after all)

brewaa

“Oh dear”. lol

jackkleeman

There are people using Stripe for this sort of business, which is why I built this. I didn't realise those people were lying to Stripe - I do not advocate this. It's an open source project - if someone wants to help me port it to something that works (Worldpay? Teller.io?) I'd love that.

lparenteau

jackkleeman Which projects are using Stripe to sell / buy / exchange virtual currencies?

brewaa

Bit of a shame the stripe TOS. I just checked Braintree and they seem to have really strange restrictions also, including the virtual currency restriction.

I doubt your project has to go to waste though. It can still serve as a good example of what is required for an anchor implementation and maybe you can refactor it so the fiat payment provider can be plugable allowing developers to use their own merchant account / payment gateway.

jackkleeman

brewaa Good idea!

mitostream

What do you think of https://bisq.network ? Wondering if we could integrate with that?

Cynthia

Even if you are just providing the tool/technology, you may still be subject to money transmitter license requirements ? and in the US, each state has its own money transmitter license requirements... ughhhh ? I believe people who have been looking to become a USD anchor have been facing regs as the biggest issue - as you pointed out, from tech perspective, building the anchor is quite easy but when it comes to regs in the US, it's a bit of mess and would incur quite a bit of cost... But I agree that the work is not wasted, serves as a good example, and Stripe did say that while they've ended the bitcoin related services, they are looking into supporting other tokens in future like Lumens.

mikewlange

I'm using Glidera - https://sandbox.glidera.io/documentation to nip the 'I have a stellar wallet, what now?" Conundrum. I got the idea from Bread, that's their 'Buy Bitcoin' to get started company. So yea. 1. Transfer some XLM to init your account (as Stellar requires) or 2. Buy Bitcoin with USD's or anything else. There is your east xlm without having to be a trader. Not to mention it took 5 min to get my dev account and API key. And you're paid for every transaction, like an affiliate.

jackkleeman

mikewlange you're right, this would work for a USD anchor. I think I will use it. Thanks!

beyondcreed

If you are depositing money with credit card then the likely issue around Stripe not liking crypto is because credit card companies and banks are not getting along with it. Stripe works with banks and credit card networks. There was quite a few news articles on this before. For example, http://fortune.com/2018/02/04/banks-ban-buying-bitcoin-credit-card/

jackkleeman

lparenteau I don't mean stellar projects and I don't really even remember where I have seen this but even if I did I wouldn't want to name them given that it's evidently not legal

alejomendoza

This is one of the biggest issues Stellar is facing at the moment. Great work @jackkleeman, congrats on the Honorable Mention. I will definitely play around with it.

bsakweson

I know this thread is old but thought I should add my own note on it. I built something like this three years ago and ran into serious challenges with Stripe and other US APIs. I think this may work as soon as soon as banks start opening their API using open banking standards. I believe that is already a thing in the EURO region [PSD2].