This draft has been approved by all members of the SPS Foundation board unanimously.
TLDR
** Update - Adding some links to the Ramp Network support page and rewording the TLDR section slightly so that people can easily see which countries are not serviced and which states do not support selling of crypto. There is no "one sized fits all" fiat on/off ramp in crypto, but this is easily one of the best I've seen. **
** If you'd like to test the service now or explore their coverage further, you can see which crypto assets are currently supported here. **
- Fiat on ramp with coverage in 150+ countries including all 50 U.S. states
- Fiat off-ramping in many countries and states
- Cost $35,000 integration fee
- Liquidity sourced from our LPs (DAO earns 1%)
- Will list either BSC or ETH token and allow us to migrate to the SPS token on HIVE for free once HIVE finishes onboarding
- Will be tight, but should be able to be ready around Conclave Arcana launch and marketing push
- Cost of service for end user should be roughly 5% on credit card and 2% on bank transfer, exact numbers can vary a bit
Not Long Enough Want to Read More
Hello Splinterfam! As those of you that follow my monthly updates may be aware, I've been searching pretty relentlessly to find us a solid fiat on/off ramp for the SPS token. Over the last few months I've met with dozens of companies getting quotes and most importantly assessing their coverage in an attempt to find a global solution that will work for the vast majority of our users.
The good news is that I've finally found that elusive one! After meeting with Ramp Network it was abundantly clear to me that this is what I think the DAO wants. They offer global coverage for fiat on and off ramping via credit card and bank transfer. They also offer some regional payment options in countries where those are more or less necessary to do business, such as Brazil. What's even better is this is the first company that I've found that supports on-ramping in all 50 U.S. states and they are in the process of integrating HIVE as well.
There is an onboarding fee of $35,000 per token to integrate with their service. This is a competitive rate as I've had countless quotes going up to $50,000 from other providers that don't even service U.S. clients. After some negotiation, Ramp has agreed to charge us the one fee to list one of our wrapped tokens (ETH or BSC) and to migrate our support over to the native SPS token on HIVE in the future whenever they finish onboarding HIVE.
What does all of this mean? In short, we have the opportunity to integrate a service directly into the Splinterlands website that will allow the vast majority of the world to buy AND sell SPS with a credit card, Apple Pay or bank transfer. We still have some work to do on our end to be able to move forward, but if the DAO chooses to approve this proposal, I feel reasonably confident we could have all of this set up in six to eight weeks, just in time for Conclave Arcana barring an unforeseen issues with setting up the foundation.
I'm sure some people are going to question the value of this and one of the things I want to point out is that if we move forward with Ramp, they will be sourcing the liquidity directly from the DAO's LPs. This means that the DAO earns 1% on any volume that moves through those pools. So while we have to spend $35,000 up front, the DAO should easily recoup at a bare minimum some portion of those funds through LP fees.
As far as the user experience goes, Ramp handles their own KYC and payment processing. This means they assume any risk with the payment processing such as charge backs. Approximate fees will be around 5% for credit cards and should be around 2% for bank transfers. It's hard to know exactly as the rates will be based on volume and we have to factor in the 1% on the LPs. Those rates should be a decent approximation and from the conversation I've had with their rep I think they're fairly accurate to within a percent.
I'm still looking into a few other similar companies and of course I'm always looking for free options. Ideally it would be cool to have multiple options for redundancy, but if we're going to spend the money I think we want to get max value for it and from everything I've seen while looking for a payment processor, this is by far the best coverage I've found and the quote is competitive. The fact they're willing to integrate the SPS token on HIVE in the future at no additional charge is just icing on the cake.
With all of that context, I will leave it up to the DAO to decide what it wants to do. Thanks for your time and consideration!
Proposal
If this proposal passes, the SPS DAO will allocate up to $35,000 to be used to pay Ramp Network to integrate the SPS token into their platform.
The SPS Treasurers may use any stable coins, Ethereum, or BNB to source the funds to pay this fee.
If for whatever reason the deal does not move forward, then no funds will be utilized for this purpose and a new proposal will be required to request funding for any other similar pursuits.
This proposal will expire after 180 days if the deal has not been executed.
Just used the service to give it a go. Easy enough without asking for too much info from me. Thought fees where a little high but then again I'm not a big user of credit card for crypto so wouldn't know.
I believe having a way to easily buy SPS directly ingame will be a very positive development. I think its great that they have 150+ countries, but having all 50 US States is a very big plus too considering the issues many people have with easy access into our ecosystem.
Good work Clay, I will vote for it.
Access in all 50 states?! Sounds like a huge win to find a service provider that plays nice with NY and WA, who have difficult banking laws. Let's get this approved and onto the final voting stage. Some banger proposals lately!
Thanks for the hard work and research @clayboyn!
Yea New York is extremely difficult to find coverage. Texas is also a bit problematic with many of them. The U.S. is just a giant cluster of regulatory BS when it comes to crypto. Having a partner that handles all of that is not a bad idea imo.
It is a GREAT idea. As someone from NYC, I know first-hand about the difficulty of finding onboarding services. For example, I've never been able to use Transak to buy Hive. So to fund a service provider who can conduct business in all 50 states is a Home Run! Sign em up , let's go! This might just be the most important step in our NPE!
Can you actually try to do a purchase through Ramp? Just a small LTC or ETH purchase or whatever? I'd like to make sure New York actually works.
FWIW, I tried to buy BTC. After clearing it with my bank, Ramp accepted my debit card as the form of payment from a NY-based account. My only issue was getting KYC completed because my ID card is pretty beat up. I will report back after trying some other options.
I am one to question things. I usually have tough questions. Usually offer ideas, whether achievable or a pipe-dream. However....
I feel like this is a no-brainer as long as the company has been vetted.
Not sure I will use this vs buying Litecoin on Coinbase and transferring it to Hive Engine and trading to Hive to SPS.
But it is good to have an option like this directly in the game so I will vote Yes.
USD -> SPS will make it easier for my friends to join!
We currently have this through Cryptodotcom even in USA. I just did it 2 weeks ago when SPS dipped under .006. I think having it in-game and seamlessly bridging right over to your Hive account is the big plus. The current zkCross 3rd party bridging company already takes 0.5% off the top, so 2% isn't that much worse considering 1% is going to go back to the SPSDAO.
2% on bank transfers is enough for me to stick with Coinbase, but the option integrated into the site is a huge deal with reach into that many countries.
Considering zkCross takes 0.5% to bridge from BSC to Hive, the 2% fee isn't that much worse, especially if 1% of that is going right back to the SPSDAO. Agreed that I might still just put in the extra work to use BSC DEX directly to save a touch on fees, but this will be very helpful for new players who aren't as crypto knowledgeable.
We certainly need this at the moment and since $3.5 million in volume will recoup the investment, I'm full onboard with the project.
My vote is Yes, with BSC
As Metamask supports ETH and BSC
Could go Yes, with Eth as well
As Trust Wallet supports Eth
But more leaning to Metamask over Trust Wallet on usage
Have used ramp before in other places, worked well for me previously, any easy way to buy SPS directly is a bonus to me
oh yes, we need it so bad.
You can place or monitor SPS Stake Weighted votes for and against this proposal at the link below:
Link to this Pre-ProposalThank you for participating in SPS DAO Governance @clayboyn!
Updated At: 2025-02-18 15:39 UTC
If this passes, does it mean that we will be able to sell our SPS for USD and the money gets deposited in our bank?
I added some links to the proposal to help you check. All 50 U.S. states are supported for buying, many are supported for selling.
@clayboyn can you explain the current on/off ramps and how this is different and adds benefit to the game!
We've been asking for this for a long time! Super exciting to see it come to fruition, and very glad there will be integration with Hive as well! It would also be huge to have this in place before the launch of Conclave Arcana! Good job Clay and team!Keep it up!