Crypto Payments in Vivaldi

code3

Update: The original thread from @mirevsky is closed. You can upvote this one instead.

A crypto wallet is necessary to exchange most cryptocurrencies. They handle the sending and receiving of money. There are also a few webclients such as My Ether Wallet and Nimiq. But only Vivaldi could give the best support for cryptocurrencies, directly inside of the browser, with support for things like a panel, attaching blockchain accounts to people in contacts, scheduling payments in the calendar, and sending money with M3. Vivaldi has provided us with privacy-friendly alternatives to Gmail, Chrome, and other services, now they can do the same for Google Pay.

Sure, Opera has a wallet, but it is focused on gimmicks and NFTs.

Features

Payment Panel
Send cryptocurrency to those listed in contacts
Send cryptocurrency in a link if someone doesn't have an account
Support Vivaldi Sync
Stake and earn interest - good long-term investment, and support eco-friendly PoS blockchains
Use Nimiq OASIS as a swap - you could either swap cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies beforehand, or when you need to transact.

M3

Schedule payments in the calendar

Get notified of payments to you in feeds

Attach payments to emails

Use email addresses and avatars/Identiqons to distinguish people

Possible integration with the chromium payment system and/or the web payment API
Possibly support lighting network
Measure payments in dollars, euros, BTC, ETH, or any other measurement
No gimmicks, no buzzwords, no 'get rich quick' schemes

Note: A wallet is not the same thing as Brave Rewards and should NOT promise free money.

Also note: While bitcoin uses a work-based algorithm that wastes energy, most modern block chains don't. So I would say that adding a crypto wallet is not bad for the earth if you can use it without burning energy.

I think Vivaldi has the potential to deliver something truly amazing with this, if it is done right.

Eggcorn

@code3 So in other words, for online shopping and the like: You want people to be able to pay in cryptocurrency (without installing a 3rd party extension)?

code3

@eggcorn Eventually, yes.

Eggcorn

@code3 Eventually? Isn't the point of Vivaldi having a cryptocurrency wallet, so that people can exchange cryptocurrency?

code3

@eggcorn I mean eventually pay within websites. At first just pay your contacts (contacts panel).

Eggcorn

@code3 Oh. So this is a little more compacted then just "Make it so that you can make it so you use Bitcoin or Ether for online shopping, same as you can use Dollars or Euros."?

code3

@eggcorn said in Crypto Payments in Vivaldi:

Make it so that you can make it so you use Bitcoin or Ether for online shopping, same as you can use Dollars or Euros

This is the eventual goal, but at first I think it would be send crypto payments to a certain address. To some degree that would be enough to use them to shop, but V could provide a more seamless experience in the future, because they have the advantage of being a browser.

HanlonsRazor

“Realizing the extent of its shady, ignorant, and spam-happy proponents, I chose to opt out.” —Money corrupts; bitcoin corrupts absolutely – https://www.cynicusrex.com/file/cryptocultscience.html.

Eggcorn

@hanlonsrazor

In the last thread, a mod said:

Please keep this topic about the feature request, ways it could be implemented, etc. [...] If you want to debate the pros and cons of cryptocurrencies and other schemes, please make a topic in a more relevant area of the forum to keep the feature request threads clean.

Eggcorn

@code3 Hm. But what does this mean from the user's perspective? Say, I want use Vivaldi to send some money to a friend? How would I do that with conventional currency (Euros, Dollars, etc.)? And if Vivaldi gets this wallet, how would I do that with crypto-currency?

code3

@eggcorn said in Crypto Payments in Vivaldi:

I want use Vivaldi to send some money to a friend? How would I do that with conventional currency (Euros, Dollars, etc.)?

You would open up a website that does this - PayPal, Venmo - and send money. Your friend must also have the app. They would send you an account link or username.

@eggcorn said in Crypto Payments in Vivaldi:

how would I do that with crypto-currency?

You could use a cryptocurrency website or extension, same way. Except, in reality, this can be quite a hassle, similar to using PGP.

@eggcorn said in Crypto Payments in Vivaldi:

if Vivaldi gets this wallet, how would I do that with crypto-currency?

Well, the private and public keys would be included in Vivaldi Sync, so you wouldn’t have to worry about that. To get cryptocurrency, you would click a button in the UI and input your credit or debit card, and Vivaldi would use OASIS under the hood to swap fiat for crypto currency.

To send the money, you would use your friend’s Vivaldi username - or, if they have an cryptocurrency account but not a Vivaldi account, their cryptocurrency address, which would be sent in an email or QR code and added to your contacts panel.

Once their payment information is in the contacts panel, you would just select their profile and click the ‘Pay’ button.

Powered by OASIS, what you send and your friend receives could be completely different. If you want, you could use your credit card to send them NIM or your NIM to send them BTC or your BTC to send them ETH, if that’s what they want.

You could also send them a cryptocurrency, but measure it in dollars or euros.

It sounds complicated, but it’s really just:

Learn the friend’s address
Choose type and amount of money

Optional extra step: have your currency converted into something else before sending, depending on what your friend wants to receive

Click button

Eggcorn

@code3 Okay, that's for if I want to send money to a friend or something. But what about online shops? Say, an online shop allows me to pay in conventional currency or cryptocurrency. How would I pay in conventional currency, and (if the Vivaldi wallet supports it) how would I pay in cryptocurrency?

code3

@eggcorn You'd click on the store's cryptocurrency link and Vivaldi would have a popup to confirm the transaction. Then the payment panel would open with transaction details, including the transaction ID and also the ability to add the address as a contact. The transaction ID is used as proof-of-payment for the website. There should be an option to copy it to clipboard automatically after every transaction.

This system is not completely seamless. Hopefully the W3C and providers of cryptocurrency software could make it better. But for now, it should work well. Providing one-click support for these transactions withing the browser will be much easier than using any app or extension.

Eggcorn

@code3 Okay. But how does that compare to paying the online shop in conventional currency?

code3

@eggcorn You would either:
I put your credit card into the payment form (not a transaction ID) (Red flag! Inputting credit cards online is probably not a good idea)

Pay with PayPal or similar service (not completely seamless either) This is very centralized - How much do you trust E. Musk?

code3

@juanvase Elon’s gone crazy

What do you think about adding a cryptocurrency client? I think integration with contacts, sync, and websites could make it much more useful than others.

code3

But I’ve been in numerous meetings with enthusiasts for cryptocurrency and/or blockchain, the concept that underlies it. In such meetings I and others always ask, as politely as we can: “What problem does this technology solve? What does it do that other, much cheaper and easier-to-use technologies can’t do just as well or better?” I still haven’t heard a clear answer.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/opinion/cryptocurrency-bitcoin.html
https://www.nytimes3xbfgragh.onion/2021/05/20/opinion/cryptocurrency-bitcoin.html

Why blockchain?
It allows people to create a virtually unalterable digital record.

One use for this is private, anonymous, decentralized transactions. There are really only two existing alternatives I see to cryptocurrency: give your credit or debit card to everyone you meet, or use an app like Venmo or PayPal that better be super trustworthy and unhackable.

Why hasn't it caught on? Because it's hard to use. That's where Vivaldi comes in

hpghuber

This post is deleted!

pafflick

We've just released a blog post clarifying our position on cryptocurrencies: Why Vivaldi will never create ThinkCoin.