Safe’s Safenet wants to bring Visa-like payments network to crypto

From cointelegraph by Stephen Katte

Multisignature wallet and digital assets platform Safe is gearing up to launch a blockchain transaction processor network next year, allowing instant crosschain payments before funds leave a user’s account.

Safe co-founder Lukas Schor told Cointelegraph at Token2049 last month that its decentralized transaction processor network, Safenet — announced on Dec. 3 — took inspiration from VisaNet, the payment network powering Visa.

VisaNet offers worldwide payment processing, allowing instant transactions with a payment guarantee for the merchant until the funds go through a series of checks and are sent days later.

“We want the same experience in crypto as well, with the same speed, so we don’t want to wait for transactions even to be mined,” Schor said. “When you do crosschain, it just takes too long. We want to scale that.”

According to Schor, Safenet is not a blockchain but a connecting layer for existing networks that allows users to interact with any blockchain through a single account.

Schor said the network is powered by processors, and at its slated launch in the first quarter of 2025, there will be one processor supporting crosschain accounts and liquidity functions.

“There’s also a lot of security processes happening within Visa we want to replicate, like fraud checks or compliance checks,” Schor said. 

Safenet can temporarily reserve assets on a user account through smart account resource locks and allow processors to execute transactions, debiting the user with a cryptographic execution proof.

Schor said the open system allows more processors to join as part of the transaction lifecycle and offer services including security, compliance, automation and subscriptions. It connects an onchain balance to offchain services and required liquidity.Underpinned by the SAFE Token, there will also be incentives in the ecosystem. Validators can earn a portion of the fees as rewards for validating transactions and staking.