Following a $1.25 million seed funding round, a cryptocurrency payments and identity management app is moving deeper into decentralized finance.
Numio has partnered with zkSync to provide a trustless layer-two solution for payments that it says are instantaneous and as much as 100 times cheaper than transactions on the clogged and expensive Ethereum blockchain. Numio promises peer-to-peer scalability of 2,000 transactions per second.
Led by HashKey Capital, the funding round will allow Numio to push into DeFi, including cryptocurrency trading, swaps, pooling, and staking on Ethereum's layer two. Also on the roadmap is support for e-commerce and point-of-sale capability, letting users pay for goods and services at the cash register using QR codes and NFC technology. Numio will also use the investment to grow its user base and expand its team.
“Bringing a scalable and user-friendly Ethereum experience to all is at our core and this funding round allows us to take Numio to the next level,” said Numio Chief Technology Officer Tim Allard. “Our layer-two focused app and extended roadmap is packed with the features and utility that our users demand, and we couldn't be happier to have the support from our investors to help bring our vision to life.”
Numio is a noncustodial platform, so users’ cryptocurrency is never out of their control. The zkRollup wallet currently works with 14 different ERC-20 tokens, including Ether, Wrapped Bitcoin, the USD Coin stablecoin, and digital identity platform PhoenixDAO’s PHNX. In addition, more than 300 ERC-20 tokens are available on the standard Ethereum wallet.
Secure identity
Along with payments, Numio is focused on digital identity management and authentication. Numio’s optional identity management system uses zkProofs to let users verify their identity to third-party platforms securely, and without sending identity documentation. The authentication solution uses public-key cryptography, a more secure form of two-factor authentication than the TOTP system widely used by Google Authenticator and others.
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One feature of Numio’s advanced identity management system is ID verification for third-party sites that need to know who they are dealing with. Comparing the service to an oracle for identity, Numio uses an artificial intelligence-based verification process, including verification of credentials, liveness detection, and a search for the user’s involvement in money laundering. It should be noted that this is an optional service for third party platforms and KYC is not required to use the app.
This process also helps secure against Sybil attacks, Numio said, pointing to a similar attack in which many false nodes are used to take control of a network — even to the point of creating bad-actor nodes sufficient for a 51% attack takeover.
Teaming up
Numio’s partnership with PhoenixDAO provides a number of other benefits beyond secure identity, including, “cashback” rewards, discounts, and promotions. In addition, Numio Authenticator will be used to access DAO’s software and verify voter identity.
Numio has also teamed up with another zkRollups technology user, Storj — a provider of secure cloud storage - to decentralise asset storage and give node operators a new payment option.
Having launched at the beginning of the year, Numio said it was the first payments app using zkRollups released on Google Play, drawing 10,000 downloads in three months. Since then it has cut network fees, added backup options, and completed development of Numio v2.0 on Android and iOS.
HashKey Capital was joined in the seed funding round by LD Capital, Youbi Capital, Caballeros Capital, DVC, ZMT Capital, as well as angel investors including Suji Yan of Mask Network, and Cecilia Li, ex-investment director of OK Group.
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