Litepaper V1.0
Abstract
Trust is a prerequisite for any commercial transaction. The growing global marketplace and the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the faults and inefficiencies in the current transactional model our world relies on. The need for a robust trust mechanism enabling supply and demand to interact without worrying about economic protection is becoming more prominent as online transactions are reaching their apex. The established solutions, including third-party escrow services and payment processing systems are fretted with high commission structures, slow settlement mechanisms, and limited security. Smartlink introduces Trust-as-a-Service, providing a decentralized escrow payment system in line with the new economy and Web 3.0. Smartlink eliminates the risk, drastically reduces costs, and brings a new user experience for the next generation of payment processing and marketplaces.
Protection from global fraud
Economic fraud is one of the gravest challenges in commercial transactions. Research reveals that businesses fall victim to various kinds of fraud, including customer fraud (35%), cybercrime (34%), and asset misappropriation (35%). External fraud (suppliers, retailers, and corporate partnerships) accounted for 28% of total fraud, up 10% from the previous year. The Gig economy workers experience similar deceptive behavior, with roughly half of the freelancers (44%) losing their payment at least once. Annual online payment fraud losses from ecommerce, airline ticketing, money transfer, and banking services will hit 48 billion by 2023, with emerging risks and new trends of fraudsters' conduct. Smartlink aims to solve this issue through escrow smart contracts on Tezos blockchain enforcing better control during the transaction lifecycle. The smart contract between buyers and sellers self-executes and releases the funds upon the fulfillment of all underlying terms.
Fees 93% lower than on average marketplaces
The current P2P marketplaces for talent acquisition and eCommerce platforms follow an extreme commission structure. Platform users pay between 5% and 25% in commissions and fees for using these marketplaces. Fiverr, a talent acquisition platform, charges flat 20% from sellers and up to 5% from buyers against every order. Taking into account leading ecommerce platforms, Amazon charges up to 20% in commission, fees, and advertising expenses. Smartlink launches a marketplace for Web 3.0 that distinguishes itself from existing solutions through advanced functionalities including crypto wallet browser integration, escrow smart contracts, multi-cryptocurrency support, and a built-in reward system. Smartlink enables users to pay and get paid through the marketplace using SMAK tokens and various cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins, reducing the overall transaction cost to 1%. Additionally, users who choose to pay in SMAK tokens benefit from a 0% fee alongside a 20% APR reward during the transaction period.
Reducing cost of international payments
International transactions are growing exponentially, with cross-border B2B transactions expected to reach $35 trillion by 2022. However, the current payment systems are expensive, involve longer settlement periods, and rely on forex conversion rates. PayPal and Stripe, two of the leading global payment partners, charge up to 4.4% plus fixed fees and 2.9% plus fixed fees for transactions. Additionally, these platforms involve a settlement period of up to four business days. Smartlink charges between 0% and 1% fee for all transactions powered by various cryptocurrencies. Crypto users can directly pay for services and products using SMAK or wrapped tokens, with a settlement period of under 5 minutes
The security and scalability of Tezos smart contracts outperform that of Ethereum
Ethereum is among the most prominent blockchain networks used for the development of dapps. However, the Ethereum network has some inherent challenges, with rising gas fees and slow transaction confirmation rates as some of the biggest drawbacks for new products built on Ethereum. Smartlink leverages Tezos, one of the highest-rated proof-of-stake blockchains with ideal infrastructure for scalable applications, quick confirmation and low gas fees. Tezos provides institutional-grade smart contracts with formal verification, making it suitable for high-value transactions.
Average transaction fee on Ethereum in USD
Smartlink provides an ecosystem of services that eliminates the need for trust during a commercial transaction. Smartlink achieves this through a suite of decentralized services built on the Tezos platform.
- Smartlink Escrow Service: A decentralized escrow service for C2C, B2C, and B2B
- Smartlink Payment Processing: A decentralized payment portal that leverages current and upcoming digital currencies for instant payment settlements.
- Smartlink Milestone Management: A smart milestone management service that functions as a part of Smartlink’s escrow service.
- Smartlink Marketplace: A decentralized marketplace where products and services can be listed for retail customers and business clients.
Smartlink targets enterprises and individuals engaged in virtually any type of transaction. Smartlink integrates dispute settlement through an online network of qualified arbitrators.
Decentralized escrow functionalities
Smartlink escrow service leverages smart contracts for creating digital contracts, agreements for business and peer-to-peer transactions. Smartlink provides contract templates which parties can use to create their terms and conditions. Once the underlying conditions of the agreement are fulfilled, the funds are released automatically.
Essentially, Smartlink escrow service:
- Allows businesses to enter into an agreement without having to trust each other
- Allows businesses to save costs on traditional contract writing services
- Offers automatic settlement of payments
- Doesn’t require third-party escrow services or a physical presence of parties
Wrapped token and stablecoin support for increased payment flexibility
One of the main challenges faced by the crypto community is the limited support for cryptocurrencies as a payment method for regular transactions. Smartlink payments processing solution promotes the use of cryptocurrencies with its own SMAK token, and over 15 ERC-20 tokens wrapped as FA 1.2 on Tezos opening the door to new opportunities and rapid scalability. Smartlink allows the modern economy to gain direct access to some of the most long-awaited web 3.0 functionalities. Smartlink provides a robust cryptocurrency payment gateway that facilitates crypto transactions on marketplaces, apps, and eCommerce platforms to easily integrate multi-currency crypto payments, escrow services, Smart Milestone payments, NFTs, and dispute resolution functionalities.
NFTs and ownership certificates
Smartlink provides a simple interface for the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Non-fungible tokens are non-interchangeable tokens with unique attributes (metadata) and publicly-verifiable transaction history. Smartlink allows users to create NFTs conforming to Tezos' FA2 standard. Some of the key factors distinguishing the FA2 standard from FA1.2 include a proposal for standardized transfer semantics (suitable for single as well as multiple token transfers), access to wallet balance and total offer, metadata interactions, and basic operation authorizations. FA2 supports fine interactions, which makes its implementation somewhat more complex than FA1.2, but it also provides a wider scope for defining and manipulating token types to the developers. FA2 simplifies the development of a standardized API for external applications and portfolios.
Marketplace for web 3.0
Smartlink plans to launch a marketplace for the new web that distinguishes itself from existing solutions through advanced functionalities including crypto wallet browser integration, escrow smart contract, multi-cryptocurrency support, significantly lower fees, a built-in reward system and a user-friendly interface. The marketplace features a listing module that allows sellers to add products and services on the platform. Each listing comprises product images, description, payment option (one-time payment for products and one-time/recurring payments for services), alongside an on-chain review system. Buyers on Smartlink Marketplace can auto-connect browser compatible wallets during payment. Smartlink provides an option to settle payments immediately or choose escrow smart contracts for the transaction. In terms of accepted payment methods, Smartlink allows buyers to use SMAK or other wrapped crypto tokens for immediate purchases or escrow smart contracts.
Smartlink Fundraising Module
Smartlink Fundraising module aims to resolve some of the limitations of current fundraising methods used by startups. Businesses can register on Smartlink for fundraising. Smartlink provides a dedicated page for every project, enlisting essential details. The project can create an escrow smart contract for users to deposit funds in the form of SMAK tokens or supported Wrapped tokens. Smartlink will integrate standard KYC/AML protocol on its fundraising module for whitelisting users. Smartlink fundraising module eliminates high commission charges, payment processing fees, and security concerns. Additionally, using Tezos as the underlying blockchain allows Smartlink to lower the cost of transactions (lower gas fees) without affecting the transaction throughput.
Smartlink proposes an on-chain governance system for critical decisions and development direction. The Smartlink community will vote on key decisions, such as development proposals and changes to platform. Smartlink will be the decision-making body during the initial phase until the Smartlink community boasts a strong user base.
Smartlink aims to establish a standard escrow payment process that eliminates the limitations of current solutions. Smartlink is suitable for business and individual transactions.
Individuals
Smartlink can facilitate a multitude of peer-to-peer transactions, including physical and digital items. Smartlink provides the safety of a trusted escrow service with a fresher approach than existing solutions focusing on web 3.0 functionalities in order to reduce costs and improve overall efficiency. Here is a list of some of the use cases for retail users.
- High-value items
- OTC Trade
- Digital Art, NFTs
- In-Game Assets
- Collectibles
- Rentals
Businesses
Smartlink addresses some of the key concerns of international commercial transactions. Smartlink provides a trustless platform to create escrow smart contracts, eliminates heavy intermediary charges, offers quick payment settlements with low processing charges, and comes with the security of Tezos’ blockchain network. Here is a list of some of the use cases for the commercial scope of Smartlink platform.
- Escrow solution
- Domain Names
- Fundraising
- Freelance Gigs
- Milestone Payments
- Payroll (Rewarding performers, vesting dividends etc.)
Tezos Blockchain
Smartlink is built on Tezos blockchain, one of the highest-rated proof-of-stake blockchains with ideal infrastructure for scalable applications. Smartlink positions itself as an enterprise-grade, secure, decentralized escrow platform. Tezos is designed to provide the safety and code correctness required for assets and other high-value use cases. Tezos' modular architecture and formal upgrade mechanism allow the network to propose and adopt new technological innovations smoothly as they emerge. These aspects, combined with Tezos' on-chain invoicing mechanism, enable the protocol to remain state-of-the-art long into the future without sacrificing community consensus.
Institutional-Grade Smart Contracts
Smartlink’s escrow smart contracts will be created on the SmartPy platform provided by Tezos. Since Smartlink aims to facilitate high-value transactions, it is critical to ensure a maximum level of security in regards to smart contracts. Tezos provides formal verification of its smart contracts, which means these smart contracts can be verified by assigning mathematical values to the programmed code.
Top 20 tokens by market cap wrapped as FA 1.2
Smartlink supports wrapped tokens including WBTC (FA 1.2), WETH (FA 1.2 ), WUSD along with SMAK (FA 1.2) through Wrap Protocol. Wrap Protocol provides a simple mechanism that converts ERC-20 tokens into FA 1.2 tokens supported on the Tezos blockchain. Smartlink users will be able to use any of these supported crypto-assets in addition to SMAK token.
SMAK token utility
SMAK is a utility token used on the Smartlink platform built on the FA 1.2 standard. Smartlink users can use SMAK for:
- Escrow fee exemption: Smartlink will waive the 1% processing fee for escrow smart contract transactions using SMAK for payment. The only fees involved will be the Tezos gas fees.
- Escrow rewards: Buyers will receive an amount of rewards (TBD) for using SMAK through the transaction period.
- On-chain governance: Smartlink intends to develop an on-chain governance system for its platform. Smartlink community members will need SMAK tokens to participate in critical platform decisions, such as adjusting the escrow reward rate and development proposals.
Metrics
Smartlink is conducting a fundraising event through an initial coin offering (ICO) for the development of the Smartlink platform. It is essential to indicate that Smartlink is launching a prototype based on key functionalities prior to the ICO, allowing users to run test operations through Tezos Testnet.
SMAK token metrics
- Standard: FA 1.2
- Token Supply: 896,083,333
- Initial Circulating Supply: 271,432,562
- Initial Market Cap: 2,714,325 USD
- Fully Diluted market cap: 8,960,833 USD
- Pre-Sale Price: $ 0.007 USD
- Public Sale Price: $ 0.010 USD
- Token utility: Fee exemption, Governance, Escrow rewards
Token release schedule
Vesting period
- Private sale: 20% is unlocked immediately after TGE, and 10% released monthly thereafter
- Team: 18 months fully locked then 25% quarterly
- Treasury: Unlocked and distributed as per incentive/governance event
- Advisor: Distributed as on a per-need basis, then locked 8 months and 25% released monthly thereafter.
- Ambassadors: Distributed as on a per-need basis, then locked 8 months and 25% released monthly thereafter.
- Partnership: Distributed as on a per-need basis, then locked 8 months and 25% released monthly thereafter.
Funds allocation
Latest work
| Deliverable | Description |
|---|---|
| Technical specifications | The document detailing every aspect of Smartink’s architecture and implementation requirements |
| Tezos Smart contract | The contract has been originated and configured on testnet |
| Contract deployment | The smart contract has been deployed and Michelson artifacts created |
| Escrow feature | The escrow feature is functional and available for testing |
| Marketplace interface | A demo of the marketplace with basic required functionalities is available for testing |
| Item/service listing | Users can list items or services using the demo interface |
| Delivery tracking | The mechanism allowing users to track their delivery has been implemented |
| Wallet integration | Spire (Beacon) wallet has been integrated. It allows any user to log into platform using the browser extension. We will provide more wallet options |
| Testing docs | A guided documentation is available for testing the features and a basic version of the frontend |
| UX/UI Design | UI/UX mockups have been designed for the back/frontend and are ready to be integrated |
| Partnerships | Partnerships with two large enterprises have been formed with the aim of deploying a testnet environment of Smartlink’s escrow payments processing. |