Most people will argue cryptocurrency is designed to replace paper money over time. Financial institutions and retailers are slowly gravitating toward digital payments altogether. However, there are still use cases for paper in the cryptocurrency industry. Paper wallets for example, are still a viable way to store your digital wealth. A new service called Ether Cheque is trying to do things a bit differently, by providing paper cheques issued in Ether.
Ether Cheque is a Different Breed of Service
Providing Ether as a gift to others can easily be done in the form of a paper wallet. After all, that is how most people bring cryptocurrency to the attention of friends, family, and loved ones. However, a paper wallet is often forgotten about or thrown away completely. It is evident some new solutions may be of value in this regard. The bigger question is what type of services people would actually get excited about.
Whether or not Ether Cheque will fill that void, remains to be seen. This particular paper-oriented service provides some interesting features, though. It is the first virtual cheque generator in the world with no ties to the banking system whatsoever. Moreover, the service portrays itself as a convenient way to generate personal Ether cheques. These cheques can be used as gifts or as an official form of business payment, assuming the other party is willing to accept it.
One thing to take notice of how is how generating an Ether cheque does not require the recipient’s information. It can be issued to anyone in the world, as it is just a fancier looking paper wallet. Using the design of a traditional cheque may have a certain appeal in regions where this form of payment is still common. For example, the United States and Canada still primarily use cheques these days. Rather surprising, considering cash and credit cards also thrive in both regions.
Cashing the Ether cheque can be done through the official website as well, which is an interesting touch. All users need to do is enter their cheque number, and they will be given options to withdraw the funds associated with this particular transaction. They will still need to set up an Ether wallet – preferably one of which they control the private key – to get the funds send to them, though. It is a bit of a centralized service, but it may do the job just fine for the time being.
As one would expect from an Ethereum-related project, Ether Cheque ensures all funds are sent to a smart contract. This ensures funds transfers can be separated from one another and only linked to a specific cheque number. It also provides unprecedented transparency, as anyone can see whether or not the funds are effectively available for cashing out. It is an interesting concept, that much is certain.
All things considered, there will be people who say this is nothing more than a glorified paper wallet service for Ether. They would not be wrong, even though one has to admit it is an interesting spin on the entire concept. The success of Ether Cheque remains to be determined, but it is a creative mix of paper and new technologies. Always do your own research before sending money to a third-party service provider, though, even if they use a smart contract.
