The user-acquisition primitive
Send money to anyone.
They mint a @handle to claim.
The first money app where the recipient doesn’t need to install anything. Type a phone or `@handle`. Pick an amount. They get a text, claim in 60 seconds, and walk away with a Hylaq `@handle` for life.
The chicken-and-egg every payment app fights
Cash App, Venmo, Zelle, PayPal — all require both sides to have an account. If your mom doesn’t have it, you can’t send. They beg, bribe, and TV-spend their way past the cold-start.
We invert it. The recipient doesn’t need anything installed. They get a text → tap → 30-second `@handle` mint → money lands. The send is the onboarding event. Every Drop = +1 Hylaq user, paid for by the sender.
What we replace
Cash App
$14B/yr GMV
Required both sides. We don't.
Venmo
$230B/yr GMV
Required both sides. We don't.
Zelle
$800B/yr
Bank-only + both sides. We're rail-agnostic.
Western Union
$5T global remit.
50% fees + 3-day wait. We're 4% in 60 seconds.
The 4-step Drop
STEP 1 · Sender drops
Phone or @handle, amount $5–$5,000, theme + optional message. Funded from Loadit balance. 30 seconds total.
STEP 2 · SMS arrives
Recipient gets a text with the card preview + a one-tap claim link. iOS / Android natively render the link.
STEP 3 · @handle mint
Recipient picks a @handle (or signs in if they have one). Apple Pay / Google Pay biometric, 30 seconds. The @handle is theirs forever.
STEP 4 · Money lands
Funds release into recipient's Loadit balance. Withdraw to bank, debit card, crypto, or hold for the next Drop they send to a friend.
The 40-year arc
- Year 1Power senders + their networks100 power users send 5 Drops/wk to friends/family. 500 forced onboardings/wk. Each new user sends another Drop within 14 days. Viral coefficient k > 1.3.
- Years 2–4The default P2P pay app for the unbankedRecipients without bank accounts withdraw to debit card, crypto, or hold in Loadit. We become the default money app for the 1B globally underbanked.
- Years 5–8Cross-border at zero frictionSend a Drop from NYC to a phone in Lagos / Manila / La Paz in 60 seconds. Loadit picks the rail (Lightning, USDC, local). We replace MoneyGram + Western Union end-to-end.
- Years 9–15The atomic global P2P payment rail$25T global P2P payments routes through Drop or Drop-equivalent infrastructure. The @handle becomes the global ID for receiving money. Banks integrate as endpoints, not gatekeepers.
Why only Hylaq
1
@handle solves the cold-start
Cash App spent $1B+ on Cash Card mailers + Cardi B ads to bootstrap. We let senders pay for acquisition by sending real money to their friends. The mint IS the onboarding. Zero CAC for us.
2
Multi-rail settlement out of the box
Loadit picks per-Drop: FedNow / RTP / ACH / Lightning / USDC. Recipient picks how to take it. No vendor lock-in for either side. Zelle requires both banks; we don't care.
3
Veritas anti-scam
Senders are Veritas-attested before a Drop fires. Scam-bait Drops can't spread because the sender's @handle reputation kills them. The other apps have no equivalent.
4
Composes with the rest of the stack
The handle they mint to claim is the same one they'll use for Address (shipping), Sign (contracts), Hotspot (internet), Hotspot/Grid (real estate), Loadit (every other money flow). One mint, infinite product surface.
Shipped today
- Reuses GiftCard primitive (already shipped) — zero schema changes
- 4-step mobile-first sender wizard (recipient → amount → theme → confirm)
- 6 themes (sorry / birthday / thanks / grad / wedding / just because)
- One-tap SMS share via native sms: deeplink + Web Share API
- Claim page with @handle-mint hero — works without login
- 90-day expiry + auto-refund to sender
- Already-existing GET/POST endpoints power both directions
The send IS the onboarding.
Every prior payment app paid acquisition costs out of pocket. We let senders pay it for us — by sending their friends real money.