Now, you can buy crypto in minutes — directly from your bank account

An open-source blockchain technology project has launched a smart contract that enables atomic swaps between fiat and crypto.

Nimiq says the OASIS protocol means that someone who is completely new to the world of crypto can create a self-custodial wallet and buy NIM and BTC directly from their bank account in only five minutes. No sign up or installation is required, and fees come in at just 1.25%. Support for other cryptocurrencies, including Ether and Litecoin, is set to follow in the future.

The project was founded with a crystal-clear objective of making crypto easy and available for everyone — and this new feature has been in the works for two years.

According to Nimiq, the friction that’s associated with buying and selling digital assets has stymied the adoption of cryptocurrencies… until now.

Although OASIS is currently in a public beta stage, the project says that users do not have any risk of losing their funds — meaning the technology is completely safe. Although functionality is currently focused on buying crypto, users will be given the freedom to sell their digital assets within the coming weeks.

A big milestone

Nimiq says that a partnership with Germany’s TEN31 Bank means that OASIS supports transactions made using euros from any bank account that has SEPA Instant functionality. And the project isn’t sitting still — already, it is planning to integrate with a Costa Rican payment provider as it starts to make inroads in Latin America. In the fullness of time, the Nimiq team’s goal is to extend OASIS to every major currency.

To begin with, transactions are limited to $500 (about 400 euros) — with a total limit of $1,000 (approximately 800 euros) on a rolling 30-day basis. It’s hoped that these limits will be increased in the not-too-distant future — but larger transactions may result in Know Your Customer checks.

“While supporting larger swaps is certainly on our roadmap, we believe current limits to already enable most individuals to participate in the cryptoverse,” Nimiq explained.

OASIS is complemented by Fastspot, a service and technology that was created by Nimiq to provide liquidity for swaps — enabling users to buy their crypto immediately.

Bold plans for the future

Soon, any business will be able to integrate Fastspot’s API — giving them the “easiest, fastest, safest, most decentralized and maybe even cheapest way of buying and selling.”

Nimiq’s infrastructure could also prove exceedingly advantageous for merchants, who will get the opportunity to accept crypto but receive fiat — with conversions taking place instantly after a transaction. Not only could this open up retailers to a much broader cross-section of customers, but it will help crypto payments become more commonplace than they are now.

The platform says its goal is to deliver an enhanced user experience that is “intuitive through simplicity.” Nimiq’s aim is to offer far greater convenience than conventional payment services — along with privacy and censorship resistance. An open-source mentality means developers are given the tools to build new and exciting applications that tap into Nimiq’s diverse ecosystem.

A specialized type of smart contract known as Hashed Timelock Contracts (or HTLCs for short) served as inspiration for the OASIS ecosystem. HTLCs can only do one of two things — release funds to a specific address once a condition is met, or return funds to where they were sent from after a preset time expires.

OASIS is set to be released in full this spring.