Faradam: Bitcoin micropayments service for freelancers worldwide

A new Bitcoin micropayment tool has been launched, targeting the international freelance and on-demand service market.

The tool, called Faradam (named after its inventor, Michael Faraday), uses a simple timer to facilitate payments for both parties involved in the service. It caters to freelancers who want to provide only their name, hourly rate, and Bitcoin address. It also makes it easier for those who need short-term services to simply click on a link and connect to a wallet.

Faradam was developed by Demian Brener, a former senior business analyst at Quasar Ventures, and Manuel Araoz, who worked on an earlier decentralized certification project, Proof of Existence, which had just three full-time employees and was based in Argentina.

Brener said Faradam is set to have a big impact because people in the region are very receptive to Bitcoin.

“Right now, we are focusing on using Bitcoin for different use cases, such as international freelancers, who would like to charge clients in Bitcoin. In Argentina, we don’t have payment platforms like PayPal, so it is difficult for freelancers here to charge American clients.”

Although micropayments are new, the technology behind them is already in existence, and in May Brener used the technology to found a decentralized streaming startup called Streamium.

Brener explained that the design of Faradam was inspired by Streamium users who wanted to pay for services, not just content, and believed that there would be a market for paid services. Brener also said that this project fully proves that the concept of paying for services has more commercial value.

“The value of what we do is not only that we provide live video to people, but more importantly, we develop a pay-per-view service. So you can get paid in real time for your on-demand services.”

  Brener also said Faradam should focus on its niche market before adding other payment methods.

Unlike Streamium's completely free and open source model, Faradam will charge a 1% service fee for all transactions. Currently, the company has no plans to join the incubator.

Design Concept

Brener said that Faradam’s design was also inspired by Streamium, especially the simplified interface design to facilitate the use of novice Bitcoin users.

“We understand that there are some complex concepts, such as payment channels and Bitcoin, so we have done our best to simplify the site as much as possible so that users can understand and use it in the shortest possible time.”

To keep the design elements simple, Brener also spoke with Streamium, including online teachers and professional psychologists who typically earn income using hourly video payments.

“We finished the Faradam project a week ago and shared it with some supporters, early adopters, freelancers, teachers and consultants to try it out with their clients,” Brener said. “Now, Faradam is very simple to use and you can get the hang of it very quickly.”

Although Faradam is a web app, it can be used in conjunction with popular communication apps such as Skype and Slack.

“Faradam is not limited to the services you provide, nor do you need to have a webcam or live streaming app. All you need to do is turn on Faradam and the money will be credited to your account.”