Request Finance in Numbers: December 2023 - New ATH in value of payments

Commentary for December 2023

Crypto-native and traditional businesses that make payments, or get paid in crypto remain our ideal customers. We are also actively looking to partner with new chains, and stablecoin issuers to power invoice, payroll, and expense payments in their ecosystems. 

At the product level

We've added a new payment network, zkSync, along with two new currencies, SNX and REFRACT, as well as CNY as a denomination currency. We've also been working on improving the crypto-to-fiat payout experience, including SWIFT integration. Additionally, we introduced CSV upload for Direct Payment and a new notifications feature.

New Crypto Payment Options

The number of cryptocurrencies supported on Request Finance is second to none, and continues to grow each month, in December, we added SNX and REFRACT tokens. Freelancers, DAOs, and crypto project teams can now send and receive payments in 160+ cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, 9+ fiat currencies, and 15+ blockchains. 

If you’d like to see a token or chain supported in Request Finance, reach out to us on Twitter! 

Request Finance is a chain-agnostic B2B crypto payments platform. We can support invoicing, bill, salary & expense payments, and more in the preferred tokens of any new Layer 1 or Layer 2 ecosystem. 

Our extensive support for new payment options enables projects across different chains to transact seamlessly with each other in their preferred token.

New signups in December: 911

One important metric is the growth in the number of new accounts created, or “sign ups”. They represent new companies and freelancers ready to use Request Finance to pay, and get paid in cryptocurrency.

In December, the number of users registered on Request Finance slowed down. The total number of registered accounts on Request Finance currently stands at 32,530 up 911, or about 18% fall compared to the previous month’s. 

Active users in  December: 1,977 

Having more new registered accounts is one thing, but more important is to have users who are actively using the product on a regular basis to meet their crypto payment needs. 

The past month saw a stable number of active users performing in-app activities like sending and paying invoices. This represents a decrease of 3% in total active users from the previous month, bringing the total number of active users to 1,977. 

Number of crypto payments in December: 2,771

The number of crypto payments made in December saw a 12% increase in the number of new payments made per month. 

The total number of crypto payments made on Request Finance stands at 55,267.

Note: Depending on contractual payment terms, it can take more than 20-30 days for payment requests like invoices to be paid from when they are issued, sometimes longer. That means that some invoices issued last month are still pending for payments likely to occur this month.

Value of crypto payments in December: $64.7m  

A key success indicator at Request Finance is the dollar value of crypto payments made through the app. Since January 2021, a total of over $572 million of cryptocurrency payments have been made through the Request Finance app. 

Of which, around $64.7 million in crypto invoices were paid last month in December alone. This represents a 141% growth in the monthly value of payments, or about $37.8 million more in crypto payments than the previous month

Top cryptocurrencies: USDC, USDT, SAND, ANKR, DAI

Another data point to keep track of is which cryptocurrencies are most often used on Request Finance. 

USDC continues to be the most preferred cryptocurrency being used on Request Finance, accounting for about 34% of all crypto payments made by our mostly enterprise users. 

USD-denominated stablecoins as a whole continue to be a popular choice for enterprise crypto payments, making up 63% of the crypto payments on Request Finance. 

The popularity of stablecoins can be explained with many of the same reasons why most people do business in fiat, rather than settling payments in shares of tech companies listed on the NASDAQ. Their stable prices make them ideal as a medium of exchange, and unit of account - two of the three defining features of money.

The unlikely contender of USDT came in second, accounting for about 22% of the total invoices paid in Request Finance, followed by SAND (13%), ANKR (8%) and DAI (4%). 

You can find the full list of currencies supported in the Request Finance app here.

Top payment networks: Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Celo, and Near

The Ethereum network is clearly the preferred payment network, being used for about 72% of crypto payments processed through Request Finance. 

BNB Chain took second place, with about 12% of the crypto payments volume in December. 
Polygon continues to grow steadily due its lower gas fees, coming in third, accounting for about 9% of transactions made through Request Finance.

Through this monthly report, we hope to provide an overview of what’s happening with Request Finance, and the data driving our product development decisions. We hope that our commitment to transparency will inspire new users to take their first steps into invoicing and payments with cryptocurrency for their business.