What is Request Network?
As the crypto industry matures, more decentralized projects are hiring people from all corners of the world. Compared to the classic office job, working for a DAO is closer to freelancing. This means less safety net guarantees for a chance to build and own a piece of a cool project. The only guarantee should be the next payday.
Raising millions in a token sale to work on your puppy DAO sounds like fun. Until you start hiring and get to deal with payrolls and taxes (ugh). You heard that right, running a legit crypto project means a lot of responsibility. Request Network is here to make your life a little easier.
Request Network is part of the old guard projects that launched in 2017. Early on, its founders envisioned that collaboration in this space will grow inevitably, and ecosystem participants will be more than happy to get paid in crypto. Let's face it, no crypto project should rely on a bank account to pay its employees. Imagine working to change finance by using the same outdated payment rails. The point is to prove how banks can be replaced by DeFi protocols entirely.
Request Network is a payment protocol used by some of the biggest crypto projects in this space. Household examples include Maker, Aave, Sandbox, The Graph, and many others. Although there are no costly intermediaries or slow processes, using Request Network is not free. Request Network is a collection of smart contracts that interact with Ethereum. As a result, users will have to pay a fee for processing the transactions on the blockchain.
The value of Request Network grows as digital collaboration increases. Essentially, it is a payroll management dapp that operates in a trustless manner. With Request Network, transactions are processed automatically by the network's smart contracts, which are executed on the blockchain. This means that there is no need for intermediaries, and transactions can be verified and processed in a decentralized, trustless manner.
Because Request Network also enables fiat payments, KYC policies apply on a case by case basis. If you are using Request Network as a payment gateway to process crypto transactions, then you do not need to go through KYC. However, if you are using Request Network to facilitate fiat fiat transactions, then it may be necessary to go through KYC to comply with regulatory requirements. Additionally, some DeFi applications built on the Request Network may also require KYC depending on their specific use case and jurisdiction.
Request Network also has its own native token, called REQ. It is a governance and gas token. Why use REQ as a gas token in the first place? According to the team, a small fee in REQ is paid whenever users broadcast a transaction. This fee discourages people to use the network maliciously, keeping the network clean from spam. Additionally, the collected REQ is converted into xDAI tokens on Gnosis Chain, resulting in less REQ in circulation.
Thanks to its governance structure and its experienced team, Request Network has never been hacked. The protocol has been patiently growing over time, to the point where REQ holders can vote on new products to be launched. Next, we will explain each product built on Request Network.
How does Request Network work?
Request Network is the first payroll processing dapp built on the Ethereum blockchain. It is a decentralized payment system in which anyone can request a payment and receive money securely. In a nutshell, Request is aiming to compete with PayPal as the #1 payment processor. But it's much more than that. Request expands its utility to enable all types of payments i.e. invoices, IoT, B2B, government, across the entire payment lifecycle – everything from the initial request to the accounting afterward.
In order to facilitate payments on the blockchain, Request has a multi-layered architecture. The core layer represents the manages the most basic payment types. It includes smart contracts for simple invoices online and tracks when they’ve been completed.
The Extensions layer introduces taxes, escrow, advances, and other more advanced payment terms. These are added as extensions to standard invoices. Extensions introduce a modular component to the protocol, making it easy to customize for different use cases. In addition to the Request team, external developers can build on the Extensions layer. Each extension costs a REQ token fee in which a portion will be burned and the rest will be given to the extension developer.
The Applications layer exists outside of the blockchain. Third-party apps can plug into this layer to interact with invoices or view any associated information. This layer also includes a reputation system to mitigate phishing attacks and block those who don’t pay accepted invoices on time.
So far, Request Network has built three main Dapps that leverage its payments protocol features. They are: Request Finance, Request Create, Huma Finance.
Request Finance
Request Finance is a dapp for Companies, DAOs, and freelancers to easily manage crypto invoices, salaries, and expenses in a fast, non-custodial, and compliant way. Payments can be denominated in local currencies and processed in crypto.
An invoice issued with Request Invoicing looks very much like the invoice you’re used to now. It’s compatible with accounting & bookkeeping norms and integrates easily into your existing flows. The entire process (from creating an account to issuing your first invoice) has been streamlined to look exactly like a Web2 experience.
By creating an invoice with Request Finance your customers will receive an automatic email with a link to the invoice. All they have to do is click on accept and pay from within the invoice.
Request Create
Request Create is a feature of the Request Network platform that allows users to create and send invoices or payment requests in a simple and user-friendly way. With Request Create, users can easily generate invoices or payment requests, which can be sent to their clients or customers via email, text message, or other communication channels.
If you click on the dapp, you will be prompted to a simple interface that lets you select the cryptocurrency to get paid in, who you are sending the request to, the reason (optional), and where you want to receive the funds.
Huma Finance
In 2022, Request Finance has acquired Huma, an income backed DeFi protocol, that enables the first web3 invoice factoring experience.
By using Huma Finance’s platform, anyone will be able to factor their Request on-chain invoices and receive up-front financing right away. Payment requests on the Request protocol are immutable and securely stored on the blockchain, but to allow transferability of the requests to a finance provider like Huma Finance, the protocol has been upgraded to allow for a RequestNFT.
Currently, Huma finance is still in beta mode. Huma is currently whitelisting invoice issuer with payer profiles such as DAOs and web3 organizations with regular on-chain payment commitments.
How to make money on Request Network?
Request Network isn't so much about making money, but receiving money. If you are a freelancer working in the crypto space, Request Network is the perfect tool to collaborate with your DAO or employer.
Price Prediction for Request Network — Can it hit $1000?
Buying and hodling REQ — the native token of Request Network— is one way of potentially making money on Request Network.
By looking at its current price, it’s natural to think about the chance of REQ hitting $1000 per token. This can happen sooner, or way in the future, and is determined by a couple of ever changing factors.
Let’s examine the potential growth of the REQ token by analyzing its tokenomics. REQ’s current market cap sits comfortably at ${MARKET_CAP}. With {CIRCULATING_SUPPLY} REQ tokens being in circulation today, that means a price of {PRICE} per REQ.
How did we come to that calculation? It’s quite easy, the price of an REQ token is equal to its current market cap divided by the number of tokens in circulation. Dividing ${MARKET_CAP} by {CIRCULATING_SUPPLY} gives us a result of {PRICE} for each REQ coin.
By changing the order in the simple formula above we can use it to calculate other things as well. This helps us a lot because we can deduce the market cap of REQ at different token prices. Then, we can use the result to compare it to the current state of the network and see what would be required for REQ to hit that price.
At a price of $1000 per token, that means the current market cap of REQ would equal ${{CIRCULATING_SUPPLY} * 1000}. Remember that we arrived at this number by multiplying the amount of circulating tokens by $1000.
Now let’s shift our attention to the fully diluted market cap.
Some blockchains may have their tokenomics built in a way that only a small percentage of tokens are circulating at the beginning. This can be misleading because we don’t have the full picture and only take into account the current number of coins released in the market.
The fully diluted market cap represents the total value of a coin if all tokens were in circulation. REQ’s whole supply of tokens is {MAX_SUPPLY - TOTAL_SUPPLY + CIRCULATING_SUPPLY} REQ which means that no more coins above that number will ever be created.
These tokens are not created at the discretion of a specific entity. They are created automatically by the network to reward different actors that keep it secure.
How does this impact the price of REQ? Taking into account the current price of an REQ token, that would result in a fully diluted market cap of ${MAX_SUPPLY - TOTAL_SUPPLY + CIRCULATING_SUPPLY * PRICE}. REQ coins that have been burned are not taken into consideration because they have been permanently removed from circulation.
Whether it seems gigantic or not, the number we came to above only takes into account the current price of an REQ token. Doing the same calculation but with a price of $1000 gives us a result of ${{MAX_SUPPLY - TOTAL_SUPPLY + CIRCULATING_SUPPLY} * 1000} for the REQ protocol fully diluted market cap.
These are all crucial details to know when calculating if REQ can reach the price of $1000 per token. If the diluted market capitalization is way too high, the token has little room left to grow. Blockchains in general have no cap on the value they can reach, whether that number seems possible it’s totally up to you.
The future of REQ depends solely on its growth as a network used by tens and hundreds of millions of users.
If you’re looking to add some REQ to your portfolio, the most trusted places to get some are Binance and Coinbase.