CommPRO Editorial Staff

There's a new tech startup that's betting big on blockchain and cryptocurrency which has the potential to shake up the entire industry that platforms like Patreon are built upon.

Recently, Patreon’s CEO said, “The company’s generous business model is not sustainable as it sees rapid growth.” Patreon at the time was known to charge 5% for commissions and up to another 5% for transaction fees, bringing total amounts up to 10% possible for using their services. However, Patreon recently announced they will be increasing their prices by up to 12% for their services. This is in stark contrast to a new tech startup, Monarch, which allows anyone, anywhere, to accept cryptocurrency payments for as low as a 0.5% transaction fee. Yes, you read that right, as low as 0.5% if using their utility token. Standard fees are around 1% for their other supported currencies.

Monarch could be the straw that breaks the camel's back and completely usurps Patreon’s entire business model. Even industry giants like PayPal currently only charge a fraction of what Patreon does with what is considered the “industry standard” by taking 2.7% plus a flat $0.30 fee for payments. Now it wouldn’t be completely fair to only compare transaction fee percentages, because Patreon does provide a few more services than only accepting payments for their customers. However, due to the ability for people to easily accept stable tokens now with MonarchPay, and having fees reduced so greatly, those using Patreon for their go-to service provider will really have to think long and hard if paying up to an extra 11.5% is really worth it.

In a world where tech giants like Facebook have announced plans to release a new global currency based on blockchain technology, it appears that Monarch’s bet on blockchain, cryptocurrency, and decentralized services might pay off big time. When you factor in the ease of use, setting a new industry standard for up to 0.5% transaction fees, and the fact their technology simply acts as a mediator to empower people to do commerce, raise funds, accept payment on their own terms and more; it’s easy to all the buzz around MonarchPay. 

Simply put, Monarch might just become the best way for influencers, Twitch gamers, content creators, bloggers, writers, non-profits, and those looking to raise funds to accept recurring payments. Using MonarchPay, anyone can accept recurring, single or custom payments giving immense flexibility along with the standard redirect after the payment is successfully processed. This is important because it doesn’t change the user experience flow merchants and consumers are already used too. The platform also allows for the collection of data like name, address, and phone numbers, along with the ability to export the data in a CSV file for easy export into programs like Quickbooks. 

Cryptocurrency is here to stay, and the ability to accept stable tokens means people can transact and accept crypto without the worry about wild swings in the value. They can easily swap their stable tokens for cash too using any number of exchanges, often in a manner of just hours. This is exceptionally powerful as a traditional barrier to accepting crypto has been due to the volatile nature of most cryptocurrency, often having wild swings up or down in value. Stable tokens along with the acceptance of other cryptocurrencies give everyone more flexibility.Monarch is betting big on blockchain and cryptocurrencies while providing services at a fraction of the costs of most service providers and without as much risk. With Facebook soon to be getting into the blockchain and cryptocurrency game with Libra, and the Federal Reserve announcing their own new payment system they will be developing and releasing in 2023 or 2024, Monarch is ahead of the game and positioned very nicely to take advantage of the coming market trend.