ZED Network is SaaS platform built on a distributed blockchain network using ZED cryptocurrency. We are headquartered in Ontario, Canada and target Money Transfer Operators worldwide.
At the heart of ZED Network is ZED currency which is a Cryptocurrency built on a mining-free, distributed ledger. There will be a maximum cap of 38B tokens authorized, 8 Billion of which will be sold to to accredited investors in the U.S. and Canada as well as investors other select markets worldwide.
Upon close of the token sales, ZED will also be available to MTOs to buy and use solely for utility purposes of facilitating remittances worldwide.
In the same manner that SWIFT connects banks together on a global basis, ZED Network will seamlessly connect licensed MTOs in multiple countries to become a single point of integration for multiple currency pairs.
Some of the features of ZED Platform include:
- Decentralized Platform - ZED Network is built on a network of servers all over the world and validators will be run by community members external to ZED Platform. These servers are maintained by different individuals and entities. If ZED, Inc. were to disappear, the network would continue to confirm transactions, and anchors could still integrate with the network at any time.
Distributed Ledger- ZED Network is built on a consensus of replicated, shared, and synchronized digital data geographically spread across multiple sites, countries, or institutions. There is no central administrator or centralised data storage.- Risk Mitigation- ZED is not an anonymous currency. We will target accredited investors only and perform Know Your Customer (KYC) for each ZED token/coin issued during Initial Coin Offering (ICO). Furthermore, exchanges offering ZED will be required to perform KYC validation to buy or sell ZED. Every transaction on ZED is encrypted and recorded on a blockchain that traces back to the genesis block.
- No Mining - ZED Network does not require mining, therefore transactions are faster and cheaper that BTC and ETH
- Currency Fluctuation- ZED is a free flowing currency. However, we employ hedging strategies to alleviate any currency fluctuation risks for remittances initiated with ZED for a duration of time which allows recipient to convert their ZED currency into other crypto or fiat currencies of their choosing which usually takes only minutes with little to no hassle.
- Management Team - ZED management team consist of seasoned executives with decades of experience in technology, money transfer, B2B and consumer applications.
- Market Segment - ZED believes in immediately getting ZED into circulation in the emerging market countries in Asia, Middle East, Africa and LATAM where cryptocurrencies can thrive in the vacuum that exists for financial inclusion.
- Licensing - It is our belief that as a network operator, facilitating payments between two licensed MTOs, ZED will not be required to have its own Money Transfer License. However, should any of the government jurisdictions require it, we will be in a position to apply for or acquire Money Transfer Licenses worldwide.
1- Banking ProblemIn recent years, government regulations and compliance costs have created a toxic environment that is causing banks to shut down accounts of thousands of small to medium sized MTOs.
Hence, MTOs are constantly looking over their shoulders, worrying about their banking relationship, without which they could not survive.
Without a solid banking relationship MTOs are hesitant to invest in technology or innovations, opening doors for new age, digital first remittance companies such as Azimo, Remitly, Transferwise, WorldRemit and ZipZap that further erode their market share.
1 - Cash Flow Issue These regional remittance companies are forced to create multiple Nostro accounts in every market and corridor they wish to operate in or use a network of correspondent banks all of which require significant prepaid deposits to enable same day payouts (which consumers demand).
This cash flow requirement is a major obstacles to the growth of MTOs . It is also highly inefficient and further drives up costs for end users and corporate clients.
3- Technology ChallengeCash starved MTOs are spending most of their resources on compliance and maintaining their customer base with ever decreasing margins. The therefore have no resources to invest in technological innovations, many of whom still have no web site or mobile apps despite high customer demand.
The combination of lack of banking support, ever tightening regulations, tight cash flow and lack of technological innovation to break the cycle, have forced many MTOs to branch out into offering other services (e.g. long distance airtime, wireless phones, gift delivery, etc.), be acquired or shut down.
The impacts to customers are high fees and low exchange rates and in some cases, as in Somalis in UK when Barclay shut down hundreds of Money Service Business accounts a few years ago, was the complete elimination of remittance services to Somali which resulted in starvation and death of their loved ones back home
Our solution is to come up with a SaaS platform along with a single cryptocurrency that can be used for transmitting value between entities across the globe without actually moving funds through intermediary banks.
Introducing ZED
ZED is a cryptocurrency enabled platform that powers global money transfers in real time.
ZED Network is powered by the ZED currency, which is purpose-built for remittances, enabling instant money transfers across the world.
ZED Platform is a compliance-friendly SaaS solution enabling Money Transfer Operators to leverage leading blockchain technology to rapidly scale their business.
For small to medium sized MTOs that can't effectively compete with larger MTOs due to banking, technology and cash flow issues, Zed offers a SaaS platform built on a distributed ledger that reduces costs and transaction friction.
Unlike the current SWIFT system, the ZED Network eliminates dependency on banks in favor of a global, distributed network of licensed Money Transfer Operators to create a faster, cheaper, more transparent money transfer network.
With a single currency to manage globally, ZED is able to efficiently move capital across the world and between partners with negligible costs.
In time, Zed Platform will eliminate the dependencies that small to mid tier MTOS have on banks and reduce their operating expenses, freeing up much needed capital for growth in other markets and corridors.
Furthermore, with funds moving in both directions, ZED helps small remittance companies neutralize the significant advantages that large, global MTOs have when they “net settle” funds between their various geographically dispersed entities.
It is a little known fact that large MTOs do not actually need to move the full amount of the remittances across the globe even though they charge their customers the full FX cost. In reality, these global companies only send the net difference amount between two corridors. For example, if Western Union needs to send $1M from CAD to PHP, and in return they also have to send $750K from PHP to CAD, they will net settle and only transmit $250K from CAD to PHP.
The issue gets far more complex when these sophisticated large remittance companies, with dozens of currency traders and treasury personnel, move multiple currency pairs. For example the trade above could be changes to be CAD → USD→ PHP and the reverse (PHP → USD→ CAD) or even more complicated than that such as: CAD→ USD→ GBP→ INR→ PHP and vice versa.
Small MTOs simply have no resources to manage complex global FX transactions and they cannot rely on banks or FX intermediaries/hedge funds managers like Cambridge Global Payment with large FX margins and minimum transaction sizes.
Smaller intermediaries like Currency Cloud are somewhat cheaper but they, too, have upfront integration costs, monthly administration fees and monthly minimum fees and volume commitments that are far outside of the remittance companies’ affordability. They are also limited to a dozen or so major currencies and will not be of much use for non- prime currencies.
ZED does not require a bank account, is completely private and secure, and charges MTOs a small transfer fee of 0.25% or 25 BP after the first year of operations.
Why ZED?ZED reduces remittance costs by helping small to mid sized MTOs compete more efficiently using blockchain technologies.
Read the rest of the White paper here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aBhsROQL5Cz2om7Six4sGKPLeUiNNAqVT_u0Vju-quY/edit#heading=h.1946w2x0xt96ZEDNetwork website is open-source and on Github. Website :
zed.networkThe Official ZED Slack is
http://zednetwork.slack.com, come by and talk with the community! The Invite link is :
https://join.slack.com/t/zednetwork/shared_invite/enQtMjQ3NTc4MDc3Mzk4LTM0NjQxZjY4YTRkYzJiOWI5ZDIzMjQyY2JjYTNlZGJhMmMyZDM5ZTgxYTJkMzE2NTEyMjQ0NzJjZGEzMDQ1NWM 
