The Independent Republic

As crypto investors continue to bemoan price crashes, some bright minds are working on more productive projects. A Swiss tech startup called Zulu Republic has made it possible to send Litecoin via the popular Telegram messenger app.

Zulu primarily creates dApps for the Ethereum blockchain, so Lite.im represents a true boon to the Litecoin community. As we all know (and would do well remembering), the most significant barrier to price recovery is real world adoption. Telegram’s millions of users could give the Litecoin price a real boost, and raise awareness of cryptocurrency in the process.

Much of the good news is in the details. Zulu’s technology doesn’t store private keys. Vital data like this is encrypted and password protected for hack-free utility. Lite.im benefits from Telegram’s already secure network. It’s Telegram’s excellence on this front that made it the obvious first choice for debuting the dApp.

At launch, Lite.im users will be able to transfer Litecoin with simple text commands. You’ll be able to send Litecoin to wallets and email addresses. You’ll also be able to check the Litecoin price or your Litecoin balance from your device.

In the future, users will be able to send Litecoin to any text message recipient, even if they don’t have a Litecoin wallet. Zulu hopes to craft a dApp that works across platforms to make text-command payments possible, even if the recipient doesn’t understand cryptocurrency at all.

In the coming months, Zulu wants to expand Lite.im to other messaging platforms. SMS is the next (BIG) goal. Being able to make Litecoin payments available to anyone with text messaging would greatly expand Litecoin’s potential user base. The Litecoin price, which was deemed to be “too low” in early August, would be sure to follow.

Says Zulu, “While ~64% of the global population has a mobile phone, only ~33% have a smartphone, which means there are almost twice as many people with SMS capabilities as there are with mobile internet. By opening the world of cryptocurrency to these underserved and vulnerable populations, we aim to provide a degree of financial agency, autonomy, and security that they’ve been denied up until now.”

It’s easy to forget among all the talk of price speculation that one of the most fundamental purposes of cryptocurrency is the serving of the unbanked. Financial freedoms are scarce for many, and the ability to move money from a personal device, without corporate oversight, is hugely significant.

Litecoin was once the world’s 2nd most valuable cryptocurrency, in market cap. Today, it sits at 7th place. Real world adoption like this could have it contending for #2 once more.