Top 4 user complaints about Signal’s new crypto payments beta

From the UK-based beta launch of its payment integration with Mobilecoin’s MOB token, privacy focused messenger app signal has posted early user feedback.

Top four user complaints about Signal’s new integration so far, with a major complaint from many users about the entire concept itself because cryptocurrency is the worst has been revealed by Jun Haranda, the Signal head of growth and communication. However, Harada re-assured the user that it is an optional feature.

In an attempt to replicate the success of Paypal-owned Venmo, Signal is aiming to extend its privacy features to payments, which has been described as being popular and cheap peer-to-peer payment service.

With Mobilecoin transaction fees currently siting at around 50p or $0.60, it has been said that the Top MOB-related complaint from users was the fees were too high. The amount has been described by Haranda as to pay a friend for a slice of pizza and that the transaction fees will soon be down.

Another complaint surrounded the difficulty of getting funds in and out. Currently, UK-based users have to wire transfer money to exchanges that support MobileCoin, which subsequently incurs extra funding, transaction, and withdrawal fees that compound on top of Signlal’s fees.

Lastly, the firm reported that the price volatility of MOB was a big concern for users. The token currently holds an obscure position in the crypto marketplace. MOB went live in December 2020, with 250 million coins minted at genesis, and mainly trades on FTX with a daily volume of around $20 million. The token has its price, but no market cap listed on CoinGecko.

Haranda said the company had considered alternatives such as Zcash or Lightning. In the case of Zcash, while it was very private, it wasn’t fast or mobile-orientated enough. Lightning meanwhile does not have “very strong privacy guarantees.” However he added:

These projects are all constantly improving, and we hope are focused on getting closer to being integratable by an app like Signal so that it would be possible in the future.

Signal’s integration with MOB doesn’t appear to have gone as smoothly as first hoped, with some members in the community labeling the token as “shitcoin” and questioning Signal’s relationship to Mobilecoin with Signal Founder Moxie Marlinspike, after he reportedly appeared on an early draft of MobileCoin’s white paper as its Chief Technology Officer.

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