FairX: Cash For Cryptocurrency Exchange To Rival Coinbase?

FairX, found online at FairX.io, is a new exchange rumored to be backed by IBM. Find out everything you need to know about this mysterious upcoming exchange today in our review.

What is FairX?

FairX is a cryptocurrency exchange that aims to make it easier for an average person to buy cryptocurrencies. As you may have noticed, today’s cryptocurrency exchanges are an unintuitive mess. It’s not easy for anyone – particularly someone with limited tech skills – to buy cryptocurrencies outside of a handful of websites. Coinbase is arguably the most user-friendly way to purchase cryptocurrencies, but they charge high fees.

FairX, a project purportedly backed by IBM, seeks to solve that problem with a distributed exchange.

Right now, the FairX.io website features just two sentences words: “We are working on something very interesting” and “Cash for Crypto”. There’s also a background image that shows someone looking at a list of the highest market cap cryptocurrencies through a mobile app.

Other than this basic information, FairX appears to be mostly a mystery. Nevertheless, let’s take a closer look at how FairX works.

How Will FairX Work?

When launched, FairX will provide user-friendly cryptocurrency services. The platform will let you purchase virtually any coin using fiat money.

That’s a big deal because most of today’s cryptocurrency exchanges don’t let you purchase any cryptocurrency in exchange for fiat cash. Instead, you need to rely on pairs like BTC/USD and ETH/RUB. In Coinbase, for example, you can only buy ETH, BTC, BCH, and LTC with fiat.

That’s a problem for users: if you want to purchase a cryptocurrency like NEO, then you’ll be hard pressed to find a NEO/USD pair – despite the fact that NEO is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrencies. If you want to buy NEO on most exchanges, you’ll need to transfer your USD to BTC, then sell BTC for NEO.

In that sense, FairX is very similar to Stellar (XLM). Stellar settles transactions in 2 to 5 seconds and allows users to quickly exchange government-backed currencies. You can use the Stellar protocol to transfer your USD into EUR, for example, in a fast and low-cost way.

Is FairX Really Backed by IBM and Deloitte?

Here’s where things get a little mysterious: CNBC has reported (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/02/theres-a-new-hottest-coin-of-2018-so-far-stellar.html) that IBM is using Stellar’s network to “develop a cross-border payments system with some large banks.” FairX appears to be that cross-border payments system.

Consulting firm Deloitte is also a partner in IBM’s operation.

It’s not 100% clear that FairX is the IBM-led project, or that it’s the IBM project referred to by CNBC. However, FairX has confirmed (via Twitter: https://twitter.com/fairxio/status/947356459544616960) that it is developing an exchange that will use Stellar’s XLM as the sole means for transaction processing. We also know that IBM has setup 8 processing units called validators managed by Stellar, which work in collaboration with IBM’s worldwide network.

Based on that information, you’d think it was case closed that IBM is involved with the project. However, that may not be the case: in the same tweet linked above, FairX emphasized that it was a 100% independent organization:

“The excitement over a few tweets to update folks has been overwhelming :). It's good to know we might be filling a need in the marketplace in the future. On another note, need to make 1 thing very clear: we are a 100% independent org, no affiliations. No investors. #bootstrapped”

The FairX Conclusion

FairX has been generating buzz across the cryptocurrency community. The platform is rumored to be backed by IBM and Deloitte. However, the company insists they’re totally independent. Nevertheless, both FairX and IBM have announced plans to use the Stellar (XLM) protocol as a transfer system.

As of early January 2018, FairX is in alpha. The website features virtually no information about the company: just a few words about how they’re “Working on something very interesting.”

As it stands today, FairX is one of the community’s biggest mysteries. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more about the project.