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Sender Journey: The Active BCH Buyer

đź“– Unfamiliar terms? See the glossary for definitions.

Role: BCH Buyer (Active)
Example: María in Madrid (Spain) sending €100 to Elena in Caracas (Venezuela)

Overview

A sender is someone who wants to send money to another Asgaya user. In Asgaya’s framework, they are simply BCH buyers who:

  1. Use fiat (EUR, VES, etc.) to buy BCH
  2. Send that BCH to a recipient via a covenant
  3. Pay a 1% total fee instead of 5-8% traditional remittances

Mode: Active - uses the app when they need to send money

Typical use case: Cross-border remittances (Spain → Venezuela), but also works domestically

Payment Method Availability

Cash in person is the global default. Digital payment methods are added progressively as they’re documented and tested.

Phase 0 (Post-Launch):

Why progressive rollout: Each payment method requires thorough documentation (notification formats, bank compatibility, legal framework). Cash in person works everywhere immediately. See Progressive Payment Rollout.

For global users: Cash payment flow (shown below) is the primary method. Digital payments are a convenience where available.

Step-by-Step: Two Flows

Flow A: Digital Payment (Bizum - Spain Only, Phase 0)

1. Open Wallet & Enter Recipient

2. Create Covenant

3. Find BCH Seller on Bulletin Board

4. Select Seller & Get Payment Instructions

If Isabel’s payment info matches blacklist hashes (name/phone/IBAN from previous fraud), María’s wallet shows warning before payment.

5. Pay via Bizum

6. Seller’s App Detects Payment & Locks BCH

7. Elena Gets Notification

Total time: 5 minutes - 4 hours (most is Elena’s decision delay)
Total cost: €0.50 (0.5% sender fee) + €0.50 (0.5% recipient fee if cash-out) = €1 total

Flow B: Cash Payment (In-Person, Same Country - Global Default)

When to use: María doesn’t have access to documented digital payment methods, or prefers cash.

Common scenario: Local BCH seller acts as intermediary. Could be a locutorio owner (immigrant community shop), corner shop owner, café worker (with owner’s consent), or coworker helping colleagues. Much easier than becoming a Western Union agent - no licensing, no contracts, just download app and accept cash.

1. Open Wallet & Enter Recipient

2. Create Covenant

3. Find BCH Seller on Bulletin Board

4. Select Seller & Get Meeting Instructions

5. Visit Seller & Pay Cash

6. Seller’s App Confirms & Locks BCH

7. Elena Gets Notification

Total time: 10 minutes - 4 hours (includes María walking to merchant + Elena’s decision delay)
Total cost: €0.50 (0.5% sender fee) + €0.50 (0.5% recipient fee if cash-out) = €1 total

Key difference from Flow A: Manual cash payment confirmation (Carlos confirms receipt) vs automatic digital payment detection (Bizum notification parsed by app).

Active vs Passive

MarĂ­a is an active user:

Contrast with passive merchant:

Economics: Why MarĂ­a Uses Asgaya

Cost Comparison

Method Fee Time
Western Union €5 (5%) 1-2 days
Bank transfer €8-15 (8-15%) 3-5 days
Asgaya €1 (1%) 5 min - 4 hours

Benefits

Fee Attribution

What Prevents Fraud?

Payment-First Covenant Model

Key insight: Seller never locks BCH until they receive fiat payment.

Flow:

  1. MarĂ­a creates covenant (no BCH needed yet)
  2. María pays Isabel €100.50 via Bizum (traceable, irreversible - unless Isabel refunds)
  3. Isabel’s app detects payment (built-in notification listener)
  4. Isabel’s app locks BCH into covenant
  5. Elena can claim

If Isabel ghosts:

Why this works:

Edge Cases

What if covenant expires before Elena claims?

Scenario: María sends €100, but Elena doesn’t claim within 8 hours (Phase 0 time limit).

Two possible cases:

Case A: Covenant was funded (seller locked BCH)

Case B: Covenant was never funded (seller ghosted)

In practice: Elena gets push notification, expires are rare.

Why no minting on expiry:

What if BCH price crashes during transaction?

How the EUR-denominated covenant works:

Isabel receives €100.50 fiat (locked - this is her revenue regardless of BCH price). Isabel locks €107 worth of her own BCH into the covenant. The covenant promises €100 worth of BCH at claim time (not a fixed BCH amount).

Isabel’s risk: Limited to 7% buffer volatility. Isabel’s profit: €0.50 fiat (locked).

Scenario: Price drops 10% before Elena claims (covenant funded, but Elena delays)

What happens:

If drop <7%: Buffer absorbs the volatility

If drop >7%: Covenant aborts to protect Elena and MarĂ­a

-3% Early Warning System (Hypothesis): When BCH drops 3%, both Elena and MarĂ­a get notifications with urgency based on bull pool status:

Hypothesis: This warning prevents procrastination and reduces abort rate (untested in Phase 0).

Why H€ minting matters:

Who uses H€/HAu tokens:

Unknown to document: Not all merchants attract remittance customers. Hypothesis: Small neighbourhood shops where recipients buy essentials regularly become main cash-out points. This is documented in Merchant Asset Preference.

What if Nostr relay is down?

Scenario: María can’t receive payment instructions via Nostr.

Phase 0 Resolution:

Phase 1+ Improvement:

User Experience Flow

[MarĂ­a's Phone]
  ↓
1. Open wallet → Enter Elena142 → Amount €100
  ↓
2. App creates covenant on BCH blockchain
  ↓
3. Query bulletin board → Show sellers
  ↓
4. Select Isabel → Receive Nostr message with bank details
  ↓
5. Open banking app → Pay €100.50 to Isabel via Bizum
   Reference: Elena142
  ↓
6. Wait 30 seconds - 5 minutes
  ↓
7. Notification: "Sent successfully! Elena will receive €100"
  ↓
[Done - Elena's turn to claim or cash out]

Technical Details

For implementation details, see:

For rationale, see:

Next Steps

After sending, MarĂ­a might want to:

Related journeys:

Status: Phase 0 (Pre-Launch) - Q3 2026 Spain → Venezuela corridor
Updated: 2026-06-16

🏠 Home ↑ Remittance 📖 Glossary

Related: Recipient

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