At the Hive Summit Aachen, one of the most engaging talks came from our colleagues in Luxembourg who presented Innopay, a community-led payment initiative. Unlike a company product, Innopay is not-for-profit and open to everyone. It builds on existing Hive tools like Keychain and V4V.app, bringing them together into a simple system that allows shops, restaurants and bars to accept Hive payments quickly and without fees.
The idea is straightforward: while blogging is important, only a small number of people write or read blogs every day. But everyone pays for things. By using Hive as a payment system, crypto shows its real value in daily life. In Luxembourg this already works in cafés where guests can scan a QR code, pay instantly in HBD or Hive, and even get cashback through the community app “Distriator.”
Sonia Brahmi & Sorin Cristescu showed how Innopay is used in practice: a bar menu linked with Hive accounts, payments confirmed within seconds, and even pre-ordering food from home so that it is ready on arrival. For shop owners, the advantages are clear: no fees, no special terminals, and a direct relationship with their customers. For users, it is fast, secure, and offers unique incentives that traditional systems like PayPal or credit cards cannot match.
The message was simple but powerful: Hive is not just a blogging platform, it is a strong economic infrastructure. With Innopay, it can become part of everyday life — whether paying for a coffee, a beer, or a meal.
