Exodus, the publicly traded crypto wallet provider, began rolling out a new “Exodus Pay” feature on Wednesday, aiming to turn its self-custodial storage app into a tool for everyday payments. The launch is currently limited to users in five states, including New York and California.
“Most payment apps are third parties that hold your funds for you,” Exodus co-founder and CEO JP Richardson told Decrypt. “That means they can freeze your account, reverse transactions, and decide what you're allowed to buy.” Exodus, by contrast, can’t do that, because users remain in control of their funds at all times.
“The problem with self-custody until now has been the friction. Seed phrases, complicated networks—most self-custody consumer experiences aren’t built for someone who just wants to pay for groceries or send friends money,” Richardson said.
To encourage adoption, Exodus says it will subsidize network fees and allow transfers using phone numbers. The service remains geographically limited due to regulatory requirements. It is currently available only in Nebraska, Texas, Florida, New York, and California.
Richardson said the company has focused on simplifying the user experience, claiming that “someone with zero crypto experience should be able to use an app intuitively.”
After the initial launch, Richardson said the company plans to expand the service nationwide over the next several weeks.
“By mid-April, everyone in America will have Exodus Pay in their app,” Richardson said. For existing users, the feature will appear as an automatic update rather than a new download. “If you already have Exodus, you’ll have Exodus Pay,” he added.
