Crunchfish Digital Cash AB
Crunchfish Digital Cash is a governed Layer 2 offline payment solution. By decoupling local offline execution from online settlement, it enables mobile wallets and banks to process secure, instant payments during network, server, or power outages.
About
Crunchfish Digital Cash operates as a governed Layer 2 overlay above existing Layer 1 payment rails (such as instant payment platforms, card networks, and Central Bank Digital Currencies). Using a Reserve Pay Settle lifecycle, it enables local, proximity based payment clearing (via QR code, Bluetooth, or NFC) between mobile devices and merchant POS terminals without requiring real time connection to central banking servers.
Key Benefits & Architectural Pillars:
- Survivability & Business Continuity: Guarantees uninterrupted payment execution during cellular network disruptions, cloud platform downtime, or central core banking outages.
- On Device Cryptographic Security: Leverages a Virtual Secure Element (VSE) and PKI digital signatures to enforce spending limits, prevent double spending, and protect transaction integrity without specialized hardware dependencies.
- Preserved Governance & Liquidity: Keeps central ledger authority, liquidity management, and monetary controls strictly within native Layer 1 bank infrastructures while offloading edge transaction execution.
- Rail & Proximity Agnostic: Integrates seamlessly as a lightweight SDK into existing mobile banking apps, digital wallets, and edge merchant terminals across standard iOS and Android platforms.
Benefits to working with Crunchfish Digital Cash AB
Uninterrupted Transaction Continuity
Payments continue seamlessly during telecom blackouts, server crashes, power outages, and cloud infrastructure downtime, protecting revenue and service reliability.
Bank-Grade Mobile Security
The Virtual Secure Element (VSE) provides chip-grade cryptographic security directly on standard mobile devices, preventing fraud and man-in-the-middle attacks without requiring physical smartcards.
Universal Payment Compatibility
The solution is rail- and protocol-agnostic, easily integrating into existing Real-Time Payment (RTP) networks, card schemes, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), and commercial bank wallets via a lightweight SDK.
Reduced Central System Load
Processing payment authentication locally at the edge offloads peak transaction volumes from core banking switches, reducing backend infrastructure stress and scaling costs.
Certifications & Training
Office Locations
We operate in the following regions and countries, providing local expertise backed by worldwide resources.
Europe, Middle East & Africa
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇪 Belgium
- 🇨🇿 Czechia
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇵🇱 Poland
- 🇵🇹 Portugal
- 🇶🇦 Qatar
- 🇷🇴 Romania
- 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇹🇷 Turkey
- 🇺🇦 Ukraine
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Resources
Explore our latest resources and learn how we've helped organizations transform with Red Hat technologies.
Whitepapers
Crunchfish’s whitepapers provide deeper analytical context on the architectural, security, and...
Webinars
Recent videos - Digital Euro Association, ImagiNxt, P.I.T. Exchange Podcast
Business Model
Offline Payments as Institutional Funding Architecture
Governed Offline Payments are designed first...
Technology & IP
Crunchfish operates as a governed Layer-2 overlay that brings offline resilience to existing payment...
FAQs
What proximity technologies and hardware are required to use Crunchfish?Crunchfish is hardware- and proximity-agnostic:
Proximity Channels: It works across standard proximity methods, including NFC, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and QR Codes.
Hardware Independence: Unlike traditional offline payment methods that require specific physical Secure Elements (like dedicated hardware smart cards), Crunchfish's Virtual Secure Element enables standard iOS and Android smartphones, as well as basic receive-only merchant terminals, to process secure offline payments natively.How does Crunchfish prevent double-spending and fraud when there is no internet connection?Since offline devices cannot perform real-time database checks against a central server, security is enforced locally on the sending device:
Pre-funded Spending Limits: Offline transactions are validated against locally enforced balances derived from prior online reservations.
On-Device Cryptography: The software utilizes a Virtual Secure Element (VSE)—a chip-grade software/hardware sandbox—to store cryptographic keys and sign each transaction instruction securely.
Sequencing & Expiry Rules: Consecutive offline transactions use unique cryptographic sequencing numbers, timestamps, and expiration parameters to block replay attacks or duplicate spending.Does Crunchfish replace existing payment rails like Visa, Mastercard, or UPI?No. Crunchfish is designed as a Layer-2 offline overlay, not a replacement payment system.
It operates as a lightweight Software Development Kit (SDK) that embeds into existing mobile banking apps, digital wallets, payment gateways, and merchant terminals. The underlying core payment rails (Layer-1) still maintain full authority over central risk rules, user onboarding, account balances, and final clearing.How does Crunchfish enable payment systems to work offline?Crunchfish uses a Reserve–Pay–Settle lifecycle that separates local execution from online central clearing:
Reserve: When online, the user reserves a spending limit from their core bank account or card balance into a local, encrypted Digital Cash Wallet.
Pay: When offline, the buyer's and seller's devices communicate locally using proximity technologies like QR codes, Bluetooth (BLE), or NFC. The payer’s app cryptographically signs a digital payment instruction within an on-device secure sandbox (Virtual Secure Element). The merchant's device verifies the signature instantly and stores the receipt offline.
Settle: Once either device reconnects to the internet, the stored, signed payment instructions automatically upload to the bank or central payment rail for final ledger settlement.What happens if a device is stolen or modified while offline?Crunchfish limits financial risk through strict operational boundaries set centrally before going offline:
Capped Offline Limits: Banks and central authorities configure strict offline caps (e.g., maximum dollar amount per offline transaction, total offline spending cap, and a maximum number of consecutive offline payments).
Time-Bound Validity: Offline spending tokens automatically expire after a set time limit, requiring the app to re-authenticate online to refresh the wallet.
Tamper Resistance: Cryptographic keys within the Virtual Secure Element resist reverse engineering, device rooting, or unauthorized file extraction.