Why It Matters

What Needs to Be Solved:Build a system where capital flows not only move fast — but compound.

Despite being positioned as frictionless, cross-chain crypto payments today impose a persistent cost structure that scales linearly with volume.

These funds are not retained, reinvested, or yield-generating; they represent pure friction paid to infrastructure middlemen with no compounding benefit. The current architecture accepts this as an operational cost. Structurally, it is a capital sink — and one that compounds in the wrong direction.

Aggregator Fees	Socket, LI.FI, Across	0.1–0.3% ($1K–3K)	$100K–$300K
Slippage / Spread	Bridge route depth, vol exposure	0.15–0.2%	$150K–$200K
Gas / Settlement Fees	L1/L2 execution per tx	$500–$2K	$50K–$200K
Bridge Relayer Markups	Bonded LPs charge per tx	0.05–0.15%	$50K–$150K

🔻 Total Cost per $1M: $3.5K–$8.5K -> Annual Leakage @ $100M flow: $350K–$850K+

This Is Capital Destruction:

• No yield, no rebate, no compounding.

• These costs repeat per transfer — irreversible, perishable friction.

• Mesh, Coinbase, and most wallets incur this tax every time they route across chains or currencies.

Market Misconception:

"Crypto is cheap and borderless."

Reality:

• Each payment burns up to 1% of its value on infrastructure costs.

• These costs are invisible to users, but terminally corrosive at scale.

Real-World Example:

MeshConnect promises seamless payment UX, but still relies on:

• External aggregators (Socket, Connext)

• Route-based bridging

• Volatile gas across chains

Result:

• Every tx incurs 0.3%–1.0% overhead

• Even higher on weekends or congested chains

Coinbase, despite internal liquidity, faces:

• FX spreads (~0.5% on fiat ↔ USDC)

• Custodial operations- Cost of opportunity

• Internal rebalancing slippage

A single $1M fiat → crypto → payout flow can cost $4K–$10K, or up to 1% of the notional.