Yesterday, on the day the typhoon hit Sanya, all city transportation stopped, and some areas lost internet and power. The convenience store near my accommodation was packed with tourists stockpiling supplies. I initially thought of using my phone to pay for a few buckets of instant noodles and bottled water, but the WeChat and Alipay pages kept loading. The convenience store owner helplessly waved his hand: 'The internet is down, the POS machine can't be used, we only accept cash.' I rummaged through my bag and found only a few hundred yuan in cash. Just when I was worried, I suddenly remembered the Solayer Jade Card that I randomly stuffed into my wallet before leaving. That Visa card linked with USDC can be used in hundreds of countries abroad.
With a 'let's give it a try' mindset, I handed the card to the owner. The POS machine beeped, recognizing it successfully, and the transaction was completed in a few seconds. The owner was taken aback: 'How can this card work even when the internet is down?' I then realized that the blockchain network this card relies on does not depend on local base stations; even if the internet is down, as long as the merchant supports Visa, the payment can be completed. That afternoon, I used it to extend my hotel stay, and even when I flagged down a taxi that was still operating, the driver's payment code malfunctioned, but I was able to pay smoothly with this card. The most surprising part was the transaction fee; I only paid less than 1 dollar for three swipes, which is much cheaper than the exchange fee.
What surprised me even more was the card's 'interest-earning' feature. Previously, to shop online abroad, I transferred some sUSD into the card, and unexpectedly, it directly anchors to U.S. Treasury bonds, automatically calculating interest daily, with an annualized rate of about 4%. During these two days stuck due to the typhoon, I had no chance to manage my funds, but when I opened the app, I found I had earned a few dollars in interest.
Moreover, you can also take advantage of promotions while spending. When I went to the duty-free shop, after swiping my card, I received a prompt saying 'First swipe can earn airdrop points.' After that, for every transaction, I could accumulate points. The customer service said that the points could be exchanged for hotel discounts or flight coupons. Calculating it, my spending in Sanya over the past few days has already accumulated enough for a discount voucher for my next stay in Sanya, which is equivalent to saving on accommodation costs.
Later, when I chatted with friends who work in technology, I learned how 'cutting-edge' the InfiniSVM technology behind this card is. It has a throughput of 1 million TPS, and its transfer speed is even faster than WeChat Pay. When I bought a coconut water, I specifically paid attention; from swiping the card to getting the receipt, it took just over a second, completely unaffected by the network fluctuations due to the typhoon. My friend said that this kind of decentralized technology is the most reliable 'backup solution' in extreme scenarios.
