We made a tough call this week to sunset Brale IO in its current form.
This post explains why, what changes for existing teams, and what comes next.
Why we are sunsetting IO (in its current form)
IO was built as an easy, drop-in onramp for developers, and it was designed to be multi-chain. That helped new projects get to market faster, and enabled onramps for their users.
However, IO was originally built and tested before our APIs were fully built out. As a result, IO does not take advantage of many of the multi-chain improvements the API now supports. Over time, multi-chain (one of IO's core benefits) became a real problem in the current architecture.
The API changed the game
Over time, the Brale API has become the best way to build an “IO-like” experience:
First-class multi-chain support
USD rails to every bank account in America
Instant support for new stablecoins and new chains as they roll out
Support for more combinations than we can count
Automations
The API already supports millions of transactions per month.
If you want an IO experience today, you can already build your own with more functionality, more control over the UI, and a faster iteration loop.
What is changing
IO, in its current form, is being deprecated.
If you are actively building on Brale, we recommend moving to the API-native flow to provide onramps.
Start here: docs.brale.xyz
There are two common ways teams can build an “IO-like” flow, depending on how you want to handle wallets:
Custodial path (hosted wallet experience)
The "account-style" model. Your users complete onboarding, link a bank account, and fund into a balance that can be held and managed over time. This path is ideal if you want a seamless, mainstream UX where users do not need to bring a wallet upfront.
Non-custodial path (bring-your-own wallet)
The "deliver to address" model. Your users onboard, fund via bank rails, and receive stablecoins directly into a wallet address they control. This path is ideal if your product already has a wallet experience or you want to keep custody out of your application.
What is next for IO
We are working through a new version of IO built entirely on our API.
Our intent is to open source this new IO so developers can drop it into their applications alongside custodial or non-custodial wallets of their choosing.
We have not decided whether we will also offer a hosted version. If you have a strong opinion, please reach out.
If you want help planning your migration, or want to share feedback on what the next IO should include, book a discovery call.
Contributors
- Gauri SharmaSr Product Manager
