Metal (MTL) is a blockchain project that is focused on digital payments. Founded in 2016 by Glenn Mariën and Marshall Hayner, who also co-founded QuickCoin and worked on Stellar, Dogecoin and Block.io. 

The network uses a unique consensus algorithm called Proof-of-Processed Payments (PoPP), rewarding them for converting legacy fiat currency into cryptocurrency. The team has said that the MTL token and network is very much like Bitcoin, but with the distinction of having the user friendliness and appeal of something like Venmo or Square. 

Built on the Ethereum network, the team wished to move away from the Proof-of-Work algorithm which is used by Ethereum. They began working on the PoPP scheme, which “acts as a provable way of identifying users and distributing new currency into the system.” To facilitate this, it uses KYC/AML procedures to link accounts.

As for why Metal may be a better choice than Bitcoin, the team has said that it expects its users to save about 4-5% in expenditure as a result of using the token. Metal will also provide discounts for Metal merchants, customers and consumers.

While there are no specific dates for the many milestones that the team has listed, there are several objectives on the agenda: Metal Vault, Metal Pay, Metal Merchant, Metal Desk and much more. Each of these focus on a specific feature - storage, payments and so on.

Additional features of the Metal that are being worked on include plugins, loyalty programs, Escrow wallets, hardware NFC payment terminals, an ecommerce platform, microtransactions and much more.