Blackbird Takes Flight: Revolutionizing Restaurant Payments with Blockchain

Blackbird, a blockchain-based restaurant loyalty app, has announced the launch of its flynet mainnet, enabling on-chain restaurant payments. The platform, founded by Resy and Eater co-founder Ben Leventhal, aims to revolutionize the restaurant industry by eliminating traditional middlemen, reducing transaction costs, and introducing a new reward model for both diners and partners.

Flynet is a layer-3 blockchain built on top of Coinbase's Base chain, which allows users to transact on the Ethereum network faster and cheaper. By handling payments and loyalty programs entirely on Flynet, Blackbird eliminates the need for intermediaries and offers a more efficient and cost-effective solution for the restaurant industry.

Previously, Blackbird had released a payments platform that allowed users to pay for meals using $FLY, the platform's native token. With the launch of Flynet, $FLY will now be used to pay platform fees by restaurants as well. Additionally, the team is introducing a new token, $F2, for gas fees on the network. Early users and restaurants will receive a 13% airdrop of the $F2 token supply, with the remaining 87% allocated to insiders, the treasury, and future participants.

Blackbird has raised $85 million in funding from prominent investors such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), coinbase, Spark Capital, and American Express. The platform is currently available in New York, San Francisco, and Charleston, with over 500 restaurants participating in its loyalty program. Ben Leventhal, the co-founder of Blackbird, envisions a future where on-chain transactions become more cost-effective, enabling restaurants to attract and retain customers more efficiently.