Track Request Network (REQ) — Live Price & Historical Data

What is Request Network?

Request Network (REQ) is a decentralized protocol for payment requests built on Ethereum, enabling users and businesses to create, share, and settle invoices in a secure, trustless environment. It eliminates the need for third-party intermediaries, delivering cheaper and faster global invoicing while supporting a wide range of fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. The project was founded in 2017 by Christophe Lassuyt and Etienne Tatur, two entrepreneurs with backgrounds in online accounting, and was incubated by Y Combinator in its Winter 2018 batch — a rare distinction for a blockchain-native startup. The REQ token launched via ICO in October 2017, raising roughly 100,000 ETH (about $33 million at the time) in under 20 minutes, establishing one of the most notable crowd sales of that cycle. Today the protocol is stewarded by the Request Network Foundation, a Switzerland-based non-profit, while core product development is led by a separate team known as Request Finance, which builds consumer and enterprise applications on top of the open protocol. Request Finance has become the flagship product of the ecosystem, offering invoicing, expense, payroll, and accounting tools used by Web3 organizations including Aave, The Sandbox, MakerDAO, and The Graph to pay contractors and manage on-chain operations across multiple networks. The protocol supports settlement on Ethereum mainnet as well as Layer 2 and sidechain environments such as Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche, Fantom, BNB Chain, and Near, dramatically reducing gas costs for small invoices and making crypto payroll practical at scale. Request Network also integrated with stablecoins like USDC, DAI, and USDT early on, recognizing that most commercial invoicing needs price stability rather than volatile native tokens. The project has pursued compliance-conscious features such as EU-compliant invoice generation, automatic fiat conversion rates, and exports compatible with traditional accounting software including QuickBooks and Xero, which has helped it position as a bridge between DeFi treasuries and traditional finance departments. Notable milestones include partnerships with PwC France, which piloted Request for audit and accounting purposes as early as 2018, and ongoing integration with DAO tooling providers. The REQ token itself functions primarily as the fuel for the network: when a payment request is executed through the protocol, a small fee is paid in supported currencies and used to buy and burn REQ, creating a deflationary mechanism tied to real protocol usage rather than speculative emissions. This burn model differentiates REQ from many utility tokens that rely on inflationary rewards. The project has faced criticism over the years common to long-running infrastructure plays — slow token price recovery relative to its 2018 highs, limited direct user exposure to REQ (since end users transact in stablecoins, not REQ), and the inherent challenge of competing against Web2 invoicing incumbents like Stripe and QuickBooks. Nevertheless, Request has quietly grown into one of the most-used financial operations layers in crypto, processing hundreds of millions of dollars in invoices annually for DAOs, crypto-native companies, and freelancers. Its combination of open-source infrastructure, regulatory-aware tooling, and real enterprise adoption makes it a distinctive project in the payments category, and REQ remains the on-chain value capture mechanism for that activity.

Key Features of Request Network

• Decentralized Invoicing Protocol: Request Network provides an open, censorship-resistant layer for creating and sharing payment requests directly between parties. Invoices are cryptographically signed and stored on IPFS with references anchored on-chain, ensuring immutability and verifiability without a central authority.
• Multi-Currency Settlement: The protocol supports payments in dozens of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins across Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche, BNB Chain, and more. Invoices can also be denominated in fiat (USD, EUR, GBP) with automatic on-chain conversion rates, giving issuers and payers maximum flexibility.
• Deflationary Burn Mechanism: Every payment request executed through the network incurs a small protocol fee that is used to buy and burn REQ tokens. This ties REQ's supply dynamics directly to real-world protocol usage rather than speculative emissions or inflation.
• Accounting & Audit Integration: Request exports invoices and transaction histories into formats compatible with QuickBooks, Xero, and standard ERP systems. This allows finance teams to reconcile crypto activity with traditional accounting workflows, a critical feature for DAOs and compliant enterprises.
• Layer 2 Gas Efficiency: By routing settlements through Layer 2s such as Arbitrum, Optimism, and Polygon, Request makes micro-invoicing and frequent payroll runs economically viable. Transaction costs often drop from dollars to cents, enabling use cases impractical on Ethereum mainnet.

Request Network Use Cases

• DAO Contributor Payroll: DAOs like Aave and The Graph use Request Finance to pay hundreds of contributors across jurisdictions in stablecoins. The platform automates recurring payments, tax forms, and batch disbursements, reducing multisig overhead significantly.
• Freelancer Crypto Invoicing: Independent developers, designers, and consultants can issue professional invoices denominated in fiat but settled in crypto. Clients pay with one click from any supported wallet, and the freelancer receives funds directly on-chain with no payment processor taking a cut.
• Crypto-Native Expense Management: Teams can submit expenses, route them through approval workflows, and reimburse employees in the currency of their choice. This replaces traditional expense platforms for companies whose treasury lives on-chain.
• Transparent Nonprofit Accounting: Nonprofits and public-goods funders can publish invoices and payments on a verifiable ledger, allowing donors to audit exactly how funds are spent. Request's cryptographic receipts make after-the-fact manipulation impossible.
• B2B Cross-Border Settlement: Companies operating internationally can bypass correspondent banking delays by invoicing in stablecoins. A supplier in Argentina can invoice a client in Germany and receive USDC within minutes at a fraction of SWIFT fees.

Request Network Tokenomics

Total Supply

REQ launched with a maximum supply of 999,999,999 tokens issued at the 2017 ICO. The supply is capped and non-inflationary, with no further minting possible at the protocol level.

Circulating

A majority of the total supply is in circulation, with a portion allocated to the Request Network Foundation treasury for ecosystem development. Dynamic — see CoinGecko for live figures.

Utility

REQ is used to pay protocol fees on payment requests processed through the network, with collected fees programmatically used to buy and burn REQ from the open market. This creates a direct link between protocol usage and token scarcity.

Emission

There is no ongoing emission or staking inflation. Supply decreases over time through the fee burn mechanism, making REQ a net-deflationary asset as network volume grows.

How to Buy Request Network

1. 1

   1. Create a Binance Account

   Visit Binance.com or download the Binance mobile app and register with your email or phone number. Complete identity verification (KYC) by uploading a government-issued ID and a selfie, which unlocks full deposit and trading limits typically within minutes to a few hours.

2. 2

   2. Deposit Funds

   Navigate to Wallet > Fiat and Spot > Deposit to fund your account. You can deposit fiat via bank transfer, credit/debit card, or SEPA, or transfer existing crypto (USDT, BTC, ETH) from another wallet using the corresponding network address.

3. 3

   3. Locate the REQ Trading Pair

   Go to the Trade > Spot section and search for 'REQ' in the markets list. The most liquid pair is typically REQ/USDT, though REQ/BTC may also be available depending on your region's Binance offering.

4. 4

   4. Place Your Order

   Choose between a Market order for immediate execution at the current price or a Limit order to set a specific buy price. Enter the amount of REQ you want to purchase or the USDT amount you want to spend — Binance's minimum order size is typically around $5 equivalent.

5. 5

   5. Secure Your REQ

   After the order fills, your REQ will appear in your Spot Wallet. For long-term holding, withdraw to a self-custody wallet like MetaMask via the Ethereum network, or keep funds on Binance with two-factor authentication enabled for active trading.

Frequently Asked Questions