THELOGICALINDIAN - n-a
If 2024 was the year in which blockchain technology absolutely began to agitate banking and accumulation alternation markets, 2024 is abstraction up to be the year of tokenizing Web 2.0 models. And although abounding of the accessible mass-market ICOs will be a banking honeypot for aboriginal investors, it’s generally adamantine to see the technology or business case for an ICO at all.
The BEE Token ICO is a absolute archetype of tokenization that seems added geared to fast-tracking a VC accession than to analytic an absolute problem. The ICO will acceptable be a massive success – the business is exemplary, and the advance hackers abaft the activity accept been accomplished in the best accessible environments for the adventure ahead. BEE has appear 100,000 signups for its whitelist, of whom 30,000 were accustomed for sums as low as 0.1ETH per person.
Assuming an 80% take-rate, that’s 24,000 bodies who are invested in the success of BEE’s future, acknowledgment to the anatomy and business of their ICO.
But what’s the point… are they absolutely attractive to the blockchain for decentralization?
Nine Years Is Too Long For A Dot-Com, Apparently
The BEE ICO aggregation has absitively that the business archetypal for home-sharing (Airbnb, VRBO) is broken, admitting actuality built-in beneath than ten years ago – and in their whitepaper they outline a array of fees that they accept they can allay through blockchain technology. It may be article of an over-simplification, but they about appetite their BEE badge to be acclimated as a adjustment of acquittal and exchange.
But the botheration they seek to break doesn’t absolutely exist; in fact, Airbnb is advised article of a anticipation baton in the biking industry, which possibly mitigates the appeal for a tokenized acquittal solution. It seems unrealistic to apprehend users and hosts to about-face abroad from fiat, and it confers few 18-carat allowances to the badge holder. Their accessory benefits, such as blockchain-enabled reviews, assume analogously unnecessary. Alike their own examples of the accumulation that a homeowner ability make, while acceptable inflated, are absolutely not that significant. Airbnb alike acquired their own amusing acquittal system, Tilt, in 2017.
And we can infer that they apperceive this too, because their whitepaper goes on to say that they will acquiesce acquittal in authorization currency, at a commission.
In added words, yes, they are creating a blockchain acquittal arrangement – but they’re ambiguity their bets, because in accuracy the archetypal is NOT broken. It works well. Certainly the companies in the average accomplish added than they could, as in any centralized Web 2.0 model. But there isn’t an clamor over Airbnb’s abandoned fees, there isn’t a accessible admiring to pay in tokens, or to accept blockchain-enabled arbitration.
All of this ability be belief – but there’s one added affair to consider. The bodies abaft the BEE Token have, as mentioned, a accomplishments in the ultimate environments for the adamant abolishment of antagonism through accumulation volume: they’re from Uber, Facebook, Google.
What the BEE ICO is REALLY aggravating to achieve, it seems, is to defended a massive basic bang so that the aggregation can aggrandize exponentially, undercutting the antagonism with a new appraisement archetypal and eventually active them out of business – abrogation their Beesnest Platform as the alone bold in town.
It formed for Walmart. It formed for Amazon. It formed very, actual able-bodied for Uber’s bazaar capitalization. So although the case for blockchain technology may not be there, alone a fool would bet adjoin the BEE ICO’s abeyant for either short- or abiding profit. The fizz about this ICO is as active as it could bee, with 50,000 Telegram addicts and an absorbing business blitz.
Tokenizing Web 2.0 models is activity to be a above affair in 2024, abnormally if this succeeds. Facebook’s ‘Move Fast And Break Things’ methodology, and Uber’s ‘Rules Don’t Apply’ mentality still accept affluence of activity larboard in them. Expect added of the same.
It’s not an inherently bad model. Most confusing models are either cheaper, faster, or better. It artlessly seems acceptable that abounding added companies will use the ICO archetypal to bypass acceptable financing, with a appearance to inserting themselves as a (slightly cheaper) agent in an industry that will abide to accept a centralized hub.
OTHER EXAMPLES OF TOKENIZING WEB 2.0 MODELS:
CAR TAXI – RAISED $8.7M
Tokenized car towing platform: “Blockchain belvedere based on Ethereum, the aboriginal in its affectionate automatic account for car towing. It brings calm all tow trucks to one online arrangement and provides for fast and safe busline of cartage at any time and from anywhere. Blockchain makes the company’s operations absolutely transparent. Payments are set up application acute affairs and blockchain technology, authoritative this the ideal arrangement for cautiously appointment funds amid the applicant and the account provider, and guaranteeing that acquittal will be transferred alone back the account has been rendered.The blockchain arrangement allows you to calmly clue the cachet of payments with anniversary contractor. It maintains a database of orders, accommodate cellophane accounting and offsetting assorted types of payments.”
Setting abreast the catechism of why you would charge a tow barter company’s operations to be transparent, why wouldn’t a accepted app be acceptable to clue the cachet of your acquittal to a tow barter company, or the area of a vehicle?
RENTBERRY – AIMS TO RAISE $30m
Tokenized continued appellation accommodation rentals and houses system: “Rentberry is a cellophane home rental account and a amount agreement belvedere chain tenants and landlords. It automates all the accepted rental tasks from appointment your claimed information, acclaim letters and custom offers, to e-signing rental agreements and online rental payments. Rentberry will use blockchain technology to accumulate the absolute abiding rental action by authoritative it accessible for tenants and landlords to complete all rental tasks in one abode in a associate to associate manner.”
P2P needs a blockchain offering? Signing abstracts can alone be accomplished this way? This is a accepted web app development challenge.
EXPERTY – AIMS TO RAISE $9.3M
Dapp for blockchain influencers, advisors, and developers, and companies to “monetize their time and knowledge” by authoritative video app calls. Eventually they appetite to aggrandize to all industries. Basically they appetite to actualize a belvedere area blockchain experts can allocution to you via video alarm and accept the advantage to be paid in EXY tokens, (but, like BEE, they don’t alike accept to be).
So why wouldn’t they aloof do it on Skype and get paid in authorization (or any cryptocurrency)? This doesn’t arise to advance on a non-tokenized business archetypal in any way. It’s hard to see any use case for this platform at all. We accept Skype and PayPal and cryptocurrency wallets, and a hundred added video / acquittal opportunities already.
