Move Over Uber: Blockchain Technology Can Enable Real, Sustainable Sharing Economy
Uber and Airbnb, the hugely popular marketplaces for taxi-like car rides and hotel-like short-term rentals, are usually considered to be successful case stories for the emerging “sharing economy.” Another buzz phrase, “people as a services,” describes the business models of these two companies, both of which attracted funding that values them in the tens....
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Grassroots efforts have defined much of recent technological history. Whether we're talking about file sharing via BitTorrent, disrupting money via bitcoin, or even the emergence of the web itself, innovation has often trickled up, rather than down. Even some of the companies that dominate today's Internet started small, and gained traction quickly. Could the next generation of sharing economy companies do the same, backed by cryptocurrency-like tokens? The sharing economy. The sharing economy is a potentially huge development. Also sometimes termed 'collaborative consumption' or 'the....
The city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire passed an ordinance regulating ride-sharing services that took effect in September of 2015. The ordinance made driving with Uber and other ride-sharing companies illegal within the city limits. Christopher David, a former Uber driver, launched the Free Uber campaign using Bitcoin prize pools to incentivize activism protesting the ordinance. Now, in the wake of protests by Uber drivers over the company’s decision to cut fares, David is launching his own blockchain-based ride-sharing platform, Arcade City. To promote the new platform, he and nine other....
A blockchain is precisely designed to solve the problem that arises when the sharing economy attempts to expand its system for recording and enforcing who owns what when the thing being owned is granular and fast-moving, a programmer, blockchain expert and widely known economics blogger, has told The Guardian. Steve Randy Waldman says blockchain is a different way of keeping track of a normative set of information, making the storage of information in multiple copies and distributed across all the nodes of a network instead of in one central location – the county records office, say, or....
Uber and Bitcoin are among the most groundbreaking technologies currently on the market. Uber, part of the so-called sharing economy, has created jobs and helped people arrive at their destination safely. The company has grown, attracting the attention of governments worldwide. The issue for Uber circles on the fact that, in order to drive a taxi or become a taxi company, regulations ensure you keep your customers safe. Uber is not governed by similar regulations. This has unfortunately led to many cities throughout the world to try and ban the new technology startup. Yet, it remains.....
The Argentinian government blocked credit card companies from dealing with Uber, causing the ridesharing company’s national branch to use Bitcoin instead. The city of Buenos Aires issued orders both to the national communications agency (ENACOM) and credit card companies to block the Uber app and deny the company use of credit card service. This prompted Uber to partner with Swiss Bitcoin company Xapo to enable payments through Bitcoin debit cards. Part of an ongoing war against Uber. The ride-sharing company has faced harsh resistance in Argentina, particularly in Buenos Aires. Taxi....