Monaize, an e-banking platform for freelancers and small businesses, and Komodo, a blockchain-based ICO platform, teamed up to conduct the world’s first decentralized ICO (dICO).
The rise of the so called ‘gig economy’ has led to the proliferation of freelancing. Think of the Ubers, Deliveroo, AirBnb’s etc of the world. It would appear that freelancing is rewarding as well. McKinsey for example reported that as a result of a survey of freelancers, “Free agents reported higher levels of satisfaction in multiple dimensions of their work lives than those holding traditional jobs by choice, indicating that many people value the non-monetary aspects of working on their own terms.”
However, freelancers and SMEs are a neglected lot when it comes to banking. Too few transactions, small annual volumes and low margins mean that traditional banks would rather focus on the consumer market and big business than give their attention to the little guys. However, Monaize believes there is a huge untapped opportunity in small business banking.
They realise that some small businesses such as merchants need be notified whenever funds arrive on their account in order to be able to buy more stock. Or that a plumber should be given the opportunity to get short-term, small lending to pay for the equipment needed for his next mission before getting paid.
Monaize allows users to benefit from a technology driven, partner-agnostic and personalized approach. At the core of their offering, a business current account with a Monaize Business Mastercard. However, by working with 3rd parties Monaize users also get access to service providers who can bring products like insurance, payment solutions and peer-to-peer finance.
An Earthquake in European Banking
The Economist reported how an earthquake in European Banking is shattering the monopoly of established banks. They wrote, “The Payments Services Directive 2 (PSD2), due to be implemented by EU members in January 2018, aims to kick-start competition while making payments more secure. Provided the customer has given explicit consent, banks will be forced to share customer-account information with licensed financial-services providers.”
All of this plays well for Monaize, an e-banking platform that is 100% mobile and is especially relevant to freelancers as well as small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Monaize will be able to provide its customers with the kind of agile services that they need with reasonable fees for business banking. Since Monaize has already developed a working product and will be launching in Q4 of 2017 on the French and UK markets, these developments bode well for them.
Cutting Down the Paperwork
New technology is allowing Monaize to cut down the paperwork involved in accessing banking. A one-of a kind KYB (Know Your Business) process will allow them to check photographed documents instantly. Customers will be able to open their accounts in a matter of minutes. All of this can be done using a smartphone from the convenience of home or office.
The fact that there are no branches to visit or paperwork to fill suits the lifestyle needs of independent workers and SMEs, who would rather be using actual banking services instead of waiting for paperwork to be processed. As of now in the UK alone, three quarters of self employed workers are using personal accounts for business finances, if Monaize can capitalise on this it will be a win-win situation for all involved.
The World’s First Decentralized Initial Coin Offering (dICO)
Monaize is collaborating with Komodo Platform, a top cryptocurrency project focussed on decentralized technologies, to launch its blockchain-based services. As part of their “Banking meets Blockchain” partnership with Komodo Platform, Monaize are conducting the world’s first decentralized ICO.
The partnership between Komodo and Monaize has resulted in it being possible to distribute its tokens via cross chain atomic swap using Komodo’s Jumblr and BarterDEX technologies. This makes it possible to issue and distribute native cryptocurrencies without a middleman.
The dICO also frees future crowdsales from having to depend on Ethereum and Waves platforms, which have been mostly used for ICOs to date resulting in problems like blockchain bloat. The dICO not only is a novel approach in itself as a means of launching a crowdsale but also holds the promise of decentralizing the entire ICO universe and making the process fairer, safer and more technologically sound.
Monaize (MNZ) tokens will be put on sale in the dICO starting November 10, 2017 and users will be able to swap Komodo Coin (KMD) or Bitcoin (BTC) for MNZ. A special dICO wallet has been developed by Komodo. More information will be available from Monaize regarding the workings of the dICO. A tutorial will also be made available for token sale participants on the Monaize website.
Monaize’s blockchain will provide anonymity through zero knowledge proof and bitcoin level of security through a delayed proof of work protocol (dPOW). All transactions on Monaize are thus notarized in the Bitcoin blockchain. We are told that there are plans for a cryptocurrency wallet that will be built into their banking application Q2 of 2018. This will help fuel the use of cryptocurrencies by the freelance and small business community.
Monaize Can be Your Bank
Whether you are a banking customer or an ICO investor, Monaize has potential either way. As a freelancer or a SME, the services that Monaize promise to bring to life are extremely relevant in an era where banking is dominated by financial giants who care little for the needs of the small guy. Investors stand to benefit as the whole project is structured on user growth and adoption.
As Monaize picks up new customers rewards are paid in Komodo Coin to investors. These rewards will be automatically distributed using an API that will crawl the Monaize blockchain and make a list of public keys and their holdings.
Investors, of course, will also be attracted by the idea supporting the “Banking meets Blockchain” partnership and helping build open banking and promoting the use of blockchain technology which will make a significant impact on the financial sector in the coming years. In fact, Monaize has already built a significant following on Telegram and Slack and through email subscriptions. Investors who are interested in participating can join in on the conversation on these channels.
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