Sep 20, 2018
SAFEX — the future of e-commerce (English version)
This is the English version of my first German article about SAFEX.
Since there are already many high-quality articles about SAFEX (appendix), which were written by members of the team or the community, I decided to write a small article in German, which should introduce the project to newcomers in the crypto-world as well as crypto-investors who don’t know about the project yet in a short time frame.
Introduction
The world is centralized. A few big corporations hold very big market shares of their respective branch. This is the case for cellphone technology (Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi), the automobile industry (Toyota, GM, VW) and also for the e-commerce (Alibaba, Amazon, eBay).
Initially, there are several advantages in purchasing from one of the “big players” of the e-commerce corporations. Based on the awareness as well as the high numbers of users and sellers it is very likely to find the desired product. There are trustworthy sellers who have been part of the network for a long time already. The established payment system is fast and uncomplicated.
Yet, there are also several disadvantages emerging by using this system. The full details of user data get stored on central servers of the respective e-commerce giant. In order to purchase products one must create a profile, which helps to link all viewed and purchased articles as well as personal data to the individual user and store them. There is a huge risk of all these collected data being stolen in a hack or being misused and sold for advertising purposes. There is also the possibility for a specific user getting displayed a personalized price of a product based on his previous purchases, his location or even his chosen device for using the service. For sellers there is always the risk of getting excluded from the network, which would be technically easy to execute.
What is SAFEX ?
SAFEX (“safe exchange”) will be a decentralized, anonymous marketplace. The aim is so establish a network, in which users can buy and sell goods and services online without being exposed to the obvious disadvantages mentioned in the previous chapter. Now, you will say to yourself: ”That sounds awesome, how should all this function?”
Based on blockchain-technology (similar to Bitcoin) there is a decentralized network of miners. However, SAFEX has the biggest similarity with Monero, today’s best-known anonymous cryptocurrency, which transactions are not traceable to their addresses. Where are now the differences between SAFEX and the proof-of-work-currency Monero?
There will be two currencies transferable on the SAFEX-blockchain, which network has just started a short while ago. The equivalent to Monero is called “SAFEX cash” and can be mined by using a PoW-algorithm. In a specific emission curve the number of mined coins will grow to one billion in a time frame of 20 years. Afterwards, there will only be mined a low amount of coins (see “Monero tail emission”). It has to be emphasized that there will be mined fewer coins in the beginning than it was the case for Bitcoin or Monero in their early stages. This should lead to a wide-spread distribution of coins and avoid centralization by a few big miners in the early stage of mining.
However, SAFEX will go one step further. In addition to this PoW-currency, another currency will get integrated into the blockchain: the “SAFEX token”. In this case, the amount of coins is limited and already entirely distributed (currently on the Bitcoin-blockchain, of which more later). So, in comparison to SAFEX cash there will be no inflation of this currency within the next years.
Which use will have two currencies on one blockchain?
SAFEX cash will be the fuel which keeps the marketplace alive. Goods and services as well as transaction fees will be paid in this currency. It is primarily the currency of the users. SAFEX cash miners and node operators will keep the network running.
SAFEX token will have several purposes. In order to be a part of the marketplace network (buyer or seller), a low fee in this currency will have to be paid. Moreover, SAFEX token holders will have voting rights on decisions which will affect the future of the project based on their holdings. Last but not least, SAFEX token is highly relevant for investors. Any and all fees for goods and services sold in the network (5% on average) will get distributed in SAFEX cash among all SAFEX token holders based on their holdings.
The goals for the project are very ambitious-after all, SAFEX wants to conquer 1% of the entire e-commerce market which is estimated to exceed a total yearly GMV of $4,000 billion in 2022. Consequently, a yearly turnover of more than $40 billion shall become realized. If those ambitious goals are achieved, I can see SAFEX cash being an established diverse payment-currency and SAFEX token being a stable “store of value”, which additionally generates passive income based on the transaction volume on the marketplace.
(Assuming a yearly GMV of $40 billion an amount of 1 million SAFEX token would generate more than $1 million yearly passive income. Bearing the price of 2c/SAFEX token in mind, this appears to be a lucrative, yet venturesome investment. https://tools.safexnews.net/calculators.php)
Who did found SAFEX and how are the goals supposed to be met?
SAFEX was originated by Daniel Dabek, who had worked on the project MAIDSAFE (another cryptocurrency) before, but then decided to work on his own project full time. All SAFEX token (as omni token on the Bitcoin-Blockchain) were distributed in a crowdsale (today ICO) for a total amount of $50,000 in order to generate seed capital for the project in 2015/16. As this amount of money was very low compared to the intakes of some ICO’s at the peak of the crypto-hype in 2017/18 (tens of millions), additional ways for financing had to be found in order to keep the project running. Therefore, Dabek was looking for traditional investors and founded the software company Balkaneum, which is located in Belgrade. The constantly growing team is now primarily working on SAFEX becoming reality. As soon as SAFEX will be mostly completed, other projects in the sector of blockchain-technology will be realized.
It will be crucial for the “mainstream-adoption” of the project that many people notice and try it out, as well as a high user-friendliness with as little as possible obstacles compared to the payment methods used by today’s e-commerce platforms. In order to achieve this, big marketing campaigns are expected to start before the final launch (November 23th, “Black Friday”). Additionally, a network of ATMs for SAFEX cash shall simplify the entrance in the network, since the detour of purchasing Bitcoin on a crypto-exchange can be avoided this way. A preferably user-friendly, easy to use desktop- as well as mobile-app of the marketplace should finally bring a high number of users.
How can you become part of the project ?
SAFEX is interesting for both early investors and eventual users of the platform. If you see potential in SAFEX right now and want to invest, you can purchase SAFEX (omni token) directly from the website safex.io or from the crypto-exchange tradesatoshi.com. The exchange appears to be quite exotic at first glance, but it definitely is reputable and easy to use first-hand if you already have experience with buying cryptocurrency from an exchange. At the moment, I would recommend to buy from the exchange since the price of SAFEX is slightly lower there.
At the moment, it’s not that easy to mine SAFEX cash for newcomers in the crypto-space, although mining tutorials in several languages have been published already. I will present how to get a hold of SAFEX cash without own suitable mining hardware in another short article coming soon.
What´s coming next ?
At the moment, SAFEX token (omni) is running on the Bitcoin-blockchain. SAFEX cash can already be mined on the SAFEX-Blockchain (of which more later). The next step will be the release of a new version of the SAFEX-wallet. In this version the SAFEX token (omni) will be able to get swapped for the SAFEX token on the new SAFEX-blockchain. To do this, the old tokens will be sent to a “burn-address” and the new tokens will be received in the ratio 1:1. Additionally, there will be generated an amount of SAFEX cash during this process based on the SAFEX token holdings and airdropped into the wallet as well. Afterwards, the two new coins on the SAFEX-blockchain will get listed on exchanges. Beside the new version of the SAFEX-wallet which will support the 3-Click-blockchain-migration, there also is the release of a SAFEX cash 1-Click-miner to be expected soon.
As soon as both coins are running on the SAFEX-blockchain and can be traded on exchanges, there is not too much getting in the way of the marketplace launch. Accounts for buyers and sellers will be able to get created and also a reputation system as well as an encrypted messaging client are expected to get integrated. Henceforth, SAFEX token holders can “lock” their coins and earn from the fees of the marketplace revenue. The marketplace is expected to go live via desktop-app for Windows/MacOS/Ubuntu first and subsequently followed by mobile-apps (opening: November 23th, “Black Friday”).
Hereby, the foundation of the “SAFEX-ecosystem” will be laid. Further exciting chapters of the roadmap can be read online. Among others, the integration of a decentralized exchange for SAFEX token and SAFEX cash within the app is planned. This is an important step in order to become independent from today’s centralized cryptocurrency exchanges.
What else will you be able to read by me ?
If I awakened your interest in SAFEX and you want to keep track of the project’s development, the following chapters are waiting for you:
Pool-Mining of SAFEX cash with rented hashpower (Nice Hash): How can you get a hold of SAFEX cash before exchange listings even without suitable mining hardware?
SAFEX-blockchain migration: How can you receive SAFEX token on the SAFEX-blockchain as well as your SAFEX-cash airdrop after you purchased SAFEX token (omni) from the exchange?
SAFEX marketplace launch:
First exploration and use of the marketplace hopefully in November.
If you have any further questions or want to get in contact with me, you can find me in Discord here:“oliver 🚀#3478” and on Twitter. The inofficial German-language SAFEX-Discord Channel as well as the official Channel (English) are waiting for you!
Appendix
If this translated version of my first German-language article could awaken your interest, you can find further information here:
Official website (information on team, roadmap, purchase of SAFEX):
Official website of Balkaneum:
Official SAFE EXCHANGE forum:
Daniel Dabek on Twitter:
News, interesting articles and more about SAFEX (curated by Richard Bate):
Statistics about SAFEX (blockchain, pools, wallets, etc.):
Exchange for purchasing SAFEX (omni token):
SAFEX block explorer:
