A question that comes up these days is “why blockchain?” It’s a fair question and in crypto it’s a real debate in evaluating projects.
So, we asked three members of our team to give point of view on the subject. Each of them has a unique background and different take on why the blockchain and BlocBuy are so linked.
Jon Rees is from the development team. He is on front lines of what he thinks is a revolution. His goal is to spread the love and make distributed ledger technologies understood by everyone.
Jon was followed by Paul Mak, a longtime investor in the retail space who currently serves us in business development. As someone who has experienced retail inefficiency and wholesale distribution nightmares, he is not crazy about intermediaries. He thinks retail can’t continue without the transparency and automation that the blockchain can give.
Finally, a contributor to the project, Robert, shares his experience as a wholesaler and traditional/crypto markets investor shapes his outlook.
Jon Rees, BBY Developer:
BBY smart contracts allow companies to enter into an immutable agreement surrounding price breaks and sale volumes. Now, you could say that people are already doing this without blockchain and a public facing company is unlikely to renege on the agreement. It’s just a business deal. It’s not like the sale is going to run away from them and they suddenly find themselves in a position where they’d rather back out. However, having these companies get their feet wet with blockchain is what this project is all about. It’s an education and initiation endeavor as much as it is a business one.
For the first time these companies are going to be signing agreements with their publicly registered wallets, working with us during onboarding to figure out how their specific industry is best served by blockchain and eliminating layers of the supply chain. These companies know that the innovation of blockchain has happened and isn’t going anywhere. They are unwilling to take a back seat and will not be left behind. So we want BBY to be a test bed of sorts for these companies to start exploring the potential with us. Start familiarizing themselves with the technology and how to run it securely within their organization. I foresee a future for us where we can private label our platform for large enterprises but this requires baby steps at first. Once that trust and relationship is established we can truly begin to innovate, but you don’t ask them to run before they can crawl.
So right now we are using some straightforward smart contracts, which are executed using the BBY token. This freedom offered by having our own token, secured by the Ethereum blockchain, is a critical piece of this experimental proving ground. The token must be interacted with or at the very least, held in order to consummate work on the chain. As we evolve, we never have to worry about not having the flexibility we need.
The BBY token is ours to build into the platform as we see fit — a luxury that would never be afforded to us outside of the blockchain. The power of wielding our native currency, without interference, can not be overstated. Right now, the BBY token is used as purchasing power on the platform. However, as the platform evolves we can manipulate its place with relative ease. We won’t be bogged down by red tape or redundant bureaucracy. Ultimately, this is a complex, stunning puzzle that can only be solved over time and we are incredibly excited to have all of the pieces laid out neatly on the table, ready for us to dig in.
The blockchain will empower us to be nimble and code on the fly, gain real time access to critical data and implement guidelines before we slowly cede power back to the consumer. After all, the token is held by the consumer and manufacturers who are willing participants in a great transformation. Companies that reside in our ecosystem, which is only made possible by the blockchain, will ultimately signal their consumer-centric ethos. This is certainly game changing.
Paul Mak, BBY Business Development
The use of blockchain for BBY…it’s actually something that simply can’t be done without it. We’re looking at an amazing level of automation. Ecommerce is broken and retail is in the stone age at this point. As someone who spent his career in consumer goods and kickstarted more projects than I can count ,the added costs in the supply chain have destroyed the little guy. Ecommerce may not be the evil empire but it sure looks like it. Even the big wholesale platforms are retail, not wholesale and they charge whatever commissions they want. They find trending items and raise prices by increasing commissions. To join these ranks, the non-competes companies have to sign are super restrictive. Even eBay gets around 15% end to end and plays games with searching. Paypal is pricey and an absolutely awful at dealing with disputes. They don’t represent a jury of my peers.
Blockchain is everything to the mission of what BBY is doing that it’s easy to overlook. By building tailored smart contracts, you’re building a self-running platform with very low cost. We are talking about buying and selling in a world full of commission based platforms and a corrupt chain that goes from manufacturer to retailer. A platform running on smart contracts is there for all to see. Big group buys are way easier, secure and honest at the foundation. Using a crypto for transaction fees, discounts and sales promotions etc. puts value in the token for everyone. When you go on to things like governance not only do you save on things like customer service, active users are way way better at solving problems then someone reading a script in a far away land. The token ties it all together. Without it, everyone is forced to trust in some, you got it, centralized authority. The token incentivizes, attracts and make things run smoothly plus it’s entirely necessary to complete transactions. Ecommerce platforms have so many unfair practices and exploit everyone. I find it surprising that the world is not screaming for what we’re developing.
Robert:
I’m going to have the unpopular opinion. I spent twenty years in manufacturing, international export/import and have been a traditional markets investor for longer. I think blockchain is interesting and feel fortunate to have discovered it pretty early on. My opinion is most of these projects are not solving problems and are pretty much useless.
Crypto is a way for non-accredited investors to invest in early stage companies and most of the liquidity they are afforded is a manipulated popularity contest that is going to come to an end. You are funding businesses, period. In the case of tokens, it is the utility of a token, which can become coveted which is pretty srtrange but I do know it’s only as good as the space it occupies. Transacting is enormous and pretty unlimited but if you’re asking businesses to change the way they do things, you really don’t have a chance.
I don’t care if someone created a crypto to get funding. What no one is doing is evaluating the likelihood that something is going to have any use at all. The fact that no one has really looked into commercial and retail transacting is shocking. The space can support lots and I mean lots of big players. Packaging by itself is 1000x the size of some cottage billion dollar industry. People can chase the strange stuff all they want but entrepreneurs with businesses will conquer all. You think exchange tokens are necessary? They all function without a token and really don’t offer much of anything but they’re huge. That’s why I don’t care so much about the question why create a crypto or why blockchain. Tell me about your business because exchanges function without them but people believe a big audience is going to create value and that’s not wrong. The operation of buying and selling are a mess. It’s inefficient, and loaded with avoidable costs. When I look at what BBY is trying to do, I see challenges but I really hope it gets support. This is not one big prize that some company will win. You have to look at just how big of a playground this is. There’s will be so much room for cooperation it’s incredible.
To Close:
What we all agree on is that BBY would not exist without the blockchain and the crypto that will make it go. We have very much to look forward to!
