Why I founded Hagglin
I am frequently asked why I started Hagglin. I think a much better question is…why not start it? Hagglin wasn’t conceived yesterday. In fact, my co-founder, Ursula Ruiz, and I began discussing the idea of Hagglin over two years ago.
Ursula and I came up with the idea when we met in Latin America and discovered our mutual appreciation and need to swap items. In various parts of Latin America, especially rural areas, it can be difficult at times to find high-end brands. We often found ourselves often asking friends or family coming and going from Latin America to bring us the items we needed.
What we realized was that there wasn't an app that allowed international travelers to swap with others versus buy. And, the final stretch of any successful swap — the shipping or transportation of an item — could only be done through major carriers that charged a premium to get an item from point a to point b. We thought if we could connect the people that want to swap items with people willing to transport them, we could open up an entirely new marketplace.
Peer-to-peer markets are not a new concept. eBay, for example, was born as web-based application that you managed from your desktop. Cut to now, and there are hundreds of peer-to-peer marketplace apps you can manage from your smartphone. But, up until recently, its been impossible to bring peer-to-peer logistics to market until blockchain was developed.
An important characteristic of blockchain is its inherent immutability. With swapping or any peer-to-peer trade, what is often lacking that’s needed is irreversible transactions. Why?
Because the Hagglin app utilizes complex algorithms that work in real time to match up multiple people to enable a swap, a payment for a transaction only goes through if all parties execute their part of the deal.
For example, John in NYC wants a playstation and has headphones he wants to trade. Let’s say that Sue, in Chicago, IL, happens to want a pair of headphones and has an Xbox she wants to sell. Finally, Joe in Portland has a playstation he has but wants an Xbox instead. Hagglin matches these three individuals together with package runners, who are going to the various cities and can make this three-way swap happen. These items vary in price so in order for this swap to happen, funds need to be put up in escrow to make up the difference.
Now imagine with a traditional payment method like Visa, halfway through the swap, the card payment is rejected due to lack of funds. Now, all of the three items must be returned. With Hagglin, the payment is only sent once all parties have executed. Additionally, if someone seeks to trick the system to get payment before their share of a swap is executed, the immutability of the blockchain will have that on record (from user feedback) and that individual will have a negative rating in the Hagglin economic ecosystem.
Additionally, smart contracts that are enabled by ethereum make it possible for all parties to be involved without much human intervention. Blockchain and smart contracts make three and four-way swaps possible in real time between people all over the world.
I’m proud to say that we have assembled one of the best teams out there by bringing together MIT student developers and computer scientists. Hagglin will be the new standard for buying, trading, and sending Items. If Bitcoin cuts out the banks, Hagglin cuts out everybody else needed in a fully-functional peer-to-peer marketplace.
