|
|
Mix.rent
Can MIX.Rent Revolutionise The Transport-Sharing Economy with Blockchain Technology
MIX.Rent is a new entrant into the transport sharing economy, incorporating blockchain technology into a global user-friendly platform with the intent on alleviating grievances that have dogged transport sharing platforms since their inception. MIX.Rent has been likened to the “AirBnB of transport sharing”, a decentralised platform that offers rental services for everything including: bicycles, electric vehicles, carts, RVs, yachts, aircraft, and even helicopters. The establishment of the company in 2017 has been followed by rapid growth, operating now in four countries (USA, Canada, Russia and Mexico) with 11,000 users and 7000 registered vehicle units worldwide, with plans to expand into the Australian and Brazilian markets in the near future.
There is a massive trend towards vehicle sharing throughout global markets; the looming spectre of climate change and increased state ecological regulation is driving this demand to its zenith, further punctuated by trends towards multi-transport travel models — overall, people are looking to diversify their modes of transport. As a result, market projections of the transport sharing economy are suggesting an 18% growth (between 2018–2022), and with Bloomberg’s announcement that the global automotive giant General Motors is adapting with their plans to launch a car-rental program, it seems that MIX.Rent is right on time to capitalise on this emerging market. The transport-sharing market, although growing rapidly, is restricted by several issues that havebeen affecting both renters’ experience and perception of transport sharing, as well as impacting thelikeliness of owners putting their prospective rental vehicles into the market. For renters, there is currently no single global platform for renting different types of vehicles — the globalised world is producing global citizens, whose transport needs are dynamic and flexible depending on their circumstances. However, within current transport-sharing platforms there is a high probability for renters to lose part of their deposit — as renters bear the risk of being cheated by owners who can refuse deposit returns under any pretext. Moreover, as international tourists own about 30% of the market, financial losses due to exchange rates and bank fees related to international payments are currently plaguing the transport-sharing economy. This is sharpened by the fact that renters are often unaware of what particular vehicle they will get due to selection-methods on current platforms, as well as the fact that the fragmented market provides no way of making accurate comparisons for the selection of the best offer. For owners, the issues are similarly in that they emerge from the incompetency of current transport sharing platforms. At the moment there is no global platform capable of generating sufficient customer flow, owners and renters alike are forced to interact financially with small and often untrustworthy rental offices. Similar to these rental offices, owners know little about their clients and have low confidence in renters, so high risks are included in the rental costs — creating a climate in the market ripe for exploitation by large internationals who can overcharge for rent and reduce the overall willingness for market participation.
So what makes MIX.Rent different, and why should investors’ interest be piqued by their innovations in the field? It comes down to their inventive use of blockchain technology in the contract- management and supply-chain of the transport sharing economy. MIX.Rent is pioneering a ‘smart-contract’ system which incorporates blockchain for the storage of transaction data, intermediaries and other third parties in a secure and independent transport-sharing contract format, reducing intermediary costs by 35%. Furthermore, by utilising cryptocurrency backed MIX tokens as the currency for financial transactions, MIX.Rent says conversion fees are cut, customers’ bank details are secured, and processing times are reduced significantly. Renters will be able to use their MIX tokens to select specific vehicles as the platform will provide space for owners to create detailed profiles for their vehicles — customers will be able to enjoy an enhanced freedom of choice. The global scope of the platform is allowing comparative calculations, not before possible on transport-sharing platforms, giving customers greater control over their selection. Once a vehicle is selected, renters will enter into the aforementioned smart-contract with the owner, with any disputes between the two parties being resolved by platform administrators. The system is underpinned by a rating system, which is said to enforce accountability between the renter and owner, to create an environment of familiarity and honesty within the platform and an overall increased level of trust between contractors.
As an already functioning profitable platform in four countries, MIX.Rent has its sights set on the future. The pioneering MIX token system opens its initial coin offer on the 30th August 2018 to garner investments from the global community and up-scale the platform. A hard limit of 100 million tokens has been set to allow for deflation-based economic advantage for investors in the future. As the transport-sharing economy continues to grow, the world looks towards companies such as MIX.Rent to forge ahead in the provision of platforms to foster this emergent market. MIX.Rent has published all of their financial and organisational information on their website, www.mixrent.io which is open to public viewing.
