Ubank, which is an established company in the mobile finance sector, is making a crypto bet with a new project. Called Ubcoin Market, it aims to become “the world’s first truly efficient alternative to crypto exchanges.” That, as we know, is easier said than done, and here we’ll explore whether Ubank has “what it takes” to pull this off, and what its project is all about. Let’s roll…
A crypto-enabled marketplace
Ubcoin Market envisions eliminating fiat money from the process of acquiring and spending cryptocurrency, with a peer-to-peer marketplace serving users to buy and sell physical goods with crypto.
In addition to developing a technical solution, the team has also thought of any legal repercussions this kind of a service may entail; and they have apparently found a way to make it possible.
Through Ubcoin Market, a person would be able to sell his/her stuff — they mention things like second-hand iPhones and homemade products — in exchange for the platform’s native utility token, marked as UBC. These tokens can be exchange for Bitcoin or Ethereum, or be used to make other purchases in the marketplace.
The company argues that this approach represents a compelling alternative to crypto exchanges, where a person’s capital can be in danger if the exchange is hacked.
In the Ubcoin Market, all transactions are regulated through Ethereum-based smart contracts, which will — for instance — hold seller’s tokens in an escrow and release them only after the buyer confirms he/she received the goods. And in case something goes wrong, there is a mechanism in the form of a two-tier dispute arbitration provided by the platform.
Also worth noting is that Ubcoin Market uses artificial intelligence to scan for suspicious product listings and act accordingly — this is rather important with all online marketplaces.
An experienced team
We usually tell you how some project is created by an experienced team; well with Ubcoin Market we have to up the notch a bit. The company behind this project, Ubank, counts Samsung as one of its partners!
Under the deal with the Korean electronics giant, Ubank has managed to make its app preinstalled on select Samsung smartphones — including the brand new Galaxy S9 — in a few Eastern European countries. In fact, Ubank describes itself as a “leader in mobile finance in Eastern Europe,” with its app counting some 16 million downloads.
We’re not sure that Samsung will preinstall another app from Ubank, but the fact that this partnership exists speaks a volume. We had to assume that at least some link to Ubcoin Market will be placed in the Ubank app to help spread the word.
Want to join the ride?
Ubcoin Market has been running an ICO for quite some time now, and as I’m writing this – you can still participate in the offering. In case you’re wondering, it got most response from investors in Asia, which the company describes as an “extremely fertile ground for the mass adoption of goods-for-cryptocurrency exchanges.” Specifically — contributors from China, Indonesia and South Korea were dominating the token generation event so far.
The plan is to launch the platform in the Middle East, South Asia and Western Europe in the second and third quarters of 2019, followed by expansion into Latin America and North America by 2020.
A month or so ago, Ubank has managed to secure funding from the Singapore-based VC fund Amereus Group, which is being used to further the development of the Ubcoin Market. The first institutional investor, Inventure Partners, contributed to the project in March.