IdeationA good way to earn money is to save on irreducible every day expenses such as food, groceries, consumer goods, etc.
This is what we set out to do with Ethconomy.io, a platform that allows you to cover everyday expenses using crypto at a discount.
For example, you can purchase Amazon gift cards with up to 30% discount, which can then be used to buy groceries, food deliveries, consumer products, and giftcards to other stores/services.
How and Why it WorksWe are advocates for the privacy of online personal data, and looks to explore the potential and power of cryptocurrency as a payment method.
There are two roles in the world of Ethconomy:
Consumers are people looking to spend their crypto to purchase for giftcards. They can place orders from retailers on Ethconomy using crypto at a discounted price.
Brokers are people looking to purchase crypto. Once a consumer order is placed, it is settled by a network of brokers who fulfill orders on behave of consumers in exchange for cryptocurrency. They benefit from receiving crypto anonymously by paying a slight premium.
Technical DetailsThe platform will be ran on the Ethereum blockchain in the form of a dapp and all transactions will occur on smart contracts. Consumers can directly access the dapp using wallets such as Metamask, Trust, or Coinbase wallet without having to create an account on the dapp itself.
When an order is placed by a consumer, it goes into an orderbook and funds are locked in an escrow contract. Brokers can see all orders on the orderbook, and choose which ones they want to fulfill.
Brokers fulfill orders by inputing the code for the giftcard corresponding to the order. The code is encrypted with the consumer's public key.
Once an order is filled, the consumer will be notified and can view the code by decrypting with his private key.
Throughout the transactions, no personal data is provided by either parties.
Avoiding Spam and FraudTo avoid spam and fraudulent activities, brokers will need to deposit a stake equivalencing to a portion of the order price. The stake will then be held in escrow for a period of time.
If the consumer finds the code inputed to be invalid or purchased through fraudulent methods, he/she can initiate a dispute by depositing the same amount of stake.
Once a dispute is initiated, the platform will intervene as a third party to resolve the dispute based on evidence provided by both side of the transaction. And the winner of the dispute takes all the stake in escrow.
We plan to make this process more distributed in the future and allows for decentralized resolution of disputes with some incentivization mechanism placed in.
Development ProgressWe have currently developed a network of brokers to ensure fast fulfillment of orders for a smaller amount of consumers, and we are currently finishing up the consumer facing application. We are also opening up early access to the first 100 people that signs up (limiting to 100 to ensure supply can meet demand). If you are interested in the service, you can checkout
www.ethconomy.io.
Any feedback is appreciated! And we are specifically looking for feedback and discussion around the dispute process as we believe that will make or break the user experience.