On 2 February 2018, Business News Australia published a list of Australian blockchain companies to look out for. While many are unsure about bitcoin’s future, most are confident with the blockchain technology powering it. Here we run a quick credibility check on the three companies on that list just to be sure.
CanYa
With currently over 10,000 users and 46,000 service providers available to choose from, CanYa aims to connect service providers around the globe through the cryptocurrency medium. According to their CEO and Co-founder, John-Paul Thorbjornsen, the benefits here are aplenty: a single decentralized currency with no additional fess that is not subjected to cryptocurrency volatility and potentially empowers the rest of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. It is important to note that the usage of cryptocurrency still remains a debate amongst policymakers. Nevertheless, with a global market for services estimated at $2tn with 200 million potential users, there is lots of room for growth. A similar platform but running on fiat currency would be the well-known Upwork with reportedly 14 million users from 180 countries with $1B worth of annual freelancer billings as of March 2017.
Shping
Started in 2012 as AuthenticateIt with the objective of verifying authenticity and providing information of products throughout the supply chain by using barcodes. The company evolved significantly by mid 2016 through integration with blockchain technology and became a shopper-marketing ecosystem. Participating brands are able to reward users who uses their Shping App with their cryptocurrency Shping Coin. The App provides information through a quick scan of the barcode and accepts reviews by users, which also allow brands to receive feedback on their products. It is unclear how many brands have went on board with Shping but their chief marketing officer, Tony Lee have ambitious expansion plans from their base in Melbourne to around Australia, New Zealand, India, China, the UK, and Russia. There is also consideration to expand their business model to accommodate restaurants and cafes in order to illustrate the food source and supply chain journey.
Horizon State
In simple terms, ‘democratizing democracy’ is what Horizon State is about. Founder, Jamie Skella uses the blockchain to verify votes and thus making the process unhackable and therefore uncorrupted. Instead of using bitcoins on the blockchain, voting tokens are used instead. With decentralized databases recording transactions publicly, no organizations are able to control or own the records. His platform has already being adopted by Melbourne-based MiVote, a non-profit organization. With so many allegations of electoral foul play, this can be a very good system to straighten things out. On top of that, voting costs are estimated to be much lower from $7 to $1 per eligible voter.
These blockchain companies represent a novel approach towards utilizing the blockchain technology to power their business model, which is a positive. The adaptation of these solutions by users and having the appropriate regulatory framework to support these initiatives will be imperative for their performance.
