A Blockchain That Targets The ‘Gig’ And ‘Human Cloud’ Economies

Increasingly we are seeing more and more people working for themselves, and this trend has been considerably helped in recent years by the phenomenal growth and success of organizations such as Uber, Airbnb, and Deliveroo, etc. There are two terms which are often used to describe this growing band of workers, those in the ‘gig’ economy and those who make up the ‘human cloud’. Gig work describes small, freelance projects. Freelancers who have specific skills or a service use apps and websites to advertise their talent, and employers needing those specific skills for a specific project hire a freelancer through the website. These websites can take up to 20% of the money earnt!

A Blockchain That Targets The ‘Gig’ And ‘Human Cloud’ Economies

According to Forbes, currently, only 1% to 4% of workers in mature economies are relying on gig platforms for work. However, if you look at emerging economies, those numbers jump significantly. There are more and more people, such as translators, software engineers, and freelance writers working in less-developed countries who sell their skills into developed countries.

This has led to over 150 platforms/apps being established on the web, where people can register the specific talent or service they wish to offer e.g. ride-sharing, grocery delivery, car rental, tutoring, parking rental or dog sitting, etc. Interestingly, in a recent report from Deloitte, it was found that 50% of the people interviewed said they would consider gig working. The interviewees cited the chance to earn more money (58%), work the hours they wanted to (41%), or achieve a better work/life balance (37%) as some of the main reasons.

Source: Deloitte

The gig economy is indeed a significant market. In a report from the Staff Industry Association, it was claimed that, in 2018, the US gig economy was over $1.4 trillion — and globally it had reached $4.3 trillion! The amount of money ‘sloshing around’ the gig economy has not gone unnoticed by traditional financial services firms. Mastercard is marketing its Instant Payservice for Uber drivers and, in 2018, it processed over $5 billion in the first six months of the year.

The global remittance market represents another huge, new opportunity, particularly in the underserved and unbanked regions of the world. According to the World Bank, the market is currently worth over $680 billion p.a. Large numbers of workers send money back home, and overseas workers need to be paid for working remotely, but many do not have a bank account. Traditional banks and international money transfer companies (Money Gram, Western Union, etc.) are not digital, still necessitating the need to handle cash, which as Investopedia states, “The biggest drawback of any money-transfer service is the vulnerability of its customers to fraud”.

This has led to the development of Digital Currencies, like Electroneum’s (ETN), as not only does it not cost anything to send or receive money, but can also help what the World Bank estimates to be the 1.7 billion peoplewho do not have a bank account.

“Where digital currency offers great promise, through its ability to reach people and businesses in remote and marginalized regions. We know that banks are not exactly rushing to serve poor and rural populations. This is critical because cash might no longer be an option here. If the majority of people adopt digital forms of money, the infrastructure for cash would degrade, leaving those in the periphery behind…”

Christine Lagarde

Electroneum, as well as helping the global unbanked, is also offering a solution for those workers in the gig economy/human cloud through AnyTasks. This new freelancer website called AnyTasks, which Electroneumplans to launch in beta format this year, is aimed at enabling millions of people in developing countries (and living in poverty) to access the global digital economy. The AnyTasks platform is unique in that it does not charge freelancers any commissions, nor does it require them to have a bank account in order to get paid.

Buyers of skills pay with their debit or credit card and these freelancers can receive payment in ETN tokens which they will be able to use to purchase everyday items and mobile top-ups. The full launch of AnyTasks is scheduled for Q1 2020.

As part of this, Electroneum is launching its ‘ETN Everywhere’ campaign, with Electroneum ambassadors on the ground meeting face-to-face with merchants. The aim is to educate merchants on the benefits of accepting ETNs as payment. Already merchants in many countries are accepting this, but the number is expected to grow exponentially through incentives and learning of the AnyTasks platform, which according to Electroneum, has already 3.2 million registered ETN users.

Understandably, when dealing with money, people are nervous to try new services. After all, how safe is the company and technology? To help to allay these types of concerns, Electroneum has developed its own ‘moderated Blockchain’ to protect it from being susceptible to a 51% attack — a major threat for the majority of cryptocurrencies in existence today.

This is where 51% of a Blockchain’s nodes are compromised and the Blockchain is therefore no longer safe. Electroneum has added a moderation layer to its Blockchain, which remains dormant all the while the network is running smoothly. However, in the case of a possible attack, the moderation layer will determine where the attack is originating and shut down the compromised attackers. Furthermore, Electroneum also uses HackerOne, which itself helps protect the US Department of Defense.

These security measures have encouraged a number of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) to start working with Electroneum, including Ubuntu Pathways in South Africa and, here in the UK, the WONDER Foundation. To further support NGOs, Electroneum has built a website that users can use for free, called ‘TaskSchool’, scheduled for launch in Q1 2020.

TaskSchool will offer free resources for people to learn skills they can perform on smartphones and laptops, focusing on teaching people who do not have a bank account the skills they need to promote themselves, over the web, to potential employers in developed countries. Electroneum has just launched in Turkey, where it will now be possible for people to use ETN on Turkcell, Vodafone and Turk Telekom networks to top-up their airtime and data. After all, over 20% of the Turkish population own some form of cryptocurrency.

The projected growth of both the global gig economy and the cash remittance market is huge, and the mass adoption and penetration of mobile phones are only fuelling this growth. Indeed, there are 90 million+ smartphone users in Brazil! Richard Ells, CEO of Electroneum, recently stated,

“We do not know the number that are in the poorest 10% of the population in Brazil but the figure is growing very fast. We are targeting the lowest 30% of the earning population — but please also remember Brazil only has a 54% employment rate — there are lots of people that could perform additional work”.

We have also seen other companies using tokens to try and change behavior, as opposed to using cash, since it is safer and far easier to process micropayments using Blockchain technology. In Ireland, IoTA tokens are being given to drivers of Jaguars and Land Rovers to obtain traffic information, as well as other driver and passenger details. DOV tokens are being used by the MOBI foundation, whose members include major car manufacturers and service providers such as Ford, General Motors, Renault, BMW, ZF, and Bosch. Meanwhile, SC Johnson has a series of initiatives with a charity called Plastic Bank, involving nine villages in Indonesia, aiming to recycle 10,000 tons of plastic and reward villagers with tokens, not cash.

Traditional banking and cash transfer operators are coming under more and more pressure from firms like Electroneum, which is enabling instant global transactions (fully KYC and AML compliant), via a smartphone. This is bad news for the banks etc, but welcome news for the 1.7 billion unbanked and the growing army of gig economy workers worldwide.

See more by Jonny here.