A simple illustration of a decentralized network

One of the biggest questions for any blockchain start-up with a token is always: do you really need the token? Why? Well, we have a simple answer. Zeex needs ZIX to fulfill its basic premise - being a decentralized exchange between virtual gift cards and cryptocurrency.

Without our own token and protocol, we would be no different from businesses around the world that sell gift cards, real and virtual. While those services do work, they work in a centralized way, meaning that every transaction has to pass through the company, and for that service the company will of course charge fees.

Some of those companies, like Zeek, the European market leader in this space, even accept currencies like Bitcoin, but because they are not on the blockchain themselves they can’t exchange directly. There is still tremendous friction and companies like Zeek that take bitcoin must choose between either accepting the enormous volatility risk of holding on to bitcoin or pay for the service of immediately transferring to fiat (usually through a provider like Bitpay).

With ZIX and the Zeex Protocol, non-native assets like virtual gift cards can be directly exchanged with cryptocurrencies like Ether or ZIX, so we eliminate the transactional friction endemic in our competition. That seamless interface also allows anyone to list a corporate currency for sale, so businesses and distributors can each provide whatever they want or need to on an ongoing basis. Within the Zeex Protocol, ZIX tokens have a use beyond the norm; ZIX can be used as collateral to secure high-demand assets like, for instance, 10% discounted Amazon credit. A user can put down a deposit of X ZIX tokens and then each month, they will have the inalienable right to purchase a fixed amount of that high-demand asset, in this case discounted Amazon currency.

In similar centralized businesses, each corporate currency issuer has to sell their virtual gift cards to a distributor who then sells them to consumers (taking their cut along the way). In a decentralized network, anyone can sell their currency directly and anonymously to anyone else, crypto or corporate, with no middleman to charge fees.

In fact, instead of dealing with a complex friction-heavy exchange like Coinbase, consumers can simply purchase a virtual gift card from any of over 350 major brands and then instantly, cheaply, and anonymously exchange it for cryptocurrency as well, which wouldn’t be possible without decentralization. In short, without ZIX and the blockchain , we wouldn’t be able to provide the value that we do, and the world would be a poorer place.