The German startup, repay.me, plans to launch a marketplace powered by Blockchain who will share the income of personal data with its community. The platform will offer users up to 100% cashback on their purchases. Retailers will be able to sell and advertise their products. Think of Amazon Advertisements

Gold of the 21st Century

In 2014, the Dutch student Shawn Buckles was auctioning what he called his "digital soul". The case included his emails, calendars, geolocation files, and so on. The news reminded us how we managed our personal data online.

Companies collect all their product footprints, from cookies to interests and tastes, selling them to advertisers and merchants. When it comes to profit, however, the individual consumer is largely excluded from the equation.

Repay.me wants to change that. He believes that profits from user data should be returned to the community. It will launch a utility token, called REME-Coin, to use as the main currency on the platform. Its ICO is scheduled for February 15, 2018. Customers will also be able to use coins at partner sites, offline retailers, restaurants, and more. Advertising in the market and access to consumer data will also sell for coins. Each token will provide holders with a number of ads on the refund.me platform.

The coin issue price should be "significantly lower" than the listings on comparable marketplaces. The pieces will be backed by user data that the company calls "21st century gold". The goal is to create what is considered one of the first chips with intrinsic value and real growth potential.

Platform growth and the increased amount of consumer data should influence the value of the token. While the supply of parts is limited, the number of users, data, advertisements and ad formats will increase, says the company in its white paper

The Call of Rewards

The idea of ​​rewarding consumers their personal data has been around for a while. Different startups have begun to solve the problem with the help of the Blockchain

A Harvard Business Review (HBR) study has shown that the Blockchain has the power to protect data from consumers and businesses .

In addition to the coin, refund.me adds cashbacks as an additional layer to the platform. The model hopes to make the market attractive to buyers and sellers.

Repay.me CEO Mario Peter quotes a search on RetailMeNot retail website that cashbacks can increase average order value by 46%

A separate report from the marketing and advertising company Valassis showed that nearly 80% of consumers describe themselves as "price-oriented" and interested in cashback-related products. A total of 90% of them, including high income households, use discount coupons.

100% Cashback

Depending on the different actions of the refund.me platform, users can receive up to 100% cashbacks. They can recommend friends, recommend products or write reviews, which will result in a higher cashback.

Customers, who will join the pre-sale of the OIC, will receive a 20% bonus on their daily price. Cashback disbursement in the first year.

Repay.me will launch a mobile application based on the Ethereum protocol. It will act as a crypto-wallet and a payment solution across the platform and its network of partners.

The CEOs founded another company in Liechtenstein that manages the ICO and the monetary aspect of the project. The launch is pending approval from the Liechtenstein Financial Markets Authority. Subject to approval, his model may undergo "changes and / or additions [which] may affect all areas of the White Paper, such as the possible start date of the OIC, the bonus system related »and others

Repay.me was founded in 2015 in Berlin by Mario Peter and Sascha Jonas who are the managing directors. In 2017, he received a grant of 88,000 euros ($ 108,000) from Investment Bank Berlin (IBB) to support the development of its platform.