The massive hacking of tens of millions of Uber customers has highlighted why the shared economy needs to use secure smart contracts, such as a token payment system. Tokens provide a secure, anonymous way of paying for goods and services by using a number to represent an algorithmically generated virtual wallet ID.

The tokenization of the economy is accelerating as more commerce is transacted with tokens and digital money via transparent, cryptographically secure smart contracts. Consumers are quickly learning of the benefits of using smart contracts to buy and sell goods on the peer-to-peer network. Disintermediation of middlemen allows travel reservations to be made at 30 percent cheaper. Fractionalization enables art aficionados to buy shares in great works of art. Real-time asset and activity monitoring allows insurance contracts to assess damage and pay out on the spot.

Consumers will have to wait a little longer for instant gratification though. The financial system has failed to keep up with a tokenized commercial world. The tokens and cryptocurrencies used to access these smarter services lack the liquidity to provide sufficient trading and risk management opportunities.

Trade.io exchange

Trade.io’s solution is to develop an exchange platform for the sharing economy where traders can not only exchange tokens, crypto and fiat currencies and other assets but also share in the risk and revenue of the liquidity pool. To participate in the liquidity pool, members buy 2,500 Trade Tokens secured by financial assets in their trade.io wallets. Crypto and fiat currencies are accepted as collateral.

Trade Token owners share in 50 percent of the gains or losses of the liquidity pool, which are distributed to the wallets of pool participants. Besides trading fees and commissions, revenue is earned from investment banking and P2P lending fees. The revenues are allocated based on the level of token ownership, starting with a 10 percent stake for those who own 500-999 tokens. Over 5,000 tokens, a 10 percent bonus is added, resulting in a 110 percent gain to the investor’s wallet, as the case may be. Members can also use their wallets as collateral for other exchange participants through the peer-to-peer lending program, allowing members who require margin interest to borrow from peers at cheaper rates than exchanges typically charge.

Playing by the rules

Meanwhile, trade.io’s investment banking service is working hard to help more innovative businesses running on smart contracts enter the crypto economy. The management team is leveraging its strong experience in foreign exchange trading and investment banking, including IPOs, to advise companies on token issuance and initial coin offerings (ICOs) on the more efficient digital ledger system. Trade Token holders can invest in initial public offerings (IPOs) and ICOs, as well as benefit from preferred access to ICOs, discounts and other market benefits. Pre-ICO, trade.io has a Seed & Venture Fund to support the development of Blockchain technologies. In a crypto economy in which many crypto exchanges are operating outside the purview of regulators, trade.io provides added security as a licensed bank and financial exchange. As China and Morocco outlaw unregulated cryptocurrency exchanges and other countries sweep them under the regulatory regime, the management team is applying its expertise in regulated financial services businesses to ensure the trade.io platform has proper compliance and risk management systems in place.

Trade.io ICO

The ICO launched on Dec. 7, 2017. Two-thirds of 500 mln Trade Tokens (Symbol: TIO) will be available for crowd sale.