Blue Whale Foundation: Hello World!

The blockchain that will bring traditional employee benefits to freelancers.

When ICON was first introduced, there was a lot of excitement about it becoming the key to connecting blockchain networks around the world. By the end of ICON’s ICO (initial coin offering) in late September last year, it raised just shy of $48 million USD. At the time of writing, the market capitalization of ICON’s token, ICX, is already over $1 billion USD.

The Blue Whale Foundation is set to become the first ICO on the ICON network.

The Future of Freelancing

We are approaching a fundamental shift in the nature of work — especially in developed economies. Successive financial crises; which appear to be increasing in frequency, are pushing companies towards hiring on a less permanent basis, in favor of more “flexible” employment contracts. More fundamentally, as labor costs rise and offshoring or automation displace local workers, a growing number of structurally-unemployed people are joining a sizable class of freelance workers.

Against this backdrop of technological disruption and offshoring, the “gig economy” in America and across developed economies is burgeoning. Freelancers will make up a whopping 53% of the US workforce by 2027. Consequently, peer-to-peer booking platforms like AirBnB and Uber have seen a meteoric rise in demand accompanying these shifts in the job market.

The Elephant in the Room

However, the growing dominance of these tech giants has a dark side for workers in the gig economy. None of the service providers who depend on these platforms to make a living are actual employees of these companies.

Legally hired as “independent contractors” they suffer from three main problems: 1) High Commission Fees; 2) Exorbitant Marketing and Advertising Costs; and 3) a Lack of Security that inhibits them from becoming successfully self-employed.

Uber Drivers Protest at Santa Monica Offices, 2014

As the definition of work changes and evolves, the difficulties encountered by freelancers and part-time workers such as the lack of protection, and the insecurity of self-employment will only worsen. Protection for consumers have also weakened as a consequence of the murky legal relationship between freelancers and their host platforms. This simmering dissatisfaction has created popular backlash, as concerned governments in several countries such as France have begun to crack down on platforms like Uber and AirBnB.

To address the issues that freelancers and small businesses face, the Blue Whale Foundation was born.

Introducing the Blue Whale Foundation

Very simply, the Blue Whale Foundation is a decentralized network that enables freelancers and small business owners to grow quickly at low cost via peer-driven referrals. Not only that, the Blue Whale Foundation will also introduce a new smart contract interface that would allow users to earn rewards for validating service delivery, and arbitrating disputes. More critically, it provides employment benefits to freelancers traditionally only available to salaried employees.

How the Blue Whale Foundation Differs from the Status Quo:

Employee Benefits. At the “Evolution of Work” convention co-sponsored by the Federal Reserve and the Freelancers Union in New York, Lael Brainard who sits on the Fed’s Board explains that while freelancers have greater flexibility, “ contingent work generally does not offer employer-based benefits and workplace protections that come with traditional employment opportunities, like overtime compensation, minimum wage protections, health insurance, family leave, employer-sponsored retirement plans, workers’ compensation, and paid sick leave”.

The Blue Whale Foundation seeks to change that through a combination of its Contribution Activity Manager (CAM), and Reward Bank (ReBa) which allows freelancers on the network to draw upon reserves proportional to their contribution. 20% of BWX offered at Blue Whale’s initial ICO will be kept in the Reward Bank. In addition, 60% of net profits and freelancers’ referral rewards will also be kept in the Reward Bank; reserved for offering paid leave in case of events like sick leave. Like pensions, rewards earned through referrals are saved in the ReBa, and payouts will be made only after a certain period; in a lump sum or monthly.

Low Customer Acquisition Costs. Freelancers stay with existing centralized platforms despite the exorbitant commissions because these platforms act as information aggregators. They reduce the search costs for prospective customers by gathering them all on one platform, with a common interface and standardized interactions.

The high costs of advertising on Google and Facebook also makes it expensive for freelancers and small business owners to achieve growth. The Blue Whale Foundation’s Decentralized Associated Network (DAN) offers free SaaS tools such as booking software to freelancers and small businesses. Not only can they promote their own services for free by using the SaaS tools provided by the Blue Whale Foundation, but they can use their own accounts to promote other freelancers’ goods/services. When these referrals convert to purchases, the participants will be rewarded.

Fig. 1 — An example of the Blue Whale Ad Network

How Do We Do It?

The Blue Whale Foundation’s innovative approach to guarantee a sustainable, and scalable platform for freelancers and small businesses involves various actors and processes, and can be summarized by the figure below: