With blockchain technology gradually being adopted across the world, the economic impact of decentralization is slowly becoming apparent within a host of industries. For example, Uber has completely disrupted the transportation sector and has recently been valued at a staggering $69 billion.

As a result of this new economic trend, entrenched players are being uprooted by startup ventures who have started to see the positive effects of decentralization on their business models.

One such venture is district0x, which is essentially an amalgamation of decentralized marketplaces and communities, that are referred to as ‘districts’ within the native ecosystem. These districts exist as independent entities that have been built atop a standard open source framework comprised of Ethereum smart contracts and front-end libraries — referred to as d0xINFRA.

Interested in district0x? Here’s a quick rundown of the project:

Platform & Development

In short, the district0x Network is comprised of Ethereum smart contracts and front-end libraries that are made to oversee the deployment of new districts to the network as well as provide them with their baseline functionalities. The framework used by district0x has been designed to be completely open and extendable, so much so that each district within the network can be customized and granted additional functionality through the use of auxiliary modules.

The front-end libraries provide each individual district with key features that are essential for the smooth operation and governance of an online marketplace. For example, d0xINFRA enables users to

Post listings

Filter and search through pre-existing service listings

Rank peers and amass reputation

Send invoices

Collect payments

Each district’s backend logic is handled by a set of predetermined ‘d0xINFRA contracts’ that are specific to that district as well as other conditional parameters that are shared by all of the districts present within the network. Similarly, for the frontend, districts are given the ability to share reusable components while still maintaining their individuality — thus allowing for broad visual-UI diversity.

Some of the districts that are currently being powered by this platform include:

Ethlance : Launched early last year, Ethlance is a decentralized job marketplace where everyone from freelancers to full-time career seekers can come and search for pertinent listings to further their careers. The service is blockchain based and completely eliminates the need for intermediaries who otherwise charge commissions on a case per case basis as well as store sensitive customer data.

: Launched early last year, is a decentralized job marketplace where everyone from freelancers to full-time career seekers can come and search for pertinent listings to further their careers. The service is blockchain based and completely eliminates the need for intermediaries who otherwise charge commissions on a case per case basis as well as store sensitive customer data. Name Bazaar : As the name alludes to, Name Bazaar is a peer-to-peer marketplace where users can take part in the exchange of names that have been registered via ENS .

: As the name alludes to, is a peer-to-peer marketplace where users can take part in the exchange of names that have been registered via . Meme Factory: This is the latest district to have been deployed within the distric0x ecosystem. Meme Factory provides customers with an interface for the creation of provably rare digital assets on the Ethereum blockchain. These items can be immediately posted to a bulletin board-style marketplace for exchange and through the use of smart contracts, data creators can be sure of receiving fair compensation for their work.

Investors in district0x are able to leverage their DNT tokens to vote on which new districts should be supported and deployed by the project. A few notable projects are up for inclusion, including Decentraland (MANA), a virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain.

Team

Matúš Lešťan is the co-founder and lead developer of this project. Prior to his work at district0x, Matus was involved with other startup ventures such as JUXT and Survos.

The project’s other co-founder, Joe Urgo, previously served as a support operations manager at Coinbase — the world’s leading digital currency wallet and exchange.

Token Financials

District0x (DNT) currently trades for $0.0615 and has a total market cap of ~$37 million with a circulating supply of 600,000,000 DNT and a total supply of 1,000,000,000 DNT.

Final Take

With district0x promising to release its district creation platform soon, users with varying levels of technical prowess will be able to launch their own decentralized marketplaces and communities without any form of censorship or dependency on financial intermediaries. It will be interesting to see how the future of this technology develops and whether the district-based development model catches on.

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Disclaimer: The author(s) of this article may have a position in one or more of the cryptocurrencies mentioned above. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. Always conduct your own due diligence before making investments.