Market volatility has so far been one of the blockers of using cryptocurrencies as payment for everyday goods and services. To overcome this, ShareRing is developing its own blockchain implementation called ShareLedger – an innovative solution involving a dual coin mechanism. This dual coin approach aims to bypass cryptocurrency price volatility while ensuring that everyday users can access the global sharing economy, paying for services on the platform with their credit cards.

ShareRing is an Australian startup that is developing a blockchain-based app giving users a single point of access to any assets that can be rented or shared, from anywhere in the world. With a vision of becoming “the Amazon of the sharing economy”, a standout feature of ShareRing is its potential for easy accessibility to the mainstream user without requiring any direct investment in cryptocurrency.

A Dual Coin Mechanism

The ShareLedger dual coin system relies on two tokens with distinct functions: ShareToken (SHR) and SharePay (SHRP).

ShareToken (SHR) serves as the utility token “fueling” the company’s blockchain implementation. Service providers (those who sell their goods or services on the platform) will use ShareToken to pay for transaction fees associated with access to the platform. ShareToken will be a standard cryptocurrency tradeable on crypto exchanges.

It will run alongside a second token called SharePay (SHRP), which will be used as the currency for buying sharing services. SharePay will not be tradeable on crypto exchanges, resulting in a consistent value and therefore avoiding price fluctuations for users on the platform.

In addition to these two tokens, the ShareLedger blockchain will also comprise three other elements:

Assets – items or services being shared, which can also feature attributes that describe the asset.

Accounts of service providers and users of the platform, showing wallet balances in SHR/SHRP as well as attributes associated with the account, such as ID checks.

Customizable smart contracts set up around accounts and assets.

ShareToken (SHR) and SharePay (SHRP) in action

As an example, take someone in Canada who wants to rent out their car part-time. In order to register their car as an asset with attributes on the ShareLedger blockchain, the service provider pays transaction fees in ShareToken (SHR).

A user in France who wants to rent the car will use their credit card in Euros to pay for the rental in SharePay (SHRP) currency. The car owner in Canada receives payment in SharePay (SHRP) and can use it to buy other shared services, or convert it to ShareToken (SHR) to cover transaction fees, or convert it back to fiat.

Under a proof of stake consensus, transaction fees are distributed to the node holders driving the blockchain.

The car share is just one example, as ShareRing foresees its ecosystem being used for sharing a wide range of products and services from books and gardens to group tours and peer-to-peer lending. This example demonstrates how an everyday user can access the services of the app without ever needing to buy cryptocurrency.

Users are protected from volatility in the price of SharePay (SHRP), as this token will not be listed on exchanges. They can also participate in ShareRing using only their credit card and are not required to have any knowledge or understanding of cryptocurrency to use the platform. Service providers are also protected from cryptocurrency price volatility in the SharePay (SHRP) payments they receive from users.

Removing Barriers To a Growing Sharing Economy

Although brands like Airbnb and Uber are now well-established, the global sharing economy is predicted to have further growth potential over the coming years. Currently, the sector is highly fragmented with a large number of service providers across numerous apps.

Each sharing company requires individual registration, input of payment methods and downloading of its app for service providers to use its platform. Payments can usually only be made in the currency of one party, leading to increased costs through exchange fees when accessing services while traveling abroad. ShareRing strives to overcome all of these issues, allowing universal access to every asset registered on the ShareLedger blockchain via a single interface.

ShareRing is the brainchild of the founders of Keaz, a car-sharing platform operating across multiple countries including Australia and the US. Four years ago, the founders of Keaz came up with the idea of a single app to access any type of shareable assets. It is only since the advent of blockchain technology, however, that their idea has had a technical basis for fruition.

So far, ShareRing has completed a $3.8 million seed round and is targeting an initial ICO of ShareTokens in May 2018.