24 Oct /17

First German ICO

The first German ICO aims to revolutionize e-commerce using blockchain technology
The first German ICO aims to revolutionize e-commerce using blockchain technology

If you are not currently familiar with this emoticon “>^.^<”, you soon may be, thanks to one of the newest, and Germany’s first cryptocurrency. With an initial currency offer that starts on November 1st, 2017 at 14:00 UTC and an app that is set to launch on December, 1st, Wysker, with their wys Token, is aiming to revolutionize e-commerce using blockchain technology.

Along with using technology to change how we shop, the startup also has big plans to alter how we have been thinking about our data and its usage.

Naturally, there is a marked difference between shopping in a physical location and shopping online. For example, in a brick-and-mortar clothing store, customers can compare different garments and put together potential wardrobe ideas in seconds; however, when shopping online, this process often involves different web sources (perhaps a fashion website and several different websites which each have different brands, along with customer review platforms and social media) and a lot of wasted time. Part of Wysker’s appeal is that its app will attempt to replicate the physical shopping experience through speed, app simplification, and most notably through product discovery with offering a selection at the colossal speed of 30 productions per second. Yeah, a bit like Tinder, but instead of browsing dating profiles at a high speed, users will be going through outfit ideas.

As anyone could imagine, such an intuitive app that is based on the shopping instinct could yield a goldmine in advertising data; however, Wysker is attempting to change the status quo. Traditionally, shopping for any given item online usually results in involuntarily accepting tracking cookies which leads to a seemingly endless stream of unwanted emails and target advertising following your browsing pattern and continually trying to sell you things. By requiring advertisers to pay for data as well as giving users a choice of whether or not to sell their data (and offering them wys Tokens as an incentive), Wysker is bringing a new and refreshing element of ownership, privacy, and the free market to data.

While all of these ideas sound great, ultimately, it is important to understand how the Wysker shopping app and the wys Tokens will work. Predictably, the platform aims to connect retailers and consumers, but for this platform, wys Tokens will be what connects them: retailers will use tokens to connect with potential customers; customers will use tokens to reduce product prices; and all parties will be rewarded with tokens for joining and frequent usage of the app, along with adding product and experience reviews. Aside from the platform itself, this will all be occurring using blockchain technology, which will add a strong level of security to any transaction and will also give consumers a level of speed and decentralisation that hasn’t been possible in physical or online shopping.

Though the Wysker app and wys Token are being designed for e-commerce, which naturally makes us think of “traditional shopping” destinations, such as Amazon, Google, eBay, etc., perhaps we should consider what it could mean for business services, such as translation. Using the decentralising aspect of blockchain technology would allow for a more fluid, open, and competitive marketplace and would potentially create more competition, but, considering a company’s record with clients, it could also showcase certain competitive advantages. Additionally, looking at Wysker’s approach to discounts and targeted advertising, this could easily help a company increase market share. Regardless, Wysker definitely appears to be tapping into a segment of the marketplace – after only a week of their ICO, they have already sold 11 million wys Tokens to over 500 consumers, many of whom are first-time investors.

On the other hand, it is a good example of the changing way in which startups raise capital, moving away from traditional initial public offerings and crowdfunding, and shifting to initial coin offerings, with close to $300m invested through ICOs during the 2nd quarter of this year, compared to just $187m in traditional funding.