Blockchain comes to ridehailing

FIRST came Uber and Grab, which let users book rides on their smartphones with just a few taps of buttons - and which quickly grew into everyday tools without which I couldn't imagine life in the last five years.

Then Grab acquired Uber in Singapore. Now, a new generation of ridehailing apps are on their way. The more ambitious among them bank on blockchain and cryptocurrency, and mostly seek to disrupt the traditional commission-based model, and offer lower fees to drivers and riders.

As a rider, I'm thrilled. I discovered just how price sensitive I was and how accustomed I had been to promo codes only after the Grab-Uber merger and Grab stopped dishing out codes like there was no tomorrow. I had even started to take carpooled rides which meant longer travelling times as these could be some 25 per cent cheaper than private rides.