Blockchain comes to ridehailing
MVL's blockchain platform will track and continuously gather data on vehicle activity
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.
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