Cryptocurrency can and never will achieve mainstream adoption unless it achieves a level of inclusivity that encompasses the common person — the kind of person who cannot deal with multiple wallets and exchanges, who lacks the tech-savviness to transfer and migrate coins from point to point, and who only really wants one comprehensive channel from which they can conduct all of their financial needs.
The barriers of entry are high, and while decentralized exchanges are a step in the right direction, they too are only an incremental improvement upon existing crypto-trading systems. A deeper solution is required, one that eases entry into dealing with cryptocurrency while not compromising on the ability to invest using the exchanges itself.
The yells from projects hawking their platforms as solutions to this critical problem are loud and frequent, but there are few that are genuinely working on this solution. Of these, there are a few that will compete will the likes of Binance and Coinbase, and one of them could be the community-oriented LocalCoinSwap.
How is LocalCoinSwap Different from Other Trading Platforms?
Homing in on the need to widen access to crypto-trading and making it more convenient, LocalCoinSwap is developing a decentralized peer-to-peer trading platform that avoids the usual disadvantages of exchanges.
In addition to this, it boasts several features that sets itself apart from the many decentralized exchanges that have launched over the last year. We’ll go over each of the major features.
Direct P2P Trading
P2P trading essentially means that you trade directly with another user, without the funds ever being in the custody of the exchange. If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, you’d know that centralized exchanges are extremely vulnerable to attacks. Decentralized exchanges are the way forward when it comes to better security for cryptocurrency trading.
While it is true that decentralized exchanges function on a P2P basis, LocalCoinSwap is pushing the envelope by allowing users to trade various cryptocurrencies using any means of payments – including local fiat currencies – and, of course, from any location. In doing so, they avoid the major frustrations of a traditional exchange, namely, the slow transfers and regular fees associated with transferring tokens between exchanges.
With respect to the last point, one key element that the platform is aiming for is the listing of many non-major cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, Ethereum and about a dozen or so altcoins make up the volume of most of the market, and investing in other coins with smaller market caps means constant transferring of coins between exchanges — which incurs pricey fees.
As a P2P cryptocurrency exchange, LocalCoinSwap avoids this as well as lengthy verification procedures that demand sensitive personal information.
Initially, the platform expects to launch 10 leading coins, with a plan to quickly add other coins in stages. It is through the voting process that the community will engage in that they hope to encompass most of the cryptocurrency market.
LCS Cryptoshares – Tokenized Ownership of LocalCoinSwap
This, along with the one to follow, is arguably the single most interesting feature of the platform. It functions as equity, not like a typical token. LCS Cryptoshares guarantee users 100% of the profit that the platform generates through its cryptocurrency dividends.
With this, users become shareholders in the platform and have an active incentive to use the platform, which can only raise its value and attract more participation.
Executed through a smart contracts setup, LCS Cryptoshares allow users to receive dividends across all of the coins listed on the LocalCoinSwap platform.
These tokens can be purchased with a variety of cryptocurrencies. The profits for each of the listed tokens are calculated at the end of every financial period, which is quarterly.
At this point, LCS dividend tokens are issued to Cryptoshares holders who can then either trade it like any other ERC-20 asset. The platform will feature a dashboard that lists the amount and other details of the financial period.
Holders can redeem dividends on a 1:1 basis or they can be redeemed directly back into the user’s wallets. After this, the dividend tokens are burned to prevent double spending.
Users Get to Decide Which Coins Get Listed
Being a community-first project, LocalCoinSwap will let users decide which coins get to be listed on the exchange. The community has great sway in the direction of the project because they act as shareholders in the platform.
According to LocalCoinSwap, users will have a say in deciding new business ventures, site development and the aforementioned voting rights to decide the listing of coins. They even go so far as to say that that significant new ventures will be undertaken without a vote.
To facilitate this, they are designing an open source democracy contract that will manage voting processes.
Airdrops of New ICOs
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are never ones to shy away from free tokens, and in a clever marketing and business development strategy, LCS will let new tokens launch their ICOs or presales on the platform — with the stipulation that users on the platform receive a reasonable proportion of the token in advance.
For pre-ICO funding, the issuers must offer a discount to the platform users and CryptoShares holders.
This is a smart move because it not only gives users tokens for free or at a discounted price, but the token issuers also get rapid access to a pool of users and benefit from the marketing. Sensibly, any ICO won’t just be able to list themselves on the platform, as users will have to vote to determine which ICO will be allowed — which means users can democratically decide which project seems valuable, and subsequently be an early part of it.
The LocalCoinSwap whitepaper goes through all of this and more in greater detail.
The Team
The LocalCoinSwap project is run by a team of about a dozen individuals with experience in trading, finance, business development and software development. Many of the members have also worked with other blockchain startups and projects, bringing that experience to the table.
Nathan Worsley serves as the CTO, and has been a very early investor in cryptocurrencies, having invested in Bitcoin and Ethereum many years ago. In addition to developing successful trading algorithms for cryptocurrencies, he launched a cryptocurrency investment fund in Hong Kong. His development expertise includes C/C++, Python, Linux and Bash. He has advised the project Webcoin in a technical capacity.
Daniel Worsley is LocalCoinSwap’s COO and has a broad spectrum of skills, including operations, business strategy and quantitative analysis. He has helped clients manage their investment portfolios when he worked as an investment advisor at Digital Assets Management Ltd. in Hong Kong. He has also advised other ICOs, including New Delhi-based project Musards.
Thomas Underwood is the CFO, and has experience as a financial analyst and business development manager. He worked as the regional development manager of TradingView, and helped design the front-end trading terminal and integration with brokerages. His knowledge of developing a friendly and informative trading hub for a broad range of users will likely be useful in the development of LocalCoinSwap.
Valeri Natanelov serves as the CMO, and is also the founder and CEO of growAbric, a knowledge brokering and design thinking company. Like the others, he has experience with digital assets, being an advisor for Rocket ICO.
LocalCoinSwap’s advisors include George Kimionis, who is the CEO and founder of the Coinomi wallet, a popular mobile wallet, and David S Lee, an investment management expert who has worked for Goldman Sachs.
The rest of the LocalCoinSwap’s team and advisors can be viewed on their website.
Can LocalCoinSwap Be the Trading Platform to Expand the Market?
There’s no subtle way to put this — the potential of LocalCoinSwap is enormous. There are three major features that makes one’s mouth water: the dividends earned by shareholders, the ability to pay in local currencies and more generally, the power of the community to run the marketplace.
There is definitely a need for cryptocurrency exchanges to open up and be more accessible to a broader demographic. The LCS platform will not make the ins-and-outs of trading easy for everybody, but it gives everybody the opportunity to have that one place where they can learn and test everything. The ability to earn dividends through LCS Cryptoshares is a stellar bonus that can be conceived as pulling in many individuals who are on the fence about investing.
The LocalCoinSwap ICO just ended on June 15, and the platform is expected to launch in August 2018. It is an exciting prospect and could make a significant impact in the trading niche. If you’re an investor who likes to find additional ways to make passive income, this project is well worth monitoring.
To learn more about LocalCoinSwap, visit their website. You can also follow them on Telegram and Twitter.
