Coinlancer, a cryptocurrency expected to benefit freelancers, has launched a 300-million initial coin offering (ICO) seen to raise at least $50 million. The sale will end on November 14, 2017.
According to Coinlancer advisor Sai Teja, freelancers will benefit from the new cryptocurrency given its low transaction rate—only at 3 percent—compared with the usual 10 percent to 20 percent service fee paid by freelancers to centralized hubs such as Upwork. The service fee is the fee deducted from the pay earned by the freelancer from the client once a project is completed.
Coinlancer will operate on a blockchain technology that will allow direct transaction between the freelancer and the client, eliminating the need for a third party. It also means a secure and fast way of transacting.
“We are not going to liquidate it to any bank. Our users will only be using cryptocurrencies,” Teja said during the launching in the Philippines.
Coinlancer will also use escrow, where the client will deposit the fund and will be held until the freelancer has completed the project. The fund will then be disbursed to the freelancer’s digital wallet once the client has approved the finished work.
According to Teja, Coinlancer will set up an office in the Philippines once it gets many Filipino users.
“If we get many users in the Philippines, we will set up an office in Manila too,” according to Teja. Currently, Coinlancer is registered in the British Virgin Islands, and its head office is in Dubai.
The Coinlancer platform will accept more than 20 types of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc.
Coinlancer advisor Amarjit Singh emphasized that, unlike fiat currency, which can be regulated by the central bank of the country, a cryptocurrency is not, therefore, cannot be devalued.
“[Fiat] currencies can be manipulated by the central bank. They can be devalued. When it comes to cryptocurrency, you cannot do that,” Singh said.
Prior to the Philippine launching, Coinlancer was welcomed in Malaysia.
“The stand for Malaysia is they want to see what is the adoption rate, how many users like it,” Singh said.
Singh added Coinlancer puts a 300-million cap for its ICO to put value in each token.
“That is how you create value, when you have something in limitation… anything that is scarce creates good value in the long term,” Singh said.
