Last updated on February 4th, 2018 at 08:08 am
Companies may not conduct a lot of business with each other using cryptocurrencies today, but a startup called The Divi Project says it can change that — by making underlying technology like blockchain disappear into the background.
The Divi Project has already completed its initial coin offering (ICO) as of late last month and is now working on a minimum viable version of its platform, including a smart wallet to exchange its cryptocurrency, to be released in early Spring of near year.
While the underlying concepts of blockchain — a sort of distributed electronic ledger which verifies cryptocurrency transactions — are difficult even for experts to explain, the Divi Project is aiming for mainstream adoption by making the user interface far simpler.
Rather than a long string of letters and numbers associated with a their wallet, for instance, users will be able to register with a unique name, including their real name or the name of their business. The Divi Project will also set up on online help centre with video tutorials and more.
“Most people aren’t sure what ease of use even means for something like this,” Geoff McCabe, a co-founder with the Divi Project, told B2B News Network. “You need to be able to have that sort of surprising experience — like when you opened up an iPhone — you knew right away this was a paradigm shift in the way you would interact with a phone.”
Besides a cleaner UI, the Divi Project is also planning a governance model that would allow those who own the cryptocurrency to vote on major changes to the blockchain that tracks transactions associated with it. This is in contrast to Bitcoin, McCabe said, where fights over how much space should be allowed on a particular “block” created public controversy that nearly caused a “fork” or split among users.
“It was a very simple idea that shouldn’t have caused so much drama,” McCabe said. “With Divi, someone could make that proposal, and if there is a certain amount of votes, the blockchain will switch automatically. It creates a very rapid and easy way to do it.”
There will be a communication system in the actual Divi Project wallet so people can keep those discussions between themselves, he added, and speak more freely.
“Everyone has the same goal in mind, which is to create stability and to keep the value of the coin.”
If the Divi Project gains traction with consumers, McCabe said there could be a greater interest among business, including brands that are focused on e-commerce or those, like Etsy, that are almost like a peer-to-peer network of buyers and sellers. The existing alternatives, including Bitcoin, still scare off too many senior executives, he said.
“The owners or the companies have the same attitude that everyone else does. They’ll say, ‘I don’t want those. My clients won’t use them,’” he said. “They see how complicated it is.”
