This week we looked at a new cryptocurrency-based marketplace called, Coinmall.io, a platform that allows users to purchase digital goods with bitcoin and litecoin. Further, news.Bitcoin.com discussed the marketplace platform with its founder, Yousef Abdulhassan, who explains the project recently launched its alpha version this month.
Also Read: Increased South African Bitcoin Adoption Highlights Need For Taxation Clarity
Coinmall Launches Alpha Marketplace Offering Digital Goods for Cryptocurrencies
Coinmall’s founder Yousef Abdulhassan explains that his new marketplace is a global, pseudonymous, and free market where users can buy and sell digital goods for cryptocurrencies. Abdulhassan and the Coinmall team hope the platform becomes the “eBay for digital goods, powered by cryptocurrencies.” Abdulhassan founded and incorporated the startup in October of 2016 and launched a bare-bone MVP version of Coinmall in January of 2017 to see if there was any interest in the service. The marketplace operator explains there was interest stemming from both the bitcoin and litecoin communities, so they launched the alpha release this month.
“Our users are able to transact any type of digital product on Coinmall, such as: downloadable products, licenses/keys, digital services, off-site products and anything in between,” Abdulhassan explains to news.Bitcoin.com. “We currently accept bitcoin and litecoin, with more cryptocurrencies being added soon. But this depends on the community’s demand in regard to which cryptocurrency they’d like to see implemented.”
Coinmall Believes It’s Better Positioned Than Decentralized Alternatives
Coinmall does think it is a competitor to decentralized alternatives like Openbazaar. Abdulhassan says by using Coinmall, it’s easier to access due to the fact that you don’t have to download any programs and resolve complex errors. In Abdulhassan’s opinion, Coinmall’s target audience and reach is bigger than alternatives that he believes are difficult to access.
“Our marketplace is also a lot more convenient to use thanks to the fact that it is centralized,” Abdulhassan details. “For example, we are able to perform off-ledger transactions, and as such are able to support the purchase and sale of extremely low-value products.”
These low-value products can’t be sold on decentralized platforms since the transaction fees or moderator fees would be too high.
Free Listings, No Vendor Restrictions, and Escrow
Additionally, Abdulhassan thinks with cryptocurrency his startup skips over a lot of friction as ordinary centralized marketplaces have to invest a lot of money on fraud-prevention. Moreover, payment processors and traditional marketplaces can restrict a particular vendor’s account, and Coinmall says they aim to put a stop to vendor discrimination.
“We solve all of these problems by providing a freely accessible marketplace which doesn’t restrict users, and we completely remove the risk of fraud and chargebacks by utilizing non-reversible cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and litecoin. Alongside having an escrow system in place, we protect buyers on Coinmall in case of malicious vendors or products not being delivered.”
With the Alpha release finished, Coinmall’s founder says most of the hard work is done. The startup does plan to add more features and also aims to develop services not seen on any other marketplace platform.
“One such example is ‘Community Escrow,’ a system where users apply to become an escrow and mediate in disputes in exchange for a small compensation,” Abdulhassan explains to news.Bitcoin.com.
What do you think about Coinmall? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service.
Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
Images via Shutterstock, and Coinmall.io.
Have you seen our new widget service? It allows anyone to embed informative Bitcoin.com widgets on their website. They’re pretty cool, and you can customize by size and color. The widgets include price-only, price and graph, price and news, and forum threads. There’s also a widget dedicated to our mining pool, displaying our hash power.
