PRESENTATION
Commerce on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments. While the system works well enough for most transactions, it still suffers from the inherent weaknesses of the trust-based model. Completely non-reversible transactions are not really possible, since financial institutions cannot avoid mediating disputes. The cost of mediation increases transaction costs, limiting the minimum practical transaction size and cutting off the possibility for small casual transactions, and there is a broader cost in the loss of ability to make non-reversible payments for nonreversible services. With the possibility of reversal, the need for trust spreads. Merchants must be wary of their customers, hassling them for more information than they would otherwise need.
A certain percentage of fraud is accepted as unavoidable. These costs and payment uncertainties can be avoided in person by using physical currency, but no mechanism exists to make payments over a communications channel without a trusted party. Contracts, transactions, and the records of them are among the defining structures in our economic, legal, and political systems. They protect assets and set organizational boundaries. They establish and verify identities and chronicle events. They govern interactions among nations, organizations, communities, and individuals. They guide managerial and social action. And yet these critical tools and the bureaucracies formed to manage them have not kept up with the economy’s digital transformation. They’re like a rush-hour gridlock trapping a Formula 1 race car. In a digital world, the way we regulate and maintain administrative control has to change.
Blockchain promises to solve this problem. The technology at the heart of bitcoin and other virtual currencies, blockchain is an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. The ledger itself can also be programmed to trigger transactions automatically.
OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT
Pledgecamp brings transparency, accountability, and trust to crowdfunding. With the blockchain enabling a decentralized, collaborative crowd, backers can help any idea, anywhere with the confidence that creators will keep their promises.
Until now crowdfunding has mainly been an act of faith — falling in love with a project, putting some financial skin to it, and hoping it will work out. By marrying crowdfunding with the benefits of blockchain, Pledgecamp provides a solution for that imperfect scenario in 5 ways:
- Backer insurance:
Backing a project with your hard-earned money shouldn’t leave you helpless from a financial nightmare. With “Backer Insurance”, backers have the power to hold creators to a higher standard and ensure their money is rewarded with good faith. Creators will have skin in the game to set realistic expectations and remain accountable, even after the funding period is over.
- Campaign deposits:
Before backing a project, you should know exactly what you’re getting into and who you’re jumping into it with. Campaign deposits force creators to put money where their mouths are, and rewards them for providing material disclosures that foster transparency to better protect your money.
- Incentivizing collaboration:
We believe the crowd has much more to offer than just their money and should be rewarded for bringing their skills and connections to the equation. “Pledge Coins” enable automated, blockchain-based payments where users can help the platform grow at the same time as earning tokens themselves.
- Decentralization:
Crowdfunding is at its heart a decentralized system, but currently, it is burdened by centralized parties whose bottom lines consist of generating listing fees regardless of the ultimate success of the companies. Combining crowdfunding with the decentralized nature of the blockchain will allow users to participate in and shape the network according to their needs and priorities, and scale without centralized constraints.
- Industry experience:
As experienced crowdfunders ourselves and among the top 1% most-funded teams on Kickstarter after four successful projects, we know what tools work and which are missing from the current solutions. We will supply the tools and the marketplace the services and information creators need to succeed. For pros and first-timers alike, data-driven Automation, Advanced E-commerce, Analytics, and Data Management integrations will help creators build and optimize their campaigns.
The Pledgecamp market network combines properties of a marketplace where buyers and sellers of services are brought together, with a network where individual characteristics, identities, and references matter. This requires sophistication and care on the part of the creator to carefully evaluate which vendors have sufficient expertise to fulfil the task.
On Pledgecamp, a creator will be able to easily connect with various vendors, such as plastic injection moulders and shipping companies, who are on the platform to earn their business. The creator will be able to reliably review each vendor’s reputations and history with past clients in order to compare actual work histories and gauge fit. For an aspiring entrepreneur, finding trustworthy and appropriate partnerships is a critical success factor and huge pain point that can be addressed by a blockchain-powered market network.
What is Pledgecamp’s mission?
We believe those good ideas can come from anywhere, and no one should be denied the opportunity to become an entrepreneur. Our mission is to give everyone that opportunity.
Problem
The main problem facing crowdfunding is an issue of trust. Backers are burned repeatedly by creators who fail to follow through on their promises. A lack of security mechanisms and transparency provides backers with little protection.
Put simply, the current model on these platforms is to give a stranger some money, then pray and hope that you get something back as promised. Instead of taking an active role in providing investor protections, current platforms adopt a more passive role with the apparent aim of avoiding liability.
Pledges are considered “donations” in order to distance them from being considered investments or pre-purchases.22 This euphemistic classification ignores the reality of how these platforms are used today. Some failure is a natural consequence of innovation but by ignoring the issue, today’s platforms have allowed the problem to become an epidemic.
Solution: Blockchain Powered Crowdfunding
The emergence of blockchain technology and its decentralized nature presents a perfect solution to these longstanding problems in crowdfunding. Smart contracts will add security and transparency to pledging, and financial penalties will keep creators accountable to their promises. In addition, blockchain will empower the “Smart Crowd” to contribute more than just funds but participate in projects with their skills and knowledge in return for income. The distributed nature of the blockchain and the use of cryptocurrencies will allow the network to grow, self-govern, and distribute value in an open and merit-based way—without central intermediaries or borders.
The Token
Name – Pledge Coin (PLG)
Type – ERC20
Price per PLG – $0.01 USD
Total Supply – 10,000,000,000 PLG
Public Distribution — 2,000,000,000
Remaining for Sale – 300,000,000 PLG
Min. Contribution – $50 USD
Currencies Accepted: ETH, BTC
For More Information Visit:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pledgecamp
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pledgecamp
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pledgecamp/
Telegram: https://t.me/pledgecamp
Medium: https://medium.com/pledgecamp
Bounty0x username: @walesodiya
