A Blockchain Based Ride-Share

Move over Uber. There’s a new ride-sharing app on its way which would run on the blockchain technology. Chen Weixing, CEO of app developer Funcity and founder of Chinese ride-hailing app Kuaidi Dache, has disclosed his plans to develop a blockchain-based ride-sharing equivalent to Uber.

The announcement of this new platform was made on Sunday at a post-event function after the 2018 Guiyang BigData Expo. This app will be developed in partnership with Yang Jun, co-founder of Meituan, one of the largest group discount apps in China, according to a WeChat post from Chen.

His plans regarding which blockchain platform would be used to develop the app or how he aims to counter blockchain’s scalability issues have been kept under wraps for now. His plan seems admirable and achievable, considering Chen’s expertise and experience in this area.

Kuaidi Dache, the Chinese ride-hailing app, which was founded by Chen in 2012, took off instantly in China to compete with another ride-hailing app called Didi Chuxing.

Both are backed by venture capital and internet giants like Tencent and Alibaba. The two apps went head to head in a fierce business battle, subsidizing prices until they merged in 2014 to become the largest ride-hailing app in China, keeping the name Didi Chuxing. The firm later pushed Uber out of China via an acquisition.

Chen, being one of the most vocal pro-blockchain investors in China, quite expectedly would want to move into the blockchain space with this ride-hailing app.

According to a report from February of this year, Chen has invested in at least a dozen cryptocurrency projects, including some of the major trading platforms such as Binance and Huobi. It is safe to say he knows this field well and has knowledge of what he is doing.