E-commerce platforms generated close to $1.5 trillion in 2017, a figure that was 16% higher than the previous year which shows the relentless growth of the e-commerce industry and the digital goods and services economy in general.
The relevance of e-commerce is so strong today that companies are actually shutting down physical locations in favor of online stores, an ironic situation considering the fact that online stores were supposed to be digital extensions of physical stores.
Irony or not, it is undeniable that purchases for goods and services are done more and more online and for good reasons as well; not only are online purchases faster, they’re more convenient for consumers and they also save costs for companies making it a win-win situation for all parties involved.
Like all growing industries, there are issues affecting the industry but with the introduction of new technologies such as the blockchain, we are using more and more creative solutions being used to combat these inefficiencies in the industry.
Although the blockchain and cryptocurrencies are starting to take flight in e-commerce, they are still not mature enough to be fully implemented as a payment option.
Firstly, acquiring cryptocurrencies is still a challenge for many people as exchanges impose hefty fees on users which is not ideal as individuals would have to pay extra fees just to convert fiat to crypto. At the same time, the lack of proper regulations in place puts cryptocurrencies in a gray area where individuals may face legal repercussions when buying or selling coins.
Another big issue is the inherent nature of the blockchain to attach a small fee to each piece of code executed on it. As the blockchain becomes filled with transactions, fees become more expensive and transactions take longer to complete—two things that you definitely do not want in an effective payment processing system.
All of these issues call for an elegant solution to help overcome these problems and one company that plans to do so is Sonder, a blockchain startup that aims to help integrate blockchain technologies in e-commerce systems seamlessly.
Sonder is a company designed to allow companies and businesses who plan to use cryptocurrencies in their business processes to do it as easily as possible with Sonder’s features and services.
The company plans to simplify the process with a focus on financial transactions so that businesses all over the world can reap the benefits of the blockchain without the usual complexity and hassles of implementing it in their systems.
Another important aspect of Sonder is the high level of security it provides to its users which is relevant in the maturing blockchain industry where companies may face problems if they don’t use the blockchain properly in their business processes.
Sonder plans to achieve all of this by developing a specialized SDK and API which can be used by other projects or businesses to easily connect blockchain technologies with their products or applications.
All of these features are topped off by allowing users to send and receive transactions or payments with any cryptocurrency—a groundbreaking feature that will help business owners immensely as they are not limited to the number of cryptocurrencies accepted in their businesses.
Even if a coin has to be converted to another coin, Sonder plans to provide a free token swap feature in the platform to help facilitate quick and easy swapping of coins. Of course, sellers can specifically choose what cryptocurrencies they want to use for their transactions and Sonder will also explore the possibility of adding fiat transactions in the future.
The experienced Sonder team is led by fellow co-founders, Jokubas Drazdas and Kenjiro Tamaki, the platform’s CEO and advisor respectively. Together, they will guide the Sonder team to deliver its roadmap and establish itself as revolutionaries in the industry.
At its core, Sonder plans to provide 3 key features to its users.
First off, as mentioned in the previous section, Sonder plans to provide a dedicated SDK and API which will greatly simplify how companies and businesses connect to cryptocurrency wallets and technologies with only a few clicks.
This will allow users to completely bypass intermediaries (banks, exchanges, etc.) as well as avoiding the technical expertise needed in correctly connecting the blockchain to their systems.
Thanks to this, companies and individuals no longer have to pay expensive fees and wait for ridiculous amounts of time to use cryptocurrencies as a payment method in their businesses.
Sonder will charge a fee for the use of its tools but it’s a small price to pay for such a level of convenience especially for users who may not be familiar with cryptocurrencies.
Next, Sonder plans to add a service for cryptocurrency holders to exchange and withdraw fiat currencies through the platform with the team working on building a low-cost peer-to-peer service where users can quickly and efficiently exchange cryptocurrencies to fiat and vice versa all across the globe.
The system will also ensure that security levels and data transfer speeds are improved to give users the benefit of instant transactions with zero fees as well as other features to help them stay private and anonymous.
Transactions in the platform are powered by SNR tokens, the platform’s official utility token. SNR tokens will be the main token used for fueling the internal mechanisms and features of the system.
Fast data transfer speeds for extremely quick transactions
Sonder’s advanced technology including the use of masternodes enables transactions to be verified and confirmed extremely quick which is very important for cryptocurrencies to be a viable payment method for users.
As masternodes are used in Sonder, users can earn tokens passively due to how masternodes work; all a user has to do is to leave his or her wallet open (which can be done on devices like laptops and even smartphones) and the system will automatically reward users with tokens based on the percentage of computing power available on the device.
Extremely low transaction costs
Because of the Sonder network’s effective design, transaction fees are kept as low as possible and the team plans to reduce this even by working on introducing zero-fee transactions as the platform grows.
Complete multi-service cryptocurrency wallet
Sonder will provide a cryptocurrency wallet loaded with impressive features for its users. The wallet will maintain the highest levels of security, privacy, and user-friendliness as well as the ability to support any cryptocurrency.
The Sonder team plans to add the ability to easily swap tokens in the wallet in future developments which will add another layer of utility to the Sonder cryptocurrency wallet.
Sonder will be holding a token sale for the SNR token, the platform’s official utility token.
Here are the details of the upcoming token sale:
Token name: SNR
Token base: Ethereum
Token supply: 240,000,000 (total supply)
Token sale duration: Main Sale ongoing, ends June 30th, 2018
Token sale target: $6,000,000
Token exchange rate: 1 SNR = 0.00007 ETH
