Decentralized Ride-sharing applications will disrupt both Uber and Lyft. If the two leading on-demand services fail to adapt, there is indeed fear of replacement.
Uber and Lyft are currently not at their best and both decentralized ride-sharing services are plagued with complaints because of their lack of control over users and drivers. Last year, following 6,000 cases of sexual assault in their cars, Uber’s stock fell by 2 percent over the previous two years.
These, in addition to many other criticisms currently faced by Uber and Lyft, are all based on the inconvenience of centralized ride-sharing services. Consequently, they provide some huge potential market penetration for a decentralized ride-sharing service.
Blockchains became the hype of the day with crypto personality and billionaire Mike Novogratz contemplating the idea of a decentralized ride-sharing service. Crypto experts believe there is a massive potential for blockchain ride-sharing applications that will lead the industry to significantly improve.
Centralized, lack of trust, data privacy is a major concern for Ride-Sharing Services
Existing ride-sharing applications need to be fixed in the following areas: Centrality leading to lack of transparency, lack of customer identification, the security of payments, and data piracy. Blockchain in ride-sharing holds the potential to disrupt the industry and provide a means of improvement.
For instance, the processing of large amounts of user data calls for a specific driver and driver verification. The identity of the service provider will remain evident to service clients, and vice versa. This will strengthen transparency and trust.
Storage will be on the blockchain after processing of this data. In addition, the blockchain will protect the ride-sharing database from identity theft. In particular, it granted strong cryptographic keys to the blockchain. Decentralized ride-sharing services will, therefore, reduce the chances of attacks and data manipulation.
The ability of the blockchain to sign digital contracts and make direct payments will be handy in securing ride-sharing payments. These direct payments will not require a gateway for third parties, such as Visa or Mastercard. Therefore, reduce transaction fees and rely on the benefits of cryptocurrency transactions.
Meanwhile, leading industry experts conclude that blockchain will disrupt the space for ride-sharing. Decentralized ride-sharing services will give riders and drivers a great deal of user control.