Earlier this week, Dallas-based mobile marketplace 5miles announced the opening of its new blockchain technology lab, 5xlab, which will offer technology development services for building a new digital network infrastructure. The lab’s description reads:
“A new, improved blockchain network infrastructure will make it easier than before for consumers and businesses to transact beyond the traditional Internet—and industry giants that have come to dominate today’s ecommerce. The end product is envisioned to be a better, smarter way of digital transactions and marketplace shopping.”
5miles stated that the vision for 5xlab is to do the following:
- provide technology standardization and technology implementation of underlying smart business contracts
- support cryptocurrency implementation in order to facilitate the execution of the smart business contracts
- use 5miles’ 12 existing categories to implement smart business contract templates for those verticals
Dr. Lucas Lu, 5miles’ CEO and founder, explained:
“5miles, as a marketplace, connects people and facilitates transactions, on a safe, convenient, trustworthy platform. The 5xlab is, in its own way, a natural but innovative extension of what we already have built.”
Michael Yuan, 5xlab’s chief scientist, also commented:
“Early blockchain technology has yet to eliminate significant barriers for business. Our aim is to replace the smart contract technology at the core of Ethereum with a more business-friendly smart business contract.”
5miles went on to add that it has grown into a community of more than 14 million users, facilitating five billion dollars in transactions in 2017. Its app is the first of its kind to give users a full-category, hyper-local marketplace experience with access to a variety of goods as well as services, housing, and jobs.
