Decentralised home-sharing platform Dtravel goes live
Cayman Islands: Dtravel, a decentralised platform for the home-sharing economy facilitating short- and long-term stays, has announced the launch of its home-sharing booking platform.
Guests will now be able to book short- and long-term accommodations on Dtravel, which seeks to provide guests and hosts with lower costs and more control than incumbent home-sharing platforms.
Introduced earlier this year by former executives from Airbnb and Expedia, and with support from crypto-friendly online travel agency Travala.com, Dtravel aims to repair the “broken relationship” between hosts and guests created by existing centralised home-sharing platforms. In order to deliver the world’s first “true sharing economy”, Dtravel is governed by its community via the Dtravel Decentralised Autonomous Organisation [DAO], which gives community members a say in how the platform is governed.
Cynthia Huang, growth, marketing and community lead at Genesys Partners, the core team contributing to the initial development of the Dtravel platform, said: “Today marks an important point in the transition from Web 2.0 — where platforms enabled the connectivity and demand and supply sides — to Web 3.0, in which blockchain technology enables participants to own part of the platform and make decisions that directly affect them.
“The availability of live bookings on the Dtravel platform represents a massive accomplishment for the Dtravel team and redefines the home-sharing economy, shifting more control back into the right hands: those of the hosts and guests. We can think of no better avenue to facilitate the transition to Web 3.0 than the travel industry,” she added.
Huang recently participated in ShortTermRentalz’ RockSTRz webinar on “Digital trust and safety: Combatting the evolving complexities of travel payment fraud”.
The TRVL token powers the network and can be used for making payments, participating in governance, receiving travel rewards, benefits and more. Hosts and guests who have TRVL are voting members of the Dtravel DAO, whose Community Treasury and Host Protection Pool receive all revenue from bookings made on the platform.
Backed by a $7 million seed fundraising round, Dtravel revealed that the first version of its platform is now open for bookings, payable with Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], or Tether [USDT]. Support for fiat and additional cryptocurrencies is expected to be enabled in future releases as the platform evolves.
The home-sharing platform has also secured over 200,000 listings and will be releasing listings in phases over the coming months as the platform expands to ensure a smooth and seamless travel experience for hosts and guests.
Dtravel is designed to provide hosts and guests with:
- Reduced fees – hosts pay 0 per cent fees and guests save on every booking
- A community voice – the Dtravel DAO enables hosts and guests to directly influence the direction, operations and governance of the company
- Expanded payment options – enables various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, to be used for payments that lower the cost of transacting compared to traditional payment methods
- Aligned interests – because the community directly influences the Dtravel platform for the benefit of all, everyone works together to grow the platform and is rewarded for their contributions
- Peace of mind – Dtravel’s Protection Pool offers hosts up to US$1 million in property protection
- Additional revenue streams- users can earn additional revenue by referring hosts and guests, as well as by participating in user support, community forums and troubleshooting
