Bartering Platform
Mariusz Prusaczyk @ Curioso.pl
Digital bartering platforms allow physical assets and services to be recorded and exchanged with ease, bringing barter-based transactions into today's context. Like an e-commerce platform, users upload the goods or services they have to offer. People can then offer their goods and services in exchange, organized by proximity if necessary. Like ridesharing or home rental apps, security features are offered to keep track of transactions, buyers' and sellers' identities, protecting its users from possible scams and fraud-like circumstances.
This platform can reduce bureaucracy, add liquidity to the global marketplace, and fundamentally reduce the need for intermediaries across worldwide trading systems. However, to work at scale, a standard measure of value must be established among all parties.
Gender Equality
Challenges
It could reinforce gender stereotypes regarding the role of women in services.
Due to the non-monetary aspect, it may not hold as equal importance as other leading monetary systems.
Emancipation, in some cases, could lead to more gender-based violence promoted by conservative and extremist groups against gender rights liberation.
Opportunities
These platforms can help women build capital, improving the ease of exchange compared to traditional methods.
It could increase the value of typically female-based activities, such as unpaid domestic and household work.
Because the platform is not based on the ownership of physical money, it could offer more economic opportunities for women.
