The proliferation of cryptocurrency trading has resulted in trading tools to suit everyone. Now ToshiDesk, a service whose beta release was rolled out this month, is attempting to provide trading that includes a social aspect, turning networking into a driving force behind the success of its users.
Will we need a complete shift in ethos in order to engage a significant mainstream user base? Over the past 18 months, in particular, increasing interest in trading cryptocurrency — and not just Bitcoin — has meant that in 2015 a host of providers are offering platforms and financial instruments for potential traders.
Many service providers began by offering simple fiat-to-crypto exchange with some technical background, but have since morphed into quasi-professional trading platforms designed to echo the likes of the world’s stock exchanges in their complexity.
The rate at which this depth of opportunity has been added to the possibilities of the crypto space, like many other aspects of the progress of cryptocurrency, has been astounding. What was a post-Gox wasteland a year and a half ago is now a fully-fledged industry.
While catering to the needs of the technically-minded, however, is a necessary part of cryptocurrency’s role, trading, like any other implementation of crypto, needs to be accessible to all, if it is to succeed in attracting a mass clientele of lay users who like the idea of “being their own bank.”
From the range of options currently on the market, while diverse in terms of tools and so-called unique selling points, the majority are conspicuous in appealing primarily to two kinds of trader: the deeply-involved professional, or the enthusiast. Both of these customers possess an understanding of technicalities and the nuances of cryptocurrency-specific trading.
For the average person looking to exchange and make money in the process, the options geared to helping them take their first steps are much more limited. But this appears to be changing.
Slowly fading out of fashion are the homepages of trading platforms awash with endless exchange rates and other data. In their place are slick operators such as Coinigy and the latest offering from BTC China, MrGekko, whose goals clearly involve engaging with a broader range of trader profiles — or even attracting passersby.
While currency trading of any sort will never be a “simple” affair in terms of maximizing profits, improving and lightening the overall experience is something likely to inspire new traders to experiment with their currency portfolio. Amid constant talk of a “Bitcoin alternative” leading the way in future, altcoins have remained in fashion.
At a time when Synereo is attempting to change the ethos of the social network, so the standard trading model is being challenged to evolve into something more constructive. ToshiDesk works in a similar manner, adding a “social” aspect to cryptocurrency trading.
The central premise of ToshiDesk is that of a feedback and reputation system that rewards users based on their ability to give successful advice to those who ask for it. Experienced traders will “guide” new users in trading a range of altcoins on the platform, and in turn receive financial incentives — commission and fee reductions — to continue doing so.
The remuneration model will run under ToshiDesk’s in-house currency, the aptly named MasterTraderCoin (MTR), which itself has implementations beyond the ToshiDesk project. An offshoot of the trading ethos, its team says, is the greater stabilization of altcoin trading as a whole: until now, the pitfalls and uncertainties of investing in altcoins have left many a trader penniless.
“We hope to achieve a unified front amongst traders, developers, & Entrepreneurs alike within the FinTech industry,” CEO Rich Territo told Cointelegraph. “ToshiDesk is a vantage point for the digital currency marketplace, and will be utilized to connect, inform, and educate the world about crypto.”
The creation of what could be called a “community” of traders on ToshiDesk will also ensure its advanced trading tools are not misused, resulting (if the advice-based system works as planned) in increased education about the professional currency trading “niche.”
Having raised just over 36 BTC for its presale release of 100,000 MTR, expectations are high among Territo and his team following the beta launch. He said:
“We achieved success by utilizing a well-known escrow service on BitcoinTalk, and launched an ICO campaign. In less than a month MTR had a market cap of 1.1m, due to overwhelming support from traders and investors who acknowledged the need for a service like this.”
Numbers aside, however, the platform’s role in catalyzing the unlocking of the previously inaccessible world of cryptocurrency trading could well be decisive. Amid renewed contemplation of the true role of “Bitcoin the currency” in today’s ecosystem, innovations such as this embody the implementation concept that an increasing section of the crypto community and beyond sees as the way forward.
