(L-R) GM.co Co-Founders Julian Chow, Lori Liu, and Daniel Whyte
Most of us pay online (using credit/debit cards, QR codes, GPay, etc.) for the products we purchase on Amazon and other online shopping portals. Globally, only a few e-commerce platforms accept cryptocurrencies as an alternative option. There has not been a crypto-exclusive e-commerce platform, at least not in Asia.
Julian Chow, Daniel Whyte, Lori Liu, and Ferhat Dogru — who previously founded Phantom Network (PxN), a startup focusing on Web3 e-commerce and blockchain technology — sensed an opportunity and came up with GM.co.
“GM.co was started as the flagship product of PxN, whose long-term strategy is to build a marketplace where our community can have a use case for all the crypto they hold,” CEO Julian Chow tells e27. “With PxN, we’ve built a solid following and community of over 100,000. Through conversations with our community, we noted a strong demand for a decentralised marketplace. That motivted us to create GM.co.”
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GM.co is a crypto-exclusive e-commerce platform that aggregates various brands. According to the co-founders, it merges the best of Web3 and traditional e-commerce to provide a better shopping experience.
In addition to the traditional items, such as apparel, luxury goods, and collectibles, GM.co also offers unique products, such as Mech pilot training, a luxurious omakase yacht experience, and the soon-to-be-launched ‘PROTHESIS’ that holds a Guinness World Record for the largest tetrapod exoskeleton.
The platform has listed over 1,000 items on its marketplace. Some of its partner brands are BLVCK Paris, OSIM, and OHTNYC.
GM.co is headquartered in Dubai, but its team members work from different locations, including New Zealand, Singapore, and the US.
How it works
To shop on GM.co, users need to connect their crypto wallets with MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, or WalletConnect. From there, they will see all the listings available on the marketplace. To see listings available in their region, they could use the shipping filter on the top right of the website (next to the wallet). Shoppers will have the option to pay with any cryptocurrency accepted by participating merchants.
Since its soft launch in March 2023, the platform claims to have seen transactions increase by 26x, with an average of 20+ items added weekly.
The concept is similar to any other e-commerce marketplace, except that transactions are facilitated by digital currencies and conducted over a blockchain to provide an added layer of security.
“As a decentralised marketplace, GM.co does not hold custodianship of the funds. Instead of having a company as a middleman, we automate that process and host it on a smart contract. This contract exists within the Ethereum blockchain and allows people to conduct transactions without a counterparty,” Chow explains.
“The smart contract is the intermediary between the buyer and seller and ensures that transactions are conducted securely. It also makes the nature of the transactions less complex because it is between a buyer and seller, and no third party can get in between those funds. This is a security protocol we’ve taken to avoid the issue of holding customer funds, which is common on decentralised exchanges,” he adds.
Enormous opportunity
According to S&P Global, the total market capitalisation of cryptocurrencies stood at US$1.1 trillion as of August 2022 or about 2.5 per cent of the US equity market capitalisation. As of 2023, Triple-A estimated global crypto ownership rates at an average of 4.2 per cent, with over 420 million crypto users worldwide. “There are massive opportunities to engage crypto users and merchants,” says Chow.
As part of its launch, GM.co has collaborated with The Open Network (TON), a decentralised and open internet created by the community using a technology designed by Telegram. TON boasts a community with over one million subscribers and followers across various social platforms and a US$2.3 billion market capitalisation. TON and GM.co will look for mutually beneficial integrations, granting TON’s extensive community access to decentralised commerce.
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In Chow’s opinion, GM.co opens up a new world of possibilities for retailers, merchants, and brands; they get global reach, increased brand exposure, a new revenue stream, a broader customer base, and direct customer engagement.
“There are over 420 million crypto users worldwide, and there’s a massive opportunity for retailers and merchants to jump on the bandwagon to, firstly, lead the retail revolution and, secondly, diversify their revenue streams,” he says.
In the future, GM.co plans to integrate new functions, such as allowing users to customise their profile pictures, personalise their pages with digital collectibles, and follow others and see what they are shopping for.
The self-funded startup encounters several challenges, though. They include limited acceptance and adoption of cryptocurrency by businesses. According to him, convincing merchants, particularly mainstream brands, to join the retail revolution with cryptocurrency is a significant hurdle.
“Many of these brands are unfamiliar with digital currencies, making it necessary for us to educate and demonstrate the benefits and potential of joining us. However, we firmly believe that the brands that embrace this opportunity will gain a competitive edge, showcasing their willingness to innovate and adapt to evolving consumer needs,” Chow maintains.
Chow points out that interest and investment in cryptocurrency remain strong despite the crypto winter. According to a 2022 survey by Paxos, more than 75 per cent of people surveyed indicated they are very confident or somewhat confident in the future of cryptocurrency. Crypto owners also want to use digital assets for everyday financial transactions, including payments and remittances, and this is a sentiment that bodes well for the cryptocurrency market.
“It’s worth noting that the crypto winter is not a permanent state for the market. Cryptocurrency as a technology is relatively new and rather early stage,” he exudes confidence.
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Given the volatility in the market and the overall economic headwinds, consumer confidence in cryptocurrencies remains low. Plus, regulatory uncertainties in several countries make the transaction using crypto hard. It means it may take years before cryptocurrencies are widely used in e-commerce. However, Chow is confident in scaling and growing GM.co.
“We expect volatility daily, but having said that, we as a team are optimistic about the future of cryptocurrency and the power it could hold,” he notes.
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