Quick Take
Freelancers face numerous challenges, from payment delays to high fees on job portals like Freelancer.com. Blockchain technology offers a solution with its decentralized freelance platforms. These platforms, like Ethlance, CanYa, Bounty0x, Coinlancer, Pentonium, and CryptoTask, reduce fees, ensure fairness, and provide quick payouts. Blockchain’s transparency and efficiency benefit both freelancers and clients. While it can’t solve all freelance market issues, it lays a foundation for empowering freelancers and reshaping the gig economy, allowing greater freedom and opportunities in the decentralized job landscape.
The Freelancer’s Struggle with Payment Delays, Fees, and Unreliable Clients
A freelancer competes with several challenges such as delays in payment, credibility issues, reliability factor, and division of earning by sharing it with a middleman. The freelancers who look for jobs on job portals become victims to the high fees they charge. For instance, the popular freelance marketplace Freelancer.com charges 10% from service providers and 3% from clients. Moreover, these websites have hefty withdrawal fees. Therefore, it becomes inconvenient for those who want to continue with freelancing.
Besides, they are always at the risk of encountering unreliable clients and nonpayment of salary. What’s worse is that freelancers are even made to work at odd hours for the satisfaction of the client. Freelancers need to carry out their own marketing, manage their contacts with the clients and carry out their implementation. They get paid only for the latter part. The first two are usually overlooked and the freelancer may lack the skills required for it.
There are several possibilities the blockchain technology can help realize in the freelance market or the gig economy.
How Blockchain Technology Can Help Freelance Market?
The versatility of blockchain technology positions it as the most sought-after solution for many companies, sparking enthusiasm across multiple industries, including the freelance market. While initially associated only with cryptocurrencies, blockchain’s applicability now extends to diverse sectors such as health, banking, education, and government management.
In a blockchain-based marketplace, lower fees and the absence of withdrawal or transfer fees are distinguishing features, contrasting the typical scenario in traditional freelance platforms. A blockchain-powered freelance market offers several advantages for freelancers:
- Fairness: Blockchain establishes a decentralized freelance platform that prioritizes fairness, transparency, and impartiality, benefiting all parties involved.
- Lower deductions: With no intermediaries, freelancers retain a more substantial portion of their earnings, and transaction costs are significantly lower than conventional banks.
- Quick returns: Blockchain facilitates faster payment processing, particularly advantageous for remote freelancers.
While blockchain presents these general benefits, they hold particular significance in the freelance market, where individuals grapple with hard work, low payments, and global connections. However, it’s essential to recognize that blockchain alone cannot resolve all freelancing issues; regulatory measures and respect for freelancers remain equally vital. Nevertheless, blockchain lays the foundation for empowering the masses in the freelance arena.
Top Decentralized Freelancing Platforms For The Gig Economy
Ethlance
Ethlance operates as a platform similar to Upwork and Freelancer.com. However, it distinguishes itself by employing a ‘zero-fees’ mechanism. The decentralized web protocol IPFS distributes its frontend files, granting freelancers improved access to projects compared to other popular portals. As a startup, Ethlance currently faces relatively low competition. It’s built on the Ethereum blockchain, enabling the execution of smart contract functionalities. This facilitates easy, fee-free payments for employers to compensate their freelancers.
CanYa
CanYa operates as a blockchain-based freelance platform built on a trustless system, emphasizing decentralized payment, governance, and storage. Its distinguishing feature lies in its commitment to simplicity, allowing users to effortlessly discover, book, and rate service providers. The platform utilizes the CanYaCoin cryptocurrency for real-world service transactions, with minimal fees of around 1 percent. A portion of these fees is reinvested into rewards, fostering both growth and desirable user behavior.
Bounty0x
Bounty0x stands as a decentralized bounty hunting network distinguished by its innovative review system reliant on token staking and burning. This platform harnesses the power of blockchain technology to deliver solutions in areas such as online marketing, consulting, software development, and research. It empowers developers to pinpoint and rectify code errors through review submissions, with payment granted upon successful identification. Furthermore, its influence on the consulting sector extends to providing global expert training, ensuring access to the latest industry trends.
Coinlancer
Coinlancer is an Ethereum-based platform where service providers and clients can connect remotely through smart contracts. Here, clients post job opportunities, and freelancers can avail themselves of these opportunities. Once the conditions outlined in the smart contracts are met, payments for job offers are made in CL tokens. The system empowers freelancers and clients, ensuring secure payments, transparency, and fair dealings.
Pentonium
Pentonium is a decentralized freelancing platform with transparent governance. Its goal is to create a new structure for freelancing with the lowest possible charges. It aims to reduce the hassles not only for our users and clients but also for freelancers. Furthermore, the company enhances privacy through P2P chat services facilitated by Skynet and IPFS for the storage layer. Additionally, it provides a community-based solution to create an automated dispute resolution layer around it. The escrow smart contract ensures that service providers receive fair and instant payment.
CryptoTask
CryptoTask is one of the largest decentralized freelancing marketplace. It allows businesses to find the best-matching professionals for their needs, and freelancers can seek jobs or microtasks and get paid instantly. With over 35 000 users, its peer-to-peer freelancing platform offers automated instant payout settlement, very low fees, no fake or hidden freelancers’ rates and reputation stored on blockchain. In July, CryptoTask migrated its platform to Tezos blockchain citing advantage of low gas fees, smarter smart contracts, and low energy consumption.
Overall, while freelancers face a myriad of challenges in the current landscape, blockchain technology is opening doors to a more equitable, efficient, and decentralized future for the gig economy. With reduced fees, increased transparency, and greater autonomy, freelancers can look forward to a world where their talents are truly valued and their opportunities are boundless. The blockchain revolution in freelancing is just beginning, and its potential knows no bounds.
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