Bibo: Integrated Ecommerce Platform and Cryptocurrency Exchange
Bibo Market is a global ecommerce platform that enables its users to purchase products with cryptocurrency as native payment option. Making use of cryptocurrency’s advantages in international payment settlement (fast, borderless and no middlemen), Bibo Market is aiming to empower merchants and online shoppers world-wide to buy and sell goods internationally without intermediaries.
Bibo Market is integrated with a cryptocurrency exchange “Bibo Exchange” to enable merchants to quickly cash out or hedge their cryptocurrency holdings and allow users to easily top up their balance for shopping. The exchange is fully licensed under European law and also provides a fiat gateway. Thereby, Bibo is tackling two major problem in cross-border ecommerce: exchange rates and online payments via payment cards.
Online Payments
To date, the dominant payment method for international online as well as offline consumer purchases has been payment cards (credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, etc.). The problem is that payment cards were developed in the 1950’s, before the existence of personal computers and the internet, not to mention smart phones. The structure of the payment cards’ ecosystem is very complex and consists of multiple participants: Credit Card Associations (Visa, MasterCard, AmEx), Issuing Banks, Acquiring Banks, Processors and Payment Gateways, to name only a few. The market is oligopolistic and the incumbent players each control their networks, dictating the rules and the costs.
Issues for Merchants
This structure leads to great inefficiencies. Like many other centralized systems, the intermediaries in the payment ecosystem use their power to increase the spread between the value they extract and the value they add. Depending on the setting, merchants can be subject to a complex fee structure that ranges from 3–15% of their gross receipts. Moreover, they are also exposed to the risks of fraudulent activity and chargebacks.
Issues for Consumers
From the users’ perspective, having to use credit cards is equally problematic. For instance, in regions with low credit card penetration (e.g. China[1]) or a great number of underbanked people (e.g. Southeast Asia) a lot of potential users are excluded from the system. This is where cryptocurrencies as native payment method offers significant advantages, due to their global nature and easy accessibility. Consumers can benefit from cheaper prices while merchants avoid dealing with exchange rates and costly chargebacks. As cryptocurrencies are accessible to anybody with an internet connection and mostly do not require identity checks or credit ratings, the system is open and much more inclusive than the current one.
Exchange Rates
Foreign exchange (Forex) or currency conversion is the lynchpin underlying international trade, but many cross-border sellers lack the necessary level of expertise in this area, ultimately leading to lost sales and disgruntled customers. The Forex market is constantly fluctuating and while some currencies are rather stable, others might fall significantly, thereby diminishing merchants’ profits. Of course there are service providers such as money transfer companies offering forward contracts with fixed exchange rates, however all of this comes at a cost.
Lost Customers Through Currency Conversion
Another often overlooked problem is the fact that research has shown that 25% of shoppers will leave a website if their preferred local currency is not offered[2]. That’s a significant drop-off for cross-border sellers — nearly a quarter of sales lost in the very first few seconds. As an example, if a U.S.-based merchant wants to enter the Chinese market, there will be a big difference in sales volume if this merchant offers payments in dollars or the Chinese RMB. And even if they decide to purchase a product, they will have to go through an external currency converter which charge 3–5% for the conversion. On top of that, Banks also charge a fee of around 3–5% for purchases made in a foreign currency, which won’t be revealed by the currency converter[3]. As a result, customers are often shocked to discover their purchase ended up costing significantly more. For this, they will usually blame the merchant or the platform and thus are less likely to make purchases on the platform in future.
Cryptocurrencies are Global and Seamless
Cryptocurrencies, despite their volatility, offer a much more direct and seamless way for merchants to deal with international payments. Moreover, by utilizing stablecoins, even the volatility issue can be solved to a large extent. Although it could be argued that cryptocurrency adoption is still comparatively low, the recent years have seen growing interest by both institutions and consumers. We believe that widespread adoption is only a matter of time and Bibo will be in the pole position to benefit from the upcoming megatrend.
Bibo Ecosystem Integrates Ecommerce and Exchange
The integrated cryptocurrency exchange and marketplace gives Bibo an edge over the competitors and brings new users to the platform. At the same time, it solves cross-border merchants’ and consumers’ problems with international payments and currency exchange. We are determined to drive adoption through community partnerships and compliance.
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Visit & follow us here:
Market Website: https://bibo.market
Exchange Website: https://www.bibo.gold
Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/BiboExchange
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BiboExchange
Official Telegram: https://t.me/BiboExchange
Email: mailto:contact@bibo.gold
[1] In the case of China, their solution was basically to create its own incumbents that are now rolling out their own payment ecosystems across the globe: Alipay and Wechatpay.
[2] Source: https://multichannelmerchant.com/ecommerce/5-things-cross-border-sellers-need-know-foreign-exchange/ (retrieved on 05/25/2019)
[3] Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239203 (retrieved on 05/25/2019)
