Coinlancer to set up operations in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Coinlancer, a cryptocurrency expected to benefit freelancers, is planning to set up shop in the Philippines.

Coinlancer advisor Sai Teja said they will put up an office in the Philippines once many Filipino users embrace this new technology.

Registered in the British Virgin Islands, Coinlancer is headquartered in Dubai.

Recently, it launched a 300-million initial coin offering (ICO) at a cost of $0.25 per token to raise a total of $50 million.

Teja said freelancers will largely benefit from the new cryptocurrency given its low transaction rate at only three percent, compared with the usual 10 to 20 percent service fee paid by freelancers to centralized hubs such as Upwork. The service fee is the fee deducted from the pay earned by the freelancer from the client once a project is completed.

Coinlancer will operate on a blockchain technology which will allow direct transaction between the freelancer and the client, eliminating the need for a third party. It also means a secure and fast way of transacting.

“We are not going to liquidate it to any bank. Our users will only be using cryptocurrencies,” Teja said during its Philippine launch.

Coinlancer will also use escrow where the client will deposit the fund and will be held until the freelancer has completed the project. The fund will then be disbursed to the freelancer’s digital wallet once the client has approved the finished work.

The Coinlancer platform will accept more than 20 types of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, among others.

Coinlancer advisor Amarjit Singh said unlike fiat currency which can be regulated by the central bank of a country, a cryptocurrency is not, therefore, cannot be devalued.

“(Fiat) Currencies can be manipulated by the central bank. They can be devalued. When it comes to cryptocurrency, you cannot do that,” Singh said.

Prior to the Philippine launching, Coinlancer was welcomed in Malaysia.

“The stand for Malaysia is they want to see what is the adoption rate, how many users like it,” Singh said.

Singh said that Coinlancer put a 300-million cap for its ICO to put value in each token.

“That is how you create value, when you have something in limitation...Anything that is scarce creates good value in the long term,” Singh said.