Hi Sir!

here is the link to Bounty https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2240533.0

IMO :
1 - guys solve real problem for the huge market
2 - have MVP ready
3 - team seems to be experienced with the technology and marketing
4 - product is well explained

All,

I am Karthik - one of the ModulTrade founders (CTO).


Thanks Pjames for a great question. EBay-Magento is a good comparison as far as our marketplace is concerned but we also offer banking/finances and other trading services like logistics, taxation etc to complete the transaction. We are a complete end-end platform for global trade.
 

As many of them might not be aware of the complexity of global trade, I thought I'll give a brief introduction to ModulTrade, Trade finance and blockchain so we can have a lively discussion.The entire team is committed to answering / clarifying all your questions and doubts. Please fire away. I also encourage everyone to try out our prototype which is available in modultrade.com

Regards
Karthik


Modultrade democratizes Trade Finance

Trade finance is the process, by which importers and exporters mitigate trade risk through the use of financial institutions that serve as trusted intermediaries. These intermediaries provide assurance to sellers (in the event the buyer doesn’t pay) and contract certainty to buyers (in the event that goods are not received).

Payment and delivery terms are documented in a letter of credit (LC), and the financial institutions delivering this LC receive fees for assuming risks, as well as for documentation and oversight of payment terms.  Due to the nature of global deals (distance, differing local laws, withholding taxes, customer knowledge) the use of LC has become a very important aspect of international trade. LCs facilitate 47% of global trade finance (circa  $2.8 trillion per year worldwide).

Yet, letter of credit is a cumbersome process. Banks typically require a pledge of securities or cash as collateral for issuing a letter of credit. Banks also collect high fees for service, typically a percentage (ranging from 5 to 20%)  of the size of the letter of credit. The drastic criteria for a bank to issue a letter of credit, as well as the high cost of it make it difficult for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to be included in this process . Half of SME applications are rejected, (compared to only 7% for multinational companies). “Unmet demand for trade finance is $700 billion in Asia, and $120 billion in Africa.”

ModulTrade is a platform based on blockchain smart-contract (for the automation of the letter of credit) where MSMEs can participate easily to the trade finance processes : Letter of Credit, deal financing, tax management, … etc..


ModulTrade’s Value Ecosystem (MVE) is based on MSP (multi-sided platform) , which aims to create value ​through ​the ​network ​effect ​for ​the ​following ​three ​main ​constituents:

Trade counterparties (sellers and buyers), delivering to them a platform of trust and reputation, simplicity of trade and an instrument for value exchange and trade initiation (i.e. Modultrade Coin or MTRc) . Modultrade is this global ​marketplace ​where ​trade ​services ​meet ​trade participants.

Third-party trade related service providers (e.g. supply chain providers, lawyers, tax officers, financial institutions and fintechs, ...etc.). These providers meet on modultrade open platform to contribute to the trade service of counterparties.

Third-party ​trade ​software developers, delivering trade solutions on top of MTRc functionality.

At Modultrade, we use the three key features of blockchain to simplify trade finance:

(1) cryptographic security, allowing parties involved in trade to collaborate easily and cost efficiently,
(2) distributed ledger and network allowing transparency, traceability and global footprint 
(3) consensus mechanism providing trust among the deal participants:

Together, these features provide the foundation for building a new generation of a “democratic”, trustful and efficient trade finance system. In this new hassle free system, SMEs, which are the main components of local modern trade, can expand and  take part in global trade.

Hi,
Thank you for challenging!

1. Is there a Problem?
the only way for millions of SMEs to survive and compete in the current world is to be involved into Global value chains (you may find more in the WORLD BANK 2016 report  https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/world_trade_report16_e.pdf)
So there is a need from over 400mln SMEs to start trade globally.

Before such solutions were simply impossible due to the size of SMEs. Banks simply did not want or were not able to help them. 56% of SMEs trade finance proposals are rejected by banks, compared to only 7% for multinational corporations. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/financialsector/brief/smes-finance

2. How can Blockchain help?

the thing is that Smart-contract is a natural replication of such banks' instrument like Letter of Credit or Guarantee. in short, before Banks guaranteed that Buyer will pay if Seller will ship the goods and banks charged 5-15%. Now, smart-contract can execute the same function at almost zero costs and there is no middleman (bank). for more detials you may check animation in the product section on our Project site https://modultrade.com/

3. Why ModulTrade?
Our team came from the Industry (including Tade Finance and transaction banking) and kind of creating a user interface for smart-contracts on blockchain that SMEs can use. and also integrating related services which SMEs need - to have end-to-end user experience in B2B trade (marketplace to meet, logistics, financing, payments, etc to execute the trade)

We deliver all in one solution to enable SMEs to trade globally and the core is a smart-contract on the blockchain.

Happy to answer further questions

Best!

Hello everyone in this thread!

I would like to dwell a little on the practical application of blockchain in cross-border trade.
Why are we going to use blockchain? May it help?
All these are purely life case issues.

So let's take a zoom on some problems experienced by various actors and the ways to address them.

Blockchain can be useful in situations where participants would like to reduce their dependence on an intermediary service provider (e.g., banks, central securities clearing house) and have their trust in counterparty they deal with. Problems arising from the abuse of trust, such as fraud, have significant negative impact on business and trade: the global financial cost of fraud is estimated to have been more than $4 trillion in 2016.
(Gee, J. & Button, M. (2017). The Financial Cost of Fraud 2017. Available at: https://www. croweclarkwhitehill.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/02/crowe-the-financial-cost-of- fraud-2017.pdf)

Blockchains hold the promise of reducing the trust gap by making actions within the system independently verifiable by each participant and accountable through the public auditing.

Blockchain helps to build secure value transfer system which is very much needed while dealing at international level. Based on consensus mechanism the payment turned to be a completely decentralized activity which is triggered through smart-contract execution. Hence the seller account is credited once the conditions are fulfilled accordingly and couldn't be intervened from outside.

I believe the above plays out to be handy and definitely considered by ModulTrade.

Thank you!

What is ModulTarde market?

1. over 400 mln micro and small enterprises worldwide
2. exponentially growing B2B e-commerce - over 7 times to >$7,0tr by 2020

3. unique data of global SME trade -> new efficient supply chains (and here is the main value of ModulTrade)

Modul Trade Data monetization is very interesting topic to discuss

Hello, everybody.

I just finished my skype-call with one of our prospective investors. And I got a strong will to write about it. Because it helped me to open up the topic from a different angle which I treated like "goes without saying!".

During my conversation which I supposed to be a usual chit chat and replying with formal Q&A, he asked me what if the ModulTrade solution is far ahead of its time. What if the demand is not appearing yet on the radar?

And I recalled one research by the University of Cambridge (Judge Business School) [available here: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3040224] which said that lack of suitable use/business case had the highest weighted average at 4,00 pts. among the challenges that DLT (distributed ledger technology, as a core of blockchain) has to overcome to get broader adoption in the industry.

And I reassured myself once again that there're multiple stakeholders aspire for the solution that ModulTrade comes with.
The international trade industry to get new actors onboard and Global blockchain industry to overcome the challenges.

And I feel excited being a part of it. ModulTrade is totally about business. It helps to create a business.

Thanks

ModulTrade Ecosystem  is open for 3rd party trade related services providers (like logistics, insurance, tax , etc)
While the core of the platform is based on the  smart-contracts which supports  different steps of B2B trade - the main is the contract between buyer and seller (here the platform provides Letter of credit functionality).
Other services  integrated on API level and communicates with smart-contracts (for example DHL notifies that the goods are delivered)

I understand your predicament on doing due diligence 100's of companies offering tokens currently. The major differentiator for Modultrade is we are in a very niche space where huge domain expertise needed to build an excellent system that works for everyone. Only big banks have the domain knowledge but they lack the technical expertise and the openness to come up with a solution like this. So we have very little competition in this space and continue to do so at least in the near future. We also have a first mover advantage in this space which could also help us shape the future in democratizing global trade for small businesses.

As an early investor, you can earn on the good discount ModulTrade offers at Pre-sale (40%) if you buy MTRc now.

You can also use MTRc to finance B2B trade of ModulTrade users once the platform is launched. It will give 5-30% flat on your investment



It's too early to talk about naming exchanges, but are having early discussion with a number of exchanges. We are planning to be listed in some good exchanges rest assured. Please let us know what exchanges you would like MTRc listed, we'll do our best to be there.