Decentralized Marketplaces: Do they have a future?

[Abiky]

There are many decentralized marketplaces which aim to make our lives easier. Alternatives to centralized marketplaces powered by Blockchain technology seems to be the real deal. Yet, it's the day where eBay and Amazon dominate the e-commerce industry. They're centralized, charge high fees (especially eBay), and are prone to censorship. That's not the case with decentralized alternatives like the Particl Marketplace, or OpenBazaar. Despite the many benefits decentralized marketplaces provide, many people still rely on centralized counterparts for buying/selling online.

Do you think decentralized marketplaces have a future? Or will they become a failed experiment? Your input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Darker45]

I think it will have a bigger market in the future. Right now, I can say that it has not yet reached the mainstream of e-commerce. There are really huge players in the market right now and that people tend to just use the platforms which are the most popular.

Or perhaps a decentralized marketplace does not really have a strong mainstream demand, at least for now. I mean, there is probably not enough reason for those who are into e-commerce business to badly need a sort of a disrupting alternative.

Or perhaps the majority still find transacting on a centralized marketplace a lot safer. Third parties in this case might be a convenient authority to implement strict rules and settle disputes.

[mk4]

Exchanges like Bisq currently works. A better question is, will they actually reach mass adoption? It's going to completely depend on if the developers could significantly improve the UX up to a point that it's almost no different than using centralized exchanges.

[Maus0728]

It maybe that people are still not fully aware of the risks involved in terms of their own privacy or perhaps they feel a lot safer because these centralized marketplace exists long before this decentralized marketplace come into view.

Also, I think this has something to do with the adoption of cryptocurrency in general. The group of people who knows the in and out of crypto and how they can utilize it as payment system (not fiat) is so small that only few of them puts these market into use.

[mk4]

UX is just one part of the problem. The another problem is strict security and trade limit, such as deposit security and limit when you perform fiat trade.

It's just one part of the problem, but a major problem in my opinion.

Look, while LocalCryptos and HodlHodl aren't really decentralized but only no-KYC(which is still really GREAT), what more for Bisq? There's simply no beating the UX/UI of having a well designed mobile and web app of a service like Coinbase.

[stomachgrowls]

Do you think decentralized marketplaces have a future? Or will they become a failed experiment? Your input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

When we do talk about future then its really hard to tell.They might  not be getting too much attention at  the moment but we wont know if they would be significant on upcoming years.

They've been here on this market for a while now but we can actually observe on how they do perform when it comes to marketplace industry.We cant say that theyre doing bad
or doing good either.

It all matters with the demand and even decentralization is preferred, we cant really just avoid the fact that people do still end up on using centralized ones due to things
that cant really be found on dex places.

[Bitcoin_Arena]

The truth is people prefer something that's straight forward, custodial and easy to use. Most centralized marketplace are just like that unlike the decentralized counterparts where one might have to go through other extra technical measures in order to trade while maintaining privacy and security.

It why most people especially newbies would rather use a wallet like Coinbase, blockchain wallet instead of Wasabi, samurai wallet.
It why most traders would rather use Binance, kucoin, localbitcoins instead of bisq, hodlhodl or localcryptos.

To some extent, you get a feeling that people hate having control of their assets or the trading process. They sort of want a service to also act a custody for their assets so that if they forget the password, they want the service to help them reset it for them.

[Kittygalore]

A better question is, will they actually reach mass adoption? It's going to completely depend on if the developers could significantly improve the UX up to a point that it's almost no different than using centralized exchanges.

I think they can reach mass adoption if they have solved the problem of their own logistics, logistics is the biggest problem because most decentralized market are frowned upon by traditional market that favors those behind the curtains. Remember Silk Road, they were the spearhead of a decentralized market although their products are illegal one, they still set a possibility that that kind of system could work.

[SFR10]

Do you think decentralized marketplaces have a future? Or will they become a failed experiment?

Based on my observation from the past few years, they'll have a future but not a bright future. IMHO, I can't see them competing directly with the likes of those centralized marketplaces that you mentioned...
^{- With too much freedom, certain issues rises as well [like what Darker45 mentioned in his/her paragraph].}

[mk4]

I think they can reach mass adoption if they have solved the problem of their own logistics, logistics is the biggest problem because most decentralized market are frowned upon by traditional market that favors those behind the curtains. Remember Silk Road, they were the spearhead of a decentralized market although their products are illegal one, they still set a possibility that that kind of system could work.

Decentralized exchanges aren't really illegal. And regardless of regulations, I don't think people would really care at all unless the government straight-off criminalizes it. It's even safe to assume that majority of people don't even pay capital gains tax over their trades/investments.

[Abiky]

I think it will have a bigger market in the future. Right now, I can say that it has not yet reached the mainstream of e-commerce. There are really huge players in the market right now and that people tend to just use the platforms which are the most popular.

Or perhaps a decentralized marketplace does not really have a strong mainstream demand, at least for now. I mean, there is probably not enough reason for those who are into e-commerce business to badly need a sort of a disrupting alternative.

Or perhaps the majority still find transacting on a centralized marketplace a lot safer. Third parties in this case might be a convenient authority to implement strict rules and settle disputes.

Good point. Centralized marketplaces give people some level of confidence because they're able to submit a compliant to a third party. Regardless of the seller's actions, the buyer can rest assured that his/her money is safe through an intermediary that can settle disputes. That's not possible with decentralized marketplaces, as it's a "free-for-all" environment. The freedom you get with a decentralized marketplace, comes at a cost. Also, there's no control on which items get listed on a decentralized marketplace. Imagine someone listing drugs without governments or developers being able to do something about it. It'll serve as an unstoppable "black market" for illegal goods. That's what you get with the decentralized and open source nature of crypto/Blockchain tech.

Nonetheless, the survival of decentralized marketplaces will greatly depend on mainstream adoption. I can imagine an scenario where governments declare decentralized marketplaces as illegal. Anyone caught buying/selling on them will either face fines or jail time. Besides the ability for anyone to list anything on a decentralized marketplace, there's no way to enforce taxation. This means that people will be evading taxes when buying or selling items on a decentralized marketplace. While no one knows what the future will bring, all of these reasons tell me that decentralized marketplaces will face a series of obstacles, that will greatly undermine their prominence in the mainstream world. Just my thoughts

[Darker45]

~snip~

~snip~

Let me adopt an extreme view here. Any market which offers freedom, and I mean complete, unbridled, unstructured freedom, will never be hitting mainstream adoption. It is either they will end up being declared illegal, pursued and persecuted by government authorities, or they will be forced to trim down that freedom.

[Abiky]

Let me adopt an extreme view here. Any market which offers freedom, and I mean complete, unbridled, unstructured freedom, will never be hitting mainstream adoption. It is either they will end up being declared illegal, pursued and persecuted by government authorities, or they will be forced to trim down that freedom.

Yes. We cannot discard the fact that governments will begin cracking down on decentralized marketplaces if they become extremely popular in the mainstream world. That's one of the many downsides of freedom. Governments may be able to declare decentralized marketplaces as "illegal", but they won't be able to stop them. By then, only the underworld will use decentralized marketplaces while the general public will still rely on centralized marketplaces for buying/selling goods online. With constant opposition by mainstream governments, decentralized marketplaces might turn out to become the new digital "black market" in the future.

Nonetheless, it seems to me that centralized marketplaces like eBay and Amazon won't be going anywhere. The fact that centralized marketplaces have an intermediary to solve disputes, brings a high level of confidence among everyday people. Not like decentralized marketplaces where the rule of law cannot be enforced. If you get your money stolen, there's no intermediary to be able to recur to. This, and many other reasons, will make decentralized marketplaces an alternative than a replacement to their centralized counterparts. Just my thoughts

[magneto]

There are many decentralized marketplaces which aim to make our lives easier. Alternatives to centralized marketplaces powered by Blockchain technology seems to be the real deal. Yet, it's the day where eBay and Amazon dominate the e-commerce industry. They're centralized, charge high fees (especially eBay), and are prone to censorship. That's not the case with decentralized alternatives like the Particl Marketplace, or OpenBazaar. Despite the many benefits decentralized marketplaces provide, many people still rely on centralized counterparts for buying/selling online.

Do you think decentralized marketplaces have a future? Or will they become a failed experiment? Your input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I think that with the current climate, people aren't ready to adopt these services yet.

This is not to say that these platforms do not have a future - they definitely do. But currently they are seen as novelties, thought experiments, or even tokenised offerings of vapourware in ICOs. That's not going to ultimately allow them to overtake centralised marketplaces in terms of market share.

I truly think that a decentralised product won't simply be mass adopted just because it is decentralised - most people don't have the awareness to understand the difference. It needs to genuinely be as efficient, if not more efficient than traditional venues for it to work.

[mu_enrico]

It's more complicated than a torrent service, especially when sellers need to ship their products to buyers. And then, instead of a company charging commissions or VIP membership, many gangs sell fake reviews, spamming with viagra products, etc. If there is moderation, well, it's no longer "decentralized" IMO.

What's the incentive for the developers? If there is none, the platform would be suck.

[Kittygalore]

~

Decentralized exchanges aren't really illegal. And regardless of regulations, I don't think people would really care at all unless the government straight-off criminalizes it. It's even safe to assume that majority of people don't even pay capital gains tax over their trades/investments.

Did I say that dex are illegal, as far as I know, what I mentioned illegal there was the products that Silk Road was selling in their market. I am in favor of decentralized structures just like you, with the corruption of many governments, who would wanna pay those tax money when all it funnels through is some crony's pocket.

[Darker45]

Let me adopt an extreme view here. Any market which offers freedom, and I mean complete, unbridled, unstructured freedom, will never be hitting mainstream adoption. It is either they will end up being declared illegal, pursued and persecuted by government authorities, or they will be forced to trim down that freedom.

Yes. We cannot discard the fact that governments will begin cracking down on decentralized marketplaces if they become extremely popular in the mainstream world. That's one of the many downsides of freedom. Governments may be able to declare decentralized marketplaces as "illegal", but they won't be able to stop them. By then, only the underworld will use decentralized marketplaces while the general public will still rely on centralized marketplaces for buying/selling goods online. With constant opposition by mainstream governments, decentralized marketplaces might turn out to become the new digital "black market" in the future.

I agree. But I don't think it is popularity which will prod the government to move against decentralized marketplaces. It is the fact that in a free market, everything could be available.

A marketplace where everyone is absolutely permitted to sell and buy everything will most probably end up a marketplace of contraband, illegal goods, illegal services, and so on. Not exclusively, of course, but those who are involved in the selling and buying of illegal goods and services will definitely not choose a platform where one's products, services, needs, and wants are not accepted. And the same are definitely not accepted in centralized and regulated marketplaces.

[dothebeats]

I guess the edge that centralized marketplaces have are consumer and seller protection.

eBay's Money Back Guarantee is far from perfect, though it ensures that the seller delivers what the post says. Same goes to Amazon. They also have protections for seller in place in case the buyer deviates from good buying practices. So far, I haven't seen decentralized marketplaces offer such protections from both parties, and perhaps that's why people will still choose to buy and sell on these marketplaces despite the high fee.

People tend to always play on the safe side, and employ fail-safes in order to not get burned fully. It boils down on what the consumers and the merchants think, and decentralized marketplaces don't address that directly.

[figmentofmyass]

I guess the edge that centralized marketplaces have are consumer and seller protection.

i think it's more that decentralized marketplaces are clunky and not intuitive. consumers wanna quickly navigate to a website or app page to buy something---not download and run an executable file, as is required to use openbazaar. it makes sense for buying/selling illegal drugs and things like that. it makes less sense for buying regular stuff that you can buy anywhere. it's just too much bother.

[Bitstar_coin]

Decentralize market place will be limited to those people who have knowledge of crypto and how to use it, this is not for regular users who would just want to click and pay instantly with their cards, plus it is less secured than centralize market place, who will guarantee the safety of shoppers not getting scammed, I don't think people especially the none crypto who are still the majority of population will take notice of decentralize market place anytime soon.