HELBIZ

Februari 26, 2018

HELBIZ

Helbiz is a blockchain peer-to-peer marketplace that aims to make renting a car, motorcycle or bicycle convenient, affordable and rewarding for every user.

Helbiz is divided into 2 parts :

Helbiz is a fully integrated mobility ecosystem with a customer centric approach, consisting of Helbiz, a peer-to-peer vehicle sharing application
Helbiz Mobility System is a platform on the Ethereum blockchain open for other companies with interest in mobility related services utilizing blockchain technology (insurance companies) powered by the project currency , HelbizCoin ( HBZ).

Helbiz wish to combine the classic and known approach of car sharing in the transportation sector with the growing blockchain technology in everyday’s life.

Helbiz will revolutionize the transportation industry by decentralizing the sharing economy & giving personal control to the user

SALVATORE PALELLA FOUNDER & CEO

Helbiz is working hard to build a collaborative economy ecosystem where technologies allow people and companies to share their resources and data and, if they desire, receive the corresponding payment for it . The Helbiz platform will allow all the involved parties to be fairly rewarded for their contributions into the mobility ecosystem, as the Blockchain technology will permit to verify each single input.

Actual problems

The sharing economy refers to a new socioeconomic phenomenon that provides individuals with an opportunity to enable mutualization of personal goods and services. Even if the sharing economy is based on a P2P model , the intermediary remains a problem , charging high fees to proceed transactions .

While the sharing economy has been remarkably beneficial for society until now , by enabling individuals to supplement their incomes and lowering costs for consumers , the industry is ruled by centralized platform as authorities and also charge , the industry is run by centralized platforms acting as authorities and charging unnecessary fees.

The centralized sharing economy platforms have two key roles in sustaining the sharing economy: They connect buyers and sellers through a technology platform and provide a secure and trusted environment for the final user.

Blockchain as a Solution

Adding blockchain technology in the collaborative economy erase the need of a central authority to ensure that the terms and conditions are met and that transactions are carried out accordingly with customers.

The distributed ledger technology can provide smart contracts, digital identities linked to a publicly viewable user reputation systems and digital currency payments, all of which alleviate the need for a central authority. Each transaction within a time period is recorded in a block, which refers back to a previous block, creating chains of blocks. As such, Blockchain technology allows the creation of permanent records, and therefore, is highly secure and trust promoting.

Blockchain technology has the potential to reduce transaction and trust costs that prevent car owners from monetizing their vehicles and driving data :

Helbiz ecosystem aims to create value on 3 important areas :

Shared ownership of the vehicles
The Services associated with the vehicle utilization
All the data produced from the vehicle use

The Helbiz Mobility system

The Helbiz Mobility System is a platform based on the Ethereum Blockchain and powered by the HelbizCoin tokens. Its a platform that will be open to other companies with interests in mobility related services and willing to join the Blockchain revolution using data and building dApps (Decentralized Applications) on top of the Helbiz Mobility

To simplify the process and increase HelbizCoin adoption, Helbiz Mobility System will integrate several services in one single platform including:

General Description An explorer to discover available transportation options and related services;
An internal exchange to convert major cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin and Ethereum into HelbizCoin;
A built-in wallet to store and use the tokens easily; Templates of smart contracts to allow vehicle owners to share their assets;
Templates of smart contracts for data providers to set the rules and the level of reward they are willing to offer to data owners, whilst the latter retains control to cancel the contracts or edit permissions

Helbiz process explained

Helbiz proposes an interconnection with a range of sophisticated services specific to the vehicle owners, transport partners, and external services. Helbiz propose an architecture based on securing privacy for users, increasing the safety of the vehicle’s ecosystem and expanding the market to all independent operators. The data provided by the vehicles holds confidential information, such as location, and therefore can open new privacy challenges. The conventional methods of security and privacy used in smart vehicles tend to be ineffective due to the following challenges:

• Centralization: the current architecture of “smart” vehicles is based centralized models of mediated communication in which all vehicles are identified, authenticated, authorized and connected through central servers in the cloud.

Lack of privacy: most of today’s secure communication architectures do not take the user’s privacy into account, they resort to the exchange of all vehicle data without the owner’s permission or reveal noisy or summarized data to the applicant.
Security threats: Smart vehicles have an increasing number of autonomous functions. A malfunction due to a security breach (for example, during the installation of a malicious SW) could cause serious accidents that endanger the safety of passengers and other road users who are very close.

Helbiz Blockchain System vs Conventional Methods

Helbiz Economic Model

In order to deliver a viable business model for the long term, HelbizCoin will be a pay-per-use model for getting onto the Helbiz Mobility System or for using services available on the platform. Helbiz will drive revenues through tools and services on the Helbiz Mobility System :

Commission from the price the end user is paying for the rental, a fraction of current car sharing services;

Commission from the price the service providers are paying directly to the users to share their data;

“Exchange” fees for using the internal exchange to convert major cryptocurrencies into HelbizCoin;

Commission on the digital locks;

Other services for the car owners. The company has access to a lot of data (e.g. usage, status) that may be using to sell additional services to the vehicle owners (e.g. time to check the brakes).