Just as the Internet ushered in the gig economy with its easy access to digital tools and a host of freelance platforms, blockchain technology is about to revolutionize work as we know it again, only this time on a more profoundly global scale. Smart contracts, proof of reputation, cryptocurrency payments and other new tools will transcend borders and create a level of transparency and expediency that is about to take work as we know it to the next level.
Manufacturers have long required their workers to be physically present at their jobs, and before the Internet the same applied to white-collar jobs. People had to congregate in one place in order to work together. Today, with a more flexible economy, increased technology and automation, that model is disappearing. Fully 35 percent of people in the U.S. workforce already consider themselves freelancers, and that number is expected to grow to 50 percent by 2022 and 80 percent by 2030. Young people in developing countries are poised to leapfrog into the global freelance economy with just their phones and an Internet connection with the hope of achieving a middle-class lifestyle.
This new world of work led to the advent of electronic freelance platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr, and LinkedIn ProFinder where employers posted jobs and people applied in a time-consuming process. But those platforms come with problems. There’s as much as 70 percent profile fraud — people misrepresent their expertise or put up the photo of one individual when the work is actually done in a sweatshop.
On the freelancer’s side, some of those freelance platforms assess predatory usage rates. Then there are fees for transferring wages and converting them to other currencies. The upshot is that some of the poorest people in the world are barely able to get work and then they don’t get to keep all of what they have earned. If any disagreement arises, their accounts are shut down without recourse.
Enter NYNJA. Simply click on any text, voice or file transfer bubble within the platforms’ messenger and choose from a menu that lets you ‘get work done’. The system runs you through a series of questions about the job, and your work order is then issued to the network. The NYNJA auto assign engine searches through the global on demand labor pool and assigns the best qualified worker to start the job immediately.
Potential freelancers take tests to prove they’re competent in the categories in which they claim expertise. Then they receive mock assignments to prove what they can produce. When they’re ready to work, just like Uber™, NYNJA assigns a worker to the task in real time. When the worker accepts a task, he or she has access to needed materials — video phone calls, messages, images, file transfers — all within the platform.
NYNJA works for employers because they can get urgent jobs done immediately. It’s good for freelancers because they can turn the app on to make money or turn it off when they’re not available. They get paid right away in NYNJAcoin that has been in escrow since the job began.
Clients who like the work of a particular freelancer can pay a fee to unlock that person’s data and work with him or her directly. Developers can build on the platform using our labor pool. Workers with high reputation scores can earn money checking the work of new workers with low scores to make their scores higher. And all worker reputations are all stored on the blockchain.
“We have created a truly frictionless platform,” said Marshall Taplits, Chief Strategy Officer. “When it comes to leveraging blockchain technology and its impact on the future of work, NYNJA is simply the most innovative.”
At launch, NYNJA will offer a range of freelance services, including legal opinions, data entry, administrative work, general business consulting, mentorship, virtual shopping, gift-giving and communications capabilities. Need to change your flight but don’t have time to sit on the phone with the airline? Let someone else can take care of it and you can come on the line for the split moment you need to validate your identity.
NYNJA stands to be the front-runner in the new freelance economy because its advanced messaging technology will facilitate all of the necessary components from directly within the app. Thanks to blockchain, the profusion of knowledge, communication, and the ability to pay anywhere and in real time using NYNJAcoin, workers will have the tools needed to solve the problems of this 21st-century work model.