So What Is Really UTRUST?
UTRUST is first of all a team of enthusiasts who decided to create something new and resolve the major problems of the existing cryptocurrencies. They released a white paper in October 2017, where the UTRUST founders explained the main goals and concepts of the new revolutionary crypto-payment system. According to it, the idea came from the frustrating real-life experience of using crypto coins to buy and sell goods online, and the startuppers wanted to make it easier both for merchants and their customers. It seems, the idea was accepted very optimistically, as they have raised more than 20 million dollars through ICO.
UTRUST is not just a new public ledger with another cryptocurrency. It is also an innovative payment platform that combines several blockchains into one system, and lets the users spend different crypto coins when shopping or paying for the services. Simply put, the single application will allow spending and accepting payments in multiple cryptocurrencies. Simply put, the single application will allow spending and accepting payments in multiple cryptocurrencies. UTRUST is a mediator and an escrow, which makes the transactions safer, faster and cheaper. UTRUST has its own crypto token, they named it UTK, it provides its users with some benefits, e.g. zero fees, more purchasing options, easier and quicker refunds, etc.
How Does This Cryptocurrency Work?
The founders of UTRUST decided to preserve certain features of the regular payment systems, in order to provide a better protection to buyers. In two words, they decided that decentralization is not an end in itself, and started acting as a third party between buyers and sellers. Let's see the whole process step by step:
- the buyers choose UTRUST as a payment method, this way they can use any of their cryptocurrencies, including the UTRUST tokens. The system calculates the total number of coins to be sent, including the conversion fees and 1% of the UTRUST commission;
- after the transaction is completed, the coins are sent to UTRUST and converted into fiat money. The intermediary holds the funds in an escrow. The merchant is immediately notified that the money is pending;
- then the mediator checks if everything is okay with the deal, and releases the funds to the seller. With every positive track record the merchants increase their personal performance ratings. Higher ratings guarantee quicker transactions. Reputed sellers have a minimum, almost zero hold period;
- if the parties to a deal have some claims against each other, they have a chance to come to an agreement within 7 days, in the chat. If this does not happen, UTRUST takes on a role of an arbitrator, looks through the evidence from both sides and makes the final decision whether to refund the money to the buyer or release it to the seller.
This is how it looks like from the user's perspective. As for the technical part, the UTRUST team are currently working on the wallet, which will work with various cryptocurrencies, and the widget to integrate to the merchants' websites. They invite the merchants to adopt the API in order to get dollars or euros directly from the cryptocurrency holders.
he company has initially released 1 billion UTK, but they plan to reduce the amount to 100 million in order to balance supply and demand. The system will take some part of the transaction fees, buyback tokens with these funds and burn them. UTK serves as an investment tool, transaction unit, and financial instrument, which estimates the value of the entire UTRUST platform.
Main Advantages
I would divide the advantages of UTRUST in two major groups: those for buyers and sellers. What do the buyers get? First of all, simplicity. They can spend all kinds of cryptocurrencies with the help of a single universal payment platform. The UTRUST company has already concluded the partnership agreements with Ethereum, AidCoin, Pundi, Sparkster, Nexo, DigiByte, you can also use bitcoins, litecoins, XRP, and counting. Another benefit is the zero risk of a fraud when buying things online. The money is not released to the seller until the buyer reports that he or she has got what they wanted.
As for the merchants, the advantages they get are obvious — their audience is not limited to the holders of some particular cryptocurrency, 1% commission is one of the lowest on the market, and they get fiat money, which they can either withdraw to their bank account, or store in the e-wallet. This way they don't need to worry about the market volatility. No matter how the price of bitcoin changes over time, they receive dollars or euros, or whatever they choose. Actually, the sellers are not dealing with cryptocurrencies at all if they don't want to. For many of them, this is a huge plus.
UTK holders take their advantages, too. As the total supply of the coins decreases with every successful transaction, the value of each token increases. Thus, the UTRUST contributors raise money doing nothing, time itself works for them. Add to that zero fees and instant transactions, sounds nice, doesn't it?
Does It Have Any Problem Sides?
As any other cryptocurrency, as anything created by a human being — yes, it does. What is the major problem of this project? Its youth it is. The IT specialists are still working on the e-wallet and payment widget, the major sellers are still to be engaged, the buyers are not aware of this new dawn for the crypto payments. UTRUST is a new company, it is one of the lesser known, and thus nearly the least implemented platforms.
In October-November 2017 there was a fuss on the net about the withdrawal of the released tokens. Many wondered if UTRUST is a scam. On November 27, 2017, however, the official twitter of the company explained that they couldn't allow anyone to withdraw tokens before all contributors had their KYC verifications successfully done. By the time of September 2018, UTRUST seems to be a problems' solver rather than a source of them.
Exchanges Listing to Buy UTK
UTRUST tokens are ERC20 compatible and based on the Ethereum blockchain. Thus, in order to buy and sell UTK, you can use any wallets that support ERC20 standard. Until the native UTRUST e-wallet is ready, I recommend using MyEtherWallet and MetaMask, which are designed specially for Ethereum. Still, it is up to you, and such multi-asset products as Atomic Wallet or Freewallet will work fine, too.
As for the cryptocurrency exchanges that trade UTK, the UTRUST website names the following ones:
- EtherDelta, the decentralized platform to trade Ethereum-based coins;
- KuCoin, the universal multi-asset exchange, where you can trade UTK for BTC and ETH;
- the crypto exchange OKEx trades the pair UTRUST/Tether;
- Huobi, a Singapore digital asset exchange, trades UTK for Bitcoin and Ether;
- UTRUST tokens are also in the listings of HitBTC, Bitfinex, Ethfinex, and Latoken.
This information is valid for the moment of September 2018, something may change over time. The UTRUST team is restlessly working on promoting and advancing their services, and, with the growing popularity, more trading platforms will be interested in trading UTK. In order to keep track of prices and markets, you can visit CoinMarketCap and search the UTRUST cryptocurrency.
Should I Invest in This Crypto?
I've been asked this question thousands of times, and I still have no answer for it. I can explain. I am not used to making predictions, I just collect the information about existing cryptocurrencies and tell you about them. When I make a decision to invest in some project, I make it myself basing on my own knowledge and what I call inner voice. This is why I always tell about all ups and downs of the cryptos in my reviews. Do I have any doubts about UTRUST? Yes, I do:
- for example, they declare the lowest 1% fees, but this does not count the exchange commission, which is inevitable when you convert cryptos into fiat money. What will be the real fee, then? You never know, depends on the market;
- UTRUST claims that they will cover virtual goods and online services, too. Personally I cannot understand how they will resolve the conflicts between sellers and buyers in this situation;
- it is asserted that the tokens will increase in price as the system burns them, but what happens when they reach the 100 million point is not explained;
- a big question is if people who do not make payments via UTRUST would be interested in buying and possessing UTK.
I deliberately did not put these concerns into the "problem sides" chapter, because I think they are actually questions rather than problems. I believe this project has the bright future. See yourself — they strictly follow their roadmap posted on the website, and by the first quarter of 2019 they will have the API, wallet, widget, and 1000+ merchants. The idea excites me as a buyer, because it promises me the great convenience and protection. And we know — everything in demand is good for investments.
That's it about UTRUST, hope it was interesting and useful. You are welcome to leave comments and tell me what you know about this crypto. Share your experience, recent news, or even rumors. Obviously, it is impossible to squeeze all I have to tell into one little review. If you think I've missed something important in this article, you can ask questions, we will look for the information together.
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