A blockchain-based holiday booking site backed by major cryptocurrency exchange Binance is preparing to launch a decentralised home-sharing service that will allow guests and homeowners to take a stake in the platform.
On Wednesday, Travala.com said after several failed attempts to negotiate a collaboration with Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:ABNB), it has decided to launch its own rival service called Dtravel.
READ: Airbnb hopes for quick travel rebound after posting US$1.2bn quarterly loss
Unlike Airbnb, which connects holidaymakers and homeowners by acting as a centralised middle-man, Travala said Dtravel will function as a decentralised community-owned platform that will allow hosts and guests to book stays in a peer-to-peer manner while also getting to vote on how the service operates.
The platform will be powered by a new token called TRVL, with Travala saying it plans to entice the use of crypto on the platform by offering over US$35mln in TRVL to the first 100,000 hosts to list on Dtravel.
Founded in 2017, Travala itself currently has over 3mln homes and hotels listed on its own platform and offers users the chance to pay for bookings using 30 different methods, 70% of which are made in cryptocurrency.
“Dtravel…aims to secure a direct supply of vacation properties to build a new world for the home-sharing economy — one that puts hosts and guests on an equal playing field with network operators”, Travala said in a statement.
Shares in AirBnB were down 0.6% at US$148.25 in pre-market trading in New York on Thursday.