FFQuest: Designing the Future of Car Rental - Whitepaper 2018
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2018
Whitepaper
FFQuest: Designing the
Future of Car Rental
“The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old but on
building the new.”
Socrates
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Executive Summary 2
II. Industry overview 4
III. How Blockchain Can Transform the Industry and the Power of the
Distributed FFQ Ledger? 9
IV. The Distributed FFQ Ledger and the FFQ Token 12
What exactly is the FFQ token? 14
How does the FFQ token work? 15
What is the value proposition of the FFQ token? 15
The importance of tokenization 16
V. The Marketplace 16
VI. Business Model and Project Phases 18
VII. Solution 24
VIII. Customer Acquisition 26
IX. Token Generation Event 27
Token Highlights 27
Token distribution 28
Token Sale 28
X. Roadmap 31
XI. Team and Advisors 32
XII. Legal Notice 37
XIII. GDPR, KYC, AML 42
1
1
I. Executive Summary
FFQuest is the first of its kind ecosystem, designed to unite the car and parking space rental
business lines (or sectors) by adopting the cutting-edge technology of blockchain and
revolutionizing the industry of online mobility rentals. By building a Decentralized, open source
digital environment based on the freemium model, FFQuest will enable automobile owners,
space owners and end-customers to enter into direct commercial transactions and to exchange
value free of additional charges and middlemen. Without fees, commissions or other traditionally
incurred costs, the supply and demand of the mobility services will use the potential of the robust
blockchain automation model in order for all participants to benefit from the better price
formation.
The Decentralized system will hold the FFQ Rental Ledger (Distributed FFQ Ledger). This is the
primary tool that will govern all details of the transactions between car companies (both
independent providers and large franchises), car drivers, space owners and customers. It will
function by using the utility token called FFQ. The web portal FFQuest.com will act as the one-
stop marketplace that will offer at its final stage, a superior user experience and easy access to
wide variety of mobility services.
FFQuest ultimate goal is to create a unified global portal – FFQuest.com – that will address the
entire range of all participants needs and provide them with numerous advantages.
Blockchain is found to be the appealing solution to the problems with intermediation,
transparency, security and incorruptibility, ensured by the cryptographic signatures and
encryption, and the decentralized consensus of the distributed ledger technology.
Unlike existing centralized platforms, where additional fees amount to anything between 20-70%,
FFQuest will preserve the distributed nature of all deals and listings. The final result will be
eliminating intermediaries, safeguarding transaction transparency and ensuring fair pricing. At
the same time, it will offer equal business opportunities for smaller rent-a-car companies, as well
as franchise, regional or multinational rental providers. Increased customer satisfaction and
reduced fleet downtime will provide opportunities for the more competitive offers to break
through.
For automobile and parking space owners the seamless integration between the FFQuest.com
marketplace and the Distributed FFQ Ledger creates an entirely independent and extremely
potent ecosystem, capable of challenging and outperforming the top service providers in the
$276 billion global mobility market1.
_________________________________________________________________________________
1. MarketsandMarkets report “Global Mobility on Demand” 2017-2025
2
They will have at their disposal a convenient and easy-to-use interface to operate their listings on
the Distributed FFQ Ledger, built on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (Ethereum VM).
By employing blockchain, FFQuest will eliminate the disadvantages of traditional car rental
portals and dependencies on OTAs, GDSs and many more. Thus owners will have the means to
access new markets and explore enhanced business opportunities.
End-customers will be able to save money by choosing from authentically priced offers on a free
and fair market, avoiding hidden surcharges in binding conditions. Zero commission rates, which
are a prerogative of the Decentralized FFQ System, will guarantee the lowest possible prices. This
is solely achievable in a milieu where end-customers and providers deal directly with each other.
Society at large will benefit from a revolutionized blockchain model that has the potential to
transform industries, enhance supply and change customer experience on a global level. In a
market where middlemen take 20-70% of the deal and reputation management is a challenge,
bringing the value back to customers and providers holds the power to revitalize businesses and
deliver the premises for supreme customer satisfaction.
The demand for the FFQ utility token – the fuel of FFQuest – will increase over time as the
ecosystem enlarges and integration with other platforms occurs. Furthermore, the Decentralized
FFQ System will be open source and free-to-use. Thus, it will enable other startups and
enterprises to follow the example and foster positive new models across this and other related
industries.
Regardless of temporal and speculative market fluctuations, the interest as a whole for
blockchain technologies and in token based models is increasing. The future is already visible and
it can provide new and more competitive services, reduced time and cost of transactions costs,
revenue and security improvements, or in brief, all the features of a disruptive business model.
As the blockchain tokens are used to develop decentralized marketplaces and establish direct
connections between supply and demand, the transaction processing is under development and
its spread is expected to continue to remove 3rd party middlemen.
Recent crypto market research shows that the total market cap of all
cryptocurrencies is $202 billion (CMC actual information of the time of $4 trillion market
writing this White Paper). Although it has fallen almost 5 times during the capitalization of
last 6 months, and most probably many crypto projects will fail in the near
asset-backed
future, we strongly believe that we are just at the beginning of the journey.
tokens by 2025
For projects with clear vision, strong technical expertise and sustainable
efforts for reaching their goals this is the right time to be pioneers in setting
the new foundations.
3
In one way or another, cryptocurrency adoption rate is expected to be as high as that of cell
phones as a result of the advantages gained through the progress of blockchain development and
uptake.
On top of the nature of the growing new generations and the potential of the coming blockchain
smartphones with 5G mobile connectivity, altogether the crypto penetration is foreseen to
exceed 5% of the world’s population by 2025, with projected total capitalization of $5 trillion.2
II. Industry Overview
The car rental and car-sharing industry is driven by increasing demand as a result of enlarged
population mobility and development of the travel & tourism industry in terms of both outbound
and domestic travelers. In addition, the global rise in income disposability combined with an
enhancement in road infrastructure are also regarded to be key factors in boosting the number
of business and leisure trips, thereby leading to industry growth. Increased demand has been a
fruitful ground for the emergence and development of new business models such as P2P car
sharing (car2go, Maveb, ZipCar and other).
Forecasts on industry figures are booming. The mobility-on-demand market amounted to $65
billion in 2017 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 19.8% to reach $276 billion by 2025. (Source:
Markets&Markets)
MOBILITY GLOBAL MARKET ON DEMAND, 2017 vs 2025 (USD BILLION)
The projected expansion is driven by a
combination of business, technological and
societal factors, as both companies and
individuals demonstrate increased
sustainability awareness, and the constantly
growing IT sector offers new and more
powerful solutions progressively.
Both rent-a-car and car sharing segments of the global mobility on demand market are expected
to grow in the coming years.
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. LAT Crypto Research 2017
4
CAR RENTAL, MOBILITY ON DEMAND MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2015–2025
(USD MILLION)
The global car rental market was evaluated at 2.8 billion USD in 2017 is facing a projected worth
of approximately 9.1 billion USD in 2025 growing at a CAGR of 15.58% (Source:
Markets&Markets).
CAR SHARING MARKET: MOBILITY ON DEMAND MARKET SIZE, BY REGION,
2015–2025 (USD BILLION)
The segment of car sharing was evaluated at $8.13 billion in 2017 and is facing a projected worth
of $36.43 billion in 2025, showing a growth at a CAGR of 20.63% (Source: Markets&Markets).
Following the expected growth potential it is no wonder that the model is deemed very attractive
as demonstrated in recent years by the San Francisco-based startup Turo. As of this moment, the
5
P2P operator attracted more than 5 million subscribers and received $92 million in funding from
the automotive corporation Daimler AG (company’s valuation as of 2018 is more than $700
million3).
Another entirely-owned subsidiary of the German concern, car2go, is also enjoying considerable
success. In the U.S. automotive giant General Motors is catching up with its European competitors
by launching a new P2P car rental service under GM’s Maven mobility sub-brand. Through the
latter, GM automobile owners will be able to list their vehicles on the platform for short-term
rental when not in use.
An important signal for the foreseen potential of the ride- and car-sharing sub-segment is also
the latest investment by SoftBank Corp. into Getaround. The Japanese internet giant lead a $300
million funding round making the San Francisco based car-sharing company valued at $800
million and proving the interest in the next-generation car use services4.
Big car hire names are also exploring their opportunities in this sector, further evidence that car
sharing is facing a bright future.
P2P CAR SHARING: CAR SHARING MARKET SIZE, BY REGION, 2015–2025 (USD
BILLION)
McKinsey’s 2017 consumer survey indicates shared mobility should see further growth. An
estimated 63% of people currently using non-taxi ride-hailing services expect to increase their
usage “a lot” in the next two years, and even more (67%) say they will do the same concerning
car sharing5.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-13/gm-is-said-to-plan-airbnb-like-service-for-sharing-your-wheels
4. www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-21/softbank-invests-in-another-ride-sharing-startup-getaround
5. Source: Report How shared mobility will change the automotive industry | McKinsey & Company
6
Although the global rent-a-car industry may be rapidly expanding, in fact it offers limited
opportunity to participants. The reason behind this paradox lurks in the existing commercial
model based on a centralized online system where a mediator is orchestrating the relations
between service providers and clients and ensuring the dominance of the biggest OTAs and GDSs
such as Priceline, Expedia, Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport, Cartrawler and their endless network of
subsidiaries and related companies. Thus, all parties are dependent on an intermediary defining
conditions and charging high fees for giving them the opportunity to operate their business on
the existing ecosystem.
Existing model
Centralized online car rental platforms threaten the best interest of both service providers and
end-customers by applying exceptionally high commission fees varying between 20-70%, thus
corrupting the fair market model.
These additional expenses are incurred by the existence of a variety of middlemen that enable
the performance of the transactions. All costs are accrued at the expense of both hosts and
guests. Standard transaction fees include:
fees for providing platform services;
fees charged for managing financial transactions;
currency conversion fees;
By virtue of occupying different vertical levels in the online supply chain, market leaders are
able to add markups and additional fees at their own discretion, thus increasing the cost at each
level.
Dominance-led approaches increase prices for all users and corrupt the marketplace by creating
inefficiency and obscuring transparency. Furthermore, the current situation prevents nascent
companies from entering the marketplace and suppresses innovation and market vitality.
FFQuest aims to address existing industry problems by using blockchain technology. This means
providing a viable solution that is independent, validated and trustless6 that will eliminate the
use of middlemen and commission fees. Apart from those already mentioned, the industry is
facing a number of other significant challenges leading to reduced customer satisfaction, lack of
trust in car rental companies, all resulting in revenue and profit decrease. Blockchain technology
can present a powerful solution to resolve most of problems, giving to all participants better
opportunity to advance in free and fair market dynamics.
In a marketplace suffocated from excessive middlemen surcharges there are many limitations
that final customers face such as:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Trustless – does not rely on a trust in a central authority or on the relationship for trust, but only on a secure mathematical peer-
to-peer connection where the trust is created by a cryptographic key held by the peers.
7
Incorporating hidden clauses that deteriorate the quality of intermediary services;
Charging only a partial and unreal amount of the actual price which leads to an additional
required payment by customers onsite;
Causing insurance implications such as artificially inflated insurance costs and
incorporating faulty clauses. As a rule, rent-a-car companies themselves deny portal-
offered insurance, often resulting in double insurance spending;
Need for one or more credit cards to block a high amount for deposit;
Delay in deposit release (up to 60 days);
Poor service quality during peak seasons, hours of desk delays for picking up a car;
Arbitrary replacement of a booked vehicle with a vehicle from a similar class but from a
cheaper brand, older and/or in a worse condition;
Complementary mandatory fees for mileage, winter tires, child car seats, winter chains,
second driver, driver’s age, border crossings, etc.;
Unjustified additional billing upon car return for fuel, late leave, car damages, etc.;
Unfair treatment of smaller providers when partnering
Decentralization Leads Market
with traditional portals as a result of malicious market Revolution
behavior;
Limited brand visibility for independent providers; Bitcoin’s start in 2009 spearheaded
Delay in payment release to rent-a-car companies after the rise of a new paradigm that
encouraged decentralization through
services have been provided (up to 90 days); the introduction of distributed open
ledgers. Bitcoin succeeded in showing
Paradoxically, it turns out that end-customers have to undergo a the world that maintaining the
threefold payment process. In order to rent a single vehicle outdated model of centralized banks
clients have to pay once through a web portal upon booking, was no longer the only solution.
then pay additionally at the rent-a-car and finally to expect The decentralization movement truly
charges upon returning the car. gained force in 2015 thanks to the
launch of the Ethereum Blockchain
Hence, both service providers and travellers suffer from the and the introduction of smart
distorted market model of OTAs and GDSs, where the only contracts. Developers were given the
winners are intermediaries themselves. Monopolistic practices tools to create “dApps” – a new type
of decentralized applications. The
and unfair customer treatment corrode the models of a healthy
most important effect of dApps is the
global car rental market that abides by high standards in business
possibility to eliminate the need for
and ethics. centralized middlemen. This is made
possible by harnessing the power of
the blockchain to provide secure and
trustless asset transfer within the
Ethereum network.
8
Current industry paradigm
However, all of this is possible to change.
III. HOW BLOCKCHAIN CAN TRANSFORM THE INDUSTRY AND THE POWER OF THE DISTRIBUTED FFQ
LEDGER
The growing power of blockchain solutions is revolutionizing markets at all levels by virtue of their
capability to remove middlemen and promote integrity and cost-effectiveness. Enhancing
collaboration and creating value for all participants in an ecosystem, in the conditions of a secure,
transparent and trustless environment, are among the primary attributes of blockchain. In
addition, they promote efficient and merit-based business interactions and defy monopolism by
supporting local economies to advance diversity in increasingly globalized markets.
Blockchain technology offers numerous benefits for all concerned parties, including:
Affordable data exchange;
Utmost security;
Undisputable information validity;
Complete transparency;
More precisely, what are some of the benefits of a blockchain-based ride and parking space-
sharing ecosystem over those of the current market giants?
9Benefits and use cases are:
Intermediaries are entirely removed, resulting in significant cost reduction and final price
comparison;
Providers can objectively take decisions on pricing based only on supply-demand forces;
The ecosystem will work with a specific token (the FFQ token) and users will be rewarded
with it according to their platform merits (enrolling other drivers, completing more trips,
etc.);
Platform will develop and expands since the demand and the usage of its native token will
rise when the number of transactions increases;
Building of reliable and secured online reputations will be facilitated to the benefit of both
providers and customers, as their identities will be authenticated over the blockchain;
All participants in the ecosystem can take advantage of the authentic value of the services
they provide or use;
Endorsing blockchain as the underlying technology of a project with the scope of FFQuest carries
tremendous value for end-customers and local businesses alike. Even global tech leaders such as
IBM endorse the disruptive power that removing an intermediary can have on already-stagnant
sharing economy companies like Airbnb, Uber, eBay, etc.
“Nearly all the big OEMs are experimenting with investments in car sharing, ride sharing and ride
hailing schemes,” reads a post7 on the IBM Internet of Things blog.
DRIVING PROGRESS IN THE CAR RENTAL WORLD
FFQuest will employ the potent powers of blockchain to disrupt the faulty practices existing in
the global car rental industry. It is also important to stress the fact that this will happen in a
seamless technological environment, while providing a high quality user experience which will by
far surpass that of the conventional virtual space. By
Why Is It Important to Support Local
destroying the dominance-led approach and creating a
Businesses?
common marketplace, FFQuest will bring back the power
to service providers and customers. They will benefit from
As technological advancements have
an efficient and transparent interaction combined with
skyrocketed global corporations, the
significantly reduced or even eliminated counterparty risk. need to back local businesses grows
stronger by the day. The benefits from
Customers will have a clean and simple way to choose doing so are various. Local businesses
from a list of vehicles and pay rent, while being able to improve the local economy by sustaining
observe immediately what they are being charged for. employment and keeping wealth within
the community. They nurture the
uniqueness of local spirit and often
provide better and more personalized
services. Resident entrepreneurs tend to
demonstrate high local involvement and
invest back in the community.
_________________________________________________________________________________
7.Source: www.ibm.com/blogs/internet-of-things/the-rise-of-blockchain-for-automotive-mobility-services/
10Independent rent-a-car providers as well as some of the global franchise subsidiaries will receive
a well-timed opportunity to access the global market directly. Currently, such businesses are
hardly able to partner with conventional portals. When they do, partnerships happen under very
questionable terms dictated by unfair monopolistic practices. Single players are paying the same
or much bigger commissions as bigger providers while they receive far less visibility. In reality,
traditional portals offer both market leaders and local providers the same conditions, but in
practice they overcharge the latter, thus giving the former unfair advantages and supporting
inflated market prices.
We will resolve:
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
End-users End-users
Hidden charges All listings visible real-time
Additional payment "on the All price components included at
desk" the time of booking
Inflated insurance cost Final price charged upon
booking
Limited choice of listings
Smaller deposit
No guarantee of the choice
made during the booking Faster deposit release
Unclear biding conditions Take-what-you-ordered
Delay in booking confirmation Clear and visible conditions at
the time of booking
Waiting on the desk
Instant booking confirmation
Huge delay in deposit release
Local & Independent services
Local & independent services'
providers
providers
Equal access to the portal
High fees for getting listed on
portals Equal visibility on the
marketplace and possibility for
Less visibility compared to big
brand promotion
players
No dependency on monopolists
Pressure from monopolists
Identity transparency, possibility
Poor reputation management
to give & receive feedback
Delay in payments
Customers' dissatisfaction
Negative reviews
Fleet downtime
11Blockchain will allow immediate token transfer, thereby facilitating payment for all parties,
eliminating bureaucracy and payment settlements slow-downs, making value transfers
automated and secured.
Under the terms of traditional portals, customers equally suffer and are subject to implications.
They are kept from making decisions based on verified feedback from other users (unmodified
positive or negative opinions). At the same time independent rent-a-
The Unified Free and Fair car companies are deprived of the ability to evaluate objectively their
Marketplace first time customers or to promote their brand adequately.
FFQuest offers a progressive Reputation management issues are also a primary concern that can be
alternative to traditional car eliminated by employing the power of blockchain technology.
and parking space rental: one “Beyond establishing trust, blockchain makes it possible to share
stop free and fair information selectively with others to exchange assets safely and
marketplace that serves in efficiently and—perhaps most promisingly—to proffer digital
the best interest of all
contracts. This transforms reputation into a manageable attribute that
participants by reducing costs
can be baked into each individual’s or organization’s interactions with
and eliminating malevolent
practices. All constituents of others,” states an article on 2017 Tech Trends8 published by Deloitte
the FFQuest ecosystem – Insights.
rent-a-car companies, car
and parking space owners, As already discussed, most big car hire portals offer poor quality
drivers and clients – will service, which results in predominantly negative feedback and a very
benefit by removing low customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the market has suffered
middlemen from the current severe turbulence such as the 2017 bankruptcy of a major player, Atlas
business paradigm. Such Choice, that caused serious losses for both customers and providers,
action, together with making demonstrating the disadvantages of the current business model. The
all relevant information
failure of the UK car hire broker left clients and suppliers over $40
shared and readily available,
million out of pocket.
will result in cutting costs and
establishing efficiency,
transparency and trust. In contrast, blockchain smart contracts minimize such risk by
eliminating middlemen. They simplify and provide complete
transparency of the entire interaction between customers and companies. Both are aware of the
opposite party’s actions and possess all the information necessary to validate their options. There
is no third party that interferes and controls their agreement, financial resources and money
transfers.
IV. THE DISTRIBUTED FFQ LEDGER AND THE FFQ TOKEN
The Distributed FFQ Ledger is the engine that governs all relationships and operations between
car rental providers and end-customers within the FFQuest.com ecosystem. It is built on the
Ethereum VM and uses smart contracts to regulate all transactions. The Distributed FFQ Ledger
will keep a record of all transactions and will regulate their execution through client/host driven
smart contract triggers.
_________________________________________________________________________________
8. Source: www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/focus/tech-trends/2017/blockchain-trust-economy.html
12The FFQ token is a token produced on the Ethereum Blockchain platform that will be integrated
into FFQuest. It will function as the fuel of the FFQuest.com ecosystem and its circulatory
mechanism. The FFQ token will allow access to the Distributed FFQ Ledger for all concerned
parties.
FFQuest model
The FFQ Ledger will operate solely with the native FFQ token. At the same time, it will possess
the flexibility to offer integration to external exchanges or to allow converting different
currencies through a respective algorithm. Thus, any application that wishes to connect to the
Ledger will be able to support additional payment methods, which can afterwards be converted
into FFQ tokens as a renting deal takes place.
13The FFQ Ledger will also run a variety of decentralized and distributed operations, some of which
would include:
Rental request placement
Rental confirmation policy
Deposit holding, release and withholding and refunding
Dispute trigger and dispute terms
Optional history/reputation requirement for customer/provider
Another important aspect of the FFQ Ledger will be its free and open source nature. In this
manner, the more car rental websites connect to the FFQ engine, the higher the adoption of the
FFQ token, hence its increase in demand. Through this approach, we aim to change the car rental
industry, establishing a new standard in the global car rental business, an innovation based
entirely on the FFQ token.
The FFQ Token will provide all participants with the ability to use the full scope of services and
products within the FFQuest.com Decentralized system, like:
access to all car/parking space listings
make booking
make payments
receive discounts and rewards
transfer between fiat currency /other coins and FFQ token
access to clients/providers ratings
The FFQ token will provide companies with numerous advantages for optimizing revenue and
sustaining value. Providers will be able to decrease, or altogether avoid, credit card commission
(currently between 1-3%) and other bank fees. The FFQ token will also ensure more financial
flexibility and offer direct opportunities for acquiring crypto assets.
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE FFQ TOKEN ?
The FFQ token is a digital utility product. FFQ token holders can use it to access all FFQuest
services and products integrated with the platform.
The FFQ token will secure easy and automated transactions within the ecosystem, guaranteeing
high utilization and demand.
The FFQ token will serve as the primary exchange tool between vehicle and ride providers and
car rental seekers. Providers will be able to withdraw tokens upon their convenience. FFQ tokens
do not have an expiration date and token holders can use or transfer them at their own discretion.
14HOW DOES THE FFQ TOKEN WORK ?
Utility tokens are like credits that
FFQuest users who purchased any FFQ tokens will receive them enable owners to consume services
in their wallets after the end of the token sale discussed in Section within a system. For example, a
IX: Token Generation Event. Token holders can then use the ride-sharing service provider might
respective credits to take advantage of any of the services, issue utility tokens that enable it to
products and features of FFQuest, as they become available fund the provisioning of the
according to the FFQuest Roadmap discussed in Section X. service. The buyers of the token
then consume the ride-sharing
FFQuest users will also be rewarded with tokens upon services over time. Token holders
would be able to use the utility
performing certain actions that contribute in value to the
token to pay for rides or sell the
ecosystem. Such examples may include referring new users
tokens if they don’t want to hold
and/or providing reviews.
onto them. The token’s purpose in
this instance is to improve the ease
WHAT IS THE VALUE PROPOSITION OF THE FFQ TOKEN? with which ride-share services are
provided and to enable token
Transparency and trust buyers to consume rides.9
The transfer of the FFQ token from one user to another is easily
verified, as:
all FFQuest transactions exist in the blockchain, which guarantees their transparency;
all transactions within the FFQuest platform are managed by unchangeable smart
contracts;
user behavior is verified effortlessly due to the platform’s transparent nature;
Therefore loyalty programs and merit-based reward systems can be easily created.
No commissions & cut-rate transactions
The FFQ token allows the exchange of services and products between clients and providers
without intermediary commissions and at lower rates than traditional banking.
Reliability
The Ethereum Blockchain serves as a secure and sustainable economic basis which allows clients
to perform reliable purchases.
Growing Token demand
FFQuest is an open source global platform available to anyone to plug in and avoid middlemen
which will increase the FFQ token popularity. Together with the integrated possibility for fiat and
other cryptocurrencies conversion will result in progressive FFQ Token adoption.
Based on the large variety of functionalities and simplicity of use of the FFQ token, as well as the
projected partnerships with an advanced travel platform and other forerunners of the blockchain
industry, high demand for the FFQ token is anticipated since the very start of the TGE discussed
in Section IX: Token Generation Event.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9.Source: article “Tokens for personal mobility“ – IBV
15While the use of FFQ utility tokens will not be obligatory for clients, the FFQuest.com marketplace
will possess a built-in algorithm to convert alternative payment methods into the FFQ token. This
will allow the use of all traditional payment methods such as credit cards, PayPal, etc. as well as
cryptocurrency transfers with Bitcoins and Ethers.
FFQuest.com users will be able to purchase the FFQ utility token remotely without needing to
exit from the FFQuest.com marketplace for currency conversions. In this manner, holders will
have the flexibility and will enjoy the benefits of growing use and penetration over time.
FFQ token popularization is foreseen to be expanding, as the Distributed FFQ Ledger will be open
to all services providers who wish to join the global intermediaries-free ecosystem. Such an
approach with some additional services will enable a multitude of emerging car rental websites
to reduce expenses for design and development, SEO optimization and front and back-end
technologies. This will allow providers to offer more competitive customer rates that will result
in the additional utilization and circulation of the FFQ utility token.
THE IMPORTANCE OF TOKENIZATION
The FFQ utility token will also employ the potency of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology
to establish a new and truly just order in the industry of mobility. This transformation will bring
fair pricing, transparency and competitive power to a market suffering from malevolent practices.
Blockchain creates an environment that can accommodate affordable, easy, safe and non-
disputable transfer and storage of information. One of the greatest assets of the FFQ Ledger is its
distributed nature, providing constant self–revalidation. The information inside is impossible to
be manipulated, hence eliminating the need of further sizable maintenance and security
expenses.
V. THE MARKETPLACE
The Distributed FFQ Ledger will introduce a genuinely new and enhanced way of connecting
providers and end-customers. Therefore, to create an entirely self-sustainable ecosystem, it is of
critical importance to build a fully functional and easy-to-use marketplace to serve as a front-end
and additional layer to the back-end Distributed FFQ Ledger. In this manner, any dependency on
external forces will be removed and the ecosystem will be able to fulfill its autonomous and stable
character.
As a marketplace built predominantly using blockchain technology, FFQuest.com will address all
major online car rental issues discussed above. Not only will it provide practical solutions to the
industry’s most pressing concerns but it will also boost business opportunities for competitive
providers offering high-grade customer experience solutions.
In its essence, FFQuest.com will be the main arena where customers and providers will meet to
interact within the dynamics of a new generation online rent-a-car environment. The benefits to
everyone involved in this process are clear-cut.
16Besides the major aspect of removing middlemen, FFQuest.com will also offer a great deal of
other blockchain-related advantages:
1) Safeguarding the interests of fair providers - a major advancement and a decisive blow
on monopolistic market conditions.
Until now, traditional portals and credit card issuers have been primarily focused on
protecting end-customers and market dominants, allowing fair companies to suffer unfair
treatment. Such examples constitute, for instance, the cases of unwarranted chargebacks,
where fraudulent clients manage to recover deposit funds rightfully withheld for rental
damages.
2) Referral program consisting of 1% fee due for referring clients to foreign companies in
the FFQ ecosystem.
Additionally, fair competition and equal access to clients will give providers the
opportunity to optimize their wholesale and corporate package offerings.
3) Revenue optimization during peak seasons.
Currently they choose to skip such opportunities in order to avoid commissions.
4) Reduced fleet downtime.
Wide adoption of the FFQuest.com platform will give the rent-a-car providers an
opportunity to rent out vehicles for short periods, based on the car-sharing principle. The
platform will be accessed by all type of car and drive seekers – either looking to rent a car
or just to share a ride.
5) Customer satisfaction increase.
By using the FFQuest.com portal, car rental companies will be enabled to provide clear
listings containing all details combined with the final price of their offers. Thus clients will
enjoy the ease to select the right option, plan correctly their car rental budget, go and just
pick-up the chosen car without spending additional time on the desk.
At FFQuest.com, customers will also have considerable advantages that are currently
unavailable at traditional portals:
1) Possibility to compensative charges in case of provider-initiated cancellation. In contrast,
big portals presently only charge penalties for customer-initiated cancellation.
2) One-stop-shop for all available services and products, including insurances – one of the
major differentiators for clients at the decision-making moment. Currently, rent-a-car
companies abstain from publishing a large part of their additional services on traditional
portals and sell those services on the spot. This is how they manage to compensate the
unrealistically low rates that large portals force them to offer.
173) Full prices shown at the time of booking. Within the existing model many additional
charges are not shown or hidden in the small print. Clients are unpleasantly surprised at
the moment they go to pick-up the car without having the possibility to re-negotiate or
reject the charges. Most often not mentioned charges/ fees are for additional driver,
younger driver fee, child seat, cross –border fees, “late” return fee, road and
administrative taxes, fuel load.
4) Reduced time on the spot. Clients will just take the booked vehicle and enjoy their
journey as the deal for the rental has been finalized during the reservation made though
the portal. FFQuest.com comes to transform the traditional market and offer an
alternative to questionable business approaches. By giving providers the opportunity to
list their authentic offers, unburdened by middlemen-incurred additional charges, along
with the complete roll of their additional services, FFQuest.com strikes a twofold purpose:
companies will gain greater business prospects while clients will truly get what they pay
for.
5) Ultimately, even car dealers will receive the opportunity to access end-customers at
FFQuest.com. Currently, most of the car dealers that are developing new income channels
are giving the rights of vehicle use to the rent-a-car companies. Shorter routes to market
approach will result in breaking flawed vehicle subletting patterns and eliminating
another channel for price inflation.
VI. BUSINESS MODEL AND PROJECT PHASES
Developing the Distributed FFQ Ledger as well as the FFQuest.com Decentralized ecosystem is a
complex, multi-level task. However, the business model behind the endeavor is clear-cut and
efficient. We have the ambitious goal to create a global portal satisfying the end-to-end spectrum
of customer and service provider’s needs.
The project will encompass 4 phases.
PHASEP1HASE 1
FFQuest global portal development – top-notch marketplace where rent-a-car businesses and
individuals can interact (B2P).
FFQuest.com will represent a unique medium entirely devoid of the faulty market patterns
intrinsic to current portals.
18Core Phase 1 activities include:
1) Creating smart contracts as well as establishing the integration layer and launching the
FFQuest.com portal. At this stage, partnership contracts with rent a car providers will be
pursued as well. One of the specifics of the EU market is that due to price competitiveness,
very often national rent-a-car providers also service neighboring markets. For example,
EU companies in countries like Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria service
clients in Germany, Austria and Greece.
2) Incorporating the ability to pay and receive payment in fiat without disturbing the smart
contract token engine behind. At least, non-crypto users will need time to get accustomed
to the FFQ usages and advantages. At this stage, the option to hedge the FFQ token
volatility risk upon user request will be included.
3) Establishing a universal referral program where all referees
Provider Acquisition
will receive a fee of 1 % from the recommended service. The
amount of 1 % is negligibly small compared to the extremely The beauty of the online
high commission fees of traditional portals and can be viewed rent-a-car market is that –
as an investment in customer acquisition and expansion. It unlike booking providers –
car hire companies are not
maintains the freemium model of FFQuest.com, where rent-a-
usually bound by exclusivity
car providers receive 99% from new clients’ proceeds and in or otherwise restrictive
the same time receive a 1% fee from their own clients using clauses when working with
colleagues’ fleet in uncovered destinations. Thus, the balance traditional portals. This
means they enjoy high
of this referral model will be secured and the added value
mobility and are able to
model maintained. In addition, the referral functionality will easily migrate should a
encourage the promotion of FFQuest.com and facilitate revolutionary platform as
banner placement and other advertisement activities. FFQuest.com arises.
PHASEP2HASE 2
P2P ride - sharing service that connects drivers and people with ride or transfer need.
The spectrum of this functionality can be very diverse, encompassing constituents such as taxi
drivers, Uber-like and limo service professionals as well as private individuals. The type of
business relations established in this manner will be again P2P, as the idea is for all drivers to
function in their capacity as private individuals.
What is the rationale behind this approach?
In theory, at the core of the shared economy platforms lies the goal to create greater value for
the ecosystem by optimizing underused resources. However, practice shows that some of the
major ridesharing platforms such as Uber, Lyft and others, function in a much more burdensome
manner, with decreased return and increased control.
19This is demonstrated by examining annual turnover rates at any of the leading ridesharing
platforms, which amount to 40-50 %. The major problem lurking behind these figures is that
current players often advertise hourly provider rates of $25-$35/hour (in US)., platform
commission included. In reality after car and maintenance expenses, in medium term
professional drivers seldom get average real rates above $10-$20. A result that kills wheelmen
return and motivation and they leave as soon their additional bonus targets are completed.
Opposite to the above, our business model goal is to offer an efficient and sustainable ridesharing
channel without surplus charge. FFQuest freemium marketplace will offer travelers and
ridesharing providers, as well as society as a whole, a variety of benefits such as optimized travel
costs and duration, reduced traffic and a positive effect for the environment.
Interest in ridesharing is constantly increasing due to a variety of reasons:
Vehicle ownership expenses are on the rise;
Access to downtown areas in big cities is limited due to traffic optimization and legislative
even/odd car plate restrictions;
Districts and municipalities are improving environmental and traffic conditions by
stimulating non-profit ridesharing. Initiatives include high occupancy vehicle lanes and
tolls, ride-home municipal vouchers, reserved public parking lots, etc.;
Ridesharing presents a simple, yet powerful idea: reducing travel costs significantly (supporters
say expenses can even be cut by as much as 80 %) while maintaining quality riding experience.
A lot of shared ride seekers and providers currently use a variety of ways to connect online,
including social media and dedicated forums. However, blockchain technology is able to address
demand in a way that will optimize the market and enhance its productivity. The FFQuest
blockchain app will offer to individuals who provide ridesharing services an additional channel
to connect with ride seekers. Besides, FFQuest.com will deliver ridesharing services commission-
free which will boost word of mouth free marketing.
There are numerous examples of how the FFQuest.com application can be utilized. Let see a
simple scenario:
An airport transfer to a city downtown costs EUR 30 by taxi. Two independent rideshare
seekers can pay to a driver a fee of EUR 20 each for their routes. A rideshare provider can be
a taxi driver or a private individual leaving by car the airport. In this manner, each ride seeker
has saved EUR 10, while the driver has earned EUR 10 (or EUR 40) on top.
Essentially, in this phase FFQuest will utilize technology to marry the best of public and private
transportation – fair and reasonable prices combined with the personalized approach.
Additional services will be offered, among which will be the option to pre-order.
20Phase 2 will also encompass the following activities:
Creation of a private blockchain network in partnership with a leading IT company such
as IBM to keep all relevant vehicle information with permissioned access. Depending on
owners’ requirements, this secured information could include ownership history, annual
mileage, car accidents, repairs and spare parts origin, annual technical examinations,
etc. The blockchain network will involve at least 3 types of mutually independent
participants: owners of data base, information providers and users. The latter such as car
buyers, insurers, car producers, business partners could be charged in order to get access
to the uncorrupted information in case of related disputes or needs.
Establishment of an arbitration system to resolve potential disputes. The presence of an
impartial third party that will transparently control misbehavior based on evidence and
on community involvement will be beneficial to maintain an environment of trust and
ethical behavior.
Introduction of ratings for customers and providers. On one hand users with higher
reputation levels will be able to get additional benefits such as lower prices and deposits,
better insurance conditions, free car extras, removal of specific credit card requirements
etc. On the other, providers with higher ratings will be placed on the marketplace with
better portal visibility, additional free of charge services and bonuses.
Development of a group reservation functionality that will assist customers with more
specific requirements such as corporate clients.
Integration with similar blockchain projects from the tourist, financial or other related
sectors in order to create synergies from joint efforts and users with similar mindset.
PHASEP3HASE 3
P2P car and parking space sharing
3.1 P2P car sharing between individuals
P2P car-share and hire is a comparatively new market practice that allows owners to reduce
ownership costs while receiving additional income. At the same time, riders save on the costs of
driving/possessing their own automobile.
Car-sharing businesses currently operate in more than 1,500 cities globally and enjoy millions of
clients. The benefits of this new sharing economy trend are many: reduced traffic and alleviated
urban travel and commutes, greater parking space availability, less greenhouse gas emissions and
last but not least reduced cost for riders and additional earnings for owners.
21Some market players have even gone further to fine-tune the service, refining its value
proposition even more. For example, a major player Getaround has developed an additional
device along with a mobile application to allow end-users to start vehicles and later return them
without additional human presence.
An interesting look at the business potential of car sharing in Europe is represented by the
research conducted by the German Kraftfahrtbundesamt, and presented by McKinsey &
Company in their report “Mobility of the Future. Opportunities for Automotive OEMs.” The
findings showed that while only 2.5% of German urban dwellers (cities > 100,000 inhabitants)
currently use car sharing, 24% consider resorting to the service today and 31% actually claim they
intend to advance this habit in the following years. The gap to the 2.5% of actual current users
reveals the booming potential of the market..10
In addition, taxi and car sharing services can be very useful in places where Uber-like providers
are banned from operating. Some of these markets include Germany, France, Denmark, Italy,
Greece, Hungary, etc. as well as to some extent, countries like Australia, Japan and Taiwan.
3.2 Parking space sharing option
Needless to say, at the beginning this type of service will concern mostly parking spaces at
strategic locations, including airports, railway stations, megacity centers, etc. Such an approach
will be particularly convenient for platform users to receive additional benefits while they are not
using their properties. This is also an attractive opportunity, especially during peak seasons, for
out of town individuals and for rent-a-car companies to sublet empty parking lots. Because of
missing fleet at this period, respective parking spaces are empty and can be easily rented from
the coming tourists.
Parking Industry Specifics
According to the Frost and Sullivan Report11, the global parking market amounts to $100 billion a
year. The industry enjoys considerable dynamics, considering that 100 of the biggest and busiest
cities across Europe and the U.S. are estimated to generate approximately 20 million usable
parking spaces with potential revenue of $60 billion.
Airport lots, business compounds and corporate carparks, as well as sports and culture facilities,
municipalities, hospitals, transit parking and educational institutions are among the most
profitable parking areas.
Despite regionally-applied measures attempting to optimize vehicle use in megacities, the
parking market still expands. This trend is a result of a combination of factors, among which are
the improved infrastructure and growing personal mobility habits in terms of work, recreation
and travel.
For example, back in 2015, a private owner in Boston could buy a parking space for $ 390,000,
while present-day cost of one hour on commercial parking in Manhattan can reach $ 60. The
average U.S. driver (U.S. megacity drivers amount to 50 million from the estimated 700 million
_________________________________________________________________________________
10. Source: “Mobility of the Future. Opportunities for Automotive OEMs.” – report by McKinsey & Company
11. Source: www.frost.com/sublib/display-report.do?id=MB4D-01-00-00-00
22megacity drivers worldwide) spends annually $ 1,000 on average for parking. More than 50% of
the estimated 100-billion turnover is accounted for the U.S. market. 12
Global car ownership amounts to 1 billion. By allowing new and greater opportunities for parking
space sharing and subletting, FFQuest will provide to platform’s users an opportunity to enjoy
multiple benefits such as ease of parking and additional income. In the larger sense, this will also
improve individual and urban mobility.
Other Phase 3 goals include:
Integration of the FFQ token with loyalty and priority cards ecosystems. Besides new
distribution channels, this gives users the opportunity to more efficiently convert their
collected points while decreasing the cost for the provider.
Creation of own brand token credit/debit card (FFQ Card) that will be based on the
FFQ token or integration with similar existing provider. This will give users the
possibility to pay in real-time using the FFQ token for all additional car hire services
such as rental deposit, fuel, road tax (for renters) or to cover maintenance or other
expenses (for vehicle owners).
The more a FFQ token is being used, the better utilization value it will have.
_________________________________________________________________________________
12. Source: www.batesrealestatereport.com/beacon-hill-garage-parking-space-asks-record-price/11/02/2015/
23VII. SOLUTION
To begin with, the high-end view system architecture of FFQuest encompasses 3 components:
Web-portal together with an App (iOS and Android), a Decentralized and a Centralized part. All
together they are forming the Decentralized Application (dApp).
The Decentralized Engine consists of a Distributed Ledger (FFQ Ledger) or the B2B layer that will
maintain on blockchain the important parameters such as assets availability, prices, booking
terms and conditions, cancellation policy, deposits, etc. We call it a “Distributed Engine” because
it possesses the characteristics of a distributed system.
The Centralized part is a physically separated database, also having the nature of B2B layer that
keeps additional large volume information related to both service providers and clients such as
profiles data, images, descriptions, social platforms interactions, etc. Keeping the heavy data off-
chain at the beginning till the moment when blockchain technology matures enough for full stack
automation and decentralization will optimize the initial costs of the smart contracts creation and
execution on the blockchain network.
The Interface or Marketplace, also called “Retail domain” represents the B2C and C2C layer where
all participants will interact and initiate the business transactions further executed on the FFQ
Distributed Ledger.
24More precisely, this solution can be presented as a 2- layer architecture:
1) Centralized Front-end - User Interface Layer
The Difference Between This is the Marketplace Portal that includes responsive web and mobile
Decentralized and Distributed interface.
Explained
2) Decentralized Back-end layer
A decentralized system is a
system in which there is no
2.1) Distributed FFQ Ledger on Blockchain
single point where the decision
is made. Each of the system’s FFQuest dApp will keep all sensitive information for listings and
nodes makes a decision for its availability, payment settlement and rules, cancellation policy,
own behavior and the resulting transactions in smart contracts on Ethereum VM nodes. The
system behavior is the
Distributed Ledger information will be stored on thousands of
aggregate response.
For a system to be computers within the P2P network and it cannot be changed and
“distributed” it means fabricated by a third party. In its nature the contracts execution is
processing is shared across Decentralized.
multiple nodes, but decisions
may still be centralized and use
complete system knowledge.
This layer is open-source and will remain for universal free use by
everyone. More applications will be encouraged to use it in the
future, which can widen the practical applications for the FFQ token.
2.2) Centralized Backend Layer
This is the central backend keeping a mirror database of the Distributed FFQ Ledger on a
server database. Storing all data on the blockchain is an unnecessary expense from both a
technical and business perspective.
FFQuest will fundamentally upgrade the current market solutions created by the existing market
players with a simple approach. We will put in the core of our business model the freemium
model used successfully from companies such as Skype, Google, Linkedin, Spotify, Drop box etc.
We will combine it also with the huge power of blockchain ledger and smart contract automation.
Marketplace launch will represent a web-based Portal with an intuitive and easy to navigate UI.
It will serve as front-end for the users, communicating with the common centralized and
decentralized back-end of FFQuest. The architecture design will be made in a manner allowing a
new interfaces addition of emerging platforms (AR/VR/Information points). For the centralized
back-end we will use PHP, MYSQL, Dockers and Micro services.
FFQuests final objective is to create a hybrid platform combining traditional and emerging
blockchain technology for optimal synergy and with user-centric ideology and design.
25VIII. CUSTOMER ACQUISITION
FFQuest will rely on its team’s substantial experience in the fields of mobility, IT and business
development in establishing а new model in the industry of car rental and ride- and parking space
sharing services. Attracting and retaining loyal customers in the context of a nascent market
model requires very efficient marketing materials and refined strategy.
The main pillars of FFQuest’s success will be a strong community and mutually beneficial strategic
partnerships. Both require an individual approach led from the main goal for all participants to
join hands in their own interest. It is obvious fact that for a startup it is a very ambitious task to
compete with the multimillion budgets of the big international players but we believe that the
token economy model, the platform with 0% commission and the word-of-mouth marketing will
overcome the challenge.
Airdrop Campaigns
Airdrop campaigns will serve as a useful tool to establish and sustain the FFQuest community.
This approach will allow FFQuest users to interact with the platform and FFQ token, to give their
feedback for improvement and to efficiently promote the project. Campaign participants will
have to follow certain predefined conditions that will be announced through the communication
channels.
Referral and Affiliate Programs
FFQuest users and supporters will be able also to participate in referral and affiliate programs
aimed to motivate community in attracting new users and expanding the FFQ project.
Strategic Partnerships
IBM is the global leader in enterprise-
A token/blockchain-based platform is a very dynamic ecosystem aimed open-source blockchain
that can flourish only through an active and enduring cooperation solutions and is dedicated to
with like-minded individuals and business entities. Therefore, supporting the development of
FFQuest will make efforts to build a diverse strategic partnership openly-governed blockchains. It is
framework to help establish a win-win cooperation with rent a car also a member of Hyperledger
Foundation, an open source
companies, crypto oriented projects as well as with blockchain
collaborative effort created to
oriented tech leaders such as IBM. advance cross-industry blockchain
technologies.
For example, with the advancement of technology and the IBM Blockchain assists by
penetration of autonomous cars, it becomes increasingly consolidating details, providing
important to have a safe and easy-to-use transaction immutable records of trustworthy
environment. This is now possible by using blockchain technology, environments and offering insight
which eliminates the need of a third party in order to synchronize into both preventive and predictive
and secure the information for platform participants. maintenance.
Furthermore, such kinds of platform will be able to offer additional mobility-related services
without human interaction such as opening and starting a car (mobile app keyless system), rising
a parking lot barrier (automatic number plate recognition), best match for ride sharing (AI
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