It's well-known that companies around the world are rapidly increasing their use of freelancers for different tasks and labors. Not only is it cheaper and thus a more efficient use of resources, it's easier to find a qualified candidate due to the number of freelancers currently looking for work. Although there are a few centralized intermediaries currently at large and providing this service--Upwork, Fiverr, and the like--they have not yet implemented any form of blockchain technology. Stipend plans to emerge as the leader in this rapidly expanding sector, and is currently in the midst of developing an extensive, quality platform for freelancers that will securely and transparently operate on the blockchain.

Their platform, currently in active development in alpha, is perhaps the first clean, stylistic, blockchain-based solution for freelancers and has a good chance to be able to compete head-to-head with the centralized giants once finished. Not only will Stipend's native currency (SPD) be able to be used for payments, but a vast swath of cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, and more, will be listed on the platform following its launch. Only SPD, however, will come with a lack of fees.

The freelance industry is massive and is only growing larger. Not only is it extensive in the number of individuals currently looking for work, the high rate of turnover means that companies are always looking for new hires. Upwork published a study in 2017 that states that the freelance market is worth more than $1.4 trillion in just the United States alone. Stipend plans to bring its various technological advancements to this space by providing the convenience of quick transactions, minimal fees, and much needed decentralization and transparency to the freelance market--not just in the United States, but across the globe as well.

The fundamental flaws inherent in most platforms currently operating in the market are their excessive fees--some amounting to more than 20% even before any payment processing charges are included. If a freelancer wants to get paid via credit/debit card, the charges are even higher due to anti-fraud inspections and overhead processing expenses levied by credit card companies. Likewise, PayPal fees also take a generous cut out of any paycheck and bank transfers. If such fees weren't bad enough, most methods also incur significant delay--taking up to a week to clear, with faster options costing even more. Beyond payments and fees, there are countless other areas ripe for improvement, including ensuring work is timely and of sufficient quality, payment is made to the right individual, any disputes are properly settled, and more.

Generally speaking, the entire process is inefficient, costly, and tedious, restricting the untapped supply and demand in this already rapidly developing sector of business. Stipend aims to solve all these problems.

The Stipend platform is the medium through which anyone can post and look for a job. Anyone is eligible; the market is divided into categories just like Steemit. If you have any skills that you're looking to be paid for, simply pick the right category and look for an interested client. This approach helps to make the search seamless and take the shortest time possible.

The Stipend currency (SPD), as mentioned above, will not be the only currency supported on the platform. The team plans to list many other different cryptocurrencies, so the client and freelancer can jointly decide which to use for payment. However, SPD will be the only choice that incurs 0% fees on the platform.

Take a look at these exclusive screenshots, gifs, and animations:

Each freelancer has the opportunity to be rated after every task completed. Those who are rated the highest will receive rewards on a month-to-month basis. For a more in-depth review, you can browse the platform currently hosted here.

Stipend is a masternode-based coin. This is only a plus to all the other features, and ensures that you receive recurring profits. As of now, there are a total of 742 Masternodes online, with 3,710,000 SPD locked inside, leaving 3,698,849 SPD for circulation in trade, exchange, speculation, and other purposes. Stipend masternodes currently return about 95% ROI yearly.

In order to create a Masternode of your own, you need 5000 SPD as collateral. You can buy the SPD on the CryptoBridge Exchange. Here's a table that gives insight into how the reward structure of the coin works:

The Stipend team will be speaking alongside other prominent crypto individuals at the Delta Blockchain Summit in Malta in October. Other speakers include the CEO of Binance as well as even the Prime Minister of Malta. You can check out the complete list of speakers here.

The event will be held from the 3rd to the 5th of October, and is the perfect place to present the full, working product to a large audience of eager investors. I hope that the Stipend team will make good use of this opportunity.

The Stipend team is very active on Discord, Twitter, Reddit, and many other forums including Medium. The team publishes comprehensive updates of their progress every two weeks on their Medium page, make sure to pay a visit there. If you would like to get ahold of the team, visit any of the following resources:

Webpage: https://stipend.me/