Omni, a physical storage and online rental service provider, has added XRP as a method to pay people who rent out their stuff.
Omni Adds XRP as a Payout Option
Omni is a unique startup that provides physical storage space to its customers. To improve their business model, the company recently added the opportunity for its customers to rent out their stuff to other users and earn cash for doing so. Now, in addition to payouts in USD, Omni has added an option for users to get paid in XRP.
According to TechCrunch, when users rent their belongings to other users on the platform, their account balance is reflected in USD but they have the option of cashing out in XRP with no fee.
Speaking on the matter, CEO Tom McLeod said:
I think any company scaling today has to have a crypto strategy. This is the start of ours.
The Ripple Connection
In January of this year, Omni completed a successful Series B funding round during which they raised $25 million. Although the exact breakdown of who invested how much is not known, the lead investor in the round was Ripple Labs. What made Ripple’s involvement in the funding deal unusual is that their investment came in the form of XRP. Stefan Thomas, Ripple’s CTO, and Chris Larsen, executive chairman and co-founder of Ripple, also invested.
The terms of the investment agreement allowed Omni to liquidate a “significant portion” of the XRP, but they had to retain a “war chest” of the cryptocurrency. By offering the digital asset as a method of pay-out, the firm is leveraging its XRP holdings to grow its business.
McLeod explained:
In every other crypto investment scenario, you have to risk your cash — this way you can put items you already own to work for you and have them earn XRP while you relax.
He further added:
With this integration, you can basically double dip on ownership-as-investment by both unlocking liquidity early and investing some or all of the proceeds back into the crypto markets.
Omni’s Unique Business Model
Omni started out as a storage service with operations in San Francisco and Portland. Customers can schedule pick up of their goods and Omni representatives come out, take pictures of the items to record their condition, and haul it away to the company’s warehouses. Users pay a recurring storage fee every month.
Rather than having their goods just sit idly in the warehouse, users now have the option to rent them out instead and earn either cash or XRP. For Omni it makes business sense paying out in XRP as the company will not only be able to save on transaction fee but also manage its cash flows better.
What do you think about Omni’s unique business model? Let us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of Omni, Shutterstock
