RadioShack is a technological icon of the 1990s. When personal computers, mobile phones and printers hit the marketplace, big box stores were at the forefront of technological innovation. They also hosted a race for the top in innovation.
However, in recent years, big box presence has dwindled, and RadioShack has been largely seen as a legacy brand that failed to shift to consumer demand – investing in brick and mortar without optimizing their online shopping experience.
Could the century-old consumer goods brand keep it’s heart pumping through… DeFi?
RadioShack Now a DeFi Product
RadioShack’s website is now front and center an announcement for a new DeFi protocol, which will host the RADIO token. A waitlist is available for early notifications, Discord and Telegram communities are established, and yes – there’s a RadioShack DeFi whitepaper on Github. The platform will look to infuse the RADIO token as a ‘hub’ of essentially a hub-and-spoke model that takes a unique approach relative to traditional DEX’s:
You can also shop online for technology hardware.
It’s the latest unique and unexpected twist in crypto, as DeFi continues to have a strong performance to close out the year. Recent crypto market caps have seen a rise in the number of top 10 protocols with a heavy focus on DeFi products like Terra (LUNA), Avalanche, and Terra (AVAX).
RadioShack has revealed that Polygon will become a chain called MATIC (Polygon) and will seek to be integrated in its Starfish Topology.Source: MATIC USD at TradingView.com | Source: MATIC-USD on TradingView.com
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Looking ahead
In recent months, brands have been engaging in cryptocurrency (mostly NFTs) in a tremendous way. However, this move admittedly wasn’t on our shortlist when 2021 was getting started. It’s a bizarre brand entry from a company image that was basically on life support.
RadioShack’s website is now updated. It states that Alex Mehr, Alex Lopez, and Tai Lopez are the founders of the venture. Both Alex Mehr and Tai Lopez will be the ones to launch the new platform, which includes a swapping function. According to the whitepaper the platform will leverage retail ecommerce ventures. (It still lists platform partners from the traditional retail space like Pier 1, Linens N Things or Stein Mart.) It will also bring in DeFi protocol Atlas USV to provide protocol liquidity.
Can’t say I expected to see a DeFi protocol that had Pier 1 as a listed partner anytime soon, but again – nothing should really surprise us in this space anymore. Who knows, maybe Blockbuster NFTs and Bed Bath ‘N Beyond blockchain loyalty reward programs are on the horizon.
Everything is possible at this stage in crypto.
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Featured Image from Fortune.com. Charts from TradingView.com Disclaimer: The author of this content has not been associated with or paid any money to the companies mentioned. This article is not meant to provide financial advice.