Presenters
M. Derya Tarhan – Researcher at Bunz
John S. Lee – Lead, Blockchain at Bunz

Background
Initially founded in 2013 as a Facebook group for trading simple items, Bunz quickly evolved into a Toronto-wide bartering and knowledge-sharing network and eventually launched its own application in 2017. Today, the Bunz app is active in every major Canadian city with over 200,000 user downloads and Bunz itself stands out as one of Canada’s up-and-coming start-ups with plans for expansion on a global scale.
In April 2018, Bunz launched its very own digital currency, called BTZ, to facilitate trading on the Bunz app. BTZ are redeemable at local stores, breweries, cafes, and more, in Toronto, and is looking to expand to other cities. This is a pioneering move in the collective consumption field, effectively creating a hybrid interaction model by introducing a digital currency into an online bartering community. We refer to this innovative application of blockchain technology as the “Bunz Model”.

Aim
Literature to-date on lifestyle-based collective consumption schemes mostly focused on what values and motivations mobilize people to join these schemes and best practices that keep users engaged, but looked over the individual and collective transformations that are enacted through social processes enabled by these schemes. In an attempt to address this gap and better understand and eventually improve its impact, Bunz is currently undertaking a social impact study that looks at ways in which: (a) the platform allows users of various socio-economic backgrounds get access to key goods and knowledge; (b) lead to personal skills development and social life enhancement; (c) contribute to social and environmental change; and (d) how users evaluate their overall experience at Bunz.
With the introduction of BTZ, the scope of this novel research study broadened to understand the following three unstudied aspects of the intersection of cryptocurrencies and collective consumption schemes:
1. What kind of socio-technical roadblocks and/or advantages does the introduction of BTZ present for Bunz?
2. In what ways does the introduction of BTZ transform user experience?
3. If and/or how does the introduction of BTZ impact Bunz’s ability to enable personal and collective life enhancement? These transformations can take place through:
• users’ personal development; access to goods and knowledge important to their well-being; their ability to pursue social and environmental change; online and in-place community-building.
These three questions will be addressed as part of this presentation.

Methods
This research will seek answers to its research questions by conducting both surveys and in-person interviews for an ideal combination of quantifiable data and unique personal stories. Initial surveys and interviews are currently being conducted (to be completed mid-June 2018) with users who are yet to adopt BTZ in their transactions. The follow-up surveys and interviews will be conducted over June and July 2018 with Bunz users who used BTZ in their barter transactions. Thereby, comparisons between pre- and post-BTZ Bunz user experience will also be made possible.

Results and Conclusion
As noted earlier in this abstract, the study is still under progress and scheduled to be completed in late July 2018. The findings will be analyzed and compiled in a research paper by early September and shared for the first time at the Blockchain Technology Symposium 2018.
The findings of this research looking into the unique and innovative “Bunz Model” will be of novel value to blockchain academic and business communities alike. As Bunz, we believe that understanding and sharing ways in which users interact with, innovate around, benefit from, and face challenges using BTZ will help us improve our application of blockchain technologies in enhancing user experience and maximizing our economic, social and environmental impact.