Radioshack, a brand typically associated with electronics, has announced plans to embrace a cryptocurrency-centered model. The brand informed of intentions to bridge the gap and help take cryptocurrency mainstream, Bitcoin.com wrote. This is the latest development in the brand’s story. Radioshack has been known in the US for its retail electronic products back in the ’70s and ’80s.
Radioshack goes DeFi
Radioshack, a century-old brand associated with personal computers and consumer electronic devices in the ’70s and ’80s, is taking its operations to a cryptocurrency model, the company reported. By embracing cryptocurrency, it hopes to bring the currency of the future to the masses and become more popular with consumers in the process.
Launching a DEX is the first step
The first step in the process will be to launch a decentralized exchange, on which members of the community can swap one currency for another without having to sign up with a commercial exchange. Atlas USV, a partner protocol, will provide the backend for this initiative, Radioshack explained.
According to the company, the partnership with Atlas USV will make it possible for this new exchange to provide traders with lower slippage. This is because the exchange will be working with its own liquidity model. After it is launched, the exchange will create its own native token, called RADIO.
Ups and downs for Radioshack
Radioshack’s path to crypto comes after not one, but two bankruptcy filings. The company was last in the green back in 2011. Since then, it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2015 and in 2017. Last year, Radioshack was reborn following an acquisition to form part of a brand portfolio in the hands of Tai Lopez and Alex Mehr. The two investors bought the brand and decided to lend it a cryptocurrency-based focus.
When the company was acquired, the investors declared they didn’t want to revive the old electronics retail business. They want to transform Radioshack into an online marketplace. Merh declared:
We bought the raw material to build a big business. Brand means trust. And the brand is very, very strong. I have quantifiable data that the brand is very strong.
Following in the footsteps of Kodak?
Radioshack is not the only traditional retailer to embrace crypto. Back in 2018, Kodak also made its crypto bet, announcing Kodakcoin, its own token. It was to be used to register photos on a platform and license them for other uses. Ultimately, Kodakcoin never saw the light of day.
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