What happened: Kuaidi Dache founder Chen Weixing has launched a new blockchain-powered ride-hailing platform, VV Go, which claims to improve passenger safety and increase the income of drivers. The app enables information about drivers and rides to be shared among all users on the platform in real-time. For example, the passenger can inform all drivers and even the police across the shared network to shorten the response time in case of an emergency.
Why it’s important: Didi Chuxing, which acquired Kuaidi Dache in a merger in 2015, has been under fire for failing to address passenger safety issues after the killing of two young women. VV Share, the non-profit organization behind VV Go, is not first to use blockchain technology to improve passenger safety–Singapore-based MVL Foundation also launched a similar app last month, which managed to garner more than 9,500 drivers in three weeks. Chen hopes VV Go can eventually compete with industry giant Didi and Uber.