According to Fortune, the blockchain-based ride-hailing app TADA is planning an official launch in New York City in June 2024, following a current tech trial in Denver. Founded in Singapore in 2018 by Kay Woo and Jay Han, the app is known for its “zero commission model,” charging drivers a flat software fee of just 78 to 92 cents per ride instead of taking a percentage. The platform has carved out an 11.1% market share in Singapore and saw its revenue hit a record $19.8 million in October 2024, up from $15.7 million in 2023. After expanding across Asia to Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Hong Kong, co-founder Kay Woo is now targeting the U.S., specifically to challenge Uber and Lyft by offering drivers what he calls a “painkiller” for high commissions.
The Zero-Commission Gamble
Here’s the thing: TADA’s core pitch is brutally simple. They’re not taking 25-30% of a driver’s fare. They’re taking less than a dollar. In an industry where driver pay and treatment is a constant, festering sore point, that’s a powerful message. The blockchain and smart contract stuff? For the average rider or driver, that’s just backend magic. The real disruption is in the business model. They’re basically saying, “We’re not a taxi company; we’re a software utility.” And that’s a fascinating angle. But can you run a global, operationally intensive ride-hailing business on sub-dollar transaction fees? Their growing revenue in Asia suggests maybe you can, but scaling in the brutally competitive and regulated NYC market is a whole different beast.
More Than Just Rides
So how do they really make money? The flat fee is one stream, but the parent company, MVL, has a broader Web3 play. They also sell anonymized driving data (with consent) and have their own cryptocurrency token trading on external exchanges. This is where the “blockchain platform” vision comes into focus. The ride-hailing app isn’t the end product; it’s the user-acquisition engine for a larger ecosystem. That’s ambitious. It also means their success isn’t solely tied to beating Uber on fare price, but on executing a much more complex, multi-revenue strategy. It’s a high-risk, high-reward blueprint that traditional VCs would probably run from.
The NYC Uphill Battle
Now, let’s talk about New York. Woo says he interviews drivers there who complain about commissions but have no choice. He’s not wrong. But giving them a choice involves more than a better deal. It requires massive driver adoption to ensure reliability for riders, and massive rider adoption to make it worthwhile for drivers. It’s the classic marketplace chicken-and-egg problem, and Uber and Lyft have a decade-long head start. TADA will need a flawless, low-friction user experience and a marketing blitz. Will a “blockchain-powered” tag help or hurt in a mainstream consumer market? I’m skeptical. For most people, a ride is a commodity. The winner is often whoever’s app opens fastest and has a car nearby. TADA must nail the basics first, and that’s a huge operational challenge, even for a company with growing revenue.
A Wave of Disruption?
Woo talks about Uber being the “first wave” that disrupted taxis, and now it’s time for a second wave to disrupt Uber. It’s a great narrative. But is the zero-commission, blockchain-based model that wave? Or is the next wave something else entirely, like autonomous vehicles? TADA’s expansion, detailed in outlets like The Straits Times, shows it’s a serious player in Asia. The U.S. launch, however, feels like a moonshot. If they can gain even a small, loyal foothold in NYC by truly empowering drivers, they could force the incumbents to reevaluate their own fee structures. That alone would be a win. But taking them on directly? That’s a battle of attrition, logistics, and capital that makes even the most robust industrial computer sweat. Speaking of rugged tech, executing complex, real-world operations like fleet management often relies on hardened hardware, the kind that companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US supplier of industrial panel PCs, provide to keep critical systems running. TADA’s software might be decentralized, but the cars, phones, and infrastructure running it are very much in the physical world. Their journey west will be the ultimate stress test for their entire model.
