Singapore's MegaX launched a cryptocurrency-powered online shopping platform after raising $2.5 million in a token sale concluded in November. The venture combines iFashion Group and MC Payment, two c
Singapore's MegaX launched a cryptocurrency-powered online shopping platform after raising $2.5 million in a token sale concluded in November. The venture combines iFashion Group and MC Payment, two companies attempting to capture millennial shoppers through digital payments and modern retail infrastructure.
Megaxstore.com positions itself as a global online mall designed for younger consumers. The platform stocks over 1,500 brands with 80,000 products. Customers can purchase the Google Pixel 2, Oculus Rift Touch, iPhone X, and novelty items like hydro jets that allow you to hover above water. The site features a concierge service offering unusual vacation packages including stays in Irish castles, silver mines, airplane fuselages, and ice hotels.
iFashion has operated in retail since 2009 and has served over 1 million customers through its ventures. MC Payment, founded in Singapore in 2005, operates as a fintech company with regional reach across Southeast Asia. MC Payment handles commerce transactions connecting suppliers, merchants, and consumers. The company processes credit cards, debit cards, and the alternative payment methods each market prefers, serving regional merchants and financial institutions. Its technology spans traditional retail and online payments as well as blockchain technology applications.
iFashion operates as a venture conglomerate acquiring fashion and lifestyle e-commerce companies throughout Southeast Asia. The group builds synergy through acquisitions, including the purchases of local brands Dressabelle and Megafash ahead of a planned public offering.
The ecosystem behind MegaX has served over 10 million customers total. The companies plan to expand cryptocurrency acceptance, beginning with Bitcoin Cash, while establishing MGX coins as the primary payment method for both online and offline transactions. They intend to use an omnichannel retail approach to drive real-world cryptocurrency adoption.
Jeremy Khoo, Group CEO of iFashion Group, explained the strategy: "By only accepting MGX and BCH instead of fiat for payments, we are determined to bring about the real-world adoption of cryptocurrencies." He highlighted a market gap. Despite $728 billion in total cryptocurrency market value, most retailers refuse to accept digital coins. Khoo insisted that retailers wanting to appeal to younger customers must "be fearlessly agile and open to adopting new payment forms." Cryptocurrencies saw unprecedented growth in 2017, he added, and he expected that trajectory to continue.
Megaxstore will begin accepting Bitcoin Cash and position MGX as the currency for millennials to earn, spend, and transact within a cashless economy. MegaX also intends to help emerging retailers connect with millennials through cryptocurrency acceptance and innovation in retail strategies.
Demographics support the timing. A 2016 Accenture report projected Asian millennials would control $6 trillion in disposable income by 2020. A CBRE survey found 30 percent of that spending going toward leisure activities: shopping and dining out.
MegaX plans to build adoption through experiential retail and offline events. Artbox Singapore, a pop-up market concept exported from Thailand, drew over 600,000 visitors during its April 2017 debut and generated $30 million in transactions across two weekends. Token holders will gain access to future Artbox installations.
Megaxstore operates seven stores across Asia alongside its e-commerce presence. The multi-label mall offers tech products, hotel stays, homeware, food items, stationery, novelty goods, travel essentials, and apparel.
The company aims to establish MGX as the standard payment method for emerging retailers seeking to engage younger shoppers independent of traditional banking systems.
