The acquisition hands MovitOn over 1.3 million existing P2P logistics users and 600K completed orders. The real test is whether Web2 travelers adopt smart-contract escrow and token payments without churning.
MovitOn, a DePIN project building a Web3 peer-to-peer delivery network, has acquired Glocalzone, an Estonia-based marketplace that matches travelers with people who need goods delivered across borders. The acquisition, completed between MovitOn’s operating entity VAERTECH Solution FZCO and Glocalzone OU, transfers the platform’s intellectual property, source code, user databases, and brand assets. For MovitOn, the immediate outcome is a functioning user base of 1.3 million registered travelers and senders and a history of over 600,000 completed orders – a marketplace that would have required years and substantial capital to replicate from scratch.
The deal gives MovitOn full ownership of Glocalzone’s technology and community. The platform will continue to operate under the name Glocalzone by MovitOn, a branding choice designed to retain user familiarity while the underlying technology transitions to Web3 rails. Glocalzone co-founders Doğan Turan and Burak Sonmez will stay on as advisors, providing continuity during the integration.
Erik Beken Tleubeck, Founder of MovitOn, described the acquisition as a shortcut to scale that would have been impossible organically.
The intellectual property transfer includes Glocalzone’s matching algorithms, user reputation data, and its marketplace infrastructure. MovitOn plans to overlay its own technology – smart-contract escrow, AI-based courier matching, and MovitBox IoT terminals – onto this existing foundation.
Most DePIN projects launch a token first and then spend years trying to attract supply and demand. Peer-to-peer logistics is a two-sided marketplace: without enough travelers listing routes, senders leave; without enough senders posting requests, travelers stop listing. Glocalzone’s active marketplace, with demand concentrated in Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States, means MovitOn starts with liquidity in the form of available couriers and active delivery requests. The company is paying to skip the cold-start problem entirely, a move that gives it a practical advantage over projects that must build each market from zero.
The risk, however, is that the existing user base is accustomed to a Web2 experience with fiat payments, manual dispute resolution, and simple account management. Adding wallet setup, token acquisition, and smart-contract interactions could introduce friction that drives users away. The value of the 1.3 million registered users depends entirely on retention through the transition.
Peer-to-peer delivery relies on a dense network of travelers offering routes and senders needing deliveries. Glocalzone’s numbers suggest a marketplace that has already reached critical mass in several corridors. A user base of this size gives MovitOn a testing ground for its Web3 delivery model without the need to spend on user acquisition campaigns.
The acquisition also provides MovitOn with a dataset of travel patterns and delivery success rates. This data can feed into the AI courier-matching system MovitOn is building. Instead of training a matching algorithm on simulated data, MovitOn can use real-world trip histories and delivery outcomes to optimize assignments.
The practical challenge is converting the 600,000 completed orders into repeat activity on the new platform. Glocalzone processes orders through centralized databases and conventional payment rails. MovitOn plans to introduce EVM-compatible smart contracts for escrow and settlement, with funds released only after confirmed delivery. Senders and travelers who are comfortable with credit card payments may not see an immediate reason to switch to token-based settlement – unless MovitOn offers lower fees, faster settlement, or loyalty rewards that are materially superior.
MovitOn’s product roadmap layers three components onto Glocalzone’s existing marketplace.
Smart-contract escrow: Buyer funds are held in an EVM-compatible smart contract and released only when delivery is confirmed. This removes the need for a centralized escrow provider and gives both parties a transparent, rule-based settlement process. The design works only if delivery confirmation is reliable. A traveler could claim delivery; a sender could dispute it. Without objective proof, the escrow falls back to manual review.
AI courier matching: MovitOn plans to use AI to match travelers with delivery assignments that align with their existing itineraries. A traveler flying from Istanbul to São Paulo would be shown requests that fit that route, factoring in schedule, reputation, and delivery deadlines. The goal is to make accepting a delivery as frictionless as possible, turning excess baggage capacity into compensated tasks.
MovitBox IoT terminals: Physical drop-off and pick-up points equipped with IoT sensors are designed to verify package handover. These terminals act as the proof layer for the smart-contract escrow. Without a network of MovitBox terminals in key cities, the system cannot function at scale. MovitOn has not disclosed how many terminals are deployed or which cities will be served first.
Smart contracts can automate payment release; they cannot automate customs declarations, import duties, or prohibited items checks. Peer-to-peer cross-border delivery still requires senders and travelers to handle paperwork and comply with local regulations. MovitOn’s smart-contract escrow may reduce payment disputes, however the most time-consuming part of cross-border logistics – customs – remains a manual, trust-dependent layer. The company has not detailed how it plans to streamline that part of the flow.
Tleubeck’s reference to DHL and FedEx is a useful framing device, not a near-term competitive threat. Integrated carriers operate global sorting hubs, aircraft fleets, and customs brokerage networks. A peer-to-peer model using travelers as couriers does not replace that infrastructure. It serves a different use case: items that do not fit standard parcel flows, urgent document delivery, hard-to-reach destinations, and corridors where traditional logistics are slow or expensive.
Glocalzone’s existing demand in Turkey, Brazil, and Mexico points to markets where formal logistics may be unreliable or where the cost of express shipping is prohibitive. A traveler already flying the same route can carry a parcel at near-zero marginal cost, making the service competitive for low-volume, high-urgency shipments.
A traveler is not a professional courier. Flights get delayed, plans change, and a sender has limited recourse if the courier does not deliver. MovitOn’s reputation system – built on on-chain delivery history – aims to create a financial incentive for reliability. A traveler with a strong record of completed deliveries will have more to lose, in the form of reputation staked in the system. The weakness, in the early stages, is that token value may be too low to create a meaningful deterrent. If the economic cost of abandoning a delivery is near zero, the reputation system fails.
The single largest risk is user churn during the integration. Glocalzone users signed up for a simple marketplace. If MovitOn requires wallet setup, token purchases, and interaction with smart contracts, a portion of the user base will leave. MovitOn says it will introduce loyalty programs and transition tools for MVON token adoption gradually, starting with the AI courier-matching system before pushing token payments. The sequencing – improve the matching experience first, then layer in token economics – is the correct approach, however the execution will be measured by how many travelers and senders complete the onboarding.
The decision to keep the Glocalzone brand shows awareness of the retention risk. Users searching for the service will find the same name, not an unfamiliar crypto project. MovitOn’s challenge is to make the Web3 features feel like an upgrade, not an additional burden.
Doğan Turan, co-founder of Glocalzone, described the integration as a way to eliminate pain points:
“We’ve spent years building trust among travelers and senders alike, and now, we integrate our 1.3 million users into a DePIN framework powered by smart contracts to eliminate all the pain points of today’s logistics systems.”
“Eliminate all the pain points” is a tall order. Peer-to-peer delivery involves customs, liability for lost or damaged goods, and the inherent unpredictability of relying on individuals. Smart contracts can automate parts of the payment flow; they cannot replace the human judgment needed for disputes over damaged items or late delivery. MovitOn will need to build a dispute resolution layer that complements the automated system.
The acquisition is a starting point, not a confirmation of the model. The real test is whether MovitOn retains Glocalzone’s user activity while migrating it onto Web3 rails. Concrete signals to watch:
None of these metrics are public yet. MovitOn has stated that integration begins immediately. Meaningful data will likely appear only in the second half of 2025, when the token layer is active and the first cohort of Glocalzone users has been onboarded.
For the broader DePIN sector, MovitOn’s approach – buying a Web2 marketplace instead of building from zero – could become a template. If the integration works, expect more DePIN startups to acquire existing user bases rather than spending years on user acquisition. If it fails, the lesson will be that Web2 users do not convert to Web3 simply because the technology is available.
For broader crypto market context, see crypto market analysis. Similar cross-border tokenization models are emerging in payments; the Regulated Yen Stablecoin EJPY to Power Cross-Border Payments shows another attempt to streamline cross-border value transfer.
Drafted by the AlphaScala research model and grounded in primary market data – live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.