  In the current digital age of the Internet, with ever-growing networks and
data-driven business models, digital platforms and especially marketplaces are
becoming increasingly important. These platforms focus primarily on digital
businesses by offering services that bring together consumers and producers.
Due to added value created for consumers, the profit-driven operators of these
platforms Matchmakers are extremely successful and have come to dominate their
respective markets. The aim of this article is to understand how Matchmakers
and coordination networks gain market dominance. The following sections will
take a closer look at network and coordination effects as well as intermediary
platform mechanisms and entailing disadvantages for users. Considering
strategic and business challenges, we suggest a possible solution and strategy
to avoid dependencies on individual players in the digital economy. We present
a cooperative approach towards a fair and open Economy of Things (EoT) based on
decentralized technologies.
