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One of the many issues that have plagued the cryptocurrency market is how to define what a cryptocurrency is and what it should do. Ethereum is now currently being assessed legally to see if it can be considered a security.
Notable people like Warren Buffett has expressed skepticism over cryptocurrencies’ lack of intrinsic value. He considered it to be speculating, rather than investing. This notion has led some projects to consider backing the value of their cryptocurrencies with gold and oil.
Russia bets on diamonds
Siberia is full of treasures. It has large stretches of forest that can be used for wood, the many rivers and lakes are full of fish, and beneath the surface of it all lies huge natural gas reserves. Most importantly, it is also home to some of the last active diamond mines in the world. Trillions of dollars worth of treasures can be found in Siberia.
Now, all of these treasures can be tokenized and converted to cryptocurrency. A Russian investment firm called the Far East Development Fund is trialing an investment project where shares can be bought in these resources for as little as $10. These tokenized assets can then be traded on the cryptocurrency exchanges around the world.
A potential solution to volatility
This project could potentially solve one of the big problems facing many cryptocurrencies: they are incredibly volatile. The volatility is due to the fact that there is nothing backing them, and so the value fluctuates depending on market interest.
With tokens being backed by natural resources and precious stones, however, the scenario would very different. It would be like bringing back the Gold Standard, where the fiat money we are using today was backed by actual gold.
Russia is not alone in this endeavor
There are many more countries that have realized the potential of this kind of project. In Malaysia, a company called HelloGold is launching a cryptocurrency backed by gold. In Venezuela, the government has launched a cryptocurrency backed by its petroleum reserves.
The company that is issuing the token backed by Russian diamonds is itself based in Singapore. The company, Diamundi, has stated that it will have thew diamonds evaluated by a Big Four accountancy firm, and store the diamonds with Malca-Amit.
An early predictor of what is to come?
This could very well become the future of not only cryptocurrencies but currencies as we know it. People all over the world have lost much faith in the current financial institutions and system since the last crash in 2008. This faith has not been restored, and as many wages are going down and inflation keeps rising, something has got to give.
It could be this budding project. Not only would faith be restored in the financial system again, since the currencies would be backed by actual resources, but it would also give people more freedom. Freedom to choose which kind of currency they would want to deal in, depending on which resource they trust the most.
What do you think of this exciting project? Leave your comments below!
Mobile Bridge Momentum Review
The world of marketing constantly evolves, and what captures the attention of your prospective customers today might not capture it tomorrow. For a business, getting hold of people online is becoming increasingly difficult. Marketing emails end up in the trash. Ad-blockers hide most of your affiliate marketing. Social media campaigns don’t perform as well as they used to.
So how do you get the customers’ attention? You incentivise them. You make them want to be marketed to, by rewarding them for their engagement.
This is in essence what MobileBridge Momentum is about, according to their official ICO details. They claim that their platform is “a truly disruptive, rewards based marketing machine that stands to break the marketing mould”
What is MobileBridge Momentum?
Momentum is the world’s first marketing automation platform based on blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. Businesses can create personalised marketing campaigns that rewards their customers for engaging with them.
The customers can be incentivised with the Momentum Token, or a custom branded token the business launches on the Momentum platform. A business can reward their customers with tokens for a range of reasons: for purchasing their product, for promoting their brand, or for sharing their data.
For the business, this means more brand loyalty and better targeted campaigns. For the customer, it means that they will get rewarded for supporting the business. In other words, it is a win-win situation for both parties involved in the Momentum platform.
What are the limits?
The true beauty of the Momentum platform is that there are virtually no limits to how a business can utilise it. Only the imagination sets the limits with Momentum. As a business, you can design your own token, your own campaigns, and your own reward system.
The customers can then choose to spend their rewards with your business by purchasing more of your products, similar to a loyalty card in a grocery store. On the other hand, the customers can also choose to exchange their reward tokens for other cryptocurrencies.
As opposed to a grocery store loyalty card, however, the bonus points on Momentum will never go to waste. Any unused tokens can be traded in for other cryptocurrencies, gifted to friends and family, or even donated to a charity of their choice.
Summary
MobileBridge Momentum comes at a time when current marketing strategies, for a lot of businesses, are in serious need of revision. Consumers tend to be quite savvy when it comes to clocking on to how businesses try to get their attention. This means that any given marketing strategy will work for a while, after which something new has to take its place.
That new strategy could very well be MobileBridge Momentum. It takes something that is already familiar to people, such as grocery store loyalty cards and points, and utilizes the blockchain technology and cryptocurrency to move marketing into the future.
At the same time, the platform provides consumers with the assurance that they are in full control of what happens to their data, as well as how many advertisements they want to be exposed to.
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Local Coin Swap Review
By now, cryptocurrency trading is nothing new. A huge number of exchanges have popped up around the globe, with varying degrees of popularity and transparency. As more and more countries begin to take steps towards regulating the exchanges, the number will undoubtedly be whittled down.
Whilst the blockchain-based model of cryptocurrencies allows for user anonymity, improved safety and decentralization, there are a few aspects of the cryptocurrency exchanges that are reminiscent of traditional stock exchanges.
One of those is the long chain of action that needs to be taken in order to trade a coin or a token. Another one is the amount of money that is lost in the process, as various transaction fees are deducted. A third one is the risk of insider trading.
What is LocalCoinSwap?
The team behind LocalCoinSwap call their project “the most financially transparent exchange on the market.” How do they plan on accomplishing this? By putting the users of the platform in control.
The platform will be a peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency exchange, where users can match up with each other and trade directly. No more middlemen, no more excessive transaction fees, and deductions. Just one-to-one trading.
But it does not stop there. LocalCoinSwap aims to be a democratic platform, where the community can vote on any decision affecting the exchange. Furthermore, the platform will give no less than 100% of the profit it makes back to the users.
How does it work?
With hundreds of cryptocurrency exchanges around the world. any newcomer to the market would have to have some pretty convincing USPs to fly. LocalCoinSwap has a few of those.
The first USP is that it will be much cheaper than current exchanges, by cutting out the intermediaries. Users will have to facilitate the P2P trading themselves, which will inevitably make it a cheaper system.
Secondly, there will virtually no limit to what can be traded on the platform. Many existing exchanges and P2P systems are restricted by the number of cryptocurrencies that can be used and traded on them. LocalCoinSwap will support more kinds of cryptocurrencies (and fiat money) than any other platform of its kind.
Finally, there will also be ample opportunity for ICO creators to raise funds on the LocalCoinSwap platform. This will make it easier for anyone interested in an ICO to invest in new and exciting projects, using whichever cryptocurrency the prefer.
What problems are solved?
To summarise, the LocalCoinSwap project aims to solve the following problems currently facing the cryptocurrency trading community:
- Centralised exchanges make it difficult for new traders to register without giving away personal information
- Centralised exchanges are subject to various local regulations affecting traders
- Existing exchanges are limited in their capabilities when it comes to the number of cryptocurrencies facilitated
- Existing exchanges incur too many fees on traders
- Existing exchanges don’t share their profits with the users
- Existing exchanges have too much in common with traditional stock exchanges, including lack of transparency and insider trading
What do you think of P2P exchange? Leave your comments below!
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Switzerland is quickly turning into the central hub for ICOs and blockchain technology.
Four out of the ten most popular ICOs last year were based in Switzerland. Why?
The Swiss franc is one of the strongest and least volatile currencies in Europe, which stands in stark opposition to the market for cryptocurrencies.
Yet, Zurich is booming with startups utilizing blockchain technology for their innovative offerings.
MyBit is a great example of this. Although not initially based in the country, the founder Ian Worrall decided to move his operations to a lakeside town in Switzerland.
What attracted him, and other entrepreneurs with their own initial coin offerings?
The benefits of Switzerland
First of all, Switzerland is a financially stable country, in large part due to the booming banking industry.
Another pull factor is that the country has very low taxes, which is a blessing for any startup company short on funding.
Finally, Switzerland is home to some of the best universities in Europe, which means that entrepreneurs have access to a large pool of talent.
Put together, these factors provide very fertile ground for ICOs.
There are even talks of an emerging Crypto Valley in the town of Zug, not dissimilar to California’s Silicon Valley.
This is not unintentional.
As a matter of fact, the Swiss minister of economics has expressed an interest in expanding the Crypto Valley into a Crypto Nation.
This is in large part due to the fact that the banking sector in Switzerland has begun to shrink drastically.
The Swiss Bankers Association reports that the number of banks has shrunk by as much as 20% in the last ten years.
A shrinking banking sector means that the country’s economy has to draw sustenance from another source.
That source could very well be the cryptocurrency community.
The rapid growth
Crypto Valley Labs is one of the places that house a lot of blockchain startup companies.
The proprietor reports that only 15 such companies were renting their spaces at Crypto Valley Labs in early 2017.
Today, this number has skyrocketed to 100. This is an excellent indication of the growth projected by the Swiss government.
None of this was artificially constructed. The corporate tax rate in Zug, which is home to the Crypto Valley, is only 14,5%.
This is a no-brainer for any budding entrepreneur, and soon startups began popping up everywhere around town.
Not only did this mean lower employment and a rapid increase in population for the town, it also turned it into a tourist destination.
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts from around the world would visit Zug, and guided tours would be offered there.
On top of all this, the financial regulator in Switzerland, Finma, is very receptive and flexible.
The downside
All is not rosy in Switzerland, however.
Along with the low taxes comes a high cost of living, which makes scaling up a startup business difficult.
The Swiss National Bank is not too fond of the risk associated with cryptocurrencies, either.
This means that they will be reluctant to cut the eager entrepreneurs much slack when it comes to loans and interest rates.
What do you think? Are you planning on starting your own ICO? Would you do it in Switzerland? Leave your comments below!