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QUICK UPDATE (Plus a silly question)
We now have an opportunity to be listed on Poloniex. Do we go for this, bearing in mind the low volume we experienced on CCEX? There's no point being listed only to be delisted in a few weeks/months. There is a cost involved. I don't want to waste money.
This may sound like a stupid question but I'd like to know what you think?
Also, do we go for BTC only, or BTC and LTC (if we go for it). Both options are now possible.
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+1000, therefore it's essential to accentuate the advantages of Kobocoin over Bitcoin! Thanks Guys. That's a great video and exactly how I'd like it to work. I've been thinking about a special webpage etc, but this video shows exactly how I'd like it to work for kobo. Buy from anywhere and send it to whoever and then they cash out. It's a lot simpler than building a full remittance website. The challenge is getting it recognised and valued. This is why I've been going for the payment gateways. Once we're on a payment gateway I can go to merchants and push Kobocoin. I'm even prepared to help integrate it into any website that's interested. Keeping up with competition, http://bitx.co has just opened a Nigeria office. Bitcoin companies are taking note of Africa now so I'd best get my skates on! |
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UPDATE (Quick one) - We are being added to http://www.cointopay.com/ - I'll post update when it's operational. - I've been in contact with https://www.edigicash.co/ - They require extra info. - I've been in contact with BTC38. We are being considered but it may take some time. İ appriciate your works. You are still eager to update this coin. İ wish you succeed in west africa. Thanks. Once we're on a payment gateway we can integrate it into merchant sites. There are a few new online African shopping sites that could benefit from getting involved with cryptos. |
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UPDATE (Quick one) - We are being added to http://www.cointopay.com/ - I'll post update when it's operational. - I've been in contact with https://www.edigicash.co/ - They require extra info. - I've been in contact with BTC38. We are being considered but it may take some time.
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btw I don't know whether it's a helpfull suggestion but Guldencoin, which is a Dutch national crypto currency, has created an app with which people can pay with Guldencoin and the merchants can either choose to receive fiat currency or Guldencoin. Perhaps such an app where merchants can instantly receive fiat currency when they receive Kobocoin or vice versa can make it easier to get merchants to accept Kobocoin. That way receiving Kobocoin as a payment is riskless and once Kobocoin is integrated into the African economy those worries will pass away naturally introducing a period that marks the transition from hesitant adoption to a new confident monetary/micro-economic system  Very good point. It's what's we're trying to achieve with the remittance and other services we're getting up and running. The hope is that if the remittance service is up and running, and some marketplaces are also available, then kobo users will feel more confident to hold onto them, and also start using kobo for purchases rather than immediately cashing out to local FIAT. Then we'll be moving towards a full currency model. It will take some time as people need to get used to the concept of cryptocurrency and blockchain, but it will get there in the end in one form or another. I think it's a hard sell to try to introduce any crypto as a mature currency (even bitcoin). Consumer trust isn't fully there yet. I personally believe that once bitcoin is generally accepted and trusted (trust is very important) that it will generate trust in other altcoins as well. |
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Thanks for keeping us updated dev.
I think it's very important that Africans are able to buy Kobocoin easily. Perhaps it's possible to somehow sell Kobocoin on the Kobocoin website where you sell against exchange prices asking only a small commission? Or perhaps build in a fiat to Kobocoin exchange in the wallet? I know I am just suggesting things from the sidelines and that is very easy and I know there is much regulation, technology etc. involved so I know that in the short run it's perhaps not possible to sell Kobocoin in any other way than via crypto exchanges, but are steps going to be taken towards implementing a feasible distribution model for Kobocoin in Africa?
Yes, buying kobo from the exchange is only for advanced users. We are looking at ways to allow people to buy kobo direct using credit cards, PayPal, paper wallets, and cards. We have a distribution model that we're working towards, but I don't want to give away too much detail at the moment. The biggest problem is not really people buying it though. People want to buy kobo from us, but their first questions are always: 1. What can I buy with it? 2. How do I cash out? I really want to address those two questions asap. I'm hoping we can start here: http://cointopay.com/M_MarketOverview.jsp |
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The exchange rate functionality is halfway there. Send/Receive is working, now it's the main page and exchange rate listings that need to be done. I prefer the rates list supplied on the Bitcoin wallet. It includes a lot of African currencies. There is a short version (used by other mobile wallets) which only deals with the major world currencies. This is acceptable but I'm going for the full list (until told otherwise).  Taken from https://www.cryptonator.com/api/ticker/kobo-gbpI now have an android developer helping with ad hoc work (so no more late nights for me!). He's now working on getting those rates added. |
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I'm in the process of setting us up on a payment gateway ( http://Cointopay.com). Once this is done we have a payment gateway that we can encourage merchants to integrate with their sites. People can then purchase products/services with kobo. (their website seems flaky right now but they are a good service to get onto). Products from any supplier can then be added to their markets page where people can buy them directly in kobo. |
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UPDATE
I've been researching what it would take to get a multipool online. I'm not sure it's something required at this time, but once I've got all the details and pricing I'll make a decision on that one. I really want to see how other PoS coins have performed after adding a multipool. There's a few empty multipools out there. I don't want us to join that list.
We're now looking for a partner in Africa. There's many possibilities. We're also still looking for a partner in China. I did find an outfit but their service wasn't really compatible with ours. I'm still waiting to hear back from BTC38 (if anyone knows their usernames on here it might help - getting a reply in crypto is a lottery sometimes.
This week I'll start looking at kobo paper wallets (and cards as a possible future way of purchasing kobo from local stores). There's many ways of doing it. I'm thinking of a simple foldover type of paper wallet. It's needed.
The mobile wallet is now having the exchange rate feature added. Once that's finished I'll get the update released on all the necessary repositories.
I'll keep on with trying to get communications going with the services identified.
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- Research Multipools and how we can use them - I'll talk to devs who've set this up for PoS coins Not yet done
You can contact with Starin about multipool and ICM for PoS coins. Thanks. Will do. |
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UPDATE
- Contact Chinese cryptocurrency outfits - Not sure there's many. In progress
- Research Multipools and how we can use them - I'll talk to devs who've set this up for PoS coins Not yet done
- Speak to Yobit about adding some KOBO to their 'Freecoins' promotion - It's a good faucet In progress
- Create youtube channel - We're considering offering bounties for videos, as well as creating our own Done
- Get in contact with:
Shapeshift.io
Coinpayments.net
Poloniex
Bter
Btc38
All contacted - No replies. Crypto, as an industry, is very slow at getting back to you!
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SWOT analysis of Kobocoin - feel free to add/delete/modify
Strengths:
dev - transparency: real person behind the dev while most coins devs are anonymous (check out his LinkedIn page)
Weaknesses:
-capital- low market cap of only around $25k .. other coins with no economic or social purpose have more than $100 k cap.. KOBO should be at around $100K (around 0.000017 ). . it will probably come when the price moves up as the planned projects go online.
-low trader participation resulting in low volume and risk of being delisted. low visibility? marketing flaw?.. why is KOBO not attracting trading participants?. positive because there's no pump n dump here but low liquidity might be a drawback for players.
-no visible partner yet actually based in Africa to act as face of KOBO in the region.,, not necessarily a person but could be an organization, company or an NGO that is adopting or willing to adopt KOBO as its e-currency.
-dev: heavily dependent on one person, the dev..
Opportunities:
-first-mover advantage with infra & software in place if Africa ( or at least of one the countries in the region) decides to adopt its own regional cryptocurrency
-first-mover advantage of moving into crypto-remittance for the whole Africa.
-potential for attracting venture capital funding if successful
-potential for use as micropayments for projects if embraced by NGOs.. (for example if a feature can be added that limits transfer from one address to a specific address , this can prevent diversion/misuse of funds)
-relatively stable digital currency particularly in areas of turmoil (war, disturbances) and countries with hyperinflation like Zimbabwe.
-potential for use as peer-to-peer currency in African e-commerce sites.
-possible money transfer alternative for Chinese expats/investors/workers in Africa. China is Africa's largest investor and trading partner, having surpassed US in 2009. A Goldman Sachs report stated that 80% of bitcoin transactions takes place in Chinese yuan. One of key factor in global acceptance of KOBO is if the Chinese embrace Kobocoin.
Threats:
competition from bitstake (Nigerian market) & bitcoin as well as other remittance services.
price fluctation - wide bid-offer spread due to low trader participation - prices need to be stable at least in slow upward movement to attract money transfer & e-commerce participants
if adopted & embraced in African "deep web"/"underground" markets, it can be both a good news and bad news for Kobocoin
Thanks for taking the time to put this together. You've raised a lot of very good points. And thanks for the link to the remit article. I know remit but I'm not sure if they're using a crypto platform. One difference between what we'll offer, and a lot of the current offerings, is that, with KOBO, the sender can receive the coins themself, and then transfer them manually to recipients. This allows a sender to purchase, say $100 in KOBO and decide who to send them to, and how much to send each person (who are then added to their wallet address book for future transfers). Most of the current services don't allow this option. This is why the android wallets were necessary. I'm in the process of finding a suitable partner for the initial remittance service. It's definitely something that needs to be done other than me relocating to, and starting, the first African office (which would be nice), but those funds don't exist yet. At the moment the direction of Kobocoin seems dependent on me. As time goes by I'm hoping that changes. This thread is also instrumental in determining the direction it's taking. I've read every suggestion/comment/criticism/article and it's helped to give focus to what needs doing, and the steps to take. China is a very important business partner for Africa. It would be great if we could find a good partner, but there's not many projects other than exchanges. I've been in touch with BTC38 but no reply yet. Exchanges aren't the best at replying to emails. I'm still looking for s suitable outfit that we could have a chat to. With the competition, I have to say that I don't think we're too far behind any existing crypto competition, if we're behind at all. There's lots of talking and proposing, but at the moment there's no clear stand-out service (other than people saying use bitcoin for Africa) so we're still there, or thereabouts. Again, thanks for that. Interesting reading! |
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i m with you no doubt there has to be alternatives to bitcoin, the problem unlike facebook and google alternatives you need to hawe bitcoin in order to buy other coins ... you dont need to be member at facebook 4 to register in alternative social media... thats what im talking about...every coin is based on it
This is only the case for buying/selling KOBO on the exchanges, and it's temporary. For LTC, DOGE, DASH and a few others it's already possible to skip the BTC step. KOBO will join that group. For the best KOBO prices, yes, buy BTC and head for the exchanges, but I don't see many people doing that (in the same way they don't become FOREX traders just to use FIAT). It's a matter of convenience. Bittylicious is an example service where users can buy a number of different cryptos without first having to go through BTC. |
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I've updated the images on the website. I'm hoping it gives the site a more global feel. There's a lot more to do. It probably needs a major overhaul to add services to it. It's still a bit basic. http://kobocoin.com/Just for reference, here's the KOBO price on 12th May when I first added the ticker  |
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Very interesting. We're in the right space, but we've got to keep moving forward so we don't get left behind. Africa, mobile payments, remittance services etc have all been in the news recently. We could soon see a lot of new services starting up. Everything we are doing can also be achieved by Bitcoin, but I personally like to turn that statement on it's head. Everything Bitcoin is doing can also be achieved by lighter more efficient alternative cryptocurrencies, in half the time, using substantially less resources. Google is not the only search engine. Facebook is not the only social media site. Apple is not the only phone manufacturer. |
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I've added those two exchanges.
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UPDATE
This weeks work schedule
- Contact Chinese cryptocurrency outfits - Not sure there's many.
- Research Multipools and how we can use them - I'll talk to devs who've set this up for PoS coins
- Speak to Yobit about adding some KOBO to their 'Freecoins' promotion - It's a good faucet
- Create youtube channel - We're considering offering bounties for videos, as well as creating our own.
- Get in contact with:
Shapeshift.io
Coinpayments.net
Poloniex
Bter
Btc38
I'm not sure about contacting retailers at this early stage (Konga and OLX). I might hold back on that until the remittance service is started. That way we'll have more to offer and be more appealing. I'm also thinking up a way to automate the initiation of the remittance process, and give it a simple web front end. It might take some time to be developed, but the thought process is started. Probably API stuff.
I should have got the price sorted on the mobile wallets by now. Things have been busy personally so I've not been able to throw my full weight behind it. Updated Android and BlackBerryOS wallets will be released once it's completed.
In the background, we're finalizing the remittance process and getting all the pieces in place. There's a financial backend that has to be in place. They're all being worked on.
I'll update you with progress by the end of the week.
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This project reminds me of the saying of Jesus when he talks about sowing seed. Only the seed that is thrown into fertile ground will survive, likewise all parameters of this project are just right, Africa is fertile ground for Kobocoin. This coin is one of my favorites, unfortunately I haven't been able to buy some yet, the supply is not big enough yet I believe, but I hope to buy sum this week. Anywayzzz perhaps if there is anything I can help with let me know (my expertise is international relations/organisations). Amen! That's some strong words of encouragement (and very much appreciated). Thank you! I'll PM you. |
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Keep the good ideas coming. I'll post the work schedule tomorrow when it's all confirmed.
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