Thanks

Hi, please quote and verify

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Today is 7th June, 2019. Bitcointalk user TheTribesman (u=168257) is the owner of this address.
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This is not going to be a trivial exercise, but we will all get there. Let's start the discussion on exactly how, and timescales. It will be a 1:1 swop for all KOBO holders. I will be aided by the guys at Bitsoko for this operation. Nobody will miss out. Long term community members who might miss this announcement will NOT be left behind and will NOT lose their allocation.

I want to maintain the following features

• Initial supply will be the same as current circulating supply (24.7m or 25m to round it off - extra kobo will be used for initial merchant purchases)
• PoS 10% growth per annum (negotiable)
• Max coins still set to 350,000,000 (negotiable)

WHY?

• Bitsoko will be using Kobocoins as a retail loyalty scheme to offer a replacement for an already existing Kenyan retail loyalty scheme, which is VERY popular (see working prototype screenshots below).
• Moving to the ETH blockchain means NO MORE SYNCING ISSUES! We will also be on the more secured ETH blockchain (hurrah!).
• It makes development of Kobo applications quicker and also open to a LOT more developers who are now fluent in Solidity.
• Access to Smart Contract technology on the ETH platform.
• Faster mobile development for interested parties.
• Kobocoin and Bitsoko will become closer partners. Bitsoko are very experienced ETH developers. Kobocoin will effectively no longer be a one man band (me!).

Kobocoin needs to evolve and move forward, and move forward before anyone attempts to usurp our position in the market. My recent trip to Kenya showed me just how much Kobocoin is now respected in Africa. The reception Kobo got from many different sectors was amazing and Bitsoko are very excited for the opportunity to use Kobo in Kenya. Once established it will also be rolled out to Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and others as it grows.

Below are some screenshots of the Kobocoin merchant application that Bitsoko have developed. Kobo will initially be used for retail loyalty reward points. Merchants will purchase Kobocoins (from the merchant wallets) to reward customers (who will have their own wallets). Reward points are VERY popular in Kenya and Bitsoko have already started signing up merchants to use Kobo for this purpose.

1. Merchants will buy Kobo directly from their Mobile Merchant wallets to use as rewards for their customers. This image shows Kobo value in Kenya Shilling (KES). The mobile wallets will show Kobo currency conversion for the nation in which the wallet is being used.


2. Mechant Kobo wallet showing value in Nigerian Naira (NGN)


3. Customizable merchant wallet (shot 1)


4. Customizable merchant wallet (shot 2)


These images are from a working prototype. The Kobocoin and Bitsoko branding will be used in the final product. Test tokens on the ETH blockchain have been used to test the functionality.

Let me hear your thoughts on this. I'm sure there will be some real challenges, but as I said, we will ALL get there!

This is the start of the next chapter in the evolution of Kobocoin. Thanks for your faith and patience!

TT
 

Just wait till you see the screenshots of what they've done with KOBO, and the future direction that we're going to have to start discussing. I'm hoping you'll need a surgeon to pick your jaw up off the floor

If you want to see a real world African blockchain app from Bitsoko click here:

https://bitsoko.io/bits/?s=20#! (login with your google ID)

Order and delivery of restaurant food via the blockchain - done!

The conference was awesome! Head over to the Kobocoin thread for more details.
Keep an eye on Africa, and Kenya in particular...

THE RACE IS ON!

If you want to see a real world African blockchain app from Bitsoko click here:

https://bitsoko.io/bits/?s=20#!

Order and delivery of restaurant food via the blockchain - done!

UPDATE: Blockchain4Africa Conference

29th July, 2017, Moringa School, Nairobi, Kenya - http://moringaschool.com/

Where do I begin? First off let me say that Nairobi is an amazing city. A real melting pot of African cultures. It's also a LOT bigger than I was expecting, but I guess it would be with a population of over 3m. Most people know of the business district but there's a whole lot more to Nairobi than just the business district. I won't go any further into all the tourist stuff...

The event was tweeted live and I'll give links to some of the tweets at the end of the post.

Kobocoin is very well known in Africa even though we here in the wider community are seeing the currency languish in the markets. The main issues, as I found out are that:
1. Very few people are actually crypto aware.
2. People who are crypto aware don't know how to get KOBO from the exchanges. They are not crypto traders and it looks too complex.
3. There are MANY bitcoin/crypto scams taking place in Africa, and these people go knocking from door-to-door looking for victims! How do you compete with that??
4. Those scams are making people very wary of the real thing, of which KOBO is one.

I was invited to give a talk on the story of Kobocoin. Where the idea came from, how it was launched, and the challenges KOBO has faced up to the present day. Feedback from my talk was that people in the audience were inspired by my journey with KOBO. I guess what's in the OP is the lead up and I discussed the creation of the Android wallet, exchange issues, perception of KOBO within the industry and where I see things going in the future. Not just with KOBO, but also with the blockchain in Africa.

Questions included things I've heard before, the main one being "How do you cash out?". Of course, this is a challenge at this stage and I'm not one for lying about that.

I met with people involved in government, legislation around the blockchain and cryptocurrencies, and venture capital. I chatted with all of them and will be chatting more with all of them as they all seemed genuinely interested in what Kobocoin has to offer, and want to get involved. There was a lawyer I was particularly interested in talking to whose knowledge of blockchain and legislations was just awesome. Unfortunately with all the networking going on I never got the opportunity to have a more in-depth chat, but I'll definitely be following up in the near future.

There was also a very knowledgeable VC who has crypto interests in Europe (Spain). Really nice guy. I'll be following up with him in the near future as well.

I've been chatting with the Bitsoko guys about some of the challenges to getting KOBO to those who want to purchase some and we've decided to work together on a solution.

I'm back at the hotel after spending the day with the Bitsoko guys. I'll be at their office tomorrow (they have something to show me that they've built and integrated with KOBO - I'll try and get some screenshots! )

There's a lot more to post about the event and I'll be doing so over the next few days. I'm going to be involved with a VERY exciting blockchain project that will raise KOBO's great reputation even more within the African Blockchain community. It's the work of Bitcoin Lady https://twitter.com/bitcoinlady and to say it's exciting is an understatement.

BitcoinLady really is a fantastic human being and crypto ambassador. She has achieved a lot in and for the African crypto community. She has a full training center in Botswana, and a team of really excellent developers (I met two of them) - https://twitter.com/bitcoinlady

Anyways, for now here's some links to tweets of the event.

My young head and the advert for my talk on Kobocoin (that's an old pic!)
https://twitter.com/moringaschool/status/890844549194690560

My discussion on the story of Kobocoin
https://twitter.com/Bitsoko/status/891212620874883072

BitcoinLady, Alakanani Itireleng giving her talk on blockchain technology
https://twitter.com/Bitsoko/status/891201937324081152

Gibson, CEO of Bitsoko
https://twitter.com/FlamestingInc/status/891239851714125825

Allan of Bitsoko and their ETH mining rig
https://twitter.com/B3laze/status/891272989345492992
https://twitter.com/Bitsoko/status/891261156937134080

Bitsoko presentation of their bits wallet
https://twitter.com/Bitsoko/status/891289239144550400

Bitsoko and their IoT advertising platform (Yes! Bitsoko actually create new hardware!)
https://twitter.com/Gibsongibbz/status/891279697035890688

Yes, Bitsoko create real world blockchain applications
https://twitter.com/Bitsoko/status/891283173446995971

I really don't want to give out too much info just yet as discussions are still taking place but over the next few days there should hopefully be updates as more things become confirmed.

Kobocoin, Bitsoko, and BitcoinLady are to become a team. By hooking up with these two teams, Kobocoin now has access to a pool of developers who are committed to progressing blockchain technology in Africa.

A great conference and networking opportunity. Watch this space and see what we do!

Very true. Lots of implementations worldwide but Sub Saharan Africa leads the way in mobile fintech, and it's the mobile blockchain applications that I think will lead the way.

Some more info on Bitsoko
https://www.coindesk.com/meet-the-kenyan-startup-trying-to-change-bill-gates-mind-on-bitcoin/
http://disrupt-africa.com/2015/07/kenyan-bitcoin-startup-bitsoko-receives-100k-grant-from-gates-foundation/
Most Bitsoko articles focus on Bitsoko getting $100K from the Gates foundation

This is just a standard Google search for Bitsoko:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bitsoko

Here's more info on Mobile fintech in Africa:
http://www.bankingtech.com/676041/2017-the-year-fintech-shifts-its-focus-to-africa/
http://disrupt-africa.com/2016/05/the-unstoppable-rise-of-fintech-in-africa/
https://qz.com/618674/africas-big-banks-are-betting-on-fintech-startups-and-bitcoin-to-beat-disruption/
https://www.seedstars.com/2017/05/09/fintech-in-afrika-is-much-more-than-just-mobile-money-and-remittances/
https://www.gtnews.com/2017/01/06/five-fintech-predictions-for-2017/

Here's an interesting one. Technology being exported from Africa to the rest of the world. MPesa, started by people using airtime as a proxy for money has evolved into an app that's now being used around the world. This is not a blockchain app. It just a demonstration that mobile fintech in Africa is leading the way (and it's under the radar).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa

Hope those links are all OK
 

I didn't mean to be too hard. I guess it's a defence mechanism from being too long in the industry (and on BCT). I'm always ready to be attacked after every post

The conference is in 3 days, and from pre-discussions, I'm hoping I'll have some good updates on current implementations when it's over. We're hoping to come out of this conference with actual implementations and not just recommendations.

While you're all reading charts and wondering how to maximise profits, in Africa we're discussing how to move adoption forward.

I personally believe Africa will lead with way with crypto adoption, meaning real world applications to be used by the population in the very near future.

Remember that Africa is the largest mobile fintech market on the planet by a very long way.

Do you see this happening anywhere else??

Yeah, They got the Kobocoin name wrong 

A bit cheesed off as it could lead to a lot of people getting the name wrong (on social media) but hopefully it won't happen again. I've already let them know of my displeasure.

Yeah, They got the Kobocoin name wrong  

A bit cheesed off as it could lead to a lot of people getting the name wrong (on social media) but hopefully it won't happen again. I've already let them know of my displeasure.

This is the primary objective of Kobocoin. The digital asset nature of crypto is fine but, for me, kobocoin's success will be measured in terms of adoption. I am pushing for kobocoin to have a use, not just a price.

This is difficult to answer as I have not carried out any tests of this nature with differing internet speeds. What I would say is that when I have tested the mobile wallets, the initial send/receive is registered on both wallets within 30s but the blockchain needs to sync over the internet to 'catch up' and confirm the transaction and allow any received coins to be spent.

I will be in Kenya from Thursday and will carry out some tests for you. I will try without any internet connection to make sure the initial send/receive is registered on each wallet (even without internet connection), and also with a full internet connection to see how long till kobo is available to spend.

BLOCKCHAIN FOR AFRICA - NAIROBI, KENYA - 29/07/2017

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/blockchain-for-africa-tickets-36263064803

Description

This will be a convergence of developers, incubation hubs, micro, small & medium enterprises to practically explore how blockchain technologies can be integrated into various aspects of business to save costs, from human resources management, data back up to expense tracking and more. This event will end with practical solutions that can be adopted for development or test integration.

Speakers include:

Gibson Juma - CEO at Bitsoko
Alakanani Itireleng - Founder Satoshi Centre
Felix Ugoji - Creator of Kobocoin
(Learn more about Kobocoin here - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=920290.0)

Date and Time
Sat, July 29, 2017
8:00 AM – 8:00 PM EAT

Location
Moringa School
Ngong Lane
Nairobi, Nairobi County
Kenya

Educate yourself about the largest Mobile Fintech market on the planet:
http://www.bankingtech.com/676041/2017-the-year-fintech-shifts-its-focus-to-africa/
http://disrupt-africa.com/2016/05/the-unstoppable-rise-of-fintech-in-africa/
https://qz.com/618674/africas-big-banks-are-betting-on-fintech-startups-and-bitcoin-to-beat-disruption/
https://www.seedstars.com/2017/05/09/fintech-in-afrika-is-much-more-than-just-mobile-money-and-remittances/
https://www.gtnews.com/2017/01/06/five-fintech-predictions-for-2017/

Brought to you by Bitsoko, Satoshi Centre, and Kobocoin - The most formidable blockchain collaboration in Africa


Bitsoko & Moringa School
Organizer of BLOCKCHAIN FOR AFRICA

Bitsoko is a digital currency services provider that is driving the adoption of digital currencies in Africa. It develops innovative blockchain based solutions for micro small and medium entreprises.

Moringa School is a world-class software developer accelerator based in Nairobi, Kenya.

tl:dr - Africa blockchain conference, no ICO (sorry!)

UPDATE:

BLOCKCHAIN FOR AFRICA - NAIROBI, KENYA - 29/07/2017

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/blockchain-for-africa-tickets-36263064803

If anybody in the community happens to be in Nairobi on the 29th, please come and say hello! I'll be traveling from London to attend. I'm... wait for it... super excited!

We're going to be investigating blockchain solutions to real world problems. The mobile fintech industry in Africa is maturing and leading the world in innovation. Blockchain is the next step in it's evolution. We aim to be at the forefront of blockchain development in Africa. Bitsoko, Satoshi Centre, and of course, Kobocoin, is the most formidable blockchain collaboration in Africa right now.

Kobocoin's parameters were chosen with mobile fintech applications in mind. Anyone who's been here from the start knows this. I'm aiming to convince developers to exploit the Kobocoin blockchain as well, and not just the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains. The Kobocoin blockchain is for the savvy minds at this time.

Exciting times!
https://www.seedstars.com/2017/05/09/fintech-in-afrika-is-much-more-than-just-mobile-money-and-remittances/

I will post the conference flyer here (that has my smiling head on it) when it's ready for publishing.

TT

 

UPDATE:

Kobocoin in the news

Here's an interview I had a few days ago with bitcoinafrica.io. It was published yesterday 16th July, 2017.

http://bitcoinafrica.io/2017/07/16/meet-africas-blockchain-startups-kobocoin/

TT

UPDATE:

Kobocoin and Bitsoko to join forces to move blockchain innovation forward in Africa

I'll be travelling to Nairobi, Kenya for a one day conference taking place on July 29th. In attendance will be the great and good of blockchain development on the African continent. The audience will include corporations interested in what blockchain can do for them, venture capitalists looking for the next big thing after MPesa to invest in, developers wanting to move into the blockchain arena, and existing names in the blockchain space in Africa who want to be a part of the movement.

Over 300 invitees will be attending. The main moderators of the conference will be:

Frank Deya - https://twitter.com/FlamestingInc - Bitsoko
Alakanani Itireleng - https://twitter.com/bitcoinlady - Satoshi Centre, Botswana
and yours truly, Felix Ugoji - Kobocoin

As well as hosting the conference we will be making firm committments to start a blockchain incubator which aims to:

- Disrupt the biggest mobile fintech market on the planet
- Create applications that challenge the existing financial instruments, assets, and subscription based services
- Start churning out blockchain applications based on new and existing requirements beyond the purely financial
- Engage with African governments, and government agencies, to encourage changes in legislation that allow blockchain innovation to flourish in Africa without restriction
- Encourage a new generation of blockchain developers and entrepeneurs
- Provide a think tank that can be approached by governments and corporations who want to explore the technology
- Provide or recommend teams to build anything blockchain related that is required by any government or corporation

This will be the start of a massive initiative. Together we will make a formidable team of experienced blockchain advocates and developers.

This conference is just the start. This event will massively raise the visibility of Kobocoin in Africa and beyond. Remember that Bitsoko, as well as receiving an $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, also have a committment for a further $1,000,000 if they are successful in introducing blockchain tech in Africa. Kobocoin will now gain visibility with Bitsoko partners and, as an established mainstream cryptocurrency, this can only be a good thing.

I will also be investigating where kobocoin can replace existing consumer services. Bitsoko have already started their investigations and started looking at areas where blockchain tech can easily replace existing consumer services. Autonomous crypto tokens can easily replace existing services tied to individual corporations. We are not re-inventing the wheel. Existing products can be outsourced to blockchain tech.

Read - http://techmoran.com/bitsoko-launches-bits-loyalty-program-to-encourage-uptake-of-blockchain-technology-in-kenya/

This is a very exciting time. We are now starting to look at real world adoption and how to achieve it for the benefit of the consumer.

I will update you as things progress.

TT