Hello,
Wouldn't know if you'd recognise my handle from either Twitter (
https://twitter.com/crypto_jesus) or Reddit (which unfortunately I have lost access to). My real name is Konstantin and I used to work for Eth/Dev and then later Ethereum Foundation, helping to launch the Ethereum network. It's been almost two years since I left EF to join Parity (formerly known as Ethcore) and have since been honoured to work as part of (at least, in my opinion) the best team in crypto. While still helping them out where needed, I have taken a back seat to free up some time and "scratch some itches" I have long had.
That's about it for my introduction, here's what I'm looking to do and what ideally I would like to gather some opinions on:
Some time ago, together with an old friend of mine who runs a distillery in Scotland, we kicked about an idea of selling some whisky on the blockchain. Initially, the idea was to run the most standard capped ICO and in the Kickstarter manner, use the funds to finance the development of the product and then distribute it to the token holders as soon as it's complete. For a variety of reasons, not excluding the ever-changing legal landscape around crypto, the rough model of what we are thinking of is the following:
Phase 1: Use privately raised funds to develop the product to the point where it's bottled, packaged and sits nicely in a bonded warehouse.
Phase 2: Run a public Dutch Auction-style token sale (starts from a very high price per token and gradually reduces it until all tokens are sold). Investors from phase 1 get the revenues from the auction and a (very small) allocation of tokens as a reward.
Phase 3: Token holders redeem the whisky by burning their tokens (1 token = 1 bottle), more on both later. Token holders can also just trade the token like any other ERC20 coin.
Phase 4: After a set period of time (1-2 years?) redemption period ends and all unburned tokens expire and seize to exist. Remaining bottles get
consumed by the founders sold to private collectors with the proceeds going to a charity of our collective choice.
Unfortunately, the expiry period is necessary because, while bottled whisky can be stored pretty much indefinitely, actually storing it is costly. That is unless we can devise some deflationary mechanism for these tokens or somehow otherwise make the holders pay for not disposing of their tokens. Open to suggestions.
Tokens: the biggest consideration at the moment is whether to make them divisible. Indivisible tokens simplify the system (1 token = 1 bottle, no "bottle sharing") but would require a fairly large buy-in. Divisible tokens would allow anyone to participate, even for a very modest amount of cash but add complexity.
Whisky: The spirit itself will have already been matured so no, we won't have to wait a decade for it to come of age
Ideally, something 18 y.o. or older, niche, rare and premium. Bottles - won't disclose the company we are working with, but they are top of the top of the shelf in terms of bottle design. Same goes for the manufacturer. Make no mistake, a huge part of our budget is earmarked for creating a bespoke and most beautiful looking (and tasting!) product! Furthermore, the design will be Ethereum/crypto-themed. We're looking into ways to use NFC chips to prevent forgery too. The target number of bottles is not finalised yet but will probably be relatively small (a few hundred).
Deliveries: Unfortunately, being alcohol, whisky is a highly regulated product, especially when it comes to crossing borders. Afraid to say, we will have to limit deliveries to the EU countries only (if not just the UK!). However, (mostly) anyone around the world will still be able to trade the tokens.
So, what are we trying to achieve? On the one hand, it will be curious to try out the auctioning mechanism. On the other and primarily, we just want to create a stunning looking extremely rare product. Think of it as an art project. I'd definitely want to own one or two of these bottles.
Of course, much of this is still up in the air so very interested to hear what you think
