Non-transferable ETH tokens?

[Abiky]

There are so many Ethereum token standards out there on the web, that's hard to keep track of. Considering that Ethereum hails itself as a platform anyone can launch tokens which serve unique purposes in life, I've been wondering about non-transferable ETH tokens? For instance, a store could issue loyalty points (rewards) to a customer where it's non-transferable to other people. In other words, you cannot send your loyalty points to another person as it cannot be transferred. Something like Burger King's "BK Rewards" in the real world, but as a form of an ETH token limited only to transactions between the store (redeeming loyalty points) and the customer (earning loyalty points).

My question is if it's possible to do something like this on the ETH blockchain? I haven't seen an Ethereum Token Standard (ERC) that would support these type of tokens (AFAIK), but it'd be nice to have in order to increase adoption of the ETH blockchain in the mainstream world. We already have Non-Fungible Tokens (ERC-721), Standard Tokens (ERC-20), and even token standards for issuing securities (ERC-1411 and ERC-1404) on the ETH blockchain. If the need arises (and it's feasible to create non-transferable tokens on the Blockchain), we'll be able to see retail stores, e-commerce stores, and more issuing loyalty points on the Ethereum blockchain sometime in the future.

What are your thoughts? Any recommendations, suggestions, or opinion about this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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[Winscosinally]

I haven't seen or heard about such tokens on ETH blockchain before, honestly this is a very good idea, I consider this a very good use case, it's a shame that many new developers are only interested in making same old projects over and over, very boring

[cryptoaddictchie]

The idea isnt bad. But I'm not sure how this will be implemented by ethereum network with that highly restrict transaction. Maybe if there is a new platform that can solve the complexity of the idea into easier way to deploy then there is no problem.

For example:
New Platform will issue total supply of 5million, which they will divide into interested parties let say Burger king with 100k tokens that only be avail through them. Then the Platform will facilitate the transaction made by the Burger King to limit or restrict it to only buyers of the tokens. Anyway, this will be hard but interesting. Nice idea OP.

[Abiky]

The idea isnt bad. But I'm not sure how this will be implemented by ethereum network with that highly restrict transaction. Maybe if there is a new platform that can solve the complexity of the idea into easier way to deploy then there is no problem.

For example:
New Platform will issue total supply of 5million, which they will divide into interested parties let say Burger king with 100k tokens that only be avail through them. Then the Platform will facilitate the transaction made by the Burger King to limit or restrict it to only buyers of the tokens. Anyway, this will be hard but interesting. Nice idea OP.

Anyone with the desire to code a Non-Transferable token on the ETH blockchain could make this a reality in the future. There are no ERC token standards that would address this situation yet (as far as I know). With other standards that serve as a model for creating regulatory-compliant securities on the ETH blockchain, I bet we'll be able to see a Non-Transferable token standard soon. This would open up new possibilities for mainstream businesses looking to offer a "loyalty program" to its customers right on the Blockchain. I know that the limited scalability of the ETH blockchain, makes this unfeasible for mainstream use.

But I believe that once PoS starts rolling in, new tokens will emerge with their own use cases as a result of increased performance on the ETH blockchain. As it's said in the real world, "if you can dream it, you can do it". A token that would only allow transfers between a customer and a businesses, would prove to be quite innovative. Of course, this model will be centralized as the company or business in question will control all of the tokens. But it'll serve its purpose well as "loyalty points" which customers cannot transfer to other people other than the company itself for redemption.

This model will also work for movie tickets, with their own expiration date (in this case, a specified number of blocks on the Blockchain). The possibilities are endless limited to the developer's own imagination. I'm amazed by how much you can do with the ETH blockchain right now, yet it's undervalued across the market. ETH only has 5 years since inception, so I'd say we should give it more time until it attracts the likes of mainstream businesses and companies alike. Just my thoughts

[Mianae]

This is my first time hearing of such. The only non transferable tokens I've seen on eth blockchain are those who has migrated to their own blockchain and the erc-20 token holders failed to migrate the tokens aside this I've not heard of purely non transferable tokens.

[qazgroup]

I agree with you and i think that it is an outstanding idea and if retailers and large franchises start using this type of tokens as loyalty bonus/rewards/coupons it will really be massive stimulus for the adoption of Ethereum network.
I am sure eth developers will consider this and will soon come up with these type of token product.

[DaveF]

They do exist and are somewhat common.
Off the top of my head there is the KICK token that did an airdrop somewhat recently with non-transferable (frozen) tokens
Take a look:https://medium.com/@kickecosystem/frozen-kicktokens-are-getting-warmer-4454e951ac22

There was one last summer, I can't remember the name of it that was for gaming. I tried a quick google but can't find it.
So they do exist, don't know if they will ever be that popular.

-Dave

[Abiky]

They do exist and are somewhat common.
Off the top of my head there is the KICK token that did an airdrop somewhat recently with non-transferable (frozen) tokens
Take a look:https://medium.com/@kickecosystem/frozen-kicktokens-are-getting-warmer-4454e951ac22

There was one last summer, I can't remember the name of it that was for gaming. I tried a quick google but can't find it.
So they do exist, don't know if they will ever be that popular.

-Dave

Well, I'm referring more to limiting ETH token transactions between the creator of the contract (or issuer) and the user himself. The ability to freeze tokens is a great feature that's makes any token regulatory-compliant, but it's not actually a non-transferable token. I believe it's possible to do something like this since the Ethereum blockchain is programmable (unlike Bitcoin). It's only a matter of time before a developer comes up with a new token standard for non-transferrable digital assets on the ETH blockchain. A few tweaks here and there should do the trick.

I've been looking into token standards for issuing securities on the ETH blockchain, and I'm amazed by their features. This makes them regulatory-compliant in every way. Sometimes I wonder why startups or companies aren't using existing ERC token standards that would completely transform their tokens into securities. The "freeze" function in a token standard for securities could be modified to restrict transactions in a 1:1 ratio. This would prove to be extremely useful for loyalty points or rewards program like I've said previously. The person who holds the tokens can only send it to the issuer and vice versa. In other words, you can redeem your points or earn them from a particular store (Burger King or AutoZone) right from the Blockchain.

Of course, if Ethereum lacks scalability, I don't see this going anywhere. But other Blockchains like EOS or TRON might be able to gain the likes of mainstream businesses and companies alike looking to launch their own loyalty/rewards program using the power of Blockchain technology. I hope that we'll be able to see non-transferable tokens on the Blockchain space sometime in the future. Just my thoughts

[gaston castano]

They do exist and are somewhat common.
Off the top of my head there is the KICK token that did an airdrop somewhat recently with non-transferable (frozen) tokens
Take a look:https://medium.com/@kickecosystem/frozen-kicktokens-are-getting-warmer-4454e951ac22

There was one last summer, I can't remember the name of it that was for gaming. I tried a quick google but can't find it.
So they do exist, don't know if they will ever be that popular.

I agree with you, there are some tokens that cannot be transferred for some reason, like being blocked and already having your own blockchain network or migrating, but the case with points like the OP said is a bit unique, where it is a gift given to the holders of coins.

[libert19]

Many ICOs lock their tokens until certain conditions are met, so I assume your need also can be coded through smart contracts although I'm not completely sure.

[SistaFista]

Maybe some coding in the smart contract of the token will works because i saw few tokens that cannot be transferred.
The token was hacked by the hacker, and they made the hacker unable to transfer the token to other addresses,
see the example here : https://etherscan.io/tx/0xdbb039e1b3ea728e753999d88686c67c485053d65b202083df952bb99e398408

[ned.ryerson]

Many ICOs lock their tokens until certain conditions are met, so I assume your need also can be coded through smart contracts although I'm not completely sure.

This is not done by a large number of projects. as a rule, all these projects are just scam. I have tokens that announced swap tokens to others and gave it just a week to do it. I did not follow all the news of the project and skipped this information. I found out about it in a month and then they said that I just lost an opportunity to do it. now I have lost $ 1,500 tokens and they are dead on my wallet

[hirngespenst]

Though the idea is unique but I don't think it will work in that way. No one likes locked token. Some project locked their token for different purposes. And about Retailers? I think they won't use Ethereum blockchain to do the locked bonus /extra points distribution, rather they will use their own chain! Therefore, I don't hope that any retail project will apply this on the blockchain network!

[electronicash]

but how can it be on the exchange if its going to be non transferable?  it has to be in the market for it to have a value.  

[libert19]

Many ICOs lock their tokens until certain conditions are met, so I assume your need also can be coded through smart contracts although I'm not completely sure.

This is not done by a large number of projects. as a rule, all these projects are just scam. I have tokens that announced swap tokens to others and gave it just a week to do it. I did not follow all the news of the project and skipped this information. I found out about it in a month and then they said that I just lost an opportunity to do it. now I have lost $ 1,500 tokens and they are dead on my wallet

I do agree that 1 week is very short time, but at the same time if you hold some coin/token it's your responsibilty to stay up to date with project happenings.

[Abiky]

but how can it be on the exchange if its going to be non transferable?  it has to be in the market for it to have a value.  

Non-transferable tokens would not be traded on the open market, since they're meant to be used directly from one peer to another. Just like loyalty points work today (where you can only earn or redeem points from an specific business), non-transferable tokens would work the same way on the Blockchain. It could be complicated to restrict transactions to a single entity, but I believe that something like this could be coded on a smart contract.

Given that the Ethereum platform is not scalable yet for mainstream use, I'm guessing that mainstream businesses and companies will launch their own non-transferable tokens on other chains like EOS and TRON. Speed and low costs are of the essence here, to provide a rewards/loyalty program to everyday customers. It's more secure to do this on the Blockchain, than any other way. If there's enough interest/demand for something like this in the future, you could expect Burger King, Autozone, and other major stores/retailers offering their rewards program right on the Blockchain. It will greatly reduce fraud, as points will be directly linked to a customer's identity on an immutable Blockchain network.

Whenever we'll see this become a reality in the future, it's yet to be seen. At least, we have token standards that make issuing securities on the ETH blockchain a lot easier than we've imagined. It's possible that the "freeze" function can be modified to the developer's content, in order to create non-transferable tokens on the Blockchain. With the ever-increasing popularity of Ethereum and other smart contract platforms in the mainstream world, I believe anything is possible. Just my thoughts