[KOBO] Kobocoin - Mobile Money for Africa

[TheTribesman]

Keep the good ideas coming. I'll post the work schedule tomorrow when it's all confirmed.

[TheTribesman]

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.
 

[TheTribesman]

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.

[opticoin]

-apply for listing on Bter.com  on KOBO/CNY pairing to attract more Chinese players?

[penoze]

-apply for listing on Bter.com  on KOBO/CNY pairing to attract more Chinese players?

Trying to be listed on btc38 on the future 😀.

[TheTribesman]

I've added those two exchanges.

[opticoin]

 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

[opticoin]

From the Mad PotCoins part of the World Crypto Network podcast date June 22/2015

"  ....Financial technology startups are moving to Asia and Africa, an increasing number of companies are seeking to avoid restrictive and oppressive regulations by getting away from developed nations and instead focusing on the developing world.. The main focus of most startups is currently person-to-person digital transfers and international remittances. Cryptos have a great chance of leapfrogging legacy banking in these places, the same way they skipped landlines and went straight to cell phones . It seems more likely that the killer app every one's waiting for will come out of Zimbabwe rather than New York.. "

-----------------------------
 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ6Ob2Qg-R0&feature=youtu.be&a
   
 watch 4:29 to 5:07
     

[samspaces]

Where's the block explorer?

[heureca]

greetings there  nice idea ...but i hawe a few questions
1. you need bitcoins to by kobocoins how do you whant to solve this midlman problem... i mean what more can kobocoin give that bitcoin dont have....  someone could trade his products aswell with bitcoin, instead of trading his money in bit and than in kobo to by something or to send money somewhere ??
2. i see you hawe done some translations in some languages but non of them are native afrikan, i know in the most parts of africa the spoken languages arent nativ african but i think it would be nice to try to translate in some.


all the best from here to there 

[opticoin]

https://blockexperts.com/kobo

Where's the block explorer?

[TheTribesman]

https://blockexperts.com/kobo

Where's the block explorer?

or http://blockchain.kobocoin.com/

[TheTribesman]

From the Mad PotCoins part of the World Crypto Network podcast date June 22/2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ6Ob2Qg-R0&feature=youtu.be&a
  
watch 4:29 to 5:07

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.

[TheTribesman]

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



 

[heureca]

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

[TheTribesman]

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.

[opticoin]

remittance startup = $200,000 ....  Kobocoin's market cap is around $30,000

https://vc4africa.biz/blog/2014/07/11/africas-new-remittance-tool-remit-raises-capital-to-expand/

[TheTribesman]

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!
 

[TheTribesman]

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!

[olcaytu2005]

- 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.