UPDATEKobocoin is now 2 years old! (7th February, 2015 - 7th February, 2017)
We've proved our staying power and been battle hardened in the most brutal capitalist industry on the planet. No ICO, no premine, no instamine, no allegations of wrongdoing, no forks (soft or hard), the network still running, our JS library built, we're IoT ready, and our mobile wallets are still syncing (after many late nights suffering!). Our problems with Yobit withdrawal continue. If anyone knows how to contact the team directly then please let me know. It's been almost a year now and trollbox support attempts aren't working. I will consider a nice reward for anyone who can get Yobit to sort out the withdrawal issue.
The FutureFor KOBO, the future is mobile. The desktop wallets will be also be updated but right now the mobile wallets need to give new crypto/kobo users more information and services other than just the wallet function itself.
I've found a developer who's already started working on the new wallet features. He's an Android/iOS developer (not crypto - so no blockchain updates... yet). The following features will be added over the next few weeks.
1. PIN Entry System (on startup or app lockout) -
In progressTo include app lock after 60s non-activity
2. KOBO/BTC Markets Page Consisting of:
- KOBO price
- BTC price
- KOBO/BTC price (average)- This can be expanded later to include LTC/DOGE/XMR
- KOBO/BTC price (individual exchanges)
3. General Crypto Markets PagePage based on CoinMarketcap API's of top 10 (or 20, or even 30).
4. Newsfeed PageWith the following news categories being pulled into the page. These could be individual categories or just the top 20 items based on the categories listed below. I considered having individual sources being listed and selectable but I'm not sure it's necessary right now. It's can come at a later date if the demand is there.
- Crypto News
- Fintech News
- Africa News
- World News
5. Core Wallet Features - Sweep Paper Wallet - Very very important. People need this to add KOBO they buy from agents to their wallet so it's as easy as adding phone credit.
- There is an existing issue where attempting to label an address (incoming transactions) causes the app to crash (I already created an updated WalletActivity.java that just needs to be implemented).
6. Possible Future Developments - Services Marketplace where KOBO / BTC / LTC / XMR / DOGE is accepted
- African based crypto noticeboard where early adopters (businesses only) can get their message out. They will hopefully be converted to long-term platform advertisers
- Your Ideas invited
At the moment I'm
not trying to link the wallet and newsfeed via code. That can come later based on wallet usage or how things progress in general. And of course, I will be asking about porting the app to iOS
The aim is to build a compelling mobile wallet that people (not just kobo users) will consider downloading. I'd like prospective business partners to view the wallet as an advertising platform as well as crypto wallet. I'd also like to think that there's a way to
require all partners/advertisers/prospects to pay in KOBO for all services (advertising, sponsorship, listings etc). Crazy as it sounds, I'm hoping this requirement will help with exchange volumes.
This is the MVP (Minimum Viable Product). It's going to cost me quite a bit to get it built but if the demand is there (after the work is completed) then I'll consider getting a business plan drawn up and go for some proper funding to really build up the wallet services. Once the above work is complete I'll also commission professional marketing shots of the mobile app so it can be advertised to a wider audience.
Some prospective partners in Kenya, Nigeria, and the USA are looking into if/home they can use kobo in their payment offerings (this still includes Bitsoko - that collaboration is not dead yet, it's just moving very slowly). I've had discussions on how kobo can work for them (as opposed to bitcoin). One prospective partner even asked if they needed to buy mining equipment. I explained the difference between PoW and PoS which they liked, but once again, no matter how good things get I always remember that our exchange volumes are not the greatest. At this point it's our achilles heel.
My biggest concern at this time is the Yobit withdrawal issue. I hate to think that new users are going to Yobit to trade BTC for KOBO and then finding out they can't withdraw the KOBO. That's the biggest downfall at this time. I've been constantly contacting Yobit but I just cannot seem to get them to move on this. Maybe I should offer them some BTC. That normally wakes people up.
Any further ideas for the wallets? All advice appreciated (other than the expected BCT "why don't you just die already" advice which I still won't be taking). Please try to keep ideas to things that can be achieved without the intervention/interaction of others (e.g. advising me to go and get the biggest online retailer in Africa to accept KOBO is not realistic right now). Service offerings are what's possible at this time.
tl;dr?
Two years on, KOBO is still alive 
