[KOBO] Kobocoin - Mobile Money for Africa

[bereyaq]

How good of an internet connection do you need to be able to do some coin transfer transactions with each other.

What was your experience in Africa?

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.

I heared about a potential wifi balloon project, but I don't know how far google is in Africa.

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[KikloV]

KoboCoin Blockchain Snapshot updated to 7-24-2017.

https://www.cryptopia.co.nz/Forum/Thread/1349?postId=8588

 

[Mahkul]

How did the conference go?

[TheTribesman]

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!

[TheTribesman]

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!

[Rw13enlib88]

FGreat to see KOBO moving forward!! Great job dev!!

Partnering with Bitsoko and BitcoinLady will boost KOBO development!! Well done!!

[TheTribesman]

FGreat to see KOBO moving forward!! Great job dev!!

Partnering with Bitsoko and BitcoinLady will boost KOBO development!! Well done!!

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

[darkistorrik]

FGreat to see KOBO moving forward!! Great job dev!!

Partnering with Bitsoko and BitcoinLady will boost KOBO development!! Well done!!

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

Good day. I really like the coin concept and a very good developer - frequent updates and that the most important they are all important.
I bought 5000 and in the next time I will buy more and more. I see the price of a coin at $ 5 until December.

[TheTribesman]

KOBOCOIN IS MOVING!

[PrivateerIsland]

Yeah! Africa is financial Terra Incognita and fast growing market. Good idea with this coin, devs.

[darkistorrik]

Tell me why the ban on withdrawal of funds in yobit.net and how much it will continue. I want to output to the desktop wallet, but I write - Withdrawal for such currency is temporary off.

[darkistorrik]

Tell me why the ban on withdrawal of funds in yobit.net and how much it will continue. I want to output to the desktop wallet, but I write - Withdrawal for such currency is temporary off.

You can not answer, I carefully read the chain and ... I hate Yobit , the worst exchange of all.

[TheTribesman]

KOBOCOIN IS MOVING TO THE ETHEREUM BLOCKCHAIN!

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
 

[tekbe]

This could be huge. The branding is strong.

Also while a retail loyalty scheme may sound a bit underwhelming at first, to me it seems like a perfect initial use case. It will be a nice vehicle to spread Kobocoin widely among people thus enabling mass adoption and new use cases (including regular payments) for the future. And the migration to the ethereum blockchain will allow everyone to come up with those new use cases and apps.

[mandica]

Is there a current bootstrap as I can't sync. It keeps freezing.

[wosch76]

I wonder why there's no volume.
people could f.e. buy on yobit and sell on cryptopia for a quick buck.
or just buy and hold.
But I guess there are problems regarding withdrawls on yobit. isn't it?

[opticoin]

Q and A with Mr Felix Ugoji, Founder of Kobo coin and Updates on KOBO development

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcJMmhLDpfA

[Rw13enlib88]

KOBOCOIN IS MOVING TO THE ETHEREUM BLOCKCHAIN!

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!).

I think this a very important decision.
It's important to solve the sync issues and definetly attracting some good devs, but don't forget that the most important thing KOBO needs is to be easy-to-use for the average people.


About the 10% PoS and 350,000,000 Total coins, not that sure about it.
We need the 10% stake to increase the interest in the coin while it's being adopted by the real users, but you don't want 10% inflation every year.
I mean, with a total 350M coins it will take more than 25 years to achieve it (maths down below) while 100M coins will take almost 15year.
I think in 15 years this coin is gonna be used by the people it's focused on, so no need to have another 10years of 10% pos.


25.000.000
27.500.000
30.250.000
33.275.000
36.602.500
40.262.750
44.289.025
48.717.928
53.589.720
58.948.692
64.843.562
71.327.918
78.460.709
86.306.780
94.937.458
104.431.204
114.874.325
126.361.757
138.997.933
152.897.726
168.187.499
185.006.249
203.506.873
223.857.561
246.243.317
270.867.649
297.954.413
327.749.855

[wosch76]

Is there a current bootstrap as I can't sync. It keeps freezing.

I found something, but the date is 2017-07-24.
I hope it helps anyway.
https://www.cryptopia.co.nz/Forum/Thread/1349?postId=8588

[bobfash]

Where can I find kobo coins roadmap please