Just over 365 days. A Secondary Market trading platform. Major, global Corporate Sponsors.
Its mission? To utilize its “Proof of Life Concept” to alter the standard philanthropy giving model and revolutionize the travel industry in the process.
The TravelCoin® Foundation (TCF) is gaining international attention and acclaim. By utilizing its “Proof of Life Concept” it is dramatically altering the standard philanthropy giving model, carrying out its mission to revolutionize the travel industry in the process.
Founded in 2017, the TravelCoin Foundation is a not-for-profit community interest company (CIC) registered in the United Kingdom. The objectives of the Company are to carry on activities which benefit the community and, in particular, to develop software and commission research on how Digital Currency and Blockchain technology can improve the travel experience for travelers while impacting the global economy as a whole. It is accomplishing this by completely shaking up the entire Initial Coin Offering (ICO) process, and making it accessible to almost everyone, regardless of economic status.
“While hitting the milestone of a one-year anniversary is huge for any company, as a not-for-profit Foundation it is an even bigger achievement,” said Kate Guimbellot, Executive Director. “We knew that our vision, integrity, projects and approach would need to be so new, so revolutionary, and so unlike anything ever before achieved that we would see others embrace it as we do. And best of all, it’s just the beginning!”
Turning the customary ICO process on its ear
In stark contrast to a typical ICO, where a company or foundation sits on the
funds generated by Subscribers until the ICO period ends (often spending up to 40 percent to pay their founders, board members, and others), the TravelCoin Foundation is committing 100 percent of Subscriber funds issued through TravelCoin® (TLC) to projects that benefit people all over the world. The initial circulating supply was set at 2 billion coins.
“We were very deliberate in our decision to use funds generated from TravelCoin right from the start to foster significant change in the lives of others,” said Lisa Salinas, Chief Operations Officer. “And while many new cryptocurrency entities choose to offer their ICO for only a few days, weeks or months, in order to allow a global community of regular, everyday people to participate, the TravelCoin ICO period is estimated to last between 18 to 26 months.
When TravelCoin was first offered in September 2017, it was at a deeply discounted value of $0.01. Since that time, the values have continued to rise throughout the series of 26, monthly tranches. One of the main Foundation goals is to gather 1 million Subscribers by December 2019 when the ICO period ends and the coins go public. At that time, the values are expected to reach a base value of $1.00.
“You don’t have to sit down with a calculator to see that if TravelCoin only rises to that $1.00 a piece level, that someone’s initial $500, or $250, or even only $100 subscription, at $0.01 per coin, will have risen in value to be worth $50,000, $25,000 or $10,000, respectively,” said Guimbellot. “That amount of money, particularly in such a short period of time, would undoubtedly be a truly life-changing experience for many people around the world, and something they could never imagine.”
The success and impact of the Foundation to date clearly supports their “Proof of Life” concept demonstrated by committing all revenue toward transformative global projects.
Using Democracy on Blockchain, a voting system that uses smart contract for a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) for different projects, the Foundation will empower their Subscribers to become active members and participants in every aspect of the decision-making process as it moves forward. According to Guimbellot, “This is a sign of a true democracy using Blockchain technology and a valuable tool toward allowing more people to cross the divides—financial, education, race, religion, and so forth—that separate us.”
One of the most notable projects, which has been featured in numerous industry articles and embraced by their current Corporate Sponsors (including MyTravelBiz™ (MTB), the first Direct Selling company with its marketing plan built on blockchain, Spurt Car Rental, a premium car rental service in Dubai, and Wuyouchedo, dedicated to providing low-carbon, environmentally friendly, green travel options through ride sharing and vehicle purchasing platforms, all allowing for practical usage of TravelCoin in advance of it going public), is the creation of a TravelCoin® Wallet.
The TravelCoin Wallet is, once again, an unheard of, cutting-edge element during an ICO process, and what sets the Foundation far apart, indeed, from other organization or company ICOs.
“We knew that our projects had to be the complete opposite of what was being done, so we took an approach so innovative that it required our team to literally build something out of nothing,” explained Jason Sosnowski, Chief Technology Officer. “We are very proud to have the ability to literally build projects that no one has even started to think about, while at the same time establish credibility with our Subscribers.”
The TravelCoin Wallet offers complete transparency, including a real-time ticker of cryptocurrency market values, and an auto-buy feature where Subscribers can allow the Wallet to work for them, among other features.
But it’s their revolutionary Secondary Market Trading Platform that is raising the bar in financial circles.
Instead of following with ICO tradition where Subscribers cannot sell, transfer or convert coin into their local currency until the ICO period expires, TravelCoin Subscribers have the option of buying and selling coins during the ICO period.
“Kate, Lisa and I, along with our experienced and talented technology team, spent months and months developing this innovative Secondary Market Trading Platform to allow our Subscribers to have incredible flexibility,” Sosnowski said. “Through it, they can sell some of what they have already purchased, if desired, or simply buy more coin from another Subscriber. Whether buying or selling it is a win-win for both parties, particularly if the TravelCoin is at a higher value than when they originally purchased it.”
Moreover, not only does this Platform allow Subscribers to exceed the initial $500 maximum cap, it also has its own cap. As such, Subscribers can trade or purchase a maximum of up to 10X their original investment over the life of the ICO period. So for example, if they came in at, or have since reached, the $500 level, they can buy up to $5,000 more in TravelCoin in the Secondary Market. It goes back to the Foundation’s desire to allow the “everyday person” to become a part of changing the travel industry.
ICO Integrity
It is important to note that although ICOs have earned somewhat of a bad rap because of their decentralized structure and potential for abuse since they are not yet formally regulated by a financial institution or government body, the TravelCoin Foundation has achieved phenomenal success by capitalizing on the ICO strengths and simultaneously minimizing its weaknesses.
“Our core mission is to help people change their lives while they are part of changing the world,” Guimbellot said. “That’s just one of the many things that makes our ‘Why’ and ‘How’ so innovative and forward-thinking. There were plenty of people who thought we were crazy to approach things like we have. But being revolutionary is rarely celebrated, until you prove them all wrong! So our efforts have proven to have been worth it.”
The Foundation commitment to making people feel like they are part of something greater, something that benefits our world citizens as a whole, remains of utmost importance and emphasis.
Individual subscriptions (again, for non-U.S. and China citizens) and a “Sweat Equity” subscription for developers, programmers, designers, and marketing professionals desiring to help support TravelCoin development with their time and talent, is another way for the global community to participate; the latter in exchange for TravelCoins.
“When I was recently interviewed on The Jet Setter Show and The CryptoCast with Jason Hartman [Hartman is Founder and CEO of Platinum Properties Investor Network, The Hartman Media Company and The Jason Hartman Foundation], we talked about our shared belief that Wi-Fi, for example, should be a right, not a privilege,” Guimbellot recalled. “Think about what an impact that would make in your own personal life, knowing that you gave to a Foundation that helped connect people by bringing free Wi-Fi to the globe. It’s amazing! And, that you earned dividends from that donation, so it changed your life as well.”
Future TravelCoin Foundation projects currently in development include TravelCoin® Point Swap – allowing travellers to interchangeably use their airline, hotel, car rental and other loyalty points; Smart Escrow, for ordinary exchanges of fees or services for items or services across blockchain; and TravelCoin® Go, designed to reward travelers for participating in location-specific experiences throughout their travels. For example, when a TravelCoin subscriber visits certain restaurants, shops, or landmarks like castles, museums or monuments they can collect TravelCoins for each site visited.
“It’s hard to believe that just 365 days ago we signed the legal paperwork to bring to life the vision we had for TravelCoin Foundation,” Salinas said. “From then, until now, it has been our honor to grow our Foundation mission and our global community to match all we dreamt of, and more.”
To that Sosnowski added, “We built and are growing for the long run. As we move into our second year our pledge to each of our valued, global Subscribers is that we will continue to work tirelessly to share the TravelCoin Foundation with the world and continue to build the value of TravelCoin to develop cutting-edge projects. It’s all about being disruptively innovative and bringing people together to, like our Foundation motto, ‘Unlock a World of Possibilities.’”