Company plans to use blockchain to disrupt the loyalty program business.
If you’ve registered domain names at Uniregistry over the past three years then you are familiar with Topcoin, a form of digital rewards that can be redeemed for discounts on purchases at Uniregistry. The utility of this rewards currency is about to get interesting.
Michael Blend launched TopCoin at the end of 2014 with the idea of it being a loyalty program for digital goods like domain names and hosting. Topcoin was built on blockchain, but keep in mind that this was well before the current cryptocurrency craze.
Now, in the midst of initial coin offerings (ICOs) and a run up in the value of cryptocurrencies, Topcoin is getting ready to go big.
The company, with .build founder George Minardos as CEO, is planning its ICO and will use much of the proceeds to build out Topcoin as an easy-to-use loyalty program for digital goods. It essentially lets companies create a loyalty program for free that’s based on blockchain. This was the original idea for Topcoin, but it makes a lot more sense to people now than it did back in 2014 and will finally have the infrastructure to push forward.
I recently spoke with Minardos about the company’s plans to understand how it will work and what it will mean for domain investors who own Topcoin.
Minardos stressed that Topcoin’s goal isn’t to become a speculative cryptocurrency. It also isn’t designed as a security.
“Based on our look at the markets and our interpretation of laws, we believe it’s a utility token because it’s a loyalty program,” Minardos said.
Minardos prefers to refer to the ICO as a “token generating event” in an effort to differentiate it from the madness currently going on with ICOs. Details about this will be posted on Topcoin.com soon.
The target date for the token generating event is mid-October and Topcoin will use the ethereum erc20 protocol for creating tokens. Topcoin will likely be based on the ethereum blockchain.
Topcoin will sell 1 billion tokens up front. Another billion will be set aside for partners (e.g. registrars that offer Topcoin in return for purchases) and another billion for founders.
Existing Topcoin wallet holders (that’s the 14,000 people who have obtained Topcoin through Uniregistry) will have their current Topcoin converted into the new one at a rate of one-for-two (one existing for two new). These wallet holders will get to participate in a pre-sale of Topcoin.
So, will Topcoin holders become instant millionaires?
That’s not the point, and Minardos says it’s difficult to predict how it will play out.
“Our focus is on use,” he said. “We’re not interested in a coin that blows up because it’s the next new thing.”
While Uniregistry customers are used to converting one Topcoin for a $1 discount on purchases (up to a certain limit per purchase), it’s up to each digital goods seller to decide how much they want to “pay” for Topcoin.
In practice, people should be able to sell Topcoin on exchanges, too. It might even be applicable to aftermarket domain transactions.
We’ll have to see what happens but one thing is for sure: Topcoin is about to get a lot more interesting.
Nuno Oliveira says
Hope it does good… have quite a few topcoins.
Dan says
You can buy a gazillion top coins for like $100, what do you think 200k coins are
Going to be worth $10?
Francois says
If you go to alts.com you could see there is already a topcoin token trading in exchanges with the TOP symbol that has no relationship. So some confusion may happen.
Chad Folk says
33% of the tokens is not a distributed system but a centralized control company. Most tokens focus on distributed system design and keeping 66% of the tokens is not the ethos of what /why most are creating cryptocurrency. The distributed loyalty rewards programs that are truly owned by the community will likely win over time. The url space will be seeing alot of blockchain developments, like the CONTRIB- CTB token which actually helps domain owners leverage there assets to create value. I hope topcoin provides full transparency but as Francois mentioned, having 2 players with Topcoin in the name, looks like they are 2nd movers even being in the market for 3 years..
George Minardos says
Hi Chad it’s actually more like 66% as the ecosystem is made up of 1/3 end users and another 1/3 registrars and registries. As time goes on it should grow toward full distribution. Thanks for your comment.
AbdulBasit.com says
Finally and some day I will be able to use TopCoin in near future. Because so far I couldn’t use it since I don’t buy any new gTLDs.
Ron says
The trend is everyone is waiting to dump their topcoin, you will not be able to get any monetized value from it. The owners will dump before you can even pick up your pennies.
Sergey K doft.com says
The big problem of modern ICO market is the amount of scam. That imo is the reason why some countries like Russia or China ban ICOs.
I think the best way to make the situation more clear is to give the opportunity ti start ICO to the companies with the background like Doft, which started ICO being the established logistics company.
Michael Blend says
Quick clarification: existing TopCoin holders will receive 2 new tokens for each TopCoin they currently hold. Also, to obtain TopCoin prior to the pre-sale, purchase domains at Uniregistry. Thanks!
onlinedomain says
George Minardos? Are you kidding me?
Beware!
https://onlinedomain.com/2017/09/11/domain-name-news/read-topcoin-ceo-george-minardos-invest-ico/
Danno says
Read your website Kosta. You should bury your Greek jealousy and let George do his thing. He’s a good guy.
Konstantinos zo says
Haha. Nice one. Maybe he can reply to my emails from 2014 to explain himself. Still waiting.
JZ says
good guys get fake trademarks to hijack domains? hmm.
Ron says
Yes, you think these people are going to let you cash out topcoin for real cash, read above you have another thing coming.
Ron says
The only thing I want to know is where can I unload my topcoins for cash to some sucker who believes all this crap?
Koosah says
Yippee we’re gonna be rich!!
@domains says
At the very least, I’m glad to see that someone is trying to do something with Topcoin to get it some traction. Since I’ve been getting topcoin every time I purchase at Uniregistry. But how do you do an ICO for a coin that’s already been around for years? It does have a few good things going for it, such as a good name, a good domain in topcoin.com, it’s on a blockchain, and the word ‘top’ seems to be popular and understood in China. As domainers we have seen a lot stranger things over the years.