The internet age has birthed a number of new business sectors that are changing how business is done globally, one of those sectors is Crowdfunding and another is Cryptocurrency (CC). There are nearly 2000 different CCs to choose from the biggest and most popular is bitcoin, but are there other great opportunities to find? The answer is yes, if you search and research carefully.
Here are 7 keys to picking a solid cryptocurrency:
1) Creator’s Vision – every CC creator has a plan, most of the time the plan is focused around high technology, and/or sophisticated features, often absent from common plans are marketing, distribution, or adoption strategies. It is recommended that you know the CC creator’s vision for the CC even if the developer is no longer personally available. A supportive community should be able to articulate a clear vision for the currency.
PICISI is the creator of Pi, they have a well articulated vision for the CC. Pi will be used more as a currency than a commodity. As a currency Pi will be used a) as a means of exchange between Promotion Contractors and PICISI; b) to raise start-up funds and to procure multiple operational licenses; c) as a host CC option for Campaign Organizers at PICISI; and d) as a payment alternative for PICISI sponsors paying fees. A major aspect of PICISI’s vision is the plan to “rebuy” Pi on the open market.
2) Integrity – decentralization in the CC industry essentially means: ‘no central point of responsible’ however to some it means: ‘many are independently willing to accept responsibility’. Responsive, accountable, and transparent are character traits often used to describe good caretakers of a currency.
Although Pi is technically a decentralized currency because it is built on a decentralized platform, it should be viewed as a hybrid because a large amount of the currency will be controlled by PICISI.
3) Community – all of the people directly involved with a CC including: the creator, administrators, investors, supporters, anyone that uses the CC, watchers/trackers/followers of the CC, regular contractors for the CC, including the uninvolved supporters (endorsers) of the CC should be considered part of the CC’s community.
Some good sign of a healthy community is daily interaction, regular update of meaningful content, some form of leadership, a healthy mix of membership tenure, respectful interactions, and a growing membership.
PICISI is at the prelaunch stage with an impressive community size of about 40 members: 2 admins, 22 sponsors, 16 Promotion Contractors, and 6 volunteer. Their prelaunch strategy clearly is to ‘hit the ground running’ to insure a healthy beginning.
4) Structure & Security – in the CC universe centralization is a bad word, however whenever a major upgrade is needed or the market rate for the CC takes a disappointing turn investors are always looking for someone to “handle it”. Foundations, elected leaders, and/or individuals who ‘step-up’ to assume leadership roles are stabilizing forces for a currency.
At every point in the development of a currency security is vital, safety enables a currency to be able to grow into a strong currency.
Pi’s security is built into the security of NXT and NXT’s Monetary System; that association is also what technically qualifies the CC to be considered a decentralized currency, however since PICISI will likely control a majority of the units much of the time, for practical purposes it should be considered centralized, or perhaps ‘hybridized’.
5) Purpose & Productive Performance – a CC should have a well articulated purpose, after the code is written, community gathered, and allocations made … what then? At some point a currency must perform as a currency otherwise it is a commodity, or worse a space holder. Productive performance means it has an articulated purpose and is visible, recognized, and woven into the culture.
Pi’s purpose is articulated in the developer’s vision, the currency was created to be used mainly as a currency for 4 specific purposes, however the primary purpose for the currency is a means to pay Promotion Contractors located worldwide for providing services to tell the rest of the world what PICISI has to offer.
6) Utility – between ‘purpose’ and ‘performance’ is ‘adoption’, adoption of a currency often refers to merchant acceptance or willingness to accept a currency. Utility often refers to a currency’s usage.
Many times CCs create for themselves a niche market choosing to focus on a particular segment of the market instead of the whole market, eg: HYPER and GoldPieces focus on the gaming industry, and EMC2 and Gridcoin focus on science research.
PICISI has chosen to limit the market size substantially by tying Pi to the business. The currency was built to serve the business needs of PICISI. Although it will likely expand far beyond it’s original plans; and
7) Meaningful Drive – is marketing and outreach that enables you to provide your target audience with additional perspective or detail. This is in contrast to irresponsible hyperbole or rhetoric.
Cryptocurrency is a complex subject, those who are responsible for promoting a currency should be willing to explain every detail to you in terms that you understand.
When considering a cryptocurrency to invest in, think on these things.
