Pints and Blocks | EOS Nairobi
“Pints and Blocks” is an international event series geared towards opening up discussion and networking among Blockchain and Financial Technology enthusiasts across platforms and protocols by fostering healthy discussion and building a global network of like minded professionals.
Pints and Blocks Nairobi was held on the evening of Thursday 4th April at Baobox, Westlands, Nairobi. The spirit was lively and the aura of the evening radiant. Great minds, great conversations, lots of learning; that’s the snapshot of the amazing event made real by a diverse group of builders, developers and researchers representing almost all the continents of the world. Countries represented included Canada, China, Ghana, Italy, Kenya, Spain and Taiwan.
Topics of discussion were diverse and included stablecoins, initial exchange offerings, security token offerings, and staking as a service.
Stablecoins
The community currencies in Kenya by Grassroots Economics were discussed as having features of a stablecoin. A stablecoin is a digital currency designed for the purpose of creating price stability by pegging it to an item whose value is stable. Stablecoins may be pegged to items such as gold and other precious metals, to national currencies that are considered fairly stable (such as the USD), or to other cryptocurrencies.
Stablecoins may be said to be centralized if there is a managing body that oversees the physical asset that the currency is pegged to. Alternatively, a stablecoin is considered decentralized if it is pegged to other cryptocurrencies and requires (has) no managing body.
Examples of stablecoins include USD Tether, DigixGold Tokens, True USD, Havven and DAI.
Initial Exchange Offerings
In 2017, the crypto world saw several projects raise funds through Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). In similar fashion, Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) are a method of raising funds for projects. ICOs usually have a smart contract to which funds (ETH) are sent to with the promise of delivering the projects’ tokens of similar value to the buyers once the project is launched.
IEOs utilize a model where an Exchange serves as a counter-party and replaces the smart contract in ICOs. The buyers therefore deposit their funds with an exchange which then distributes the project’s tokens upon launch. Among the advantages of IEOs is that it reduces the risk of scams, utilizes the existing userbase of the exchange, and allows for listing of the project with the echange upon it’s launch.
Examples of IEOs include BitTorrent which was launched on Binance’s Launchpad, and the RAID token meant to be offered on Bittrex (called off just hours before the IEO).
Security Token Offerings
Security tokens are digital currencies that have the inherent nature of a security, that is, they grant the holder rights of ownership in part of the project in form of equity (which also grants them a right to a certain portion of profit), or debt (which grants them a right to interest).
Security tokens are more stringently regulated, but this also confers them the advantage of greater trust by buyers. According to one report (https://www.inwara.com/report/q1-2019-report), there were a total of 47 STOs in Q1 of 2019, with a rising trend in security token offerings as opposed to the drop in ICOs.
Staking as a Service (SaaS).
While protocols like Bitcoin that utilize Proof of Work algorithms have “mining”, those that utilize Proof of Stake (and Decentralized PoS) algorithms have “staking”. Because these platforms need nodes to maintain the network, individuals may pool resources and maintain a node and share out the dividends earned. This model is becoming popular over time, with more SaaS platforms being utilized by token-holders.
Examples of SaaS include Tezos and Livepeer.
Pints and Blocks Nairobi was an amazing experience with lots of learning and networking. We look forward to future meet-ups and the growth of a unified community of researchers, developers, entrepreneurs, and believers in the transformational power of technology.
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