What is PotCoin?
PotCoin was the first ever digital currency that enabled transactions within the legalized cannabis industry.
PotCoin is a community-based peer-to-peer network, offering low cost and instant transactions and runs on proof of stake (PoS) algorithm.
PotCoin is an ultra-secure cryptocurrency. It offers both a banking solution and a networking solution for users. The idea behind PotCoin is to process legally purchased marijuana. While there is a growing attention towards marijuana, the industry has suffered from a lack of support from the traditional financial institutions.
At the federal level, marijuana has not been legalized. Therefore, banks find it difficult to support such businesses, creating an opportunity for cryptocurrency.
Trading in a virtual currency over a decentralized network is one of the promises that PotCoin has made the users, which is quite appealing. Besides, users are also able to accept and send money to any other country in the world.
On the blockchain, there is also the benefit of a lower fraud risk given how blockchain technology has been designed.
The marijuana industry is estimated to be worth $6.7 billion. Given the legislative upheavals that are going on at the moment, it is expected to be worth more than $50 billion by the year 2030.
If it brings its marijuana business online, the state of California alone can add another $7 billion to the current market value. These are impressive statistics that make investing in PotCoin a brilliant idea.
What is the problem that PotCoin Solves?
The blockchain has given rise to a lot of young and speculative markets. There is a lot of growing concern as to whether all industries really do need a cryptocurrency or a blockchain project.
This is the speculation that most people had with the cannabis industry.
While skepticism, healthy or not, was going to be one of the concerns that PotCoin needed to ride out, it has done so well. Contrary to what most people tend to believe, there is actually a strong case behind the need for projects like PotCoin.
The marijuana industry is growing fast, especially with increasing acceptance and legislation supporting the growth and commercialization of the plant.
Marijuana is getting accepted in more jurisdictions by the day, and this opens up markets for projects like PotCoin. With the current advancements in the marijuana industry in terms of legislation, there is a need for transparency, standards, quality checks, maintenance, and payment platforms. This, therefore, makes a strong case for the presence of PotCoin.
The cannabis industry has for a long time been shrouded in secrecy and underhand dealings, and by legalizing it, it might be difficult for a lot of people who had gotten accustomed to making the shift into mainstream commercialization. This opens up an avenue for getting cannabis on the blockchain.
How does PotCoin Solve the problem?
The cannabis industry and blockchain are two unlikely bedfellows, complementing one another just at the right time in their development stage. These two are both emerging industries. They are just getting accepted and taking shape.
One of the biggest target markets for either of these is millennials. Both cannabis and blockchain technology are items that millennials are excited about.
They both share a good promise for the future but are not the kind of topics someone would be willing to discuss in a family meeting, especially with hardline traditionalists.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have been touted to be the solution to most of the technology problems that we are facing at the moment. For an infant industry like the cannabis industry right now, there are two key issues that projects like PotCoin are out to solve:
- Payments
- Supply chain
Payments
Marijuana has been legalized in so many states in the US. Other countries are following suit, and people are increasingly tabling discussions in their respective legislature houses about the legal status of cannabis, and the reasons why it should be legalized.
There are many reasons why this discussion is being held, whether for the medicinal use, recreation or for use in products with a low content of THC.
With the status change, there is, however, the challenge that most of the outlets that are selling cannabis products do not have the systems in place to handle checks, debit or credit cards, or any other form of conventional payment.
This particularly applies to the stores that are dealing in recreational cannabis.
Banks have made it increasingly difficult over the years for business owners to create and run accounts for marijuana businesses. Therefore, a lot of such entrepreneurs have to operate on a cash basis, and this has so many risks.
There are more than 11,000 banks in the US alone, and only 300 of these are willing to support the marijuana industry at the moment.
There is always the option of online payment platforms like PayPal, but these also have the tendency of suspending an account should they suspect money laundering or any other breach of their terms of trade, whether they can prove it or not, for fear of reprimand or backlash from the federal government.
Therefore, as it stands, the banking world does not have systems in place for cannabis growers and entrepreneurs. Most of the people who engage in cannabis are unbanked.
PotCoin offers a trustless solution for businesses whose primary objective is trading in cannabis. Other than that, by using cryptocurrency, this will also become a way of introducing cashless purchase options for stores that do not already have one.
Supply Chain
Other than solving the payments problem, PotCoin and the blockchain can also help to make the supply chain smoother than it currently is. As has been mentioned before, there is a lot of secrecy in the cannabis industry, and as a result, transparency might be a mirage.
However, by introducing PotCoin, the blockchain project brings a level of transparency to managing the supply chain, which means every step of the distribution process could fall under federal tolerance, and state regulation having met compliance standards.
In 2012, soon after recreational marijuana was legalized in Colorado and Washington, the US Department of Justice presented a memorandum, tolerating state-regulated cannabis industries, only if they met certain guidelines, including prohibiting the sale of legal marijuana to states where marijuana was illegal.
By connecting all the players in the supply chain through the blockchain (sellers shippers and growers) it becomes easy to do away with the risk of illegal trade of marijuana where it is not legalized.
The players simply need to enter the relevant details of their products and shipments on the blockchain. This also helps to determine how much supply is in stock and how much has been sold.
It becomes easier to monitor inventory, audit and identifies abnormalities in the supply chain through a simple scan.
This also allows for tracking and verification of the marijuana ecosystem. This is the level of transparency that PotCoin is bringing to the marijuana industry.
What makes PotCoin better than the competitors?
There are not so many blockchain projects that are dealing with marijuana. However, given the nature of the industry, as it is, the following are some of the reasons why PotCoin is ahead of the pack:
First entrant
One of the advantages that PotCoin has over the competition is the fact that they enjoy the first entrant position.
By taking the risk and venturing into the market before everyone else, PotCoin endeared themselves to the users, making it easier for them to associate with it.
PotCoin was the first blockchain project in the cannabis industry and has since remained a leader in that realm. This also allows them the position and benefit of exploiting developments and technology available in the blockchain industry.
Marketing
Another area where PotCoin has been able to outshine the competition is in marketing. They have an able marketing team that has fostered partnerships with influencers around the globe.
Case in point, when they supercharged the price of the currency by having former NBA star Dennis Rodman in a PotCoin emblazoned shirt on a trip to Singapore at the same time when the world was witnessing the historic North Korea-USA meeting.
Soon after Rodman appeared in the PotCoin shirt in Singapore, the cryptocurrency started trending online.
What is even more interesting is the fact that in Singapore, marijuana is illegal. In fact, smoking marijuana in Singapore attracts the highest possible punishment, the death penalty.
Middlemen
Against the traditional marijuana market, PotCoin has offered a solution to many problems that have plagued the industry.
There are so many illegal activities that are associated with the marijuana market, and most of these can be traced back to middlemen in the process. Middlemen make business difficult for growers and buyers and anyone else in the process.
Through PotCoin, the entire production process is streamlined, meaning that at all times, there will be transparency.
Development Team
PotCoin is backed by a solid team of developers. Having a talented team of individuals backing any project is the perfect recipe for success, as has been the case with many projects over the years.
PotCoin has an intuitive cryptocurrency website, that is user-friendly, slick and comprehensive.
Anyone who wishes to invest in the project, learn about it or interact with the PotCoin community can simply access the website and find out as much information as they need.
From experts in sales, social media coordination, marketing, and developers to create a toll-free number, PotCoin has gone out of its way to encourage confidence in the project from users all over the world.
Instant transfer
One of the benefits of using PotCoin is that it allows users the ability to complete transactions instantly. This takes away the challenge of unnecessary delays that are often associated with traditional banking systems where applicable.
Maps
The development team at PotCoin have been working on making it easier for users to access PotCoin dealers. In this regard, they have created a map online for all businesses which accept PotCoin as a form of payment. This way, you can easily check the businesses in your area and find out which one you can trade with.
How can PotCoin be categorized?
PotCoin is a digital currency that is specifically designed to address the financial management challenges that are inherent to the marijuana industry at the moment.
While initially launched as a Litecoin-QT fork, PotCoin has since advanced and among other improvements, it is running a Proof of Stake Velocity algorithm.
What’s PotCoin’s vision on Security?
The PotCoin project is built with security being one of the top priorities, hence delivering a blockchain platform that is packed with innovative features. At least 98% of the coins are stored offline, which means they are safe from loss or theft.
Examples of PotCoin use cases/applications
Using PotCoin is very easy. It has been designed for two types of users, consumers, and businesses.
Consumers
First, you have to select a wallet that you prefer. While there are other wallets available from where you can manage and use PotCoin, PotWallet is one of the best available, given that it is specifically designed with PotCoin in mind.
Creating a wallet is free, and you should have this done in a matter of minutes. You can also research and find out more about the wallets that are supported by PotCoin.
The good thing is that most of the wallets you will come across are built to run on most, if not all of the operating systems available, from Linux to Mac OS.
With a wallet, you can then visit any exchange where PotCoin is available and purchase some, or conduct your business online. Other things that you can also perform with PotCoin include staking, spending or keeping PotCoin. Since PotCoin uses a Proof of Stake algorithm, by simply keeping the coins in your wallet, you stand a chance of earning more money.
Businesses
Legal marijuana businesses can now accept PotCoin as a form of payment. This is done through the PotCoin gateway. This gateway is specifically designed to make work easier for any entrepreneur that trades in legal marijuana. However, regardless of the industry, the merchant operates in, they can still accept PotCoin as a form of payment.
Charity Foundations
PotCoin is largely a community-centric blockchain platform. There are several projects that are run which give back to society. Through the PotCoin Donation Fund, a number of causes have been sponsored, including The Cannabis Health Service, The Snoop Youth Football League, and the FRAXA Research Foundation.
Resources
https://www.potcoin.com/images/blog-images/PotCoin-4.20.2016.pdf
https://coincheckup.com/coins/PotCoin