Populous has come up with another way to ADD VALUE for its PPT token holders. Here is what Populous said in their Slack announcement channel.
Hi
for ones that don't know; Populous is bringing a new revenue stream for PPT holders; the XBRL Token, the use case is to provide credit reference data in exchange for the XBRL Token, and as a big thank you, all Populous early adopters will receive air dropped XBRL Token's whereas others will have to purchase XBRL Token's from an exchange. A announcement will be made once Tokens have been issued.
What Does All This Mean?
We all know that Populous will be the first Invoice Factoring Company on the blockchain but you didn’t know that it may also become the first Credit Rating Agency on the blockchain too. With Beta going live sometime in November this year, it will be the first credit rating agency on the blockchain!
If you have been following my blog posts I have written about Populous’s in-house credit worthiness system, but for Populous to come out and declare their intention of sort to become a player in this field has totally caught me off guard and I imagine a lot of people by surprise.
No specific details have been released but the implications are HUGE for the industry, for Populous and especially for Populous early adopters.
What Are XBRL Tokens Used For?
Basically the XBRL token will be used to buy credit reports from Populous and for the time being only XBRL tokens will be used. Meaning, you cannot purchase the Populous credit report using fiat. The XBRL tokens can be traded on exchanges like EtherDelta and financial institutions seeking credit reports, like banks and insurance companies, will need to buy these tokens to purchase the credit reports from Populous.
Populous will be airdropping a number of XBRL tokens to PPT holders. The distribution of XBRL tokens will not be based on the number of PPT tokens held but determined by all sorts of conditions and criteria that Populous will define internally. In my opinion, this is a “discretionary bonus” or a reward for Populous early adopters. So some will receive more and some less.
Even before going live, Populous has added value for its band of merry followers. Populous is not just an Invoice Factoring Company but also a Credit Rating Agency. So those who purchased PPT pre-ICO or post-pre-ICO stages, bought into two companies for the price of one! How’s that for adding value.
I Dream of XBRL Tokens!
Ethereum is talking about staking as part of its future plans and by staking you are helping to confirm transactions throughout the network (correct me if I am wrong here). In return you are rewarded Ether.
This would be a really cool idea if staking of some form was also brought to XBRL tokens as well. Staking XBRL tokens to perpetually generate XBRL tokens so that the financial institutions buy from you to purchase the needed credit reports from Populous. The demand for XBRL tokens will be immense.
- There are over 3 million companies utilizing the XBRL format in the UK and hence 3 million companies will need some sort of credit rating to borrow money or buy insurance etc.
- A credit check on a particular company will be done periodically, not just once because the financial health of a company over the last six months may not be the same as two, three or even six months down the road.
- Populous intends to go global and there are already numerous countries using the XBRL reporting format around the world. If the UK consists of over 3 million companies on XBRL, how many companies are there in the world!
As the business grows and the demand increases, the number of XBRL tokens will also need to increase accordingly. The number of tokens will need to be balanced against estimated numbers of credit reports to be purchased. But how will Populous know – in my opinion they won’t know or they can just make a wild ass guess!
Too many XBRL tokens and the tokens will be on sale every day, too few tokens and Populous may price itself out of the credit rating business no matter how good the reports. XBRL tokens will need to be available so long as Populous is in the credit rating business.
The staking percentages can be adjusted in line with a smart oracle to the growth rate of Populous. If Populous is growing fast and the market demands the credit rating service provided by Populous then the staking percentages could be increased to match. Likewise, if the growth rate is slow then the staking can be adjusted downwards to suit.
Could this be considered as comparable to Ether and GAS to transact on the Ethereum and NEO blockchains. Since Ethereum will be introducing staking and GAS can already be staked why can’t XBRL also be staked. Just like Ether and GAS, XBRL tokens will be used on the Populous platform for transactions.
I hope that my dream come true!
What Are XBRL Tokens?
So far the XBRL tokens have been defined as being used to purchase credit report based on the information from the XBRL data.
Now this is just conjecture on my part because I do not know. Instead of just buying credit reports, let us consider the XBRL tokens as used to purchase XBRL data. That opens up a whole new possibility with respect to the use of XBRL tokens.
What other information within the XBRL data that we mere mortals do not know about. Could the XBRL tokens also be used to buy these other data in the future?
In Conclusion
A hard cap on the number of XBRL tokens is not workable because credit reports would always be required as long as Populous is providing the service. XBRL tokens must be constantly generated to meet market demands.
Is this a one-time airdrop or will an airdrop be carried out periodically? Airdropping tokens may be seen as distributing a dividend once Populous go live because this could be seen as a distribution of profit. This may be something that should be avoided so as not to come under financial scrutiny from the regulators. We all know how sensitive this issue is becoming.
Staking XBRL tokens may be the way to go (my assumption) and is in keeping with Populous’s philosophy of generating value for Populous early adopters. Just take a look at Experian, Equifax, Transunion the big three together with the many smaller agencies out there are enjoying the fruits of a multi-billion dollar industry. This means credit reports are produced every second of every day and XBRL tokens will be needed every day.
The value of the XBRL tokens is not in its market value but how it will be implemented that can add value. It would not be in Populous’s character to just add value once by one airdrop of XBRL tokens. Adding value to create a perpetual income stream for PPT holders is the Populous I know.
Populous is like a chameleon, able to change the colour of its’ skin just like that. Populous has the ability to ADD VALUE, it seems at will. It started out in Invoice Factoring (The Secret Sauce) then Credit Rating Agency (Additional Revenue Source For Popoulous) and now XBRL Tokens (Additional Income Source For Populous early adopters). What’s next?
When Populous is referenced, it is not Populous the company but Stephen Nico Williams the person. By investing in Populous you are not investing in Populous but in Steve, the man. Clif High clearly spelt this out in the interview at the 1:23:16 mark when he said,
”my confidence and value is that I will extract from my relationship with Steve is not in that thought. It’s in what he’s going to think next. So it’s his next brilliant idea that’s going to bring in that value” – Clif High
If you missed the interview see it below.
Steve is certainly in this for the long term and you can see it in everything that is being crafted and as I have analysed in my Populous posts. So what other surprises has he got under his sleeves and what is he thinking about next?
Other Populous Post
I have posted a number of articles on Populous with the latest one below which is also linked to all my other Populous posts or go here to find them.
https://steemit.com/populous/@marcusxman/populous-can-predict-the-future
In addition, see also the post from 
This is NOT Financial Advice
In my humble opinion, the risks to the downside are small compared to the potential upside rewards. This should not be construed as financial advice but an opinion only. As usual do not invest more than you can afford to lose as these investments can go to zero and always do your own due diligence.
Feel free to comment as you see fit below.
I’m just letting off Steem, if you found this post informative then UPVOTE (with FULL POWER), COMMENT, FOLLOW and especially RESTEEM.
Live Long and Prosper
I wrote this article myself and it expresses my own opinions. Computer literacy is crucial in this day and age. Just because someone tells you it is good does not mean that it is good for you.