This is an extensive Investors guide to the #Sureremit ecosystem and #Cryptocurrecy
(TL:DR if you don’t have much time, please start reading from Stellar or Sureremit segment)
1. Background history, basic principles of Blockchain and history of the Internet
Crypto Crypto Crypto! We are living in the age of the disruptive tech of Crypto! We know it will be big, and we know it will change a lot, the signs are good, but let’s be honest, there are way too many ICOs out there and it’s not really sure if most of them will disrupt anything at all.
We have projects which want to create a decentralised store of value, we have projects which want to disrupt the financial institutions , some projects want to create a virtual decentralised world with virtual real estates and life using #Blockchain and cats, don’t forget the cats.
Then there are projects focussing on one of the core ideas of why #Bitcoin was created in first place which is, bringing financial freedom and banking to the whole world, no matter your country of residence, your skin colour, your language or religion.
First, lets us take a step back and look at what #Blockchain and these new techs are based on:
It all started with the Internet, which was invented to be able to exchange information between some universities and institutions.
Soon people realised the true potential of this technology and with the founding of the W3, protocols were designed which allowed the whole world to take part in Information exchange in the worldwide network called the Internet.
By realising the potential of this worldwide network of information and data exchange, everybody went nuts and we could see the Dotcom mania unfold from 1996 to 2000.
There were thousands of start-ups with more or less viable ideas , and smart Wall Street traders with very good marketing skills, used this new technological achievement to pump any project they could market well, no matter their viability, to then dump the overheated market ending in the famous Dotcom bubble bursting in the year 2000. A lot of people got rich but more people lost money
In the end only the viable and real disruptive projects succeeded, namely Internet shopping, online gaming, social networks as well as online information like YouTube and online news.
Newspapers suffered, small storefront shops couldn’t compete, and no one bothered any more driving out to the next Blockbuster and trying to rent a new Movie on DVD which was rented out anyway. These were the businesses being disrupted the most.
Could it have been foreseen? In my opinion, probably yes. How? With the knowledge about the technological capabilities of the Internet one could determine easily where this technology is most needed and thus predict which markets it will disrupt the most. As a conservative Investor, you would look at the markets and values with the highest potential for disruption in front of you, e.g. Information exchange and connected with that the offering and selling of your products worldwide and pick the projects which do just that. The only thing important left is the experience , vision and skillset of the executing team.
An educated Amazon.com investor could drink his tea calmly while watching the bubble burst, not worried at all for the long run. Even if he bought #Amazon stocks at their peak in 2000 for 120 USD, he would still make 10X profit today. Over time, only the value projects emerge and grow exponentially.
Sure there are some projects which have emerged and are from a different kind, but as a conservative investor you will invest in the least risky project with highest upward potential and a known market to be disrupted Warren Buffet would say.
If you knew or heard the vision of, Jeff Bezos, at that time, you would know this guy will make his vision a reality.
Now after 20 years of success, it is time for the next step in the evolution of the Internet, the #Blockchain.
So what is #Blockchain when the Internet with its information exchange capabilities already is such a huge improvement to life and business for the whole world?
Blockchain is the decentralisation or removal of trust.
#Blockchain is an Update to the Internet. With this Update, transactions over the Internet can be trusted and verified, without the need for a centralised authority confirming that transaction. But what does it really mean for the world? The most important meaning is that now anybody can take part in a secure and trusted global network where they can exchange verified values and information, without the need for a government controlled and centralised institution like #Banks, #Visa, #Pay Pal or M-Pesa.
Traditionally those centralised entities provided trust with the downside of being expensive and not accessible to 70% of the world population, offering financial inclusion to less than 30% of the world population.
The monopolies for trust are being destroyed and everybody, no matter where they are, have access to the same trustworthy transactions and financial tools as well as non malleable contracts and data we are used to in developed countries, without discrimination and for a fraction of the cost.
There are many more possibilities with the technology of Blockchain. This is why we see so many projects and ICOs, not all having the same qualities and goals.
As a conservative investor , you probably want to stick to the projects focussing on disrupting known markets.
Coming back to the Dotcom analogy, it is a much safer move to invest into projects which supply a demand than betting on possible new markets taking on higher risk because less predictive.
Just like, if you know there is a car market and the cars all have a Fuel efficiency of 30 MPG and your technology can increase the MPG efficiency to 60 MPG , is even cheaper to produce, cheaper to acquire for new customers who wouldn’t have the money to even buy a new car today, then you would probably invest in that technology, instead of trying to develop flying cars which have a built in bacon cooker. Betting on an increase in people who like to eat fresh cooked bacon when they fly around is a risky investment decision.
One more thing you need to make sure of, is the underlying tech and the executing team of the project. Do they have experience? Are they skilled enough and well connected? What is their long term vision?
2. #Stellar: Platform and ecosystem explained
#Stellar is based on the #Bitcoin technology, but it is far more efficient , faster , cheaper , has smart contract capabilities as well as a built in decentralised exchange.
It is a complete financial platform , with banking, exchange, asset creation and smart contract capabilities, made for the whole world to access and use.
Derived from #Ripple, which is a private for profit company, #Stellar is the decentralised non-profit project using a protocol similar to Ripples technology but with far more capabilities and open to anyone to partake.
To clarify , #XRP is disconnected from what the Ripple company sells to banks as solution they get paid for, and also the nodes are private and not public. I have to mention this because by holding #XRP , a user has no stake at all in the #Ripple company or project, which most people don’t understand.
By holding #XLM, the Stellar native currency, you actually become part in the Stellar network and economy, can earn part of the fees and inflation generated and spin up your own nodes, all public access.
#Stellar provides the technology platform which will disrupt the whole world economy and finance, ready and working now, without scaling problems (more than 4000 tps) for the foreseeable future. Stellar already is what #Bitcoin always wanted to be and it is improving even faster, with a #lightning-network and other features already in preparation.
Trading assets, banking and remittance, that’s hundreds of Trillions, yes hundreds of trillions of USD worth of markets right there. We are talking the world economy, not only western countries or just developing countries but everybody trading with each other all 7 billion earth population. And #Stellar targets this market, the whole world.
Companies like #Sureremit , #Mobius or #Tellus and many more build their projects and businesses, on #Stellar as the platform for issuing the tokens just like #Ethereum and making trusted transactions. Every company or project can offer their goods or services, even assets like Gold or Oil or Real Estate in token form and #Stellar even has a built in decentralised Exchange, where your asset gets immediately listed and can be traded as soon as it is created.
3. Sureremit: History, markets ,goals and price prediction
What is Sureremit and what are they trying to do?
#Sureremit is a project by the makers of #SureGifts, a company operating since 2014 , based in Nigeria with a branch in Kenya, providing #Cashless remittance services for immigrants wanting to send money back home to Nigeria or Kenya and help their families and friends paying their utility bills or buying groceries and consumer goods as well as medication using vouchers. #SureGifts is the 4th largest cashless remittance provider in Nigeria with over 1.5 million USD yearly turnover without taking into account the business of the branch in Kenya.
The Co founders are Adeoye Ojo, Olaoluwa Samuel-Biyi and Babafemi Lawal.
The voucher business is very new to Africa, #SurereGifts biggest competitor, the number one in Nigeria has a turnover of 3 million USD. So it’s just double the turnover because the market for Cashless remittance in Nigeria is young but growing. There is a need for #Cashless remittance, because senders can be more sure about the use of the funds (theft, drugs) and very low fees compared to 10 to 15 % for Cash remittance.
The Market for vouchers in the US only is about 300 Billion every year, and Europe as well as Asia with similar numbers accounting to more than a trillion USD turnover for vouchers in the developed countries alone.
Suregifts business model involves creating a network of merchants and utility companies who offer their vouchers trough Suregifts, so that immigrants living abroad, can buy Suregifts vouchers in some shops, send the code via phone or email to the receiver in their Home country, and when the voucher is redeemed, Suregifts pays the merchant directly with Fiat.
Sounds simple? Yes it is. But where is the magic you ask?
Remember , the value of Blockchain lies in disrupting trust. And that’s where #Sureremit comes in, the Crypto of the #SureGifts network.
#Sureremit’s short term goal is to become a global provider for cashless remittance, donations, mobile top up and a gateway to buy #Giftcards with crypto, credit cards as well as debit cards.
So from day one you are able to use the #RMT currency in the real world to purchase goods and services by the vouchers providers available in the App (e.g. #Amazon-US, #Jumia, #Nike etc,).
The long term goal is that RMT becomes a currency in itself, accepted directly by all participating merchants in the ecosystem, and replacing alternative currencies like M-Pesa. So that in the future you can pay directly with RMT at any store, without the need to buy a voucher. And you can trade RMT for any asset on the crypto sphere , making anyone in the RMT ecosystem part of the global economy and enabling them true financial inclusion.
Lets add up the numbers:
#Sureremit will have access to the global remittance market, #Giftcard market, donations market, mobile top up market, #M-Pesa and to the crypto market:
The global #Remittance for immigrants sending money abroad is 600 Billion USD every year, and 40% of that is cashless, in form of vouchers or mobile minutes (which in some countries are an accepted currency e.g M-Pesa), or by paying utility bills.
The Giftcard market in the US and EU alone is about 700 Billion every year.
The Donations market is about 500 Billion Every year.
The Crypto market is 400 Billion with a daily trading volume of 21 Billion USD at the time of writing (May 2018).
The #M-Pesa mobile phone based money, has a total transactions volume of 40 Billion USD in 2017 in Kenya alone.
The Mobile top up market in over 150 countries worldwide valued over 10 Billion in transactions every year.
Adding those which are accessed through the #Sureremit-app, we have a potential market with a total value of 2 to 3 Trillion USD.
How does Sureremit work?
#Sureremit uses #Stellar as its platform which is a financial ecosystem where you can create and trade assets as you like.
With using #Stellar, #Sureremit does not only have a secure and low fee platform for making transactions but also gets access to #XLMs liquidity, exchange and assets.
#Stellar is in its infancy but already has over a hundred million in daily volume and a market cap of more than 17 Billion USD. Note, it has the potential to become worth hundreds of trillions of dollars in market cap with trillions of USD in transaction volume daily.
#Sureremits token is #RMT, it can be bought on #SDEX the #Stellar native Exchange and there have been talks with other exchanges where #RMT will get listed when the full App is live. #RMT can also be purchased in app with Credit or Debit card, making it easy for non Crypto users to use #Sureremit to send remittances.
When a client sends a remittance, he buys #RMT sends it to the app and uses it to purchase the vouchers or donate to the cause they like. When doing so, #Sureremit the company, locks the #RMT until the voucher is used and then pays the merchant in Fiat or #RMT depending on what the merchant prefers.
#RMT is the asset of the #Sureremit ecosystem. Merchants and customers can use it now or decide to hold it. The advantage being, when the ecosystem grows, the #RMT token will have more value, since its the only way to access the #Sureremit worldwide ecosystem. It can also fall in price, but if bought and used immediately a customer only interested in using it to purchase a voucher will have little to no risk.
Again, the long term goal of #RMT is that it will become an accepted currency in itself. Just like any Fiat or #M-pesa currency, or #Bitcoin. It is planned that the merchants in the ecosystem will accept it directly without the need to buy a voucher.
If you consider it being on #SDEX and having access to the worldwide liquidity and assets, it is just a matter of time when this will actually happen. The true meaning of banking the unbanked.
There are only 500 million #RMT in Circulation right now, and a total of 1 Billion #RMT. The Company and advisers hold 45% which is locked up, another 5% is reserved for Bounties and promotions etc. to promote the ecosystem.
Donations, #Giftcards, crypto market and #M-Pesa
Other markets Sureremit enters besides the remittance market of 600 billion and the M-pesa market worth 40 Billion, are the donations market, gift cards and the crypto market in general.
The donations market, which will be accessed through the ability to donate to verified charities in the APP, is about 400 Billion USD every year. Charities will be paid in #RMT and can choose to use the #RMT in the ecosystem to buy the goods they need or to ask #Sureremit to convert it into Fiat if the goods and services are not available in the merchant network yet.
Both ways, with #RMT using #Blockchain, it can provide much more transparency than traditional ways of donating to Charities, saving costs and giving the donor assurance what happens with its funds. Thus solving 2 of the biggest problems of the Donation industry, high administration/transaction fees and no transparency.
The #Giftcards market is about 700 Billion USD in Volume every year in Europe and US alone.
You might think #Sureremit only has partners for vouchers in Nigeria and Kenya but that’s where you are wrong. #Sureremit already has partnerships with #Amazon-US, #Amazon-UK, #Starbucks , #Nike, #Jumia , #Samsung and more are joining every month. You can use your credit card to buy #RMT in the App , then use it to buy any voucher you like, or just keep the #RMT if you think the price will go up and buy more value for the same amount of #RMT at a later time.
The Crypto market:
Sureremit provides a good way for Crypto users, to convert their Crypto into real world value, without the need to KYC and with 10 to 12 % lower fees than the available gateways.
The Crypto to Fiat gateways available charge 10 to 15% in fees if you want to use your profits to buy goods and services. But instead of wasting so much of your gains for fees, Crypto users can choose to buy #RMT instead and use it to buy any voucher they like. You can find almost anything on Amazon. Why pay 10 to 12 percent when you can just pay 1 to 2 % and even have a potential upside when #RMT rises in price.
You are at #Starbucks and want to buy a coffee but they don’t accept #Bitcoin or fees are too high for one cup of coffee? Just use #RMT in your #App, buy a voucher and get your coffee.
You want to to buy a phone or a bicycle from #Amazon but #Amazon doesn’t accept Crypto or charges high fees for it? Just use the #RMT App. It’s easy like that.
By getting listed on more mainstream Crypto exchanges, #RMT will become a gateway for users to convert to real world value , the Crypto market is, at the time of writing at, 400 Billion and has a trading volume of 21 Billion daily.
Disrupting M-Pesa and other alternative currencies:
In the long term, Sureremit will become a better alternative to the #M-Pesa, a mobile airtime based currency by #Vodafone used in Kenya and accounting for over 40 Billion USD , half of Kenya’s GDP, in transactions every year. #M-Pesa is also available in Afghanistan, Egypt, Romania , South Africa and expanding further, with a projected transaction volume of 100 Billion.
#Sureremit with #RMT and #Stellar as its platform has huge advantages to M-Pesa because users of #RMT can access a worldwide economy and can trade any asset anywhere in the world using #Stellar, no matter where they live and without discrimination and KYC.
They are not only limited to doing business and buying goods in Africa, their #RMT will have value all around the world, and can be exchanged into any local currency using #SDEX.
Financial freedom won’t stop at country borders.
#RMT is not a Crypto project targeting only #Africa, it is a project targeting the whole world!
If you had this idea, throw it overboard! Because #Sureremit uses the trust of #Blockchain to do business without borders. It doesn’t matter where they are located. As long as you have Internet, you or any merchant can be part of the ecosystem.
This is disruption at its best, it is financial inclusion in action, it is what the shared economy means, right now, not sometime in the future.
There are no technological bottlenecks in the foreseeable future:
Because the underlying Tech of #Stellar , which is already able to handle all transactions,
after full App release the team of #Sureremit which has over 4 years of experience in this field, will only work on expanding the network and new partnerships. We as investors should just watch the ecosystem grow and can help to accelerate that by spreading the word.
Big Names backing #Sureremit:
Famous Backers of #Sureremit include:
#500-Startups, a silicon valley incubator programme
#Hashed, the biggest VC fund of south Korea
#dAlchemy, a big Crypto fund invested in NEO, Medibloc, Sentinel Protocol and Sureremit
#Venture-Garden, Nigeria’s top Tech VC fund
Just to name a few…
Price Forecast:
If you think about the numbers, they are staggering.RMT enables financial inclusion and security to over 5 billion people which don’t have any access to the financial tools US and EU residents are used to.
Even being very conservative, at some point in time there will be a huge breakout of RMT. Specially when people realise the potential of RMT becoming an accepted currency in itself replacing M-Pesa and co..
Predictions for the near term:
According to the roadmap, in Q2 they expand into ME and India where they already have some connections, EU will come in Q3 and Q4 #Sureremit will expand into #LATAM. As minimum, we could see a market cap of 400 Million EOY and if people #FOMO maybe even 1 or 2 Billion USD. That would be a #RMT price of 2 to 4 USD with FOMO and around 1 USD without #FOMO.
Mid term #RMT can reach a market cap over over 100 to 200 billion, mid term meaning just as #Bitcoin needed, about 4 to 6 years from now. By then the total supply on the market would be maybe 800 million, so we could see a #RMT price of 100 to 200 dollars in the mid term.
Long term there is no limit honestly. If #RMT becomes a trusted currency in developing countries and western countries , we could see it go into the trillions in market cap. If it replaces #M-Pesa with over 100 Billion in transactions a year, the valuation would explode. Prices of 500 USD per RMT is very much possible if you think about it.
Conclusion:
#Blockchain will disrupt the financial monopolies of the western world and #RMT with Stellar as a platform are best positioned to enable just that. #Sureremit is a global project with a team which has over 4 years experience in this field and backed by some of the biggest names in Crypto space.
Considering their short , mid to long term goals, #RMT will not have the problems of adoption and scalability facing other Cryptos namely #BTC and #ETH.
#Sureremit is ten steps ahead of other comparable projects, with a skilled team, sound vision and execution, positioned perfectly for short term growth, real token usage and long term viability.
With this strategy it has a good basis to reach its mid to long term goals to becoming an alternative currency to #M-Pesa and #Fiat in general.
I personally see a much less speculative investment and a multi Billion (Trillion) dollar project in the making!
This is not financial advice, I am just spreading the word about Sureremit and informing people who don’t have the time or skills to do a complete research and valuation of RMT and its potential by themselves.
If you found the info helpful and liked it, I would appreciate your donations in #RMT, #XLM, #ETH or #BTC!
Thank you for reading!
Mademanalex
Further Links:
Sureremit website:
Here is a page by the community member @NextCypher who did a great job collecting and listing all resources and facts about Sureremit. You can find everything in there (Whitepaper etc.), check it out!
https://sites.google.com/view/sureremitfacts
Also join the official Telegram for news updates and community talk here:
Donations:
RMT, XLM donation address:
GDRUZKYNFWGJIEVQNYWUBRAL4M6PAFIB2RM7P6DASY6RBU3FYEDPG2Q6
ETH donation address:
0x5058360f6a3EE0a25DB4c2e223d225F7E5039249
BTC donation address:
1JMmFZnhLpsxKKA8mDLuRmqfiqxd8eL7Lt