Bunz, a trading community built through a network of Toronto-based Facebook groups, has launched its own cryptocurrency.
BTZ (pronounced ‘bits’) can be used for trading between the company’s 200,000 app users and at more than 100 local brick and mortar food, beverage and retail locations including the Drake General Store and The Fifth Pubhouse in Toronto.
As of today, April 9th, anyone with the latest version of the Bunz app, as well as new downloads, will receive 1000 BTZ, of which there is a finite amount.
The 1,000 BTZ is worth approximately three to four cups of coffee at launch, according to a Globe and Mail report, though the value of any cryptocurrency can fluctuate in value.
The Toronto startup says early adopters and active app users will be rewarded for engaging with the app from the beginning through earning BTZ by posting items for trade that receive many views, sharing the Bunz app within their networks or watching educational videos about BTZ.
“BTZ is an extension of the Bunz bartering revolution. We see a future where large institutions will be replaced with decentralized systems that are owned by the people who use them, instead of the people that built them,” said Bunz Trading Zone CEO Sascha Mojtahedi — a former TD Canada analyst and manager — in a press statement.
Though the new token doesn’t come at a particularly auspicious time for cryptocurrency — especially as many large social media platforms are now banning crypto advertisements — it does make sense for the platform.
Bunz has an established group of users that have long used things like subway tokens and gift cards as alternatives to cash.
Bunz was established in 2013 as a private Facebook group by Torontonian Emily Blitze.
Source: CNW Via: Globe and Mail
