Bitcoin?
Lehman Brothers spectacularly going bust in 2008 was the writing on the wall that ordinary folks like us can’t afford to rely on banks. Bitcoin provided the perfect solution: a decentralised monetary system which doesn’t depend on any central authority like a bank or government. The Crypto page has some really good information about why Bitcoin’s invention in January 2009 was so important for the world.
One of my claims to fame is, around 10 years ago, I bought a Bitcoin for about $600. I was thrilled a few weeks later when I sold it for $750. However, the Bitcoin price went up to around $70,000 in 2024, so maybe I should have held on. The problem for me was it was gambling – it is mainly about speculation.
However brilliant Bitcoin is for the world, there has not been and probably never will be utility. Most people buy it, sit on it and hope that it will go up in value, known as HODLing (Hold On for Dear Life).
“Blockchain is the tech. Bitcoin is merely the first mainstream manifestation of its potential.”
Marc Kenigsberg
Vow® is the missing piece for global crypto adoption.
Of the now thousands of crypto coins out there, Vow is one of the few that have utility. A completely new currency is generated by brands, shops, restaurants, hotels, airlines and distributed to their customers. Businesses can save up to 80% or more compared to existing rewards programmes. And consumers save money.
The crypto part is the engine in the background… businesses and consumers don’t need to understand it or even be aware of it.
Each year retailers lose $7 trillion of revenue by discounting. Vow fixes that.
Vow is transforming the global loyalty / rewards sector and is also very exciting for consumers to save and make money. For more information about Vow, check out the Vow Currency page.
For the first time ever, pegged value currency can exist without a centralised issuer, central bank, government or big tech company. All retailers in the Vow economy issue Voucher currencies (i.e. v$1 off, v£1 off, v€1 off digital vouchers), and “Vow” to accept them back as $1 off, £1 off, €1 off of their products and services.
Due to this inherently decentralised issuance and acceptance network, Voucher currencies gain real world utility and thus value.
Because a little VOW is needed in order for merchants to issue voucher currencies, VOW aims to become a reserve currency for the whole world’s discount voucher trade.
The Vow website is vow.foundation where you can get more background.
Ecosystem Overview
Background
This interview featuring VOW founder Bish Smeir is well worth a watch. It starts about 10 minutes in, so watch from here and if you are short of time just watch the first 5 minutes and come back to the full video later.
vCurrencies… The Big Picture
Watch this video with Erick Calder who I met in Frankfurt in 2022 and Munich in 2023. Erick is a highly respected expert in the IT, crypto and economics sectors:
Already up and running with millions of users
This is not your average ‘Pre-Launch’ opportunity. Vow is already moving along rapidly in the UK, USA, Scandinavia, India and other countries. Serious players in the rewards, cashback and loyalty sectors are already excited about Vow and moving their existing customers over to the Vow ecosystem.
In the UK? Save money now
You can already save money with a number of consumer apps available. Here in the UK, I use Swipii. For copyright reasons I can’t give examples here, however I get at least 2% cashback at the biggest online shop out there. And there’s higher cashback at three of the UK’s largest supermarkets, 5% at another massive household name on the high street… plus cashback at 100s of other brands, restaurants and stores. Checkout the Swipii website and download the app to your phone: www.swipii.com.
Latest… at the time of writing I get 6.5% discount at all of the above (some of the biggest names on the high street and online). Ask me how!
Apps are available in other countries already, such as India (www.ndtv.com/big-bonus) and the USA (www.cashbackapp.com/usa/home)
More information
Call or email me if you need me to help steer you through your research on Vow. I am not a financial advisor, however I have been around Vow for over 2 years and around the broader project for more than 12 years.
There is a wealth of information I can share with you about Vow. If you like the sound of the project, you can at the very least buy some VOW (from the market – there are no affiliate links and nothing in it for me). This is not investment advice… you must do your own research.
- The Vow website is www.vow.foundation where you can get more background and read the Vow White Paper.
- I expect Vow to be more important than Bitcoin within 10 years. Imagine if you bought some Bitcoin in the early days. What about the guy who bought two pizzas in 2010 for 10,000 Bitcoins (which would now be worth around 150 million dollars)?
- Bitcoin has definitely changed the world. It was the first ‘crypto currency’ and has revolutionised money for the better. However, buying and selling Bitcoin is all about speculation / gambling. Bitcoin will never be widely used to replace day to day money… it’s too complicated, too volatile and not scalable for millions of transactions at point of sale.
- Vow is a cryptocurrency, however the crypto part is in the background. Most people and businesses in the Vow ecosystem don’t even need to know about the crypto part.
“Crypto enthusiasts have never doubted that innovation coming out of this space – especially innovation in DeFi – has the potential to make international banking cheaper, faster, and more efficient…”
Mikkel Morch
Founder and Non-Executive Chairman, ARK36