Cryptocurrency is not just for punters anymore, mainstream crypto adoption is spurring industry growth

Kazooky Media Background

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain have had a wild ride over the last couple of years. Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, saw a high of over $20,000 CAD in December of 2017 and a subsequent collapse to around $4,500 CAD in January 2019 of this year. As of June of this year it’s back up above $10,000 CAD.

That is some serious volatility.

When I was first introduced to the idea of buying Bitcoin it was summer of 2015 and the price was momentarily hovering around $400. Even though the buy was recommended by a close and trusted friend, I declined. Not my best ever decision. 

Back to crypto volatility

There have been many reasons for instability in crypto markets over the last couple of years:

  • Issuing companies had little or no tangible products or assets, making it difficult to understand their offering or even know if they were genuine.
  • A lack of information or poor communication from companies issuing tokens meant investors were unsure of how their money had been put to work, and or any progress being made. 
  • Inexperienced management teams that were unable to deliver on promised value.
  • Punters / speculators were attracted by returns in the thousands of percent while regulatory scrutiny kept more genuine investors at bay. 
  • Without defined market rules or regulations, prices fluctuated exponentially in short periods of time.

It’s clear to me that investments in failed business models or vaguely defined projects are the single largest contributor to the 2018 cryptocurrency crash. Coupled with undeliverable blue sky aspirations, and speculators looking for a quick buck, markets experienced significant risk and turbulence along the way. The focus was on the potential gain of a token or coin and not on the success or potential of blockchain as a commercially viable technology solution.

Mainstream crypto adoption

2019 however has seen a shift in the way markets are operating.  We are now seeing investors taking a far more considered approach having developed a fundamental understanding of the value of crypto currencies as a decentralized investment opportunity, while searching for the legitimate projects that leverage blockchain technology. What has helped move the industry forward are the several multinationals that have turned to blockchain technology because of the potential it offers.  Now that the ruckus around cryptocurrencies has settled, there are significant projects coming from large, blue chip companies and major financial institutions such as JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Facebook, IBM, and Cisco.

Having trawled through filings and releases from publicly listed companies in the US, Canada and across Europe, it’s obvious how widespread the interest in blockchain has become. To showcase this more clearly we have compiled a small list of the companies that have discussed blockchain, bitcoin or cryptocurrencies since 2015 in their filings, research or presentations. Our research shows the total number of public companies discussing these ideas over the last few years   

  • Financial institutions – Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank, CIBC, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Norges Bank, BlackRock, Fidelity Investments,  MasterCard, Visa, American Express
  • Consultancy firms – Capgemini, Accenture, IBM
  • Resources –  Oil Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, Rio Tinto
  • Automobiles – Ford Motor, Porsche, Tesla, Uber, 
  • Technology –  Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Oracle, SAP, McAfee, eBay, PayPal, Tencent
  • Consume – Unilever, Walmart, AT&T, T-Mobile, General Electric, Netflix

  

Companies Talking About Blockhain

Source: Zooky, Bloomberg, Company filings

These are the early days of mainstream cryptocurrency adoption. Much like the mainstream adoption of the Internet, the bubble of the 1990s, the subsequent crash in 1999, and again today, the largest and most profitable companies in the world are technology companies. 

Who is undertaking mainstream crypto adoption?Libra Cryptocurrency

While this list is in no way exhaustive, it is a sample of crypto and blockchain projects that mainstream and credible organizations are undertaking.

JP Morgan – https://hackernoon.com/jp-morgan-surprises-us-with-a-stablecoin-84910588dff1

Facebook – https://medium.com/altcoin-magazine/explosive-growth-facebook-coin-could-triple-crypto-users-e616e067bb6a

IMF  & World Bank – https://cryptonews.com/news/imf-and-world-bank-found-a-new-way-to-understand-crypto-3688.htm

IBM – https://www.coindesk.com/ibm-signs-6-banks-to-issue-stablecoins-and-use-stellars-xlm-cryptocurrency

Cisco – https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/digital-transformation/blockchain/index.html

Rakuten – https://www.coindesk.com/e-commerce-giant-rakuten-opens-its-new-crypto-exchange-to-customers

AT&T – https://www.computerworld.com/article/3397796/att-becomes-first-big-mobile-carrier-to-accept-bitcoin-payments.html

Positive news from credible business leaders

PWC: The Big Crypto Players of 2019

https://www.coinspeaker.com/pwc-big-crypto-players-2019/

Cisco: Cisco Says Blockchain will be $10 Billion Market by 2021

https://medium.com/blockchain-positive/cisco-says-blockchain-will-be-10-billion-market-by-2021-21a9afc828db

Deloitte: The Blockchain Practice

https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/innovation/solutions/deloitte-blockchain-practice.html

IBM: Blockchain and the shipping industry

https://www.coindesk.com/ibm-maersk-finally-sign-up-2-big-carriers-for-shipping-blockchain

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-18/drowning-in-a-sea-of-paper-world-s-biggest-ships-seek-a-way-out

Blockchain and the move to real estate

Jurisdictions around the world have successfully transferred ownership of real estate entirely through the use of secure blockchain technology.  This includes government sponsored programs in both Sweden and the United States, as well as the exchanging of properties through cryptocurrencies in parts of Japan.  These projects continue to attract the attention of other regions and the conveyancing, through the use of cryptos as a means of exchange, or even the full transfer of deeds, has started to take precedence. Consider for a moment the reality of peer-to-peer property conveyancing without the need of cumbersome financial or legal instruments and process.

Smart contracts, created through blockchain, already meet the legal requirements of a traditional paper contract. Along with the transfer of funds via fiat or digital currency, cryptocurrencies have started to be used to purchase properties. Equally, the transfer of the ownership of assets through blockchain has begun.  Considering mainstream crypto adoption we are not far from a position where property ownership will be transferred entirely through blockchain technology.  

More progressive countries will adopt the technology sooner than others; however, the use of secure blockchain for real estate transactions will become widespread in the coming decade. Transfer of ownership through blockchain distributed ledgers that are integrated into local or national land registries will be the tipping point.  

Goldman Sachs has put out estimates that blockchain driven property records could save up to $4bn in costs associated with real estate transactions due to reductions in headcount and actuarial risk in the US alone.

Perfect timing?

Probably the single biggest impact on cryptocurrency adoption since Satoshi Nakamoto is the Libra. As earlier mentioned in this article, Facebook’s entrant into the world of cryptocurrency is going to have massive implications on cryptocurrency adoption. It is estimated that the Libra alone will increase the entire crypto user base by two to three times. When you then consider the global ripple effect this will have, it is easy to see that we are literally months away from a complete sea change in how we use currencies on a day to day basis.

At the beginning of 2018 Kazooky Media Inc embarked on and comprehensive deep study in the viability of ICO’s as a credible platform for raising expansion capital and buyer returns. We concluded the market was to fragile and lacked the foundation needed for long term investor sustainability. Since then we have been closely monitoring the opinions and views of both regulators and potential token holders. In our opinion the ICO market has significantly shifted towards more stable and commercially viable  offers providing Kazooky Media Inc with a very exciting, credible and sustainable environment to re enter this space. With To this end the ZKY (Zooky Coin) ICO is now being put in place for a planned offer in the coming months. It is clear that mainstream crypto adoption of this real estate coin is now inevitable and, in our opinion,  will see exponential expansion. Beyond the Zooky Coin is Kazooky’s fractional property investment platform and Property Token exchange. The Zooky platform will be perfectly positioned to ride this sea change of digital economics. Creating positive solutions from disruptive technologies has always been at the forefront of rapid scalability in enterprise and BlockChain/Smart contracts will become central to Kazooky’s solutions.

Kazooky Update: Zooky Integrates REBGV

Kazooky Media Background
REBGV Logo

Zooky.ca awarded Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) 3rd party developer status

Kazooky Media Inc has added an additional property listing data feed from the REBGV. By adding this listing data to the existing Zooky.ca national property listings currently offered, we have established 100% property listing coverage in Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley and Chilliwack. 

Zooky.ca joins a unique and exclusive club, offering both CREA and the REBGV data feed within a single neighbourhood search environment. In addition to the data feed, Zooky.ca also becomes a 3rd party developer, entrenching its position in the Canadian real estate community.

Commenting on the additional development news, Chaz Green, COO explained. “The need to provide secure, stable and complete listing data ensures Zooky.ca has seamless access to all property listings in a relevant area. Add to that our 3rd party developer status, which we also have with CREA, clearly shows the technical depth and strength within the technical team at Kazooky Media Inc.” 

We are in the final stages of launching our real estate agent onboarding process which kicks off the marketing and commercial growth phase of the Zooky.ca platform.  

Zooky.ca will be adding some important and market driven features for real estate agents. This will accelerate real estate agent engagement with Zooky.ca – look out for updates in the near future.

Kazooky Media Inc starts receiving new investment interest

Kazooky media Inc have been very savvy, protecting our existing investors with each subsequent investment round. By applying a premium to each new investor round as our solution becomes technically more robust and closer to being market ready, all existing investors are assured of maximum ROI value. 

We anticipate this next round will be the last round ahead of more institutional options that will blend with our ICO plans. This ensures that we present Zooky.ca to the wider investor community during a growth phase which will attract strong market interest. We remain focused on local BC investors as this will ultimately compliment our exit strategy in the future. To this end I would like you to share our story, the above links and introduce interested investors to get in touch or, if appropriate, provide me with their contact details. 

The new investment funds will be used to add the phase two features, which will continue to build our solution and continue to create separation from the static offerings that currently exist. The funds will help accelerate growth and generate a high market adoption environment for Zooky.ca. 

Zooky.ca is now taking its’ first commercial strides in becoming the leading neighbourhood search portal and property investment platform in the Canadian marketplace.

Zooky Community Update – Zooky Phase 1 Launch

Zooky Blue BG

I have the pleasure to inform you that Zooky.ca went live on April 30, 2019. The phase one release testing and QA process has been fully completed and we are extremely proud to present our Canada-wide neighbourhood property search portal – Zooky.ca. This is a truly exciting time for us all at Kazooky Media Inc, knowing the market dynamic and alternatives, we are confident we have an extremely competitive real estate search platform in this first phase feature release.

We are serious about property conveyancing and have created a highly engaging property search platform dedicated to real estate agents. With the aim to help them maintain their competitive advantage in an ever changing digital landscape.

Zooky Home Page

We are now fully CREA (Canadian Real Estate Association) compliant and have been given full 3rd party accreditation, making Zooky.ca an industry approved solution.

Getting our solution noticed – YOU can play your part

The following link will take you to our marketing landing page, focused on onboarding over 40,000 real estate agents from our contact list. However there are over 100,000 real estate agents in Canada which we will also be approaching as we connect with the wider local real estate boards. Here is what you can do to promote Zooky.ca further. Copy and share this link to all real estate agents you know, spread the word about the unique digital real estate marketing platform, Zooky.ca.

https://zooky.ca/real-estate/real-estate-marketing/

Zooky Results Page

Zooky.ca gets its first, of what will be many, industry press coverage

Zooky.ca was mentioned within a respected real estate media outlet, it is a very positive start. Here is the article, which you can also share – Realty Biz News – Zooky.ca

New investment round opens up

Kazooky media Inc have been very savvy, protecting our investors, when opening up new investment rounds. By offering a premium to each new round as our solution becomes technically more robust, real and closer to being market ready, existing investors are assured of maximum value. Applying this ethos we will be opening up a new investor round. Our last round closed attracting three strong investors who not only believe in the investment opportunity but are also offering to provide their specialist skills during our expansion phases. Beier Cai is a world renowned and highly respected technologist who developed the HootSuite social media platform. Michael Barnes comes with strong sales and marketing skills, specific to real estate and property management, is a driven individual with a strong results focus. Jensen Lee is an experienced and successful ecommerce entrepreneur, growing his bidetsplus.com website into a market leader in its field. I am sure you will agree these are strong additions to our seed investors and advisory board. They will all contribute a positive influence as we broaden our financial and commercial strategy.

We anticipate this next round will be the last round ahead of more institutional options that will blend with our ICO plans. This will ensure that we present Zooky.ca to the wider communities within a growth phase and strong market adoptions. We remain focused on local BC investors as this will ultimately compliment our exit strategy in the future. To this end I would like you to share our story, the above links and an introductory message for interested investors to get in touch or, if appropriate, provide me with their contact details. The new investment funds will be used to add the phase two features, which will continue to build out our solution and create a significant separation from other real estate products on the market. The funds will help accelerate growth and generate a higher, more accelerated adoption environment for Zooky.ca.