BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
UK firm Toba Electric Bikes has revealed details of its new cryptocurrency project, issuing 23 million tokens via the Bitcoin Cash blockchain through the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP tokens).
Toba retails electric bikes from Spanish brand BH, as well as e-bike parts and accessories worldwide in exchange for Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin cash (BCH). It has now released its own new utility token that can be swapped for products and services on its own website.
Founder Scott Snaith, based in Loughborough, is exclusively accepting digital assets, as opposed to fiat currency, and anyone who pays with Toba Tokens will receive a 10% discount on all products.
He said: “From mid-December, just six weeks after Toba genesis, the token can be used to checkout and swap digital tokens in return for its products and services. If the customer chooses to pay with Toba’s then they will receive a discount off the price listed on the website, allowing for the token to be used in its own unique ecosystem and therefore creating a network-effect based on exchange. The token then grants access to a multitude of innovations, by way of smart applications, as we release our own Model Toba-T e-bike in March 2020.”
This Toba-T, and its cycle application, will allow e-bike owners to set up their own courier enterprises, using the network to complete transactions.
He adds: “As you ‘sync’ an electric bike with a smartphone application and a digital wallet, the scope of the project becomes endless as the bike essentially becomes not only a bike but a ‘business’. It allows the customer to create their own network to sell the bikes with a QR code and receive tokens as rewards. These can then be exchanged for Bitcoin cash on the Cryptophyl exchange. You could become a self-employed courier that earns Toba tokens for deliveries within the local community and create your own customer base.”
Toba Electric will initially retail bikes from BH, including the ‘Atom Cross’ valued at £1,895, and for sale through Toba Electric for 0.263 Bitcoin or 8.8 Bitcoin cash. Customers will also be able to generate their own Tona Tokens while they pedal – ten tokens for every 100 miles achieved on the Model Toba-T.
Snaith added: “This is a project and a business that will be dictated by the technology available at this moment in time. The Simple Ledger Protocol allows us to create a token as secure as Bitcoin Cash itself, to list on the free market to determine price discovery, and then to accept those tokens against the products and services that we sell as a business. As a UK company, we’re pushing the boundaries to enable a proof of concept that others can follow. We are supported by some very forward-thinking partners and grateful for the time and effort that all these parties have contributed over the last 24 months.”
Initially, 11.5 million Toba tokens will be issued as rewards for either buying a bike or using a bike.
Snaith explained: “These can then be exchanged on Cryptophyl for other digital assets such as ‘Spice’ or used directly on our website or application to exchange for products. The other 11.5 million tokens are distributed only in strict correlation to what products are deliverable within a 60 day period of time from listing on the Cryptophyl exchange. As we promote the use of electric bikes worldwide we can now use cryptocurrency and digital wallets to reward cyclist for the miles that they ride every day.”
