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ICO Alert Quick Facts
- Community driven ICO-investing platform
- 1 ETH = 500 BULL token
- December 7, 2017 — December 31, 2017
- 47,400,000 total available / 54,649,674 total supply
- 2500+ Pre-Registered Investors
What is BullToken?
Yes, BullToken is a people-driven investment community that aims to finally bring transparency and legitimacy to the ICO market. Giving cryptocurrency investors an arena to work together towards a common goal, the BullToken Community Platform is the first social media space of its kind.
Functioning as one giant symbiotic ICO investing-machine, BullToken’s Community will accomplish thousands of hours a week of careful and skilful ICO analysis. Those contributing will receive an extra bonus for their hard work, shining light on the most innovative and promising blockchain projects, while also exposing all fraudulent projects our community comes across.
ICOs have proven to be a fantastic way to catalyse opportunity and innovation, and BullToken aims to help keep it that way. With new and inexperienced investors flocking to ICOs, and more and more scams flooding the market, it’s time for a positive change towards a safer ICO investing environment.
Q&A with Espen Moen Kvelland, CTO
ICO Alert: How does the BullToken token function within the platform and why is it needed?
BullToken: You know, I feel this is an important question that many utility token projects fail to answer with a direct response. The simple answer to why our token is needed in our project… ownership.
Our vision has always been to create a people-driven investment community for the ICO market. Could we have done this without running an ICO? No. Investment communities for ICOs can be found on Reddit, Facebook, YouTube, and a dozen other forums, but there’s always a crucial missing factor in all of them. Accountability.
In order to hold community members accountable for the decisions and suggestions they make, which we believe is 100% necessary to succeed as a community, we needed to have a token that represents community ownership, and therefore translates into community accountability.
The BullToken token represents each member’s share of all assets we as a community invest in. Since we don’t pay out dividends, an owner can sell BullTokens on major exchanges if they so desire. As the value of our Community Investments increases the value of BullToken will also increase.
We also have a buy-burn mechanism to ensure its liquidity on exchanges. This is something we may never need, but it’s in place and ready to be voted on by the community if needed.
ICO Alert: What is the background of your team and what unique experiences do you have that you believe will help make this project successful?
BullToken: We’re extremely proud of the team we’ve put together for this project. The BullToken team is made up of established and successful tech, finance, and marketing professionals. All members of our team originate from the different companies driving the BullToken project.
Akeo, the main tech company behind BullToken, is proud to be one of the first Norwegian companies to become member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. Akeo has been a strong player in the fintech market in Norway, and for the last three years has proven itself as a force to be reckoned with, doubling its annual turnover each year. Akeo also has a team of over 30 software developers, QA engineers, and UX/UI designers in Jaipur, India, who we work closely with on a daily basis. Team trips to India happen multiple times a year, keeping our company feeling more like a family.
Our senior smart contract developers come from Rubynor, a tech company specializing in helping start-ups getting up and running. This group of professionals have a combined 30+ years in the field, and are avid contributors to the open-source and crypto communities.
Last, but certainly not least is our CEO, Raymond Øverlie. Raymond is an alumni of Harvard Business School, and has been responsible for multiple successful financial start-ups in Norway. He brings a strong team of financial investors and analysts, who are very experienced in venture capital and currency-trading industries. Raymond has been a huge key factor in introducing the BullToken project to the Norwegian investment community.
ICO Alert: BullToken seems to be very community driven. Can you provide some insight on the roles that the community will play in the project and how the Karma and Badges will be used to incentivize engagement?
BullToken: Yes, community has been the center of our concept since day one! Adopting the central idea behind blockchain technology, we wanted to create a product that gives back to the community that drives it.
The roles of the community are as follows:
Find ICOs and submit them for community analysis.
The due diligence process also comes from community members.
Expose all fraud we come across to help the entire ICO community, not just ours.
Vote on which ICOs we as a community want to invest in.
Govern ourselves in a purely democratic manner.
And last but not least, treat each other with the same respect we all deserve.
Within the BullToken Community Platform, we have an additional reward for members who contribute towards community success. This reward is called Karma. The more Karma a member has, the more influence they hold. Karma can also be traded for ether if one so chooses to, but cannot be bought or traded between members.
During the days where we discussed and debated all the BullToken conceptual details, we knew we needed an extra incentive for driving platform engagement. We also wanted to make sure the community is rewarding those who contribute to its success.
To explain further how Karma works, we need to understand the different types of investors that will be present in our community. This also explains why the amount of BullTokens an investor owns, has nothing to do with how influential they are in what the community does. Remember, you can’t buy Karma! So here’s a list of the different types on investors you will see on the BullToken Community Platform:
Whales: When it comes to owning cryptocurrencies, pretty much everyone has become familiar with this term. Whales are BIG! Just because a single investor owns a significant amount of BullTokens, does not necessarily mean that investor should have a significant say in what the community should do. If a whale wants whale-sized influence, the whale will need to prove itself just like everyone else in the community.
Active Investors: Today there are probably thousands of people who share their findings online, yet in return, they’re receiving nothing more than a thank you or a relatively worthless Reddit upvote. The BullToken Community Platform is a place for these investors to get back what they deserve, also giving them the choice of cashing it out, or holding on to that precious deserved influence.
Inactive Investors: We expect the majority of BullToken investors to believe in the vision, without necessarily contributing beyond their actual investment. Again, it’s important to underline that anyone at any time can contribute, but the weight of their influence will depend on what they have contributed in the past. So, a late-comer can still work their way up the Karma ladder, even though they’re late to the party. If an inactive investor suddenly decides to become an active one, then Karma is there to help.
The Karma Investor: Once BullToken is listed on major exchanges, our system makes it possible for an investor with just a single BullToken to work their way up the Karma ladder, cash in their BullToken for Ether, then use that Ether to pay for groceries or buy more BullToken.
Badges are a sign of positive contribution to the BullToken Community, and for each badge a member receives, there is an amount of Karma that comes with it.
As far as BullToken badges go, we’ve added 10 to the whitepaper (page 12), but there are already many more. And, just so it’s been said, we would love to hear from the community what sort of other badges they would like to see.
As long-time software developers, we really appreciate the element of gamification, even when the task at hand is one as serious as ICO investing.
ICO Alert: Can you provide some insight on how the submission process and voting will work? Please provide some examples of the things that may be voted on within the platform.
BullToken: The BullToken Community Process is the process of submitting and voting on the community’s future investments.
This process happens in four week time periods, which we call Voting Blocks. Voting Blocks are an ongoing and overlapping process resulting in ICO voting for Voting Block X, and ICO submissions for Voting Block Y.
This is something we’ve used hundreds of hours to fine tune, so I’ll do my best to summarize, but you can always check out our whitepaper for a detailed explanation. Also, just below is an episode of BullToken Casual Q&A, where our CMO Louie explains how it works.
In the first days the BullToken Community goes live, there won’t be any ICOs to vote on yet. The first part of a Voting Block is two weeks of submissions, due diligence, and discussions. Once the community enters its third week of existence, we’ll for the first time have ICOs to vote on, and new ones to be submitted.
Here are a few key points we can use to help summarize the BullToken Community Process:
Submitting an ICO as a Community Investment Proposal costs 150 Karma.
If your submission becomes a Community Investment, your Karma is refunded and an additional Karma reward for community contribution is given.
Voting for ICOs is “free,” but it’s important to know that your first “Vote of the Day” weighs more than the next, and so on; A fully detailed explanation can be found on page 15 of the whitepaper.
If you vote for an Investment Proposal that ends up becoming a Community Investment, you will be rewarded with Karma for your Community Contribution.
The first half of the two week voting period is “closed results voting,” meaning all results are hidden. This is to allow for an organic voting result.
The second half of the two week voting period (open results voting) will show which ICOs are trending, and details of the current votes. Who voted and when they voted are a couple examples of these details.
If you cast your vote during the first week of voting(closed results),your potential reward for Community Contribution is much higher than casting a vote in the second week of voting. The logic behind this has everything to do with human tendencies. We’re looking to reward pack-leaders more than pack-followers. If you stick your neck out early, it’s risky, but the reward is better! Exactly like ICO investing!
YouTube (Casual Q&A, The Community Process)
ICO Alert: What role will the Investment Advisory Board play in the strategy planning? What role will Bull Tech play on the board?
BullToken: The BullToken Investment Advisory Board actually has three main roles, but before I get into that, I can answer what Bull Tech’s role in the IAB will be.
I’ll begin by briefly describing the logistics of the IAB. There are a total of six seats to be filled, three of which are key employees of Bull Tech, while the other 3 will be voted in from and by the BullToken Investment Community. In effect, anyone reading this answer now can potentially become a member of the BullToken IAB. And as already stated, Bull Tech’s role here is the exact same as the three other future IAB members.
So the IAB has three main roles, and those are as follows:
The first main role is what they’ll be doing most of the time, and that is being the Community’s last line of defense when it comes to making sound investments. This does NOT mean rejecting investments the IAB does not “believe in,” but discarding Community Investments in the off-chance the community has voted for an ICO that turns out to be harmful or fraudulent. In the unlikely event the IAB discards a Community Investment, they are then required to publish a statement for how they came to that conclusion, and will also be disclosing how the IAB came to a majority vote. Although we believe in the qualifications of our community, and don’t expect to see this happening very often if at all, the IAB is still tasked with the full-time job of doing extra due diligence on all ICOs the Community is voting on.
The second main role the IAB has is facilitating the Community Investments once they have been voted on by the community and approved by the IAB. This is obviously a manual job that needs to be overseen, and it is the IAB’s job to do this.
The last role the IAB will have is to plan the community’s investment strategy for the next fiscal quarter, as you stated in your question. Although it is up to the community to decide which strategy we will be following next quarter, it is up to the IAB to plan out four different strategies to be voted on by the community.
Members of the IAB will vote on the different strategies before presenting them to the community. If five out of six IAB members vote on the same strategy, that strategy will then be stamped, “IAB favorite.” The “IAB favorite” has no other benefit other than being stamped. The community can still choose the strategy the community feels is right for itself.
ICO Alert: With newly launched ICOs typically having much more volatility and unpredictable pricing upon hitting the market compared to more proven currencies/tokens, how does BullToken plan to hedge against those risks? Please feel free to share any other details on investment policies and strategy for BullToken.
BullToken: We are fully aware of the uncertainty in investing in the ICO market, and this is exactly why we believe the BullToken Community Platform is necessary. With an increasing combination of fraud and inexperienced investors flocking to ICOs, we believe BullToken will be a key player in setting higher standards in the ICO market.
Our strategy to hedge the risks of volatility and unpredictable pricing stems from the most important characteristic of BullToken, transparent accountability.
We expect thousands of hours a week of transparent due diligence to be done before the community votes on which investments it will make. Unlike other forums and ICO rating websites, BullToken community members are actually held directly accountable for the suggestions and decisions they make, and each member is awarded individually when their contributions to the community have proven to be positive. For members who do not participate in ICO analysis, their reward comes in the form of increased value in the BullToken they own, just like the rest of those contributing towards making sound investments.
In order to distribute risk, we have two main investment strategies. The first investment strategy states that we will invest a maximum of 1% of our total Assets Under Management (AUM) in new blockchain projects, and not hold more than 5% in any one investment. Whenever an underlying asset increases to more than 5%, BullToken will partially sell itself down to 5%, and repurpose 80% of those gains into investing in new projects. The second strategy is also investing in established cryptocurrency assets. Our current guidelines state that a maximum of 20% of the total BullToken Investment Portfolio can be established cryptocurrency assets.
The last important strategy to mention is flexibility. Every day is an exciting day in the world of cryptocurrencies, but nobody really knows what will happen tomorrow. In order to be able to adapt to this fast moving industry, BullToken has set guidelines, not set-in-stone rules, and is willing to adapt by including our community in future strategy planning. Although this wasn’t part of your question, this is a very important reason for why BullToken is not a 100% blockchain project, but a hybrid. All transactions that need to be stored on the blockchain will be there for all to see.
ICO Alert: What does success look like for the BullToken team in regards to this project? What metrics would need to be met and how much growth would the community need to have before you’d consider your mission accomplished?
BullToken: We feel BullToken has already reached success because of our close ties to the Norwegian investment community. We expect a high volume of Ether to be invested during the pre-sale and main sale via our Norwegian investor network, and the numbers we receive from this market are growing on a daily basis.
But in order to consider BullToken a global success, we will not be resting until the entire ICO hard cap is reached. Still then, we expect our community to grow steadily once BullToken is listed on major exchanges.
ICO Alert: How far along is the project today and when can contributors expect to use the platform? What does the roadmap look like for the rest of 2017 and 2018?
BullToken: During the course of this project, we have used an extreme amount of resources in market research and product development. We have spent thousands of hours focusing on the details, but are purposely waiting until our initial community is in place before filling the remaining gaps.
Contributors can expect a working platform late Q1 2018 before the main ICO begins in April. During these 3 months, we will be working closely with our community members to ensure we release a platform that perfectly reflects their needs.
Our roadmap is of course available through our website and Whitepaper, but here is a quick overview:
Q3–2017: Concept and Whitepaper
The work here has been completed. The owners behind Bull Tech funded this part of the project.
Q4–2017: Pre-sale
The final results of the pre-sale will determine what features will be created before the main sale. During this time, we will be immediately distributing BullTokens to all contributors, as their contributions are confirmed.
Q1–2018: Core Development
Release of a functioning Community Web Application, plus a continuation of ICO marketing to ensure a successful ICO main sale.
Q2–2018: ICO Mainsale
The final results of the pre-sale will determine which assets we raise funds for during the mainsale. ICO marketing will continue until the end of the main sale. Expect BullToken to be listed on major exchanges.
Q3–2018: Main Development
Continued development of the BullToken Community Platform. Any post-ICO marketing campaigns will focus on BullToken awareness, increasing demand for a limited BullToken supply.
Q4–2018: Mobile apps
Focus on iOS and Android Mobile App version of Community Platform along with continued improvements on the web platform. Any post-ICO marketing campaigns will focus on BullToken awareness, increasing demand for a limited BullToken supply.
ICO Alert: As a non-BullToken question, we like to ask for unique predictions for the ICO and cryptocurrency space in the future. Where do you see both in the next 3–5 years?
BullToken: Well, this is a highly speculative answer as nobody really knows what the future has in store for ICOs and cryptocurrencies, but I do have a very optimistic outlook on their future.
When I first learned about ICOs a couple years ago, my initial reaction was that it was a great way for companies to raise funding without handing over a big portion of it to VC middlemen. Allowing the community to grow with the company and reap the benefits of its success, is an amazing opportunity for many people. I highly doubt we will see ICOs disappear, but I will be the first to say that regulations are needed, and we are already seeing some put in place. In 3–5 years, I expect the ICO market to be a much safer place to invest in, and a long-time catalyst for groundbreaking innovation.
Cryptocurrencies are definitely here to stay. It’s been very exciting watching market capitalization grow from under $20 billion USD to well over $300 billion this year, and still I feel that’s just a small drop of water in the ocean of possibilities. As more and more blockchain/DLT projects start to release their products, mass adoption will truly begin. I have a feeling that in 3–5 years, we will be looking back at 2018, the same way we do today with the first days of cryptocurrency.
Overall, I’m just as excited as a kid in a candy shop. I truly believe some of the world’s most innovative advancements will be coming from blockchain/DLT projects, I absolutely love the disruptive nature of all these decentralized systems, and think the scope of what we will see in the next 3–5 years is exponentially bigger than anyone today can even imagine.
I’m very happy to be alive during such an exciting time in human history!
Pre-ICO Information
The pre-sale begins on the December 7, 2017 noon UTC and runs until December 31, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. UTC, or until the pre-sale hard cap is met. A 50% bonus on all BullTokens purchased during the pre-sale is being offered, with a maximum pre-sale supply of 7,241,000 BullTokens (BULL).
1 ETH = 500 BullTokens (BULL)
Project guarantee: 2,513 ETH
Pre-sale hard cap = 14,482 ETH
ICO Information
The ICO main sale will begin on April 1, 2018 and will run for a maximum of 180 days. There is a total of approximately 47,400,000 BullTokens (BULL) available during the main sale, representing 87% of the total BULL supply.
1 ETH = 250 BullTokens (BULL)
Softcap = 16,600 ETH
Hardcap = 187,517 ETH
Token Distribution Information
Pre-ICO:
Upon sending ETH to the BullToken pre-sale smart contract, the investor will immediately receive BullTokens to the same account at the rate of 1 ETH = 500 BULL. BULL will not be tradable for the entire duration of the pre-sale.
Main ICO:
Upon sending ETH to the BullToken main sale smart contracts, the investor will immediately receive BullTokens to the same account at the rate of 1 ETH = 250 BULL. BULL will not be tradable for the entire duration of the main sale.
*Please note: You must send your investment from a standard ERC-20 compatible wallet. Sending from an exchange or a non-ERC-20 wallet will result in permanent loss of your BULL.
Allocation
83.61%: Assets under management
13.39%: Pre-sale + bonus
03.00%: Reserve
Use of Crowdsale Proceeds
83.61%: Assets under management
03.78%: Development
00.59%: Media, marketing, and referrals
01.05%: Administration and legal
01.17%: Early backers and advisory board
00.19%: Bug bounty
02.99%: Reserve
06.62%: Pre-sale bonus
Team
Raymond Øverlie, CEO
Linkedin
Raymond is an alumni of Harvard Business School, and the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. With over 20 years of experience in the financial sector, he’s been responsible for multiple successful financial start-ups in Norway, acting as CIO, CEO, head of financial strategies, and board member of asset management, brokerage firms, and biotech companies. He brings an extremely experienced team of financial investors and analysts skilled in venture capital and currency-trading industries. Raymond has been a huge key factor in introducing the BullToken project to the Norwegian investment community, and we are very grateful to have such a successful financial professional on our team.
Espen Moen Kvelland, CTO
Linkedin
Espen is a successful tech entrepreneur and renowned data-security expert in Norway. He’s CEO and co-founder of the software development company, Akeo, one of the first Norwegian companies to become a member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. Espen’s also a self-proclaimed geek, a long-time member of the blockchain community, and one of the co-founders of the BullToken project.
Louie Procopio, CMO
Linkedin
Louie is a digital communications and data-driven marketing expert with a deep passion for storytelling. Previously acting as the head of marketing for the tech company Akeo, he organically increased website business traffic by over 1,000% in under three months, and has again proven himself to be very useful for the BullToken project. Louie is a crypto enthusiast, and has been working with multiple blockchain projects this year.
Manish Gupta, Technical Director
Linkedin
Manish is an experienced software developer with a master of computer applications, computer software engineering. He is fluent in many different programming languages, and heads the Indian office for Akeo, where he has a team of over 30 senior and junior software developers, UX/UI designers, and QA engineers.
Henrik Holter, Project Manager
Linkedin
Henrik is the glue that holds the BullToken project together. On one side he’s an experienced LEAN implementer and business analyser, and on the other, a Battle Tank Commander for the Norwegian Armed Forces. He’s a very determined individual who can put his mind and body through just about anything, before ever thinking of slowing down.
Ashish Gupta, Solution Architect
Linkedin
Ashish is an experienced electronics and communications engineer with a degree from Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology. He is fluent in many different programming languages, and has a passion for learning new technology.
Social Media
Facebook
Twitter
Linkedin
YouTube
Reddit
BitcoinTalk
Riot
View the BullToken Website here.
View the only comprehensive list of active and upcoming ICOs here.
References
(1) BullToken Website, BullToken (2017)
https://bulltoken.tech/
(2) BullToken Whitepaper, BullToken (2017)
https://indd.adobe.com/view/cfce1799-35a4-4a7c-8e1e-d8d57d41a98c
Source: ICO Alert