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ICO Alert: For those who are not familiar with EBCoin, can you explain what it is, and what the team aims to accomplish?

EBCoin: Absolutely! EBCoin will bring significant improvements to the global duty-free market. The first area we are focused on is the sales tax refund process. Many countries now offer tax-refunds to tourists for shopping in their country, but the process involved to get that refund is very inefficient. That is the first area where we see blockchain technology solving a lot of problems, by automating and digitizing most of the process.

But, we don’t stop there. We realized that if we issue tax refunds in a tokenized form, we could just as easily accept those tokens or cryptocurrency as a payment method itself. So, it is those two fundamental concepts that got us started with EBCoin and we feel it will have a big impact on the duty-free shopping space. We have an extensive

FAQ on our blog that your followers may find very informative, as well as a handy overview video on YouTube that explains where we fit into the market.

ICO Alert: How does the EBCoin token (EBC) function within the platform and why is it needed?

EBCoin: EBCoin, or the EBC token, will be the fuel that makes our ecosystem come to life and it has a simple utility function on our platform. The tax-refunds will be issued to users in EBC, and our token will also be accepted as a payment method at participating duty-free merchants.

Our longer term goal with EBC is that it will become the preferred global duty-free currency, not only for receiving your refunds, but also for paying for your duty-free purchases. It makes up the foundation of our concept, since we are trying to create a global currency for the international traveler that will lessen their dependence on local fiat currencies. This will make duty-free shopping a seamless and hassle-free process no matter where in the world you are.

ICO Alert: Travelers are aware that customs can be dreadful: long queues, security questions, bag inspections, etc. EBCoin claims to solve the issue of the long queue; can you explain how?

EBCoin: By digitizing the entire tax refund process, and by directly connecting travelers with local customs agencies via our blockchain based Dapp, there will be no need to hold on to paper receipts and there will be no need to wait in long lines at the airport to request a tax refund.

That having been said, you have to also remember that the primary function of customs agencies in any country is that of import/export control, not just tax refunds. So, you may still be stopped by customs for a routine inspection, our solution just focuses on the tax-refund process!

ICO Alert: A customs officer is required to document the traveler leaving the country, let alone process the tax refund. Does EBcoin intend to equip the customs officer with the correct training and equipment?

EBCoin: Yes. Customs agencies will be provided with an interface for our platform to facilitate the approval process. We will work closely with each agency, as the process will be slightly different depending on the local procedures used in that country. From what we’ve seen so far, government officials have shown a keen interest in our solution and we anticipate a spirit of mutual cooperation to implement it as seamlessly as possible.

ICO Alert: Based on your website, EBCoin has various partnerships with South Korean stakeholders. Will the EBCoin team focus on obtaining a South Korean partnership first? If not, can you share which countries the EBCoin team is interested in?

EBCoin: Yes, our first target market will be Korea, but we are simultaneously concentrating on partners in Singapore, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. In fact, we already have signed MOUs with payment gateway providers in Korea, Singapore, and

Vietnam. Our partner in Singapore, MC Payments, has a vast network throughout Asia, so we are definitely looking to leverage that too.

That having been said, our team’s goal is ambitious, since we are looking to expand to be a preferred global brand for duty-free shopping payments and refunds. As a matter of interest, we are also currently working on a project by the name of Chain Refund, which is a joint venture with the Lotte Accelerator Corporation. We’re anticipating that this will be an important step for us to scale our platform further to achieve a global scope.

ICO Alert: Based on your roadmap, the EBcoin team aim to deliver a prototype by Q2, 2018. Is the team on track to release its prototype?

EBCoin: Yes, we are on track. We were actually just meeting with our development team today to confirm timelines. We’re hoping for an early delivery, but yes, we’re on track to deliver our EBCoin Wallet prototype by Q2.

ICO Alert: The EBCoin team states that only 37% of all tax refunds are claimed. How do you think EBCoin will influence this number?

EBCoin: Well, as I said, we’re an ambitious group, so we’re hoping to have a significant impact on that number. One immediate benefit of our platform is that we don’t charge any fees for issuing the tax refunds. That will have a big impact, since currently agencies charge very high fees of up to 30% to issue tax refunds.

But, of course, to have the biggest impact, our platform will need to be implemented in as many countries as possible, so that is the goal we are working towards. Our starting point is focusing on countries that are popular destinations for Chinese tourists, as they make up the largest segment of the market.

ICO Alert: We have found the EBCoin’s communities in both Telegram and other social media to be efficient. Please share any plans your team has for continuing to develop quality marketing in different countries.

EBCoin: Yes. With each partner that we are engaging in other countries, we are also making marketing and promotion activities part of the contract agreement. We are currently consulting with global marketing and public relations advisors to map out our long term marketing plan and strategy. Ultimately, we want EBCoin to be a brand with global recognition and we are in the process of aligning ourselves with the partners we need to accomplish that.

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 2018?

EBCoin: Well, at this point we are progressing quite well and are on track according to our roadmap. That means that the tax refund portion of our EBCoin Wallet app will be fully functional by Q4 2018. Prototype should be released by Q2.

In addition to app development, we’re also working on our

KRPEX exchange in Japan to be finalized by Q2, as well as our merchant contracts, which are progressing well if you are keeping up with our Medium blog, so yes… there are many moving parts that involve a number of stakeholders, but we’re happy to say that things are on track so far.

ICO Alert: As a non-EBCoin question, we like to ask for unique predictions for the ICO and crypto currency space in the future. Where do you see both in the next 3–5 years?

EBCoin: Aha… good questions. Well, right now of course, all eyes are on the U.S. SEC and the discussions that are going to shape the regulations to follow. My honest opinion on Cryptocurrency? It’s here to stay and is the future of currency as we know it. Sure, there will be change, improvements, and growing pains ahead, but that is to be expected from a disruption of this proportion.

Regarding ICOs, this space will most likely change significantly in the months and years to come. Regulation is going to get tighter, which frankly, I think is unavoidable. Sadly, there are many legitimate projects out there that can benefit greatly from this crowd funding model, but they are lost through the noise generated by many less credible projects. We’ll probably see the ICO model continue, but it will mature quite a bit in the upcoming years and hopefully become a more stable, trustworthy platform.