AppCoins ICO Goes Live After Successful Pre-sale, Promises New Future for the App Economy

AppCoins, the first cryptocurrency for app stores that promises to solve the problems of the app economy, is one step closer to becoming reality. After completing a successful pre-sale and reaching the soft cap of US$2.5M, the token sale is now officially live and open to the public. The blockchain based protocol aims to fundraise a total of US$ 15.3M through the ICO, which will end on the 15th of January or as soon as the hard cap is reached. The first investors to join will benefit from a 20% bonus on token price, limited to demand. Any investor can now participate at appcoins.io.

Upon the completion of the ICO, AppCoins will first be implemented at Aptoide App Store, where its 200 million active users will access a new cryptocurrency that they can not only spend but also earn within the app store. AppCoins promises a new, gamified experience for users that allows them to earn AppCoins upon completing certain actions – i.e. downloading and exploring sponsored apps. In addition, users will have the possibility of transfering AppCoins to each other, creating new purchasing power and unforeseen incentives for discovering and enjoying apps. This is expected to benefit a large userbase world wide, since an estimated 2 billion individuals lack the payment methods needed to purchase apps and in-app items.

For developers, the model removes payment or advertisement intermediaries, promising greater returns on investment and increasing monetization potential. Additionally, all information is stored on the blockchain, where the reputation of each app developer is built through their transactional history across app stores. This eliminates the current opacity around app approval across stores.

Solving the problems of the app economy

AppCoins aims to solve the most inefficient aspects of the current app store model:

•        Mobile advertising is affected by the large amount of middlemen involved
•        In-app purchases are still unaccessible to the great majority of users
•        App approval is not transparent: confirming the identity of developers is difficult and there is no universal approach

After its implementation at Aptoide App Store, any app store will be able to adopt AppCoins. The protocol creates a new shared ecosystem among all app stores, where blockchain technology eliminates the need for intermediaries and creates a safer environment.