AppCoins adaptation to the rapidly changing token ecosystem
Since the AppCoins project started in 2017, a lot has happened, and as with any undergoing project, we went through a few transformations. While some of these changes were expected, others led us down a different — but still exciting — path.
We are writing this article to share about our journey so far: including the ups and downs, why certain decisions had to be made, and what we hope the future holds for the AppCoins project.
Since the beginning, the AppCoins team has had two leading roles: one as advocates of the AppCoins adoption and the other as early adopters of AppCoins.
As advocates of the adoption, we spent four years after the ICO working so that developers and stores would adopt the APPC token and blockchain technology. Unfortunately, there was not enough traction from the ecosystem. It could have been due to Ethereum technology handicaps or cryptocurrency lack of adoption by the mainstream users, but we were not able to recruit enough developers and stores to deploy blockchain technology and adopt APPC in their transactions.
Lately, we have stopped promoting it to developers and app stores due to two main reasons: first, because cryptocurrency has been unable to take off, and secondly, because the token’s low value limits evangelization and promotion actions. The bootstrap wallet funds have barely been used recently, and we don’t see any tendency for change. At the time APPC was launched, so were many other utility tokens, such as Zilliqa, and FTM just to name a few. Since then, the value of the APPC token has dropped — as did almost all other tokens in the blockchain world.
On the other hand, as early adopters, we have successfully integrated blockchain and the use of APPC tokens in the existing Aptoide’s IAP platform, which has been around since 2015. Unfortunately, due to the slowness and highly volatile transaction costs of the Ethereum network and the lack of widespread crypto wallets among our users, APPC has lacked traction as a payment method.
There were attempts on our end to try and increase the value of the token. Back in 2020, we launched a new feature called the AppCoins burn. With this new feature, we burned AppCoins in proportion to the amount of in-app purchases made with both AppCoins and AppCoins Credits. The goal was to reduce the amount of available AppCoins to increase its value. We eventually stopped the burning since it didn’t impact the price of the currency; even if the supply decreased, because there was no demand, there was also no change in price.
We ended up making the strategic decision to start shifting our role from promoters to adopters. Four years have passed, and it’s time to move forward. Although we cannot do it any longer as promoters due to the lack of adoption of the cryptocurrency by the end users and developers, we believe that we can have a more impactful role as adopters of the technology in our platform. Overcoming the cold bootstrap by keeping adopting and using AppCoins is the next stage.
For now, our main focus will rely on further developing the AppCoins Wallet in order to provide our community with the best possible in-app payment method solution. As AppCoins adopters, we know that the AppCoins project works, and we will continue to sustain it as long as it is viable.
We’re blockchain enthusiasts and hope that one-day APPC will be widely adopted and used. Still, we recognize that it will depend on the entire landscape evolution itself: Ethereum 2.0, widespread adoption of crypto, and many other factors.
Sincerely,
The AppCoins team
