The next step towards a vegan word: A worldwide vegan currency!
A few weeks ago I found out that the British 5-pound bank note contains animal fat. It´s not vegan. That got me thinking.
Is it time for a vegan currency?
Since I cannot control how my currency is produced or what happens with my money when it leaves my hands, I started wondering if there was a truly vegan alternative to pay and go shopping with. I started researching and found: The VeganNation and the VeganCoin.
About 300 million vegans live in this world today. That´s an economic force of 1.3 billion US dollars yearly. That´s certainly more than a “trend.” But vegans often feel lonely, and things won´t change until we develop some kind of economic power. But what if all vegans would unite? United into a big vegan nation!
That´s the basic idea of the “VeganNation.” Founded by a group of Israeli vegans around Isaac Thomas.
He plans to build an economy based on the new blockchain technology that eliminates the day-to-day challenges in the lives of fellow vegans.
Which challenges do vegans face on a daily basis?
- Where can I find food?
You probably know the challenge: Maybe you are traveling or live in a Vegan Nirvana. There is no plant-based food to find in your area. If you’re lucky and live in a big city like Berlin, Palma de Mallorca or Tel Aviv you just go outside and find vegan food within walking distance, but can you afford to go to a restaurant every day? Wouldn´t it be nice, if I could get something to eat at affordable prices? No matter where you are?
That´s where “food sharing” comes in handy, thought Isaac Thomas and explains how the idea came about: “Above all, we wanted to help college students in the US find affordable vegan food and at the same time establish new contacts with like-minded people. Originally, we wanted to do that with a new vegan restaurant chain, but that would not solve the financial problem of most students. So on a cycling tour through the Austrian Alps, a better idea came to me: Food sharing. Everyone can offer a meal and make other vegans happy and satisfied.”
That way vegan food would be accessible everywhere in the world because vegans are literally everywhere.
- Where can I buy truly vegan products?
When Isaacs vegan sister Rena wants to buy shoes or a t-shirt. She has a million and one question. Are they 100% vegan? Are they fair trade? Is the material organic? All those questions come to a conscious vegan mind, and sometimes it´s difficult to find satisfying answers. Until now it was not possible to track the production process back to the beginning. There is and never was real transparency.
“So I had to do something about that,” says Isaac. Especially ethical vegans want transparency. They want to know where their money goes to and what they support. That´s why the combination of veganism and blockchain technology is a marriage in heaven according to Isaac. “The blockchain gives us absolute transparency. I can see the complete production chain and support the companies that are actually 100% vegan, ” adds the VeganNation C.E.O.
- Where can I get information and exchange ideas with like-minded people?
Social Media platforms are nice, but for vegans, they can be energy draining. “So imagine a platform where you can post blogs, share photos, videos, and recipes, where you don´t need to have discussions about your lifestyle. And you could even get paid every time you contribute to the system and create valuable content,” says Rena Thomas and puts a smile on her face. That´s the idea for the community on VeganNation. “In this way, we as a community move closer together and our knowledge will be expanding,” says co-founder Isaac.
The VeganNation will cover these three areas. But the idea of the vegan world conquest goes even further: For this vegan eco- and economic system, there will be a vegan cryptocurrency – the VeganCoin.
What is a cryptocurrency?
This is the moment where many people get a worried look on their face: Cryptocurrency? “I don´t understand it. Therefore I am afraid of it.” Was my very first reaction to it. But now I know: Crypto isn´t that difficult to understand.
A cryptocurrency is a digital currency. So there is no cash, no non-vegan 5-pound bank notes! It’s a bit like buying something online and paying for it with your credit card. In this case, no real cash is sent from person A to B, but the banks and companies send virtual money back and forth. The same happens with a cryptocurrency as well. With one significant difference: There´s no third-party involved in these transactions: It´s peer-to-peer only.
You do not have your money in a real wallet but a so-called “e-wallet”. These wallets can be on the phone, the PC at home or an actual physical e-wallet.
In addition, a cryptocurrency is based on the so-called “blockchain technology”, which makes this decentralized system possible in the first place. What does that mean? No bank, no government and no powerful individual can influence the system. Nobody can bring about value increases or reductions.
The technology that makes it all possible is the blockchain. Where all networked computers and subscribers operate the “regulation”. Not a single person approves a referral, but all. Not one authority confirms the correctness of a piece of information, but several randomly selected computers take over.
Let’s take a practical example: A restaurant enters the VeganNation and says: We are vegan. But over time, visitors notice that the restaurant runs a steakhouse in the back room. Now, several (!) arbitrary visitors at different times give the information into the system: They are not 100% vegan. This then has two possible consequences: 1 – the restaurant realizes that it would lose business and changes their strategy to fully-vegan. Or 2 – the restaurant leaves the VeganNation because it is not 100% cruelty-free. Due to the transparency of the system, the individual is animated to make more effort. The system monitors itself so to speak. Regarding veganism that’s an exciting point!
How will the VeganCoin work?
In September, 2018 the so-called ICO (the initial coin offering) is planned for the VeganCoin. On this day, the world’s first vegan currency will go live and everybody who has at least $20 left can go ahead and buy VeganCoins.
This currency will have a set value at 50 cents per token. “If someone would want to buy on the 28th of June within the first 24 hours, they will benefit from a 25% discount” explains Isaac Thomas. From that moment on vegan businesses can accept VeganCoin as one method of payment. So their customers can pay everything or a part of their goods in veganCoins. The business can then pay their employees a part of their salary in VeganCoins or see it as an investment and up it aside.
“I guess everybody who can add 1 + 1 will see that supply and demand will determine the value of the coin. In a world that is going more towards veganism and is moving towards cryptocurrencies and blockchain-technology: The early adopters will be the ones laughing” says Patrick Schell of Palma de Mallorca´s only all-vegan supermarket “Lo Vegano”.
But “Lo Vegano” is not the only vegan business in Mallorca Spain that joined VeganNation and will accept the VeganCoin.
The island´s first vegan Agrotourism “Villa Vegana” and “Vegan & Raw Restaurant” already announced they will be part of the new Vegan ecosystem as well.
“Yes, Mallorca Spain is setting a great example of why VeganCoin is so unique and can really be an awesome example of a devoted and activist community adopting a new currency that we believe in” says Isaac Thomas and gets excited.
Of course, one wonders at this point:
What are the dangers of investing in the VeganCoin?
As with any investment in a cryptocurrency, there is a risk that a currency will have value only if users agree on it and stick to it. That’s exactly the same with every other currency: Only the belief of the users in the value of a 200 Euro bill distinguishes it from a 20 Euro bill. The paper actually has about the same value. But if people lost faith in their currency, money would lose its value. That´s exactly the same for crypto. It can lose value. “However, unlike other cryptocurrencies, a solid community united by the vegan philosophy and mindset is behind it. That´s a power that many other digital currencies do not have,” adds VeganNation C.E.O. Isaac Thomas, while pointing out the risks.
In contrast, the best-case scenario would be that over time, the value of the VeganCoin will not only stabilize but increase. Even if the VeganNation is trying to put the existing VeganCoins into the system so slowly that the value remains stable for a while, at some point the point will be reached where no further VeganCoins are available. “We plan to slowly release 1 billion VeganCoins into the system over a 10-year period,” says Issac Thomas, but in the end: As soon as the coin is out. VeganNation has no more control over it. The blockchain takes over.
The pros and the cons of a cryptocurrency
It is clear that a cryptocurrency can or will only be an addition to our money. But it can be an interesting addition. After countless discussions with crypto-experts, vegans and economists, I have come to the conclusion, that these are the pros and cons of a vegan cryptocurrency:
| The pros | The cons |
| Total transparency is helps users to make more informed decisions. The system controls itself. | Others might argue that total transparency is a con: The public ledger system will provide others insight into previously unknown activities. |
| In many countries: No regulations!
Many governments don´t know how to deal with crypto yet. Depending on who you ask this can be seen as an advantage or a disadvantage. |
No regulations causes fear. No „invisible hand“ can control or correct the market. |
| Tax laws are fuzzy. Cryptocurrencies are legal and if claimed correctly open up interesting avenue for transactions. | Tax laws are fuzzy: The value changes and laws on how to claim them as taxable income are (for most countries) still in the making. |
| There´s very low or no transaction costs for the user. It´s a direct peer-to-peer system. No third party involved. | If you lose your e-wallet or your password: your coins are gone. Forever. |
| Transactions are fast and secure.
(because it´s impossible to hack the whole blockchain. You can hack one computer, but never the whole system). |
Once a transaction was made, there is no turning back/ no refunds. |
| Crypo is independent and decentralized – crypto opens up options for people who until now have no access to any type of financial system or are oppressed. | You need a fair amount of knowledge to use cryptocurrency and access to a smart phone & internet. |
| Because a cryptocurrency has finite, set limit on the total number of coins that will come into existence, they are not inflationary. | Cryptocurrencies can be volatile. |
| Cryptocurrency makes trading anywhere in the world easy. Crypto will help to combat poverty. | Cryptocurrency is only accepted by certain vendors. |
If you wanted to take part, what would be the next step?
To become part of VeganNation you have to go to www.veganNation.io and sign up for the whitepaper (newsletter). There you get all the information about how to buy VeganCoin. All vegan shops and businesses can get in touch by email and get all the info. There are no costs for individuals or businesses to become part of VeganNation.
The moment a business decides: We’re here to get you free advertising on a worldwide VeganNation platform, and you’ll need to download free software to accept the VeganCoin.
Then you will need a wallet. I am not an expert and in now way connected to any wallet providers. After trying a few, I find the JAXX wallet the easiest to use. But please – go and find on that suits you. The VeganCoin will run on the Ethereum.
About the author: Barbara Röss is a journalist and blogger on Mallorca, Spain. She interviewed Isaac Thomas the Co-founder and C.E.O. of VeganNation for her blog www.Mallorca-Talks.com in May 2018. Barbara has been vegan for five years. In her freetime she is an active member of “Anonymous for the voiceless” in Palma.
