ASKfm is one of the biggest social networks in the world. If you haven’t heard of it, rest assured that your kids have.
The site began in 2010 as an anonymous question-and-answer forum and grew like a weed until it hit a safety-related speed bump. Linked with cyber bullying in 2013, the ASKfm team took a step back, put a new focus on safety, and was off to the races again. Today, the site boasts more than 215 million members asking more than 600 million questions every month.
Now, it’s taking the next step and leveling up into the world of blockchain with “ASKfm 2.0,” a blockchain-backed Q&A platform supported by a new crypto token.
ASKfm 2.0
“ASKfm 2.0” is the code name for ASKfm’s blockchain upgrade project. The primary goal is this: to create a blockchain-secured question-and-answer platform with a tokenized economy that rewards users for their contributions.
The plan is this: after an ICO, later this year existing ASKfm users will be given the option to switch over to ASKfm 2.0. There, they would register a digital wallet. Then they’d be able to both spend and earn ASKT tokens. Users who answered questions well would receive ASKT tokens as a reward, and they could spend those tokens on “asking power”; paying tokens to get important questions in front of more potential answerers.
In the longer term, ASKfm also plans to open a dedicated learning platform, and ASKT tokens would also be used to pay for online classes and access to other resources there.
More broadly, ASKfm sees the move to a tokenized blockchain as a way to get away from its current ad-based revenue model while simultaneously attracting more and higher-quality users as the prospect of earning financial rewards for answering questions entices celebrities, experts, and other power users to the platform.
And of course, having your Q&A platform built on the back of an immutable, highly secure blockchain ledger offers obvious security benefits, and makes tasks like user authentication quite straightforward. ASKfm’s chain will even use smart contracts to ensure that funds held in escrow are delivered when the purchased service is rendered, or returned if the service isn’t performed. There’s no potential for human error.
A Sample Experience on ASKfm 2.0
Here’s how the system would work:
A questioner asks a question and offers a certain amount of ASKT for a satisfactory answer. This ASKT is held in escrow by a smart contract, to be paid to the answerer if the question is satisfactorily answered, or returned to the asker if it is not.
From there, a potential answerer can choose to accept the ASKT fee, answer the question, and collect the reward if their answer is good. But they could also propose a different fee, or propose the fee be crowd-funded, enabling them to earn a higher reward for answering questions of general interest without placing a high price burden on the asker.
Depending on how the asker, or the crowd in the event of a crowdfunding request, and the quality of the answer, there are a variety of ways the process could play out from there. But thanks to ASKfm’s smart contracts system, the answerer can feel confident they’ll be rewarded for a satisfactory answer, and the asker will know they won’t be charged unless their question gets a satisfactory answer.
Best of all, all of that happens near-instantly and completely automatically, making the platform incredibly scalable.
The ASKT Token
Transactions on ASKfm’s blockchain network will be powered by the ASKT crypto token. ASKT is a utility token that grants holders access to the platform and a currency token that can be earned and spent as part of the platform’s internal crypto economy. Of course, it will also be available to investors; ASKfm is beginning its 2.0 upgrade with an ICO aimed at raising the funds needed to complete the project without having to turn to VCs.
A total of 2 billion ASKT tokens have been pre-mined, of which 1 billion will be available for purchase during the ICO. Tokens are priced at $0.10/ASKT, and will be purchasable with BTC, ETH, LTC, and USD.
ASKT is currently in private sale, with pre-sale and ICO sale periods yet to be scheduled. The ICO will have a soft cap of $14 million and a hard cap of $100 million.
Is This How Blockchain Goes Mainstream?
Even if you have no interest in investing personally, you should be excited about ASKfm. That’s because the blockchain-ification of its platform presents one of the best opportunities yet for mainstream users to be introduced to blockchain technology and experience firsthand the advantages of a crypto-based economy.
Consider this: ASKfm currently has 215 million users, including 6.5 million daily active users, asking a total of 600 million questions a month. When ASKfm upgrades, that entire user base is going to be directly exposed to both the blockchain technology supporting the platform and the crypto economy that should reward them for their regular use of ASKfm’s services.
ASKfm is saying it will be the biggest-ever crypto migration in history, and if the transition is pulled off successfully, they’ll be right. The potential impact on the entire cryptocurrency industry could be massive if 200+ million new users are pulled into the game thanks to a positive experience on ASKfm. That would be huge.
The ASKfm Team
Since ASKfm is an established company with a track record of success and a massive existing user base, investors can be relatively confident even without glancing at a CV that ASKfm’s team knows what it’s doing. But it’s still reassuring that ASKfm’s c-suite execs boast a wealth of management and IT experience, and its CTO is an early Bitcoin adopter with work experience in blockchain.
ASKfm’s at the beginning of its “2.0” journey, and its roadmap stretches deep into 2019. But with a massive existing audience, an existing product, and a blockchain pitch that makes sense both technologically and economically, the ASKfm ICO should definitely be on any adventurous investor’s radar.
