Russia-based eco-farming cooperative LavkaLavka made headlines in recent years amid sanctions put into place by President Vladimir Putin banning the import of a wide range of food and agricultural products in 2014. Now they are in the spotlight once again as they announce BioCoin – a blockchain based loyalty platform and cryptocurrency.
What is LavkaLavka?
LavkaLavka is a farming cooperative whose mission is to support local farmers while upholding the rules of fair trade, sustainable development, and responsible consuming. Since its beginning in 2009, LavkaLavka has grown to include over 200 small family farms across Russia. In addition, they maintain a growing network of retail outlets including an online store, 5 brick-and-mortar stores, 3 cafes, 2 restaurants, and a farmers’ market.
About BioCoin
BioCoin is a blockchain-based loyalty platform, created to facilitate the eco-friendly and healthy agricultural paradigm around the world. As a combination of cryptocurrency and loyalty platform, BioCoin is designed to support local farmers and organic food retailers and allow them to return value to their communities through a system of rewards and discounts.
LavkaLavka has already built a foundation for BioCoin’s ecosystem through its international farming cooperative. According to the LavkaLavka team, about 20 million BioCoins are already in daily circulation, used by farmers in Russia and several other countries.
In a discussion about BioCoin, LavkaLavka Co-Founder Boris Akimov stated:
We have just started but we’ve already attracted dozens of businesses – UAZ automobile factory, DoubleB coffee shop network, hotels on Bali and Archangelsk and big manufacturers of soda drinks and biofertilizers. We’re growing quite rapidly. The preliminary round of presale was conducted in late August before we even got the site fully operational. We’ve sold almost 30 mln BIO, which amounts to almost $435,000.
Who Will Benefit from BioCoin?
BioCoin is more than just a loyalty program and it is more than just a cryptocurrency. BioCoin is a complete ecosystem that is already in operation and proven to benefit everyone involved in the “farm to table” supply chain.
Farmers – Co-op farmers benefit by receiving BioCoins for their products, which they can then use to purchase any required equipment, as well as livestock feeds, fertilizers and crop protecting agents.
Businesses – The most obvious benefit to participating businesses is an increase in customer loyalty and repeat business. Beyond that, since the BioCoins that customers earn can only be spent at participating businesses, those businesses will receive BioCoins, which they can use at their discretion.
Customers – When a customer makes a purchase from any business that is a member of the BioCoin loyalty program, instead of points they accrue BioCoins. They can use those coins to purchase goods from any other member business or trade them on cryptocurrency exchanges.
BioCoin Pre-ICO and ICO
LavkaLavka will be kicking off their BioCoin crowdsale with a Pre-ICO that will begin on September 25 and last for two weeks. The main ICO will begin on October 9. BioCoin’s will be the first ICO to be held in full compliance with Russian laws.
Out of BioCoin’s 1 billion token supply, 800 million will be available for purchase during the Pre-ICO and ICO. The remaining 200 million will be reserved for marketing, salaries, and bounties.
The BioCoin team hopes to raise USD $20 million through their crowdsale. BIO tokens can be purchased with BTC, ETH, WAVES, SIB, RUB, Yandex.Money, QIWI and the exchange rate for BIO is as follows:
- PreSale (25.09.2017 – 8.10.2017), 50 BIO = 1 USD
- ICO (9.10.2017 – 11.10.2017), 45 BIO = 1 USD
- ICO (12.10.2017 – 14.10.2017), 40 BIO = 1 USD
- ICO (15.10.2017 – 09.11.2017), 35 BIO = 1 USD
At the end of the crowdsale, any unsold BIO tokens will be destroyed.
For more information about the BioCoin Pre-ICO and ICO please visit the official website.
What do you think about the BioCoin platform? Would you buy from participating businesses if it were in your area? Let us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of BioCoin