Australia gets its own bar and restaurant cryptocurrency
Liven, an Australians dining rewards-based payment startup, has created its own cryptocurrency
It’s a development that will enable Australians to buy food and drink at 700 restaurants. They can do it using the Liven App.
It’s a big move for the Melbourne-based loyalty program company and the app, founded in 2014 by siblings William and Grace Wong, and engineer Dr David Ballerini.
The app will have 180,000 users credited with 15 per cent to 25 per cent of their bar and restaurant bills.
This can then be spent on their next outing or donated to charity.
So far, the app has raised $11.5 million in traditional capital and $5 million has been processed in bill payments.
The fintech has also launched the pre-sale for an initial coin offering.
The aim is to get $65 million to power Liven’s latest venture with a minimum buy-in equivalent to $10,000 of ethereum.
When the updated platform launches in August, LivenCoins will be generated when users eat out. Partner restaurants across the Liven network including 8Bit Burgers, Poke Bowl, Roll’d, Crinitis, Mad Mex, Massi, AU79, Nene Chicken and Nandos will accept LivenCoins.
Grace Wong says the initial coin offering will see Liven developing a new cryptocurrency gateway for the platform as well as fund expansion into new markets and verticals.
“Liven has a strong presence in both Melbourne and Sydney, however a key focus is to grow our footprint in what we’ve identified as a $39 billion market in Australia alone,” she told Business Insider.
“We’ve got over 2,500 partner venues contracted to join the platform in 2018, which will soon include some of our favourite venues in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
“We’re demonstrating 50 per cent quarter on quarter growth, already operating as a network currency system.”
Dr Ballerini, a co-founder and academic behind Liven’s economic formulae, says the initial coin offering has attracted significant interest from investors.
“With its expansive network of merchants and customers, Liven will be the first company to achieve mass adoption of crypto transactions, external to crypto-communities,” Dr Ballerini told Business Insider.
Leon Getler 21st March 2018.
