Meet one of our selected startups in the Algorand Miami Accelerator 2021: MariCoin
Today, we want to introduce another company participating in the “Algorand Miami Accelerator 2021”. Meet “MariCoin” the first cryptocurrency created by and for the LGBTI community, a payment method that materializes the value of the collective battle.
The description of the project
MariCoin is the first cryptocurrency that is not looking for a community, but is an existing community that is looking for its cryptocurrency, based on the values of freedom, respect and no discrimination.
The members of the community who feel represented by any of the LGBTIQ+ acronyms seek having their own currency with MariCoin. The project’s mission is to change the world and help the most discriminated people through associations. Today, one in three countries in the world – 69 in total – punsihes homosexual relations, out of which in 11 countries the punsihment is death.
Members of the LGTBIQ+ are more than twice as likely to invest in cryptocurrencies, than other communities according to a survey appearing in USA Today in 2021. The reason is specifically the financial discrimination that they suffer, and this currency fights against it.
If we observe the large number of projects related to cryptocurrencies, it appears that only a few of them represent an underlying social value. MariCoin aims to cover an existing investment need by a group of people who are willing to trust what respects and represents their freedom. Freedom, being one of the main pillars of the blockchain philosophy.
The founding members and the team behind this project are: Juan Belmonte (Presidente), Paco Alvarez (CEO), Jesús Sánchez Bermejo (CIO), Patricia Magaña (CCO), Gabriela Sánchez Silva (CMO), Jesús Pérez Sánchez (Advisor), Lorenzo de Leo (advisor) y Fernando Alberca (advisor).
The objectives of the token
This token driven by the LGBT community is born with the purpose of helping the collective through associations that directly manage one of every five coins issued and will have 2% of the issue for urgent aid projects that require immediate liquidity, as well as an additional 3% to finance their events, mainly the LGTBIQ+ Pride parties around the world.
For this purpose, the use of Algorand is key, a fast and cheap Blockchain that allows to boost this physical-digital network, granting the functional guarantees, as well as the necessary security framework for this type of development.
The currency is the backbone of the so-called “pink economy”, and 7.5% of the world’s people identify with it. If it were a country, this economy would become the fourth most important economic power in the world, according to Credit Suisse. This sector is rapidly expanding through networks of companies and users that can carry out transactions with MariCoin. Using Algorand, an open blockchain without permissions that is fast and cheap, allows to promote this physical-digital initiative, by granting the functional guarantees, as well as the necessary security framework for this type of development.
Juan Belmonte, the president of the company, is a born innovator. He had created a new and revolutionary hairdressing concept, “Juan por Dios” in Madrid, a project inspired by the idea of cooperative work (coworking), for beauty professionals. In addition, he patented “Lo Llevo”, a system to carry a drink and a “tapa” or appetizer with one hand, while he had been dreaming about launching the collective currency, MariCoin, with his friends, ever since the Pride parties in 2019 in Madrid.
Paco Álvarez, CEO of MariCoin, is a serial entrepreneur, founder of five fintech startups and director of Startify, an ecosystem of startups in Madrid and Miami that promotes the first Advanced International Master in Innovation Models of the Complutense University of Madrid.
What’s next in the MariCoin universe
The team behind the project has already launched MariCoin on Algorand and built a waiting list with more than 12,000 people interested in exchanging more than 7 million dollars. At the same time, according to reports from the company, the participating commercial establishments agreed to sign a manifesto in which they commit to no discrimination.
Then, they receive a Maricoin Pride Kit with “Maricoins Accepted Here” stickers to use it in their stores. All the partners are also committing to provide a 15-20% discount for transactions made with the token, on the occasion of the launch.
Since last Christmas the team has conducted pilots to test the speed and the capacity of the operating system, as well as the use of the MyAlgo wallet, since many users are relatively new in the crypto ecosystem. It is estimated that the final version of the platform will allow 20,000-40,000 simultaneous transactions by the first users.
In parallel, new partners are joining the LGTBIQ+ who will manage the benefits of the token and one of every five staking coins, as well as other projects to help the community. MariCoin will donate their partners, one token for each token its member purchases.
Another of the great novelties within the MariCoin universe is that this project is planning to be listed on four exchanges this year, including Coinbase Pro and Binance, which are the most important platforms of its kind in the world.
In order to facilitate the use of the currency, MariCoin is working on the launch of its own wallet for payments, MariPay, a cross chain wallet based on the Algorand blockchain that will allow paying, charging and trading on exchanges that support the currency.
MariCoin hopes to internationalize throughout the second half of 2022 by sponsoring Pride parties in the 20 main LGTBIQ+ capitals in the world, starting on the World Pride Day, June 28th, the date on which they will issue a limited edition of NFTs with the currency addressed to fans.
MariCoin’s roadmap for 2023 also includes the launch of the MariVerso, the first metaverse entirely dedicated to the collective, which will have five islands for both leisure and business in the pink economy, and a space for dialogue with all the associations. With regards to the pilot of their own metaverse, an agreement has already been signed with the Legendarium metaverse, where MariCoin and the associations of the promoting collective will have a Fintech tower from March 2022 where all payments will be made with the coin.
Furthermore, MariCoin plans to launch MariBank, a financial entity dedicated to social microcredits for the LGTBIQ+ community, and MariFund, a crypto investment fund where MCOIN will be the dominant asset. This news is likely to propel the token from its birth to a relevant place in the world of cryptocurrencies.
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