I'm interested and hold several tokens issued by various projects. Some of these tokens are doing well, while others are doing fairly poorly, in terms of purchasing power. Many have argued that a lack of exchange listings is the problem. And admittedly being listed on a quality exchange is important for tokens. But there is something far more important than exchange listing, and that's "use."
Assets have value for many different reasons. If an asset is a currency, a lot of its value often is derived from its use as such. The more goods and services that can be exchanged for a given asset, the closer it is to being a true currency, and the healthier that currency becomes. There are two main tokens that I have in mind, concerning this topic: one is TERN and the other is BELA. These projects are unrelated, but they share similar problems that can be solved in similar ways, which is why I am mentioning both of them in the same article.
TERN
TERN is the cryptoasset that functions as the underlying material to convert the purchasing power of crypto to USD, for Ternio's BlockCard. The project is an endeavor to bridge the gap between crypto and government-issued fiat. While it might be nice to see a world where anyone can use crypto directly, it will be a long time before we can stop relying on any USD transactions. The BlockCard exchanges a given cryptoasset for TERN. That TERN is then exchanged and converted into USD purchasing power at the moment of transaction, allowing BlockCard holders to spend TERN as if it were USD.
The problem that Ternio is having right now is that the price of TERN is quite weak, and there isn't much support. While I have issues with speculators who grab a token in the hopes that it'll "moon," it's important for tokens like TERN to at least maintain their purchasing power, or perhaps even increase slightly as the community grows. As mentioned, part of the problem is the lack of exchange listings. There's very little exchange volume right now. But even if the token were listed on a ton of exchanges, why would there be high demand for the token? That's where the community comes in, as I'll explain in a minute.
If you're not a Ternio card holder, you can use my referral link to get $10 when you deposit $100 or more. I'll also receive $10, which would be a great tip! Aside from what I address below, getting more users interested in a project is another powerful way to support that project.
BELA
I became interested in BELA a while back. It's the base token for BelaCam, a crypto image sharing platform, where people can tip in BELA. It's not a bad idea. However, BELA has suffered from even greater price drops than TERN, and there's no sign of a bottom. Many holders are losing hope, and it's rather sad to see. Just like with Ternio, a lot of the users are complaining that there aren't enough exchange listings. But they too are missing the bigger issue.
As with Ternio, a great way to support a project is to bring more people on board. Here's my BelaCam referral link. If you're interested in art, check out the project.
Community Use
Cryptoassets usually lack some underlying value and derive most of their value from their use as a currency. Therefore a cryptoasset that's used as a currency must be used extensively for it to maintain value. The more people use the currency, the better the health of that currency. What that means is that members of the community that want to see projects such as Ternio and BelaCam thrive need to be willing to accept and use their respective tokens.
Obviously, there are considerations to be made when it comes to using cryptoassets to pay for goods and services, but those same considerations need to be made when dealing with crypto at all. However, once those considerations are made, the most important consideration is whether or not to accept the token in return for one's work.
I'm confident that people involved in these communities come from many walks of life, and many have a lot of skills to offer. Freelancers who support these projects should be willing to accept payment in their supported token, in return for services rendered. Writing up a contract for some programming? Request that payment is to be made in TERN. Doing some artwork for someone? Request that the payment is to be made in BELA. The more people that use these tokens, the more demand there will be for them, and thus the healthier their purchasing powers will be. It's that simple.
Project Integration
The greatest support would be for robust project integration. If these communities start their own projects that utilize their respective tokens, that will go a long way to promoting use. The Ternio community is pretty large. It probably has some skilled developers. Some of them could work to create an e-commerce platform that natively supports TERN. Similarly, the BelaCam community could work towards creating a print on demand service where users can pay in BELA.
Admittedly I would love to work on such projects, but I'm already overwhelmed. Still, if people contact me with significant interest, I'd be willing to do what I can. Moreover, I think if there's enough interest from the community, and enough support from it, we could probably get some kind of support from the core projects themselves. Either way, side projects that utilize their respective tokens will go a long way to improving them. Moreover, as demand increases, larger exchanges may become more interested in the tokens, and it might become easier for the projects to list their tokens on better exchanges, for lower fees.
Further Reading
TRX Support for Ternio BlockCard? Maybe!
One of the things I've been pushing for is TRX support for Ternio. I don't know if it'll ever happen, but it would be a huge benefit to projects like mine which are on the Tron blockchain.
Project Outpost: A Cooperative Item Exchange
Consistent with my suggestion about user projects, one of the most ambitious projects I've been working on is Outpost, which is a trading cooperative that's sort of a cross between a consignment shop, pawn shop, and credit union.
