PLUTON CROWDSALE — HOW IT WILL WORK (Update V0.2)
The Plutus team has been working overtime to finalise all the details for the Pluton sale. For the Plutus Founding Members, entrepreneurs, fans and everyone else within the blockchain ecosystem wondering how exactly the sale will work, this post outlines the details of the Pluton sale, and explains exactly what your contribution will get you in return for supporting Plutus.
LET’S MAKE BITCOIN PAYMENTS EASY AS USING CASH AND CARDS
WHAT ARE PLUTONS?
The Pluton sale will secure you a contactless balance of Plutons, which can be used with Tap & Pay anywhere. Within the app, Plutons are prioritized over Bitcoin and Ethereum with the added benefits of 0% fees and instant conversions at the point-of-sale.
Plutons are digital tokens issued to users on the Ethereum blockchain. Plutons can be distantly compared with cashback points or frequent flier miles programs.
Only 850,000 Plutons (PLU) will be available for sale, which represents 4.25% of the total supply of 20,000,000. Issuance for the remaining 95.75% will be limited and locked in rebate smart contract pool and NOT owned by Plutus.it, which means there will be a very low circulation from the initial distribution and a total of 20 million Plutons ever created.
The reason for this is simple, Plutons will slowly (and automatically) be released as a rebate to users of the Plutus app. Their availability is designed to be rare via rebates only — but during this sale, you have the chance to get in early and secure your balance in Pluton, which can be converted and used for daily spending on the Plutus app. As a result, you will not have to spend any conversion fees like everyone else!
How many Plutons will I receive?
The amount of Plutons you receive will be proportional to the amount of bitcoin you contribute divided by the total funds raised. This means that the value of 1 Pluton will be established at the end of the crowdsale based on the total amount of BTC and ETH raised.
To make the math simple, If a combined value of BTC and ETH raised during the token sale is equal to 100 Bitcoin for 850,000 Plutons, then the value of each Pluton will be 0.0001 BTC
The exchange rates of ETH and BTC that are used to determine the distribution of Pluton will be calculated from the market rates at the time of the sale’s end.
Once the value is determined by the marketplace at the end of the crowdsale, your account used for purchase will be credited with Plutons. Subsequently this balance will always be verifiable on the ethereum blockchain — the Pluton token contract.
Plutons purchased during the crowdsale will be first distributed to participants after the crowdsale has ended. They will be available for use on the Plutus app at its launch, so the same account you use during the token sale will enable you to access these tokens directly from the app.
Will there be a bonus?
Participants who purchase Plutons early from the crowdsale will receive a bonus. The bonus will be time stamped from the Blockchain and will be added towards the final balance awarded at the end of the crowdsale.
When will the sale start and how long will it last?
The sale starts shortly and will only run for a few days until the 30th June 2016 (the start date/time will be announced in a follow up blog).
You will be able to participate using:
- BTC sent directly to the Pluton crowdsale multi-signature Bitcoin wallet provided by BitGo. You will also require to save your ETH address to receive your Pluton(s) if you choose this option.
- ETH is sent directly to the Pluton crowdsale multi-signature address on the Ethereum wallet. Pluton(s) will be issued directly to the Ethereum wallet that is used to send ETH.
Plutus.it only gains access to all of its funding, once it has reached important development milestones.
Plutons are sent to your Etheruem wallet once the crowdsale has ended. However, Plutus.it development team only withdraws a smaller portion of the funds raised until all self-imposed milestones are reached. This necessary step for crowdsale governance is taken by the Plutus.it Board to protect the value of Plutons (during the development phase and at pre launch stage of the Plutus Tap and Pay app), which will be established at the end of the sale.
BTC raised will be stored in a multi-signature account provided by BitGo at the end of the crowdsale — only to be released according to guidelines set and milestones of Plutus development.
ETH raised will be stored in a separate multi-signature wallet— same rules will apply to this wallet.
40% at release of Plutons after the crowdsale— development overhaul and operational structure.
10% after the launch of Plutus DEX — 95.75% of the Plutons will be deployed and locked to the PlutusDEX smart contract rebate system.
50% after the launch of the Plutus Tap and Pay Mobile App — Plutons will be available to use on the Plutus app.
Note: Details of multi-signature wallet and verifiable public addresses is available here for ETH and in our Terms of agreement, the document also includes detailed timeline of the fund release and Plutus.it board of governance details. This information is also available on Github.
Why two separate crowdsale fund pools?
The first release of 40% payment will be used for the development overhaul of the project and will be deducted from the funds secured in BTC. The reason for this is simple — we believe in the long-term development and the future growth of the Ethereum ecosystem, so as a choice, we prefer to keep the ETH locked in until after all the milestones are complete.
The second reason is technical — since the Plutus payment system is built on the Ethereum network, we will also require ETH for system operations in the future as well as continued development of the service.
Why is a decentralised rebate system such as Plutons important to Plutus.it and why does it have to be included in the payment system?
The idea behind a decentralised rebate system is not intended exclusively for digital currency users. In the future, direct fiat deposit will be an option for the unbanked with access to a smartphone. Other use-cases such as online checkout with a virtual debit card powered by Pluton as a payment option will also be available as a service.
We believe that users who use direct fiat deposits will have a chance to be introduced to the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain ecosystem in a practical manner.
Can Plutons be traded outside the payment system?
Plutons represent a value decided by the users of the Plutus payment network, their value is stored as a digital asset on the blockchain but are not to be used as currency or money. These are transferable fungibles so if you have any unused Plutons purchased from the crowdsale then you can also trade them with another user on any third party service that may host a Pluton wallet.
Users who register on the PlutusDEX will be able to purchase Plutons directly from the app users, who will then be able to withdraw them from the Plutus payment network and trade externally with other users who wish to obtain them to use on the app because of zero fee and instant conversion.
Please note: Plutons will always be at zero fee and prioritised within the entire Plutus payment system. The uses case offered for Pluton by Plutus.it is for the in-app use of the Plutus Tap and Pay app and other services such as online payment options that Plutus.it will provide in the future.
Daily and monthly spending limits on a virtual debit card will be in accordance with Anti-Money Laundering and other legal requirements. More details on this and above information provided will be expanded in our purchase agreement.
We highly recommend to hold your reserve obtained from participation in the crowdsale and only utilise the optimal use case for Plutons, that is to be traded at zero fee on the PlutusDEX in exchange for a contactless payment balance on the Plutus Mobile App.
Why are there only 4.25% of Plutons available for initial offering and what happens to the remaining tokens?
Plutons are a rebate token and not a “conventional alt-coin or cryptocurrency”, we intend for Plutons to be widely used in future as rebate system, not just on the Plutus Tap & Pay, but also many other services we plan to offer, as well as other third party integration. Raising the amount of Plutons for initial distribution would negatively affect the most important feature of the Plutus.it payment gateway and the longevity of the decentralised rebate system.
The remaining tokens have a slow and limited emission because they are locked in the token contract and can only to be distributed on conversion recorded on the PlutusDEX. Most importantly, they are decentralized and NOT owned by Plutus.it.
Why a crowdsale is necessary for Plutons and the rebate system?
Although the funding from the crowdsale will accelerate the development of the Plutus project, it also has the primary advantage to determine the value of Plutons directly by the users themselves. This value is required by the rebate system to determine the emission rate and longevity of the rebate pool, which changes according to the value of the tokens. To provide a theoretical example, if the value is under 0.001 BTC then the rebate pool’s longevity will end after year 2216 and if higher than 0.01 then the remaining 95.75% of Plutons in the rebate pool will last over 2000 years.
In depths details of how the Blockchain powered rebate system, Pluton works, can be found in the Plutus White Paper.
Pluton crowdsale early termination clause and funding expectation
Due to the unexpectedly large amounts raised in recent crowdsales, we are taking precautionary steps by adding a maximum cap of a BTC and ETH equivalent of 15,000 Bitcoin for the total amounts of funds raised during the Pluton token sale, which, if achieved, will end the sale early.
This is NOT the amount we are asking to raise for the token sale but rather proposing a cap high enough to allow users and the community to determine the value of Plutons efficiently.
Although our expectations are far lower than the set cap amount, this is also a precautionary step to protect the stability of the initial token valuation prior to launch of the Plutus app. The steady growth is critical to the Plutus payment system because the token valuation has a direct effect on the longevity and emission rate of the decentralised rebate system.
We believe setting the cap too narrow would imply valutation expectations by us; so in addition to the precautionary steps taken above, we have also reserved the right to end the sale early with a 24 hours notice.
There is no minimum set requirement for the sale, however the cost to develop the operational structure and launch the product will be less than the set cap amount.
Our aim is to depend on the business model for the continuation of the operations as well as secure funds via the crowdsale to fund the long term business development plan without seeking any further, external funding. This is the optimal scenario to fund the project as it will also enable us to reduce margins and offer lower fees to our users.
Please Note: The token crowdsale does not signify any equity or profit in the company. Nonetheless, we will keep working diligent and transparently throughout the process and keep the Pluton crowdsale participants and our supporters updated on our progress via our many communication channels.
How will the funds be used?
The proceeds of this sale will enable us to finance continued development of the network infrastructure and testing the reliability of the Plutus payment system, the results of which will be freely accessible to everyone in the Blockchain ecosystem.
Most of the funds will be used for development and the operational & legal structure needed for a payment instrument that plugs into the traditional payment infrastructure and system.
A proportion of the funds from the operations budget will remain in a contingency fund and will be used to cover unforeseen expenses and add buy support (if necessary) for Pluton via the DEX network, at the discretion of Plutus.
Marketing budget has been kept low to put all efforts in providing a payment system that grows organically via referrals because of the unique features of the Plutus app.
THE KEY BENEFITS OF PLUTONS AND NFC PAYMENT SUPPORT
- Users will receive a 3%* rebate in Plutons for every conversion made.
- Conversions are FREE when topping up your contactless balance with Plutons.
- Plutons have the advantage of instant transactions on deposits.
- Plutons can be accessed directly from within the app to enable you to convert only what is required at the point of sale.
Please Note: The account used to purchase Plutons can be used with the app directly. There will be no need to register again.
Limitations on use-case and exchange
Note: Plutons obtained during the crowd token sale are designed to be used on the Plutus app. You will receive Plutons immediately after the sale, because of the decentralised nature of the tokens you can transfer them freely to other users with an Ethereum wallet or top up your spending balance and purchase at any NFC-enabled point-of-sale terminal at the launch of the Plutus Tap and Pay app.
The conversion of Plutons issued to the crowdsale participants on the Plutus app will be done via the DEX network and will always be at zero processing fee.
Several third-party services and exchanges have already been in touch with our team to add Plutons to their service at launch. However, due to the third-party nature of such implementations, we do not yet have a 100% confirmation. Any services are welcome to add Plutons and/or connect to our platform and announce them accordingly. By definition, we cannot prevent the PlutusDEX and Plutons (a decentralised system) from being used in new and creative ways. Plutons being added by any other services or exchanges will be announced by their own communication channels and not Plutus.it.
Account Validation
Due to existing laws and regulations, Plutus.it is required to comply with the KYC/AML guidelines on the Plutus Mobile App, which are enforced by the highly regulated payments industry. As a result, a user with basic verification on the Plutus Mobile App will have a daily spending limit of $250 at merchants with an NFC terminal, with each contactless payment transaction limit to an average of $30, as well as a monthly spending limit of $2500 using the Plutus Mobile Apps contactless balance. This same limit applies to all the currencies available on the Plutus Mobile App. This means that, depending on user status and verification, the maximum monthly digital asset-to-fiat conversion is $2500 per user.
See the Plutus Tap and Pay app in action:
Please Note: We may edit or add additional information to this post. All changes will be recorded here.
- Crowdsale governance and token resitrctions: Previous post for Crowdsale V0.1
Updated on: 13/06/16 - Pluton rebate system and details on: Remaining 95.75% Plutons locked in a smart contract.
Updated on 16/06/16 - Community request for an additional precautionary measure to end the sale with a 24hr notice added to: Early termination clause
Updated on: 16/06/16 - Additional information added to: Milestones and fund release
Updaed on 19/06/16
IMPORTANT UPADTES:
- Pluton Crowdsale governing smart contract update and BTC cap amount reduced to 15,000 BTC after further analysis with the community: Governing Smart Contracts and Sale Road Map
Updated on: 19/06/16 - Appointment of the Pluton Crowdsale Board Members and fund release road map: Plutus.it Board Meeting Minutes (PDF).
Updated on: 19/06/16 - Bitcoin transaction list from the Pluton crowdsale added: Pluton Crowdsale Statistics and Results.
Updated on: 13/07/16
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Please join us for a chat on Slack or read our previous posts to find out more about the in-app reward tokens, Plutons and the backbone of the payment network called the PlutusDEX.
