Kyber Network, a blockchain exchange, and payment service today announced a strategic partnership with Aptoide, one of the largest Android app stores in the world, boasting 200 million users and over 4 billion downloads to date. Within the scope of the partnership, all Kyber Network token holders will be granted exclusive access on November 6th, 2017 to the pre-sale of AppCoin tokens — a new cryptocurrency introduced by Aptoide.
AppCoins
Aptoide has noted in its white paper that conventional app stores are stifling innovation in three main ways: inefficient and costly advertisement; inaccessible in-app purchases for the mass market; and a lack of transparency and trust between developers and users.
With AppCoins, users can earn tokens through engaging with app advertising and then spend this currency on in-app purchases (such as game items). Customers who lack access to traditional payment methods today will gain a chance to buy items that were previously inaccessible. In addition, a blockchain ledger will record all developers’ reputation, increasing the reliability of apps in the marketplace.
AppCoins’ potential extends beyond the Aptoide platform because the tokens will be made compatible with all app stores. With that in mind, an App Store Foundation will be created to coordinate the development of the protocol and reference implementation under an open governance model.
Kyber Network and AppCoins integration
The integration between Kyber Network and Aptoide’s platform will allow app developers and users to transact AppCoins using any ERC20 tokens and ETH. For example, a user could pay in any ERC20 cryptocurrency while the developer can receive the payment in AppCoins.
The liquidity is guaranteed by establishing reserves in the network. This reserve will be initially owned and managed by Kyber Network; later, other organizations and individuals with significant token holdings will be invited to join the network, increasing the liquidity pool.
The fungibility of ERC-20 tokens and the ability to buy and sell any service on the Ethereum protocol stabilizes the volatility by means of liquidity. This means that more focus can be directed to the provision of services which is currently obfuscated by blind speculation.
A winning model
Through this partnership, Aptoide stands to benefit from more visibility and market penetration; Kyber Network members who do not own Appcoins will have the possibility to instantly and seamlessly execute in-app purchases as if they were holding the coin. This in turn significantly reduces marketing costs to increase the token usage and liquidity.
During the first phase of the partnership, both companies will focus on the integration of services. Kyber Network will hope to benefit from the vast network which Aptoide has established.
In the longer term, Kyber and AppCoins will work towards attracting more decentralized mobile application stores, providing the opportunity for both to scale.