CORE MAGAZINE April 2017 | Page 45

ZrCoin: The World's First Commodity-backed Blockchain Option

Today, we’re going to talk about ZrCoin, a cryptocurrency that is to be backed by Zirconium Dioxide (ZrO2), a refractory material with high plasticity and corrosion resistant properties. Although the concept of a real-life commodity backed cryptocurrencies is not new, the ZrCoin project takes the concept to a whole new level.

´to a whole new level. Previous projects have created tokens, usually backed by precious metal, as a means of providing an investment vehicle for their clients. These precious metals are usually purchased and stored by the company(or a third party), ensuring that all the coins are backed by an equal amount of the precious metal.

The team behind the ZrCoin project will not buy and store Zirconium Dioxide. Instead, the team has found a way to extracting it from waste materials, resulting in synthetic zirconium dioxide (Synth. ZrО2) which is then converted into the concentrate of synthetic zirconium dioxide, a material that is traded on the global market of refractories. Synth. ZrО2 has higher quality and superior physical and chemical properties than its non-synthetic analog, with greater purity (66% to 75%), and 2.5-3 times greater durability, stability and persistence.

However, the team requires funding to begin large scale production and that’s where ZrCoin and its crowdfunding campaign (ICO) come it. During the ICO, investors will have the option of purchasing ZrCoins at a 50% discount from the current market price of Synth. ZrО2. The funds will then be used to purchase real estate in the industrial area of Magnitogorsk, Russia, to build a factory and launch the manufacturing process for synthetic zirconium dioxide.

The ICO will take place during March-April and the team hopes to begin the first sales and shipments of the market-ready Synth. ZrО2 by December 2017. The ZrCoin financial instrument will be launched on the Waves blockchain platform.

The team also planned a buy-back program for ZrCoins which will start eight months after the end of the ICO. Investors will be able to exchange their ZrCoins for the equivalent of the underlying asset, which is the aforementioned concentrate of synthetic zirconium dioxide (1 zrCoin = Kg of the concentrate). Investors will also be able to exchange their ZrCoins for the company’s stock if the company is eligible for IPO or to exchange it for BTC, fiat or other cryptos in independent exchanges that wish to list ZrCoin.

To learn more about this project, visit the official website and read the whitepaper.

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