Public blockchain network IOST is having a busy year. Backed by some powerhouse investors including the likes of Sequoia Capital and Huobi Capital, CEO Jimmy Zhong has ambitious plans.
The IOST team is making partnerships left and right, including a recent one with Amazon Web Services where it will provide “blockchain-as-a-service” to facilitate the development process.
Other partnerships include the Chinese autonomous vehicle company Ehang, which provides flight data analytics to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (the NASA of China), and blockchain education ventures with the likes of the Singapore government.
This young blockchain company is firmly focused on facilitating mainstream adoption and growing its ecosystem. Since launching its mainnet ahead of schedule earlier this year, IOST is registering some impressive growth.
In Q2 2019, it had a total TX amount of more than $20 million – some three times that of Ethereum. Its user base is also climbing, mirroring that of EOS in its first three months at 15,000 users.
The latest partnership with Boomstarter
In a further bid to bring blockchain to the masses, IOST has now partnered with the Eastern European version of Kickstarter. Boomstarter is one of the largest crowdfunding platforms in this region, and the IOST token will now be used as one of the fundraising currencies on it.
Boomstarter was founded in 2012 and has raised more than $7.5 million so far for developers, creators, and entrepreneurs from almost 200,000 Eastern European backers. With over 300,000 unique monthly visitors and a user base of 800,000+, IOST aims to provide a new cryptocurrency channel for international backers of exciting new projects.
Boomstarter also accepts BTC and ETH payments and will be adding IOST’s new iUSD stablecoin to eliminate volatility for its growing portfolio of entrepreneurs.
According to IOST, this partnership marks a win-win for both companies. Boomstarter will attract new eyes from around the globe and access funds from global international communities and IOST will increase the utility of its token, its footprint, and awareness for the project.
IOST supports entrepreneurs around the world
IOST and Boomstarter appear to be a match made in heaven considering the values of both platforms: to help hungry entrepreneurs to realise their dreams. This is yet another step toward making blockchain technology more accessible to all, along with its blockchain-as-a-service arm which allows developers to deploy blockchain services in less than five minutes.
Speaking exclusively to Coin Rivet, IOST CEO Jimmy Zhong said:
“Crowdfunding is an amazing way for entrepreneurs who don’t have access to traditional venture capital from traditional start-up hubs like Silicon Valley. By building a community of supporters who share their vision, entrepreneurs can now raise funding to make their dreams come to life.
“The use of the IOST token as a cryptocurrency is an opportunity for companies like Boomstarter to overcome geographical restrictions and truly go international. This is especially pertinent in cases where capital access for small business entrepreneurs is choked by legacy financial systems.”
Russia and Eastern Europe a booming cryptocurrency area
This partnership will bring about greater awareness not only of cryptocurrency, but of the IOST blockchain itself in a region in which the China-born company is not as well known.
A further significant point of the partnership is that Boomstarter will also be joining IOST as a new partner node. This is part of the company’s plans to penetrate the Russian market with a sizable population of more than 144 million – and one of the highest levels of crypto adoption. 13% of Russians use cryptocurrency for online payments.
A report by P2PMarketData recently revealed that the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region, which includes Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus, experienced the fastest crowdfunding growth in Europe at a massive 465% in 2019. Zhong enthused:
“As a public blockchain with a thriving international community, IOST wants to make the practical benefits of cryptocurrency available to all. This partnership with Boomstarter gives backers a channel to support projects that resonate with them from anywhere in the world – using the IOST token. In return, aspiring entrepreneurs on Boomstarter will receive the capital they need, in the form of IOST tokens, to launch the business of their dreams.”
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.