TOMNTOMS Belated Coin Issuance will be Effective?

TOMNTOMS (www.tomntoms.com), a coffee specialty store, issues a virtual asset 'TOMTOM Coin'. The idea is to use it as a payment method and customer rewards within TOMNTOMS.

Considering that the so-called 'Reverse ICO' which introduces virtual assets into existing services, was once popular, it is also evaluated as a rather late attempt. Unlike the unsuccessful precedents, it is pointed out that the number of applications should be increased as much as possible. They also need to find a good reason to use virtual assets rather than regular points.

◆Just a point? What the reason for using virtual assets?

TOMNTOMS announced that it will first introduce TOMTOM coin in the official application My Tom in the first half of this year. After using it for in-app payment, it plans to use it in offline stores and overseas stores in the future.

As the first-generation franchise café in Korea, it has a strong user base, so it is possible to secure virtual asset users as well. However, in order to do this, it seems necessary to inform users of the advantages of virtual asset payment.

In general, the biggest advantage of virtual asset payment is the reduction of fees. For other payment methods such as card payment, there is an intermediary that takes a fee in the middle, but there is no intermediary for payment using virtual assets and blockchain technology.

Other virtual asset payment services also have these advantages. Since there is little commission, it is advocating that it is a profit to the affiliated store, and it is taking a strategy to return the commission saved through discounts to users. Also, from the user's point of view, if a virtual asset used as a payment method is listed on the exchange, the asset can be used for both investment purposes and payment purposes.

Therefore, TOMNTOMS is also expected to present such technological advantages. It means that differentiation points of virtual assets must be obtained, which is different from the method of collecting store points and receiving discounts.

An official from TOMNTOMS said, "The potential value of the blockchain technology grafted to TOMTOM coin is high, and the range that can be utilized is expected to be wider." and said that he will highlight its technical advantages.

It is important to inform the advantages of using virtual assets, but it is also important to find out where to use TOMTOM coin. There have been cases in which companies such as Cyworld's Clink and Hanbit Soft's Bryllite have issued virtual assets based on existing services, but eventually failed because they could not find an appropriate place to use the token.

In addition, virtual assets that have secured usage already exist in the market. Major virtual assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are many payment applications or cards that support the coin. Visa card also supports the Bitcoin network, so you can pay at most stores. In addition, Crypto.com Coin (CRO) and Paycoin (PCI), which were released for payment services, are also actively expanding their use in Korea.

In comparison, TOMTOM Coin is a latecomer as a payment virtual asset. If the application is limited to TOMNTOMS, the scalability will inevitably decrease.

TOMNTOMS position is that it will provide other uses besides store payment. An official from TOMNTOMS said, "We will not use TOMTOM coin as a simple payment method, but as a utility token to form a consensus between customers, store owners, and headquarters."

Although he did not talk about the specific utilization plan, it is expected that TOMTOM Coin will be paid as a reward for the use of customer data, and the head office will use the data to enhance the service.

An official from TOMNTOMS said, "We are in the process of scrutinizing how to use TOMTOM Coin, and first, we will use it as a utility token for customers and headquarters to contribute to service improvement."