PRE Proposal: 36 + Dash ATM

[ThirtySix]

PRODUCT36
(Dash payment project by Alt Thirty Six)
PRE Proposal document:
Chinese Version PRE Proposal document.
English Version PRE Proposal document.
Chinese Dash Forum Post.​

Alt Thirty Six builds beautifully designed, simple-to-use payment technology for companies accepting digital currency. We believe that digital payments are the future of global commerce, and we see the potential for Dash to revolutionize the financial industry - making payments faster, more secure, and less expensive on a global scale. Our fully-integrated, Dash payments solution solves all the problems associated with Bitcoin, traditional payments, and centralized banking solutions. Using seamless Dash payment technology, we remove the confusion and complex processes associated with digital currency.

Our main verticals are cash-based, cannabis retailers having difficulty accessing banking and payment services. In 2016, cash-based cannabis sales were approximately $6.7 billion and estimated to hit $11 billion by 2020. Federal regulation has resulted in cash-only transactions between retail merchants, suppliers, and their customers with limited or no access to banking institutions. The negative effects of cash handling include: increased time investment, issues paying suppliers/vendors/employees, and excessive fees which reduce the bottom-line.

The Problem
Currently, purchasing Dash is near impossible for the everyday person. Even for those who are familiar with digital currencies, one must often first purchase bitcoins and then exchange them for Dash. If the end goal is mass adoption of the currency, this is a major problem.

Regarding the accessibility of purchasing Dash, this problem can be broken into two issues that must be solved. First, a user-friendly system must be in place for anybody and everybody, including the non-technical, to be able to obtain Dash both safely and with ease. Second, with the user-friendly system in place, we must then work towards incentivizing people to purchase Dash directly without first buying bitcoins.

The Solution
Our solution is to host the largest network of Dash ATMs specifically for making the purchase of Dash as simple as possible. Every decision made regarding the ATMs will be metric driven and we will have ATM managers that monitor/evaluate performance of each ATM, conduct market research for possible future ATM locations, and manage the throughput of each ATM to ensure the necessary liquidity is always available.

Unlike the current digital currency ATM owners, our business model is not to charge ridiculously high fees that end up making the purchase of digital currencies from an ATM very costly and unattractive. Working towards our purpose of mass adoption of Dash, we will be charging very low fees to use our ATMs. Additionally, revenue generated from the ATMs will be directly reinvested into our ATM network solution. This includes, but is not limited to, purchasing more ATMs, hiring more ATM managers/business intelligence analysts to track metrics and evaluate performance, and increasing the cash/Dash reserves to add more liquidity to the network of ATMs.

Our fee structure will dynamically change based on analyzing real-time data. The fee structure will reflect the objective of the specific ATM. For example, if we want to empty the cash vault through selling Dash, we will lower the withdrawal fees. With that said, since our main objective is for Dash to gain mass adoption, the fee to purchase Dash will be 1% or less.

Implementation
Our implementation process for the network of ATMs will be based on market research when choosing a location, and then evaluated monthly based on performance metrics. If a certain ATM location fails to meet a certain transactional volume criterion, over a 3-month average period (period duration subject to change), we will relocate the ATM to a location that, through extensive market research, is shown to produce more volume.

Initially, through the extensive network of high cash-handling locations developed by the Product36 platform, all ATMs will be implemented in cannabis dispensaries that enable Dash payments through the platform. Currently, we see these as the most natural and synergistic locations that will generate the most volume through the ATMs and Product36. Listed below are the reasons that support this initial implementation decision and the benefits for the Dash ecosystem:

1. The cannabis industry has a huge cash-handling problem and wants to realize the benefits of transacting in Dash. Specifically the dispensaries that enable Dash through Product36 will be incentivized to have customers only pay in Dash, allowing them to realize the cost benefits. This in turn incentivizes dispensaries to promote the ATM by encouraging customers to purchase Dash, and then using Dash to purchase product. This increases the throughput of the ATMs as well as increases the amount of Dash injected into the cannabis ecosystem.

2. The consumers purchasing cannabis come from all levels of society and therefore the type of exposure that the Dash ATMs gain, is not restricted to one specific type of demographic. Furthermore, those in the cannabis space are early-adopters and generally very open-minded to new and exciting things. We believe this is the best population to introduce the Dash ATMs and that this audience will be more than welcoming to this new way to transact digitally.

3. With the current digital currency ATM business models, it is hard to get constant feedback and reassess the effectiveness of a certain location/implementation strategy. If we implement the Dash ATMs in dispensaries, we will be able to get constant feedback from the dispensary owners on the sentiment of the customers. With that information, we can work on changing the location strategy, the user experience, the fee structure, etc.

4. We are working closely with the ATM manufacturer and the current POS (point-of-sales) systems to allow the ATMs to essentially become Dash self-checkout machines. We believe this will make the transition from fiat to Dash currency seamless and allow customers to instantly realize the benefits of Dash.
​

Timeline
We plan to implement the ATMs into dispensaries at the same time that Product36 begins beta testing. Currently, this is set for early December 2017. For every new dispensary that enables Dash payments, we want to provide them an ATM machine. We are proposing this to the network in September to give us the funding and time to do the necessary development work to enable the features we need on the machines. We are partnered with an ATM machine company and will be using a brand new, unreleased model that we cannot give any more details about. This partnership allows us to customize the software associated with the ATMs to fit our needs. Such additional features include being able to exchange bitcoins to Dash and creating the self-checkout interface for dispensaries.

Alt Thirty Six will need to test the existing functionality and customizations prior to our December launch. We work very closely with the talent at Arizona State University and will be placing an ATM in the development labs in order to test the software and interoperability with Product36. Furthermore, we believe ATM security is a very high priority so we will be conducting extensive security and hacking tests on the machines.

We are requesting funding for the first 30 ATMs, associated costs with operating the ATMs, and additional development costs needed to perfect the user interface/experience for each specific location. Thirty ATMs is the amount needed to expedite the manufacturing of the brand new ATM models and will allow us to scale quickly. Our detailed proposed costs and funding request from the Dash network is listed below.

Requested Funding from Dash Network

1) ATM $13,000 x 30

$390,000​

2) Technical Support/Testing $160 x 30

$4,800

3) ATM Legal/Compliance Fees $22,500

4) Cash Collection/Garda $3,000

5) Alt Thirty Six ATM Manager & Policy Management $6,400 x 2

$12,800

6) Alt Thirty Six Initial Development Costs $109,000

7) Alt Thirty Six Developer Security/Maintenance/Upgrades $10,000

8) Proposal Fee 5 Dash

Total Dash Contribution for Proposal in USD $552,100 + 5 Dash

Total Dash Contribution for Proposal in Dash 1,833.69 Dash*

*Based on CoinMarketCap.com Dash/USD Conversion Rate as of 8:52 AM MST on 9/17/2017

Team
Ken Ramirez, CoFounder + CEO
Lauren Murphy, CoFounder + President
Jeremy Liu, Portfolio Manager
Marcus Jones, Business Development
Shelly Du, Market Research Analyst

Board Advisors
Nitin Gaur, Director, IBM Blockchain Labs
Jeff White, Head of U.S. Acquiring, MasterCard Worldwide
Dragan Boscovic Ph.D., Director of CASCADE, Arizona State University
Mary Anne Keegan, President + CMO, Alert GPS
Joseph Ciccolo, Founder + President, BitAML
Rich Hybner, Former CFO, Wall St. Journal
Andrejs Bunkse, President, Endurance Strategy Group
Cory Skaaren, Principal + Creative Director, Skaaren Design
Daniel Berg, Regulatory Policy Analyst and Strategic Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Rick Oglesby, President, AZ Payment Group
Adella Toulon-Foerster, Director of Financial Legal Tech, Cogent Law Group
Brandon Willey, CEO, Fetch Rev​

 

[joemoraca]

I agree you need to have the ATM network in place to support the full project. They must be "very top of the line" ATM for 13K.

 

[ampp]

It's possible because it has self checkout its includes a bit more hardware as nothing else is like it. I agree it sounds expensive but until we see them it's hard to say and they are rushing the development and getting the first ones. This is a very competitive market right now and it costs money to be 1st. I hope they are able to reduce the cost after the initial run and the relationship with the ATM maker is mutually beneficial for the long run.

What's @ThirtySix stance on allowing multiple cryptos on these? A much higher fee would be in order but this would help fund the deployment of more of these machines. It would be possible to offset the dash fees to zero if there was enough transaction volume. This would also bring more customers in. On the back-end you would convert to Dash. As much as the community likes the idea of dash only it makes way more business since to enable other coins.

 

[Name3]

It's possible because it has self checkout its includes a bit more hardware as nothing else is like it. I agree it sounds expensive but until we see them it's hard to say and they are rushing the development and getting the first ones. This is a very competitive market right now and it costs money to be 1st. I hope they are able to reduce the cost after the initial run and the relationship with the ATM maker is mutually beneficial for the long run.

What's @ThirtySix stance on allowing multiple cryptos on these? A much higher fee would be in order but this would help fund the deployment of more of these machines. It would be possible to offset the dash fees to zero if there was enough transaction volume. This would also bring more customers in. On the back-end you would convert to Dash. As much as the community likes the idea of dash only it makes way more business since to enable other coins.

I could not disagree more. The vast majority of the people who come into contact with these ATMs have nothing to do with cryptocurrency. By informing them that all these other cryptocurrencies exist we would only be diminishing our own advantage.

A 1% fee for getting Dash is already extremely low, and would hopefully be lowered further with time.

 

[ampp]

I could not disagree more. The vast majority of the people who come into contact with these ATMs have nothing to do with cryptocurrency. By informing them that all these other cryptocurrencies exist we would only be diminishing our own advantage.

A 1% fee for getting Dash is already extremely low, and would hopefully be lowered further with time.

There at least two options here.

1. Allowing the machine to accept other crypto, and thus convert to dash etc.
2. Allowing the sale of other crypto's for cash.

Disallowing #1 is equivalent to not accepting dollars. Too much anti-competitive behavior providers other solution providers to come in later and take out our machines. Any long term success will be to meet the needs of the business and the customers whatever they are.

 

[ThirtySix]

It's possible because it has self checkout its includes a bit more hardware as nothing else is like it. I agree it sounds expensive but until we see them it's hard to say and they are rushing the development and getting the first ones. This is a very competitive market right now and it costs money to be 1st. I hope they are able to reduce the cost after the initial run and the relationship with the ATM maker is mutually beneficial for the long run.

What's @ThirtySix stance on allowing multiple cryptos on these? A much higher fee would be in order but this would help fund the deployment of more of these machines. It would be possible to offset the dash fees to zero if there was enough transaction volume. This would also bring more customers in. On the back-end you would convert to Dash. As much as the community likes the idea of dash only it makes way more business since to enable other coins.

Alt Thirty Six is open to allowing multiple digital currencies to add functionality for the end users, as well as to enable even lower Dash fees. We would most likely limit the machines to Bitcoin and Dash only. With this, we would have no fees for Bitcoin to Dash transactions, to incentivize those who come with bitcoins to convert to Dash. However, other Bitcoin transactions, such as Bitcoin to Cash, Cash to Bitcoin, and Dash to Bitcoin, would be much larger fees (estimating fees greater than or equal to 10%).

This would allow us to expand much faster than limiting the ATMs to only Dash. In addition, it may attract consumers who go to the machine with the intention of buying bitcoins, and then incentivize them enough to purchase, and ultimately use, Dash instead.

This will be a part of our iteration process to see how the enabling of other digital currencies affects the throughput of the machine. If, after enabling Bitcoin transactions, we see Dash transaction volume going up due to the increase in consumer traffic, this is a major benefit for the network and the feature can be permanent. However, if we see enabling other currencies hurts the Dash volume, we will reassess the feature and either 1) Increase fees associated with Bitcoin transactions or 2) Disable the feature altogether.

As you can see, a huge part of our objective for this ATM network is to iterate as much as possible until we find the best formula (with respect to our locations, fees, and currencies) for the Dash network. This type of feedback aligns perfectly with that objective.

 

[AgnewPickens]

Erm, people who have no experience with cryptos have likely already heard of BitCoin, if they aren't included in a machine that dispenses crypto, wouldn't that make them suspect something is wrong with Dash, I mean, Dash already has the competitive advantage when it comes to processing merchant transactions, it would be dumb not to include other cryptos as an option because you would be driving away BTC users and such from adopting Dash. When you have a superior tech, you aren't all that concerned with other crytpos being listed. Or am I missing something you have seen in your business crystal ball @Name3 ?

 

[ampp]

It's always possible that the other currencies may hurt our Dash volume some. Just remember our primary goal is to keep these locations. It's hard to measure the long term advertising exposure and other less measurable data. Lets also not trade long term results for short term profits. Other businesses will sometimes operate these things at break even or a loss to maintain market advantage. If the benefit is small its still better than not having it there. They become a valuable asset and it's not easy to take out the incumbent unless they are making poor business decisions.

 

[djcrypto]

It's possible because it has self checkout its includes a bit more hardware as nothing else is like it. I agree it sounds expensive but until we see them it's hard to say and they are rushing the development and getting the first ones. This is a very competitive market right now and it costs money to be 1st. I hope they are able to reduce the cost after the initial run and the relationship with the ATM maker is mutually beneficial for the long run.

What's @ThirtySix stance on allowing multiple cryptos on these? A much higher fee would be in order but this would help fund the deployment of more of these machines. It would be possible to offset the dash fees to zero if there was enough transaction volume. This would also bring more customers in. On the back-end you would convert to Dash. As much as the community likes the idea of dash only it makes way more business since to enable other coins.

Seems like a big ask for two months of development.
I would rather have the ability to push this upgrade in the future, however, only if it reduced the Dash fee to 0.
That said, I would support this proposal as is.

I fully agree with this solution, and thank you @ThirtySix !!!

 

[ThirtySix]

Seems like a big ask for two months of development.
I would rather have the ability to push this upgrade in the future, however, only if it reduced the Dash fee to 0.
That said, I would support this proposal as is.

I fully agree with this solution, and thank you @ThirtySix !!!

We will be able to get both of those features added before our scheduled implementation date.

In regards to the fees, keep in mind that revenue generated through the ATM network gets reinvested in the growth of the network. So, fees are not inherently bad for the Dash network. A cost-benefit analysis will have to take place to identify which fee structure helps grow the ATM network the fastest. Being able to grow fast allows us to capture more market share in popular areas, increasing the exposure of the Dash network. This is one metric we plan on tracking and will continue to iterate on until we find the optimal fee structure for maximum growth.

 

[djcrypto]

We will be able to get both of those features added before our scheduled implementation date.

In regards to the fees, keep in mind that revenue generated through the ATM network gets reinvested in the growth of the network. So, fees are not inherently bad for the Dash network. A cost-benefit analysis will have to take place to identify which fee structure helps grow the ATM network the fastest. Being able to grow fast allows us to capture more market share in popular areas, increasing the exposure of the Dash network. This is one metric we plan on tracking and will continue to iterate on until we find the optimal fee structure for maximum growth.

I understand that fees will help grow the network, however, if Dash is to pay for this, we want to provide it a competitive advantage and reduced fees compared to other cryptos supported in the ATM seems like a good incentive.

 

[oaxaca]

My assumption was that the original alt36 proposal was to enable Dash in dispensaries (among other vertically placed businesses). One of the problems to be solved was the cash problem at the dispensary. Consumers are at risk when transporting cash, dispensaries can't handle the cash-handling, etc. How does placing an ATM in the dispensary help this goal? It seems counterintuitive to say the least. For $552,000 USD you could CERTAINLY get end users preloaded with Dash via a targeted email campaign (for example) instead of placing a network of ATMs which do NOT solve the problems of end user security or business back end processing. Why would a user bring cash to the dispensary and go through the extra step of converting it into Dash? Who is going to "empty" the ATM of this evil cash? If it's the dispensary itself, then you have not solved their problem.

or am I missing something?

 

[ThirtySix]

My assumption was that the original alt36 proposal was to enable Dash in dispensaries (among other vertically placed businesses). One of the problems to be solved was the cash problem at the dispensary. Consumers are at risk when transporting cash, dispensaries can't handle the cash-handling, etc. How does placing an ATM in the dispensary help this goal? It seems counterintuitive to say the least. For $552,000 USD you could CERTAINLY get end users preloaded with Dash via a targeted email campaign (for example) instead of placing a network of ATMs which do NOT solve the problems of end user security or business back end processing. Why would a user bring cash to the dispensary and go through the extra step of converting it into Dash? Who is going to "empty" the ATM of this evil cash? If it's the dispensary itself, then you have not solved their problem.

or am I missing something?

Your assumption is correct about the original proposal, we are working towards solving the cash problem for the cannabis industry. However, our plan is not to target consumers one-by-one as we find this very inefficient. We believe it is much more efficient, and sustainable, to target the industry from the business owners of the industry who have great influence over the consumers.

Placing the ATMs in dispensaries initially (as we will place the ATMs in the locations that produce the largest volume regardless if the location is a dispensary or not), will allow the dispensaries to showcase what Dash is in a user-friendly way and provide an easy way to purchase Dash. The reason behind these initial locations is that consumers may not have a Dash mobile wallet, or quite possibly not even know about Dash, the first time they walk into the dispensary since the dispensary has enabled Dash payments. Instead of sending them home and telling them to purchase Dash for next time, which we believe may have a poor retention rate, dispensaries can direct customers to the ATMs and allow them to purchase Dash on the spot.

In addition to the initial retention ratio for consumers, dispensary owners gain many benefits from this system. The biggest problem in the industry is not necessarily cash handling for the consumers, but for the cash handling for the business owners. A consumer generally comes in with $100 or less of cash, and if he wants to have a larger purchase he would use the traditional ATM at the dispensary to get cash through his debit card. To address this problem, our ATMs will allow debit card processing in future iterations, we are working closely with a bank to get the approval necessary to enable this feature. The cash handling for the business owner is the real problem because unlike a consumer who carries $100, some business owners carry hundreds of thousands of dollars in underground bunkers because they have nowhere else to store it that doesn’t cost them a fortune. Putting an ATM in the dispensary allows them to promote the Dash currency at the physical location and incentivize the consumers to make the conversion immediately. Moreover, with our development of the self-checkout interface, it makes the process attractive for both the consumer and the merchant, while still benefiting the Dash network by having all purchases through the self-checkout system in Dash.

Alt Thirty Six envisions the ATM volume being very high initially at the dispensaries, while we are still showcasing Dash to new users, but over time being less used as the number of preloaded wallet consumers arrive. Once this happens, we will assess the location and move the ATM into either 1) A brand new dispensary that still has a majority of new users or 2) A location outside of the cannabis industry. To get to this preloaded state of the consumers, an integral part of PRODUCT36 is to give each merchant that we partner with both educational and marketing material for promoting the usage of Dash. We believe that the best way to take over the cannabis industry is to have the most influential people in the industry realize the benefits and advocate for this change. To do this, we believe placing the ATMs initially in the dispensaries, and then phasing them out as consumers start to preload their own wallets, is the best way to sweep the industry quickly.

To quickly touch on the cash handling for the ATMs, Alt Thirty Six will be taking care of this process. We will be tracking the cash levels on our system 24/7 and merchants will not be needing to pay for this.

 

[ThirtySix]

I understand that fees will help grow the network, however, if Dash is to pay for this, we want to provide it a competitive advantage and reduced fees compared to other cryptos supported in the ATM seems like a good incentive.

Alt Thirty Six completely agrees that we want Dash to have a competitive advantage over other currencies supported. This can be reflected by our proposed fee structure of <1% fees for Cash to Dash and an estimate of >10% fees for other currencies.

However, our decisions will be strictly based on analyzing metrics that best helps grow the Dash network and increase transactional volume. We will not be making subjective decisions on the fee structure based on our “gut feeling” of what is best for the network. Thus, these types of decisions will have to be tested in the real world. Only then can we analyze the data generated from this process to make such decisions.

 

[DashDude]

If I understand this proposal the idea is to get the dispensary/merchants out of the cash business by having customers make their purchases in Dash. Have the merchants been interviewed (Voice of Customer) to see what they will do with the Dash? If they lack access to normal banking channels are they willing to hold Dash rather than cash? Are their suppliers/wholesalers willing to accept Dash as payment for product? What about the growers? Will the dispensary employees accept part of all of their salary in Dash? To be highly effective it seems like the whole cannabis ecosystem would need to convert to Dash. Help me understand what this looks like from the dispensary owner's viewpoint and what they are likely to do with the Dash they accept in retail transactions.

 

[TroyDASH]

I can't bring myself to support this. I don't picture cryptocurrency ATMs as being the future of crypto. In my opinion we should be spending the mega-bucks to make it as easy as possible to buy dash directly on your phone, not spend huge dollars building a physical ATM network.

 

[ThirtySix]

If I understand this proposal the idea is to get the dispensary/merchants out of the cash business by having customers make their purchases in Dash. Have the merchants been interviewed (Voice of Customer) to see what they will do with the Dash? If they lack access to normal banking channels are they willing to hold Dash rather than cash? Are their suppliers/wholesalers willing to accept Dash as payment for product? What about the growers? Will the dispensary employees accept part of all of their salary in Dash? To be highly effective it seems like the whole cannabis ecosystem would need to convert to Dash. Help me understand what this looks like from the dispensary owner's viewpoint and what they are likely to do with the Dash they accept in retail transactions.

This question seems more geared towards our PRODUCT36 than the ATM network. Here is the link to that proposal:

https://www.dash.org/forum/threads/proposal-alt36-dash-payment-platform-4-updates-included.14571/

In short, we are in the process of conducting interviews with dispensary owners, vendors and other entities within the ecosystem that will interact with Dash and PRODUCT36. The majority of the cannabis industry lacks access to normal banking channels and are welcoming towards transacting in Dash instead of Cash. While they are welcoming to transacting in Dash, initially we believe most businesses will want to convert most of their transaction volume, if not all, into USD. Over time, we predict dispensary owners will become more comfortable with holding Dash instead of converting to USD instantly. We are providing all the value-added services around the payment, some of which includes a banking solution and ability to invite growers, suppliers, vendors to enable interaction between the entire ecosystem. PRODUCT36 will enable Dash payments from the business to consumer and business to business transaction flow.

 

[ThirtySix]

I can't bring myself to support this. I don't picture cryptocurrency ATMs as being the future of crypto. In my opinion we should be spending the mega-bucks to make it as easy as possible to buy dash directly on your phone, not spend huge dollars building a physical ATM network.

Alt Thirty Six envisions the mass adoption of Dash in phases. Phase 1 consists of physical interaction with the currency through the use of an ATM. Being able to hold Dash, and then easily cash out without needing to arrange a transaction with another individual, is a great feature that the Dash network does not currently have. Our implementation process will begin with dispensaries, giving the ATMs exposure to a very open-minded population. Having the ATMs give the layperson the ability to see the “realness” of Dash. Whether we like it or not, the average person still believes digital currencies are either fakes, scams, or just dangerous to be in. By having potential future Dash users see the ATMs, and know they have the ability to cash out whenever they need to, is a very reassuring property for mass adoption.

Once users start to get more comfortable with Dash, through seeing/using the ATMs, they may find more digital means that suit their needs better (Phase 2). At this time, we will move the ATM location to those who are still uncomfortable with Dash and repeat the process. Alt Thirty Six wants to rapidly iterate this process until the Dash network grows to be the largest digital currency used by everyone, not only the technical minded.

Alt Thirty Six truly believes this is currently the best way to move towards mass adoption and stand by this proposal. Dash must be the first digital currency to capture the market share of the everyday person. Instead of waiting for a possibly better solution, we want to move forward with the current best solution and have Dash be the first digital currency to win over the general public.

 

[solarguy]

If I understand your proposal correctly, the Crypto/Dash ATM system is a sophisticated training aid to get people to transition over to direct person to business model using a wallet on their phone.

AND, a marketing and training aid to encourage every level of the industry to adopt, keep and use Dash rather than fiat, and rather than Dash to fiat.

Have you done, or are you going to do a User Experience study to asses how much better an ATM/Dash/checkout machine works compared to current cash methods? I'm looking for some objective feedback to support the grand vision. Because it does sound like a grand vision.

You suggest that once the system is working, the ATM's may be moved to other venues, perhaps not cannabis related. How would the checkout feature work in these other venues?

Thanks!

 

[ThirtySix]

If I understand your proposal correctly, the Crypto/Dash ATM system is a sophisticated training aid to get people to transition over to direct person to business model using a wallet on their phone.

AND, a marketing and training aid to encourage every level of the industry to adopt, keep and use Dash rather than fiat, and rather than Dash to fiat.

Have you done, or are you going to do a User Experience study to asses how much better an ATM/Dash/checkout machine works compared to current cash methods? I'm looking for some objective feedback to support the grand vision. Because it does sound like a grand vision.

You suggest that once the system is working, the ATM's may be moved to other venues, perhaps not cannabis related. How would the checkout feature work in these other venues?

Thanks!

Alt Thirty Six has not yet done any user experience surveys as we do not currently have an ATM to get real user experience feedback from. However, we have done much research in the cannabis industry on the current difficulties of obtaining Dash and if an ATM will benefit users. Unanimously, we have gotten positive feedback and encouragement to push forward with this ATM network.

Moving forward, we plan on getting as much feedback as possible from users with respect to their experience with the ATMs and how we can improve that experience.

To touch on the self-checkout interface, the great thing about our planned development is that the interface can be abstracted into any industry. All our developers need to do is plug into the different POS systems and transfer data accordingly. Clearly, we will want to change the design of the front-end to align with the different venue. However, this is completely possible in the scope of our ability to customize the ATMs.

 

[Name3]

Erm, people who have no experience with cryptos have likely already heard of BitCoin, if they aren't included in a machine that dispenses crypto, wouldn't that make them suspect something is wrong with Dash, I mean, Dash already has the competitive advantage when it comes to processing merchant transactions, it would be dumb not to include other cryptos as an option because you would be driving away BTC users and such from adopting Dash. When you have a superior tech, you aren't all that concerned with other crytpos being listed. Or am I missing something you have seen in your business crystal ball @Name3 ?

Sorry, I should have worded my concern better. I assumed bitcoin would be included, when I said other Cryptocurrency I was referring to other alt-coins. That is my mistake

 

[TroyDASH]

Alt Thirty Six envisions the mass adoption of Dash in phases. Phase 1 consists of physical interaction with the currency through the use of an ATM. Being able to hold Dash, and then easily cash out without needing to arrange a transaction with another individual, is a great feature that the Dash network does not currently have. Our implementation process will begin with dispensaries, giving the ATMs exposure to a very open-minded population. Having the ATMs give the layperson the ability to see the “realness” of Dash. Whether we like it or not, the average person still believes digital currencies are either fakes, scams, or just dangerous to be in. By having potential future Dash users see the ATMs, and know they have the ability to cash out whenever they need to, is a very reassuring property for mass adoption.

Once users start to get more comfortable with Dash, through seeing/using the ATMs, they may find more digital means that suit their needs better (Phase 2). At this time, we will move the ATM location to those who are still uncomfortable with Dash and repeat the process. Alt Thirty Six wants to rapidly iterate this process until the Dash network grows to be the largest digital currency used by everyone, not only the technical minded.

Alt Thirty Six truly believes this is currently the best way to move towards mass adoption and stand by this proposal. Dash must be the first digital currency to capture the market share of the everyday person. Instead of waiting for a possibly better solution, we want to move forward with the current best solution and have Dash be the first digital currency to win over the general public.

I'm still not convinced on this model.
Do you envision these ATMs as being primarily used for buying Dash, or selling Dash, or both? Either way wouldn't people need to already have a mobile wallet in order to send or receive the coins? Having a physical machine seems like a completely unnecessary step in the business process.
Are the ATMs really a critical component of this whole setup without which the entire project falls apart? What would happen if this was *not* funded? If this is going to be metrics-driven, couldn't we at least do a pilot or something first? Nearly $400,000 for 30 ATMs plus another 100 grand for development is a gigantic expenditure and we have no data supporting the effectiveness of these. Couldn't we develop some really kickass mobile app to do everything an ATM could possibly do and then some, without being limited by physical location, for that kind of money?
You mentioned low fees (1%), which is great, but how is the exchange rate to be determined? I've seen too many crypto startups claiming to have low fees but they just artificially inflate the spot price to make up for it.

 

[TheSingleton]

While i do think that ATMs are not a final solution to the problem of how to aquire the first dash i do think they will play a usefull intermedieat role. So you have my votes

 

[ThirtySix]

I'm still not convinced on this model.
Do you envision these ATMs as being primarily used for buying Dash, or selling Dash, or both? Either way wouldn't people need to already have a mobile wallet in order to send or receive the coins? Having a physical machine seems like a completely unnecessary step in the business process.
Are the ATMs really a critical component of this whole setup without which the entire project falls apart? What would happen if this was *not* funded? If this is going to be metrics-driven, couldn't we at least do a pilot or something first? Nearly $400,000 for 30 ATMs plus another 100 grand for development is a gigantic expenditure and we have no data supporting the effectiveness of these. Couldn't we develop some really kickass mobile app to do everything an ATM could possibly do and then some, without being limited by physical location, for that kind of money?
You mentioned low fees (1%), which is great, but how is the exchange rate to be determined? I've seen too many crypto startups claiming to have low fees but they just artificially inflate the spot price to make up for it.

Currently, most dispensaries do not have the ability to legally accept traditional payment cards (debit/credit), requiring customers to pay in cash for cannabis purchases. If we do not begin to facilitate the conversion of traditional cash payments via ATM, then the merchants will have no options to convert cash paying customers to Dash (majority of the current customers) when they arrive and will still be burdened with cash-handling activities and costs.

Enabling the customer to purchase Dash prior to arriving at the dispensary is our primary goal. However, given the payment card restrictions on cannabis/ digital currency, high fees associated with purchasing Dash via debit/credit (5-7%), and no current options for in-app/wallet ACH bank transfers, we (Alt Thirty Six) are starting by converting the cash-paying customers to Dash at the retail locations and enabling the merchants to incentivize customers for paying at the POS in Dash with the savings from cash-handling fees. We are providing the cash transportation services through our partnerships with armored transportation service providers, offsetting the burden of merchants handling and managing cash and/or servicing the ATMs.

Facilitating the mass adoption of a currency requires multiple strategies in parallel to address all scenarios in the customers’ buying journey. The end customer has the most power in the entire supply chain to encourage or hinder the adoption of a purchasing behavior. This has been seen with the introduction of Apple Pay and the extremely slow adoption of their mobile wallet. Changing the behavior from swiping a physical card to opening an app with a mobile phone requires multiple incentives for the customer. Until the Dash network successfully integrates the functionality into the mobile wallet to facilitate the transfer of funds via ACH, our ATM solution/self-kiosk checkout provides the most effective way to initially begin converting physical cash to Dash.

The pilot test is 30 ATM’s to ensure a successful launch of the 36 platform in merchant retail locations. Our goal is to strategically and effectively begin the conversion of an industry of over $20 billion in physical cash and that requires approaching the conversion at each point in the supply chain, beginning with the customers. With over 8800 current US cannabis dispensaries, scaling in the cannabis industry requires an aggressive roll-out targeting merchants, suppliers, vendors, and the end customers. As we begin to change the purchasing behaviors of the customers and if/when we sufficiently gain mass adoption of Dash in the cannabis industry, we anticipate the cash supplies to decrease, but not for a few years at the very least.

$500k is a significant investment, but not compared to the amount of time and effort required on our part to execute this project properly and the expected return in value to the Dash network. All funds we’ve requested have been and will be used, to add value to and increase the adoption of, the Dash network. We anticipate generating significant value for the Dash network through this (and future) projects and are consistently evaluating/reviewing our strategies with multiple company and industry advisors.

Each of the ATM’s will be integrated directly into our platform allowing us to integrate and work directly with multiple exchanges and brokerage firms. The conversion rates will be determined by a real-time weighted average across all the major exchanges.

 

[solarguy]

I'm still not convinced on this model.
Do you envision these ATMs as being primarily used for buying Dash, or selling Dash, or both? Either way wouldn't people need to already have a mobile wallet in order to send or receive the coins? Having a physical machine seems like a completely unnecessary step in the business process.
Are the ATMs really a critical component of this whole setup without which the entire project falls apart? What would happen if this was *not* funded? If this is going to be metrics-driven, couldn't we at least do a pilot or something first? Nearly $400,000 for 30 ATMs plus another 100 grand for development is a gigantic expenditure and we have no data supporting the effectiveness of these. Couldn't we develop some really kickass mobile app to do everything an ATM could possibly do and then some, without being limited by physical location, for that kind of money?
You mentioned low fees (1%), which is great, but how is the exchange rate to be determined? I've seen too many crypto startups claiming to have low fees but they just artificially inflate the spot price to make up for it.

USD to Dash, or Credit card to Dash, or Debit card to Dash is the big hurdle right now. So far as I know, we have yet to see a functional efficient mobile wallet method to turn 50 bucks of US cash or credit card, into Dash. I can see how the ATM bridges that gap.

As you correctly noted, the ATM's have to be efficient, not manipulating the exchange rate to surreptitiously tack on five bucks on a 50 dollar transaction.

 

[The philosofers coin]

I am on board on this one, however I have noticed that not everybody has faith or trust in the fact that ALT36 will deliver on their promises and some even suspect a scam(I personally would have voted for this if it was 1 to 10 long-shot).
I strongly suggest that that some pictures, maybe some video's as well that will display these 13.000 dollar costing machines are actually bought and installed.

I believe that ALT36 and Dashforcenews can work together on this.This will generate some publicity, and work towards gaining trust in ALT36. Personally I think ALT36 should have already done that.

 

[ThirtySix]

I am on board on this one, however I have noticed that not everybody has faith or trust in the fact that ALT36 will deliver on their promises and some even suspect a scam(I personally would have voted for this if it was 1 to 10 long-shot).
I strongly suggest that that some pictures, maybe some video's as well that will display these 13.000 dollar costing machines are actually bought and installed.

I believe that ALT36 and Dashforcenews can work together on this.This will generate some publicity, and work towards gaining trust in ALT36. Personally I think ALT36 should have already done that.

It is unfortunate that some people suspect us to be a scam. We are in constant communication with Dash Core members and the Dash Project Manager on our progress of the 36 platform. These individuals have validated we are on target and successfully completing our deliverables for the project.

For the ATM network, Alt Thirty Six will provide monthly updates as well. This includes, but is not limited to, proof of delivery, proof of implementation, development progress, testing progress, etc.

We want to keep the network involved with the process as much as possible. Lastly, we are open to working with various news sites to generate publicity.

 

[ampp]

It is unfortunate that some people suspect us to be a scam. We are in constant communication with Dash Core members and the Dash Project Manager on our progress of the 36 platform. These individuals have validated we are on target and successfully completing our deliverables for the project.

For the ATM network, Alt Thirty Six will provide monthly updates as well. This includes, but is not limited to, proof of delivery, proof of implementation, development progress, testing progress, etc.

We want to keep the network involved with the process as much as possible. Lastly, we are open to working with various news sites to generate publicity.

It's not that you are a scam in any way but that you don't seem to have a face to the community. There is no community manager or communicator that is well known. Many people trust core but there should be a little more communication as in video interviews, the updates on the forum is not enough anymore. Especially for a project this size.

You are doing more outreach soon, with the events etc. I try to keep up with as much as possible but if i walked up to your booth i would have no idea who is who. The parts of the community that have met like at the open house was before you became more involved (i think). And i don't expect you guys will be going to the London Conference. Perhaps you should invite Scott over with Dash Aerosports as he is great at this sort of thing.

I'd love to come out to one of the events and even help but I have no idea how you plan to interact with the community. It seems to be a separate division of dash even from core with its own needs. With video you start to at least get a summary of what is going on. Following the forums and having to read everything is a lot more info to digest and sort through. Hope this helps. Thanks

 

[solarguy]

And just to add to that, I like the Dash Core team very much. And I trust them very much. And they vouch for you, which is good. But it is the Masternode community that votes yes or no. Throw us a bone. Give us some more attention and more information/feedback. We write the checks.

 

[solarguy]

When is the next interview with Dash Force News?