Billionaire and tech personality Richard Branson’s Extreme Tech Challenge 2019 contest has been narrowed down to ten teams and three of them use the blockchain. The 2018 winner of the event was Power Ledger, a blockchain company focused on green energy solutions.
The ten teams will be narrowed down to three at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January and then the three teams will fight it out on Branson’s private Neckers island in April. The winner gets increased viability and bragging rights.
You could be forgiven for wondering why the tech mogul couldn’t shell out a bit more, but the event is still a fun one to keep an eye on.
The three blockchain powered projects include Australia’s Liven, Thailand’s Last of Ours and Switzerland’s BitLumens.
Liven
Liven[1] is a blockchain powered, token enabled reward program that gives customers Liven Cash tokens as a reward/cash back incentive for patronizing supported restaurants. The Liven Cash tokens can then be donated to charity, gifted to a friend or spent at another restaurant in the network.
While the concept of blockchain rewards isn’t a new one, their construction of it is. By sharing rewards among companies they reward those companies with increased business while giving customers a more powerful reward than would typically offered through traditional methods.
Liven is currently limited to Melbourne and Sydney but already has an impressive list of partners in the area.
Last of Ours
Last of Ours[2] is an attempt to tokenize endangered species on the blockchain, increasing their viability and hopefully contributing to their conservation. Basically, it’s CryptoKitties but instead of breed-able cats with unique properties on the blockchain, the tokens represent real life endangered animals.
Yeah, I don’t quite get it either. Supposedly the tokens will be
