Beware of Ravn’s Flycoin frequent flyer cryptocurrency program mentioned in the ADN’s (Feb. 15) article. It sounds flashy and full of hype of Bitcoin and Ethereum, but this hype can conceal real problems and the issuer’s real intentions.
Ravn says that you can use these tokens on exchanges to exchange the coins for cash or other merchants could accept them for wine-of-the-month clubs, etc. Why doesn’t Ravn just let you cash out your frequent flier points or redeem for goods through them instead of dealing with a crypto exchange? Ravn is wanting you to put these tokens on the exchange for cash, so they don’t have to pay for the redemption.
On an exchange, you have to rely on the demand of these tokens from the public to actually get value and have someone else to buy it. What demand are you actually going to get for these tokens? Probably none. Think about Flycoin’s place in the cryptocurrency marketplace like a stock in a stock exchange. Bitcoin is the Apple or Google stock, with wide appeal and value. Ravn’s coin will be like a junk penny-stock nobody has heard of, with no value or appeal.
Realistically, you will get nothing out of this junk coin/penny stock because nobody wants to buy them, while Ravn gets someone else to foot the bill for cashing out your rewards.
— Jason A. Thomas
Eagle River
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