kora network Infrastructure for Inclusive Financial Systems

kora network Infrastructure for Inclusive Financial Systems

About Kora Network

Kora Ecosystem
Our blockchain stores identity and transactions, runs software modules, and connects to other blockchains while preserving user privacy. We use Tendermint DPoS as a consensus algorithm, allowing for scalability while maintaining decentralization. The blockchain is secured by the Kora Network Token (KNT).

eFiat are digital versions of national currencies that users understand and trust. They are 100% backed by cash reserves, and redeemable on a 1:1 basis.
CVNs empower users to pool capital for lending or investment, social assistance, financial education and other services.

Kora is a popular musical instrument in the Western/Eastern region of Africa frequently played in songs of celebration, or to pass a message of hope.

Kora is also a project of hope for billions of people who are underserved by the current financial system. While there has been progress toward financial inclusion, an estimated 2 billion adults worldwide don’t have a basic account.

1 Barriers to account-opening include distance from a financial service provider, lack of necessary documentation papers, and lack of trust in financial service providers.

2 We believe existing platforms fail to address users’ lack of access to electricity, the Internet, or capital to afford a smartphone as well as lack of understanding around technology and finance.

As a result, we estimate that billions of people cannot grow and accumulate wealth, causing a humanitarian and economic crisis that leaves out a third of the world’s potential for value creation. The Kora Network is expected to provide a lowcost, financial services platform for all.

Accessible by SMS/USSD on feature phones or with Internet via a mobile app and powered by blockchain technology, the Kora Network is expected to lower the cost to serve for lowincome populations and brings them into the global economy. We aim to free the trapped capital, intellect, and creativity of the long tail through selfsustaining, community-owned ecosystems.

Problems

High Cost to Serve

Opening bank branches in rural or remote areas is unprofitable due to high costs such as property fees, staff headcount, and IT infrastructure. To offset these costs, banks charge high fees for account maintenance, ATM withdrawals and money transfers Physical travel is another issue; it can sometimes take more than a day to reach bank branches or ATMs.

Misconception that the Underserved have Little Value

The general perception is that underserved customers would be transacting in “small” amounts. However, PWC estimates that the global unbanked population holds at least $360 billion in unmet deposits in 2016 alone.3 In addition, a 2016 McKinsey report estimates that widespread adoption of financial services through digital finance could result in a $3.2 trillion increase in GDP of all economies by 2025.4

Lack of Identification Documents

According to the World Bank, 1.5 billion people worldwide lack any form of valid identification.5 Official or valid ID for opening a bank account is often difficult to obtain in developing countries.

Lack of Trust and Technological Understanding

Many people without bank accounts perceive banks as unsafe. There still exists a widespread lack of trust in financial technology, including ATM’s and online banking.

Lack of Financial Literacy

We believe that with limited financial literacy, people may be at risk of making poor financial decisions including taking loans with interest rates they may not be able to pay, getting involved in pyramid schemes, or paying unreasonably high charges on remittances or foreign exchange mark-ups.

Solutions

There are many groups attempting to solve the five barriers mentioned above. Each has its own approach and we believe each has some shortfalls.

Banks

Banks continue to account for the majority of financial services worldwide, however they do not target the underserved as they are difficult to serve and often lack proper identification.

Local Ad Hoc Networks

Local ad hoc networks like friends and family, or hawalas, an informal agentbased systems have always existed. These arrangements tend to fill gaps in day-to-day life, but may be often inconsistent, unable to scale, and cannot be used as a form of credit history.

Mobile Money

Mobile Money businesses provide a service that brings value through transaction speed, but interoperability, both between providers, and between countries, is a major issue. They also hoard data as a proprietary advantage instead of giving ownership back to the customer.

Blockchain Projects

Blockchain projects can store and transfer value across borders at enormous scale and low cost. However, a sophisticated understanding of blockchain technology, an expensive smartphone, and costly access to Internet are often required to access such blockchain-based services. As the average underserved person in Africa lives on less than $2 a day, these projects are tend to be out of scope for them.

By learning from the past, we can build a better future. We believe the solution for wide-scale, sustainable adoption of a financial services platform would require:

Low Cost

The people with the least wealth are those who need financial services the most. We aim to include everyone in the Kora Network.

Universal Access

Even if they don’t have Internet or extensive technological understanding, we expect that everyone will benefit from Kora.

Engagement with Existing Communities

Local financial service providers and networks have always existed. Kora will enable them instead of replacing them.

Driving Adoption

Universal Access

Feature phones and SMS are still the dominant means of communication in developing nations, and Kora can be utilized with even the cheapest feature phones, or users can input a short code-number via USSD. Kora will also provide a smartphone and web-based application. The user’s transaction history will be stored on the blockchain and will be accessible if the user later upgrades to a smartphone.

Identity

An estimated 1.1 billion people worldwide cannot officially prove their identityxvii. Proof of identity is a significant barrier to accessing financial services. Kora will provide a flexible on-boarding process that will allow users to join the Kora Network xix in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Upon joining, users will build reputation scores connected to their actions within the Kora Network, as well as the actions of the users they are connected to and transact with within the Kora Network. The user’s transaction limits and access to services will increase as they add more documentation and prove themselves to be honest and credible actors. The actual proof of “identity” of users draws on the model pioneered by uPort, with a focus on both privacy and recoverability.

Low Cost

The Kora Network aims to simplify operations so that new Providers can provide financial services to Users without the cost of establishing and running a front-toback financial institution. Kora will make launching a financial services business as inexpensive and easy as launching a new instance on AWS -- at low cost and with access to all functionality on the Kora Network. Core software will be run on the decentralized stack, and anyone can customize this software. Members will be able to link and exchange financial services to other users on the Kora Network with low costs and near-instantaneous transaction speeds. We expact the balance of power to shift, and financial service providers would have to compete for customers, driving down prices for users.

Network Architecture

The Kora Network will be built on Ethermint, We chose Ethermint because it supports the Ethereum development community, which is the largest in the blockchain space, while also supporting high volumes of transactions and providing flexibility for more extensive user privacy.

Producers will compete to be selected by publishing their hardware and network specifications, displaying their digital identity and making the Kora Network compliant with all applicable laws and regulations.

Only the block producers with the best specifications and highest processing time will be consistently voted for. In this way, we will produce large blocks with significant amounts of transactions in a latency of three to five seconds, leading to the scalability required for legitimate use cases.

Ethermint integrates with the Cosmos Network in order to build an “internet of blockchains.” By integrating with the Cosmos Network, we will be able to connect with parallel blockchains like Ethereum, Bitcoin, the Cosmos decentralized exchange and various others. As a result, the Kora Network will be100% interoperable with other blockchains.

Kora Network Token (KNT)

KNT The native Kora Network token will be referred to as “Kora Network Token” or “KNT” and will be used as the staking unit for selecting block producers, as well as a single medium to pay for costs incurred by the Kora Network. Holding KNT equates to having a partial role in the Kora Network.

When users transact on the Kora Network, they will pay a fee denominated in KNT and set by the validating Block Producer.

The Block Producer shares this fee with the holders who voted for them. High transaction fees, which only benefit the block producers and stakers who voted for them, will prevent users from transacting on the Kora Network. The less transactions that occur on the blockchain, the less rewards all block producers and stakers will receive. Thus, KNT holders are incentivized to vote in block producers who keep transaction fees low.

Token Sale Details

The launch of the Kora Network, and the token creation and emission process, will be organized around the Kora Network public blockchain. The goal of our token sale (the Token Sale) is to decentralize ownership of KNT to ensure the crypto-economic stability of our network, and to exchange KNT for capital to execute on our vision of unleashing the world's potential for wealth creation and becoming a leader in financial services [for the unbanked]

Contributors supporting the development of the Kora Network can do so by sending Bitcoin or Ether to the designated address.

• The KNT received by a contributor is fixed at the USD price at which they bought it. The hardcap for the Token Sale is $24 million.

• Further details about the Token Sale will be released online. Sign up on our website to stay up to date, and to complete the contribution process.

• The Token Sale will be split into two phases: Pre-Sale and Public Sale.

• The minimum investment amount for the Pre-Sale is $5000.

• There is no minimum investment amount for the Public Sale, and the maximum is $1 million per unique identity.

• Excess contributions will be refunded.

• Kora Technologies Limited controls the contract, and the multi-sig address to which funds will be sent.

• KNT will be distributed to Contributors as an ERC20 token after the token sale is completed. KNT-ERC20 tokens can be redeemed for KNT on the Kora Network when the public blockchain is launched in Q3 2018.

• All unsold tokens will be burnt.

KNT Supply

Token

Sale 45 % 339,753,302

Sold to raise funds and increase liquidity of KNT.

Reserved for growth

20 % 151,001,468

Locked up for a minimum of one year and released as necessary. Used for establishing partnerships, onboarding users, and expansion into new markets.

Reserved for R&D

20 % 151,001,468

Locked up for minimum of two years and released as necessary. Used to develop protocol and shared infrastructure.

Team

15 % 113,251,101

Team Token Grants that will be locked up in a two year vesting period with a 6 month cliff.

Use of Funds

Funds raised during the Token Sale will be used solely for the research, development, and growth of the Kora Network. The Use of Funds will be monitored by the Board of Advisors, and we expect to use the following structure when operating our project.

Research & Development

50 % Research, development, and maintenance of the Kora Network and any software deployed in the Network. Will be distributed to various development groups and individuals.

Kora Accelerator

10 % Primarily for seed funding of startups that build value-add applications on the Kora Network. Will be distributed directly to startups in exchange for equity.