How It All began: The BitDegree ICO
Presenting their idea to the public and organizing the BitDegree ICO, the team managed to attract over 12 thousand contributors who collectively raised 32 000 Ether (ETH). At the time of writing in September 2020, 32 000 ETH is worth around 11,5 million USD.
BitDegree allowed the contributors to pre-purchase BitDegree services in the form of buying BitDegree tokens. During the ICO, anyone could purchase BitDegree tokens at the ratio of 1 ETH:10,000 BDG. The BitDegree ICO started on the 1st of December 2017 and ended on the 29th of December, 2017. The ICO ended when the hard cap was reached, and all of the BitDegree tokens that were available to the public were sold. A chart below shows how the BitDegree tokens were allocated.
BitDegree Token Distribution
- BitDegree foundation: 66 million (locked for 360 days)
- Scholarships pool: 165 million
- Token available to the public at launch: 336,6 million
- Team: 66 million (locked for 720 days)
- Advisors / Partners: 13,2 million (locked for 160 days)
- Bounties: 13,2 million
BitDegree tokens in total: 660 million.
What Is the BitDegree Token?
To fully understand what BitDegree is, we need to talk about the BDG token. The BitDegree token (BDG) is a cryptocurrency which has real-world value and application. BitDegree tokens can be used to pay for courses on the BitDegree platform, as well as the services of BitDegree partners. For example, Hostinger.com is currently accepting BDG tokens for web hosting services, so if you bought BDG tokens during the BitDegree ICO or later and require web hosting services, you can use your tokens at Hostinger. BitDegree also issues token-based scholarships and rewards students for learning!
To acquire BDG tokens quickly and easily now, you would need to buy them on exchange platforms like HitBTC or IDEX. Want to buy some BitDegree tokens? Follow my guide on How to Buy BitDegree Tokens with Ether!
What sets BitDegree apart from other educational platforms is the fact that not only do you have a chance to educate yourself for free, but you can also earn BitDegree tokens as you study.
The BitDegree Token Utility
The BDG token is classified as a utility token, which means that owning BDG tokens does not infer any stakes in the company or the right to vote. Holding BDG tokens do not yield any dividends as well. The purpose of the BitDegree token is to provide easier micro-payments to learners on the platform, as sending tokens via smart contracts is easier, faster, and cheaper than manual payments you can make using the existing banking system.
Not sure how smart-contracts work? Read a guide on smart-contracts here!
How can learners, teachers, and employers utilize the BitDegree token?
All this boils down to the co-creation of value. When all community members work together and reward each other for their efforts with BDG tokens, you can see the real utility of the token:
- Learners can pay for the courses with BDG tokens
- Learners can pay for mentorship and tutoring with BDG tokens
- Employers and donors can issue token-based scholarships as an incentive for learners to take specific courses
- Learners can earn tokens for the courses that have scholarships available
One of the most critical aspects of the BitDegree token is that it allows learners to feel safe, as all the payments are handled by a smart contract. To put it simply, a smart contract will automatically send out a reward to a person as soon as they fulfill a specific criteria without any human errors or delays. Learners can be sure that the reward will reach them safely. Think of a smart-contract like a computer code that operates on specific conditions like this: IF Peter completes 5 lessons THEN send Peter 200 BDG Tokens. See? It's both simple and reliable!
BitDegree utilizes the Ethereum Network, meaning that instead of using a separate blockchain, BitDegree is built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. This classifies BDG as an ERC-20 token.
Conclusion
BitDegree is trying to change the landscape of education, and thanks to the BitDegree ICO, they can easily issue learning incentives to the students. Now that you have a better understanding of how the tokens are distributed and what their overall purpose in education is, following BitDegree is going to be a lot more exciting!
With new developments and innovations constantly appearing in the education sector, the goal of BitDegree is to create a global platform where everyone is welcome to share their skills and grow together. With a working product already, it's all about improvement from this point on!
Projects like BitDegree are leading the educational revolution, and I can't wait to see how everything unfolds! What about you? Have you supported the project during the ICO period? Or is there anything you expect to see from the project in the future?
