This post is about a new HERO Token. This is a token for banking in South East Asia. To under the HERO Token, you first need to understand the broader climate in South East Asia. It seems like a lot of older crypto folk from the US and western Europe don’t know or understand the South Asian markets and their dynamics. However, blockchains are global technologies, and increasingly, we’re seeing a lot of new products and innovation coming from other regions as well. HERO is a token that squarely belongs to South East Asia.
Introduction
Firstly – the people and internet. You’re talking about twice the size of the United States, so there’s a significant market there. There is good, but not great internet penetration. This is tricky to quantify but let me try. If the region is too early, then there won’t be enough traction. If it’s too late, there is not much growth. Around 30-50% is, in my view, the best time to enter these markets because everyone knows about the power of the internet by now, and there’s still ample growth opportunities because not everyone is connected yet.
Secondly, the banking sector. In this region, the banking penetration already lags internet penetration, and the gap is only going to grow. With mobile phones, it is much easier to get access to the internet than to get a bank account.
As you can see, the banking services penetration severely lags internet penetration, especially when you look at the growth rates. In addition, you can see the very poor penetration of credit cards in these markets. In such a market, the use of cryptocurrencies as a store of value and means of payment is pretty evident. Look at the total internet users snapshot this time –
You can see how large the populations are, and how much of a market scope there is. If the internet growth outpaces banking growth as it did over the last few years, how will the markets change? There is a clear need for blockchain technology solutions that are digital for payments and wealth storage.
The HERO Token
Enter the HERO token. It is a leading fintech company native to South East Asia, and helps with providing credit locally. They are taking on the huge lending industry, which is entrenched in its old ways and doesn’t leverage the power of the internet.
The way it works is simple. On the borrowers side, it provides loans, first collateralized and then expanding into uncollateralized ones, so borrowers have instant access to credit. On the lender side, it allows investors from across the world to access a booming and growing economy of South East Asia and make much higher returns on their money than their usually Western markets like US and western Europe.
The team has already demonstrated its capability with a PawnHERO token, which is a different blockchain-based take on the whole pawn shop experience. However, the team has much bigger plans, and is therefore looking for a token sale to help expand and grow their business. As a fintech pioneer in the region, it is working with limited data on reputation and credit scoring algorithms that will help it retain its lead in the market. Here’s a quick infographic on how the process will work –
The ICO
The HERO token will undergo an ICO so that the token is distributed among participants. Unlike many other ICOs on the market today, the HERO ICO will distribute 80% of the tokens to the public and only keep 15% for the team. This is a good move, because the people need to take the risk-return in the market and will help investors who put money into the project at such an early stage.
If you want to learn more, check out the official website. If you want to invest in the ICO, we strongly suggest all investors and potential investors to read the whitepaper too. Finally, you can find the Bitcointalk ANN thread here for community discussion.