Cryptocurrencies entered the month of May with a collective market cap north of $2 trillion, driven by the emergence of 9,500 individual cryptos trading across some 370 exchanges, according to the latest data from CoinMarketCap.
To stand out in this crowd in an increasingly competitive and comparative environment (still dominated by Bitcoin) is no walk in the park. But a handful of so-called “alt coins” are doing exactly that today, with DOGE, XRP, ADA, and others claiming a considerably larger share of Crypto Twitter’s attention than the rest.
A new addition to the shortlist of social media standouts is Telcoin.
LunarCrush, a platform that sheds light on “how social media impacts cryptocurrencies,” has been monitoring the buzz surrounding cryptocurrencies across platforms like Twitter since 2018. Over the weekend, Lunar Crush noted that Telcoin’s “Social Volume” cracked an all-time high at 4,100 social mentions, with total activity soaring 169.8%.
Multiple factors deemed bullish by crypto traders are feeding the frenzy around Telcoin, which is regarded as being a substance-over-style company in a space dominated by coins that are long on hype and short on meat.
Telcoin is a cryptocurrency focused on remittance services — the practice of sending money between individuals in different countries. Telcoin’s reputation in the eyes of investors and partners is exalted as a consequence of the company’s longstanding commitment to compliance. Ultimately, supporters of the project say, compliance is a primary reason why Telcoin is the “crypto unicorn” it is.
Telcoin has amassed an abundance of government licenses and registrations, opening the door to provide remittance services at a time when such green lights are exceedingly difficult to obtain for any firm, let alone one from the land of crypto.
In February, Telcoin and its remittance partner Gcash opened their first remittance corridor targeting senders in Canada and 33 million recipients in The Philippines. Telcoin says its next three remittance corridors will open before the end of next month in the United States, Singapore, and Australia.
Unlike most cryptos that don’t have a prayer of disrupting a major industry, Telcoin makes remittances substantially cheaper, with sending fees of 2.5%. The global average remittance sending fee is over 7%. With remittance funds scare for millions of people, this reduced fee is of significant importance and will likely help Telcoin peel off users from bigger, more established non-crypto companies in the remittance business — a multi-billion dollar industry.
Telcoin, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, has eyes on a potential relocation to Nebraska, as the regulatory environment is rapidly shifting in the Cornhusker state to favor fintech innovators.
In February, Telcoin CEO Paul Neuner testified before the Nebraska Legislature on a proposed digital asset banking charter.
“The proposed bill was well-received — Senator Mike Flood has given the bill his priority designation and we remain optimistic that the bill will become law,” the company said in an April media release. “Telcoin Strategic Advisor and General Counsel Mark Quandahl is working hard with members of the banking committee to keep us headed in the right direction toward a new financial product suite that benefits existing banks as well as new charters.”
Remittance and regulatory prowess aside, Telcoin enthusiasts have stuck with the company through the doldrums of the 2018-2020 bear market to reach this critical moment — a moment when Telcoin’s broader aims and service offerings can finally come to light.
“Telcoin’s bread and butter is remittances; they’ve been clear about that,” says longtime Telcoin community ambassador H|D. “Their intent is to enhance the remittance experience for the unprivileged by reducing the fees, transaction time, and removing the need to access a physical location. It’s a shame, how industry giants such as Western Union and MoneyGram have been able to take advantage of the market for so long. If Telcoin can help it, those days will be over soon. Telcoin will allow anyone, anywhere, to remit to family members and friends through blockchain technology.”
The next foundational step forward for Telcoin is to become an exchange with the release of V3 — the third update to the company’s crypto wallet. So while Telcoin does battle with Western Union and MoneyGram in one theatre of war, they’ll be taking on the likes of Coinbase in another.
“From their original whitepaper, we’ve known that Telcoin would be an exchange,” H|D asserts. “The original understanding was that Telcoin would be a gateway from fiat to $TEL, their cryptocurrency coin. In the last 2 years Telcoin has expanded its use cases, and added the earning and swapping components. With the rise of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Telcoin has taken advantage of that component to make their product more attractive to not only the so-called ‘non coiner,’ but also the crypto community. Once version 3 of the wallet is launched, anyone will have the ability to buy STEL, on the app, with fiat. The user would then be able to exchange the acquired $TEL for other cryptocurrencies available through the wallet. The user will also have the ability to stake the $TEL purchased, and earn interest. Essentially, Telcoin is about to give the unbanked access to a suite of financial products.”
In the grand scheme of things, will Telcoin be a triple threat across the crypto ecosystem? Some think so.
“The fact that Telcoin will become a triple threat, allowing users to buy, swap, and earn crypto, makes them a legitimate threat to other known exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance and the like,” H|D concludes. “Telcoin will have the capabilities of a cryptocurrency exchange and remittance service – the best of both worlds.”
