What is it?
Cool Cousin is a decentralized p2p travel agency that allows locals to interact with travelers to plan unique and satisfying trips across the world.
What does this really mean?
It means that Cool Cousin is a decentralized app (DApp) that allows travelers to receive advice from trusted locals called Cousins. Cool Cousin will allow influencers to receive rewards for their content and let users (travelers) experience unique trips that would otherwise take hours of planning.
The Cool Cousin app will be tailored for mobile use which is a great way to introduce blockchain to users without the steep learning curve. The UI/UX is very impressive as can be seen below.
Cool Cousin is currently an operating app available for iOS and the web (Android coming soon). The app currently has over 500,000 users in over 80 cities and features over 1000 Cousins that act as p2p travel advisors/agents.
How does it work?
The best part of the Cool Cousin ecosystem is that the mockups and planned implementation of the project appear to be very user-friendly. On the back end, the project is much more complex with multiple user levels, built in governance and reward system.
The basic approach to Cool Cousin is this:
Local travel experts called Cousins create portfolios with the most interesting sites to see and things to do in their city.
A traveler studies all of the Cousins ideas and has a very rough outline of their trip.
The traveler notices that a Pro-Cousin in their destination offers customized itineraries and AirBnB booking. The traveler contracts the Pro-Cousin and provides the rough outline.
The Pro-Cousin prepares and delivers the itinerary and lodging reservation and is paid in CUZ.
CustomTravelInfo.PNG
Behind the scenes a little more human interaction is going on:
Contributors are scouring all of the Cousin profiles, verifying info accuracy, updating photos, and removing bad links.
Editors are contributors that leveled up and who are responsible for validating the work of Contributors.
The Board of Representatives (mix of company and community members) has the final say in the work of the Editors. They also are in charge of governance decisions.
Who is going to use Cool Cousin?
The non-blockchain version of Cool Cousin is being used by over 500,000 people and currently has 1000 Cousins providing curated lists of content. The blockchain will add the ability to pay for services, rewards users and integrate a content governance element that is unique to social media and content sites.
Cool Cousin is tailored to meet the needs of travelers so the ecosystem is comprised of numerous user roles that include:
Cousins
Locals that create profiles containing up to date information about interesting places, restaurants, and events going on in their city.
Pro-Cousins
These are the Cousins that decided to take their guidance to the next level. Users can pay Pro-Cousins in CUZ for customized itineraries, hotel bookings, and other travel services.
Users
These are travelers looking for information. Eventually, users can become Cousins if they choose.
Contributors
These are the people that do things like update location photos, report inaccuracies, recruit new Cousins, and more. CUZ can be rewarded for contributions.
Editors
Power contributors can become editors who validate the work of Contributors in exchange for CUZ.
Board of Representatives
A select group of company and community members that have the final say in governance decisions including the allowance of promoted content.
Business Owners
When a business is recommended on the platform, the business will have access to their profile.
What is the Token For?
The token, called CUZ, is used for payment and rewards. Most members of the ecosystem can receive CUZ as reward including Users, Cousins, Contributors, and Editors.
Revenue
All revenue generated by Cool Cousin transactions will be divided amongst the service provider, the company, and the community pool.
Pro-Cousins receive payment in CUZ for conducting professional travel services like booking hotels or for concierge services such as creating tailored day trip itineraries. The system is working towards allowing users to purchase CUZ in-app using fiat. This would be much like microtransactions in current phone apps.
Affiliation fees are nd ode to current business practices but are essential to the success of Cool Cousin. These are fees paid by 3rd party providers, such as Uber or Open Table, in order to have a link in the app.
For example, a "book and Uber" link may appear on the page of a recommended craft cocktail bar. A key aspect of this is that the affiliate will pay the fee in fiat and the system will convert it to CUZ.
Exchange
CUZ can trade on exchanges, used to tip contributors or even given as a gift between friends.
The Cool Cousin ecosystem will allow users to convert fiat in-app to CUZ and to use the built-in wallet that removes all of the complexities of an Ethereum wallet. The wallet is beautifully built and looks the way a wallet should look.
For advanced users, the token is ERC20 and is fully compatible with all Ethereum wallets so it can be transferred or stored using whatever means the user likes.
Acquiring Users
Cool Cousin is trying to be one of the first to address the recent and unexpected uptick in the need for travel agency services. Millenials are traveling much more than previous generations and they are relying on others to plan and curate their trips. As I mentioned earlier, the app currently has over 500,000 users in 80+ cities so it is in on its way to widespread use.
In addition to the services described earlier, Cool Cousin is offering:
Partnerships with municipalities that offer insights and guidance to cities around the world.
Events and Popup communities. These groups can add an extra map layer for their event. This would include listing all bars and restaurants offering discounts for attendees of a conference.
Special offers and discounts using location-based systems.
Promotional Products can create unique map layers that help to promote their products. A bike company could create a layer of all bike rental locations in a specific vicinity. All promotional campaigns must be approved by the Board of Representatives.
Overall
This is a great project that is tying the interest of travelers with the interest of content providers and influencers. The beautiful UI/UX is some of the strongest I've seen on a blockchain based product. The growing user base of Cool Cousin will be helpful in the transition to a blockchain based economy, especially if the transition is seamless.
The validation and governance systems were not covered in this article but they will play a huge role in the success of the project. The governance model provides an alternative to the current trend of token curated registries. These will be discussed in my next article.
The Vitals
📅ICO Date: Open Now (Public Presale)
📈Token Ticker: CUZ
💵Token Price: 3770 CUZ/ETH
🆔KYC: Yes (No ID Required for less than 5000 Euro)
Total Supply: 300million at TGE.
Hard cap: 17,500 ETH
Amount for Sale: 33% total
Discounts: 17%-50% depending on time and amount purchased.
Token Type: ERC20.
Cool Cousin Website - https://www.coolcousin.com/
Cool Cousin Token Sale Site - https://www.coolcousin.com/ico/
Whitepaper - https://www.coolcousin.com/ico/coolcousin-whitepaper.pdf
ANN Thread - https://bitcointalk.to/index.php?topic=2887590.0
Telegram - https://t.me/CoolCousin
Bountyhive username : chathurabrabo
Before we say goodbye
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