Let me answer the one question which I'm sure has been at the tip of everyone's tongue since the invention of blockchain technology: "Yes, it is possible to use blockchain to help our furry companions". Well, at least now, there is a group of people trying to make that a reality in the very near future with the project they named Paws. Once completed, Paws is going to provide a platform to better initiate and organize pet and animal care activities by utilizing a variety of innovative solutions based on blockchain; including cryptocurrency, animal registration network, social network, debit card and registration collars.
There are two sides to the concept of Paws: Non-profit funding and social activism. I can count many other projects with a plan to make either but the ones going for both are rare and this is where Paws' vision comes to life. The reason that it needs to be pointed out is because using cryptocurrency for funding doesn't work as well as one might imagine. Although a "let's issue some fake internet money and make everything great" approach sounds amazing, but as soon as currency hits the market, it gets hit back and starts to struggle. The price can only stabilize with market interest, but for a new project, this is difficult to achieve, especially if the project has nothing better to do than trying to convince people to use their instable currency for charity. This is where social activism side comes to rescue by giving people further reasons to participate in the project and means to use the currency. Even if the adoption process would still take time, social activism would keep the community alive, prevent the currency from sinking and save the project.
The importance of social activism for Paws makes the social network the stronghold of the project. The faith of Paws is going to be defined by how well the team is going to use the power of social media and get people engaging on their network. Even though there is an official forum, the center of social activity right now is the Discord Server; which is a smart choice to benefit both from the well-developed features of the platform and the thriving crypto community established there. It is always exciting to catch a project in an early stage. The team has done a great job in about two quarters time to set up the grounds of the project and release the cryptocurrency. As far as I can see, the only thing missing is a whitepaper. Surprisingly, it is not mentioned in the roadmap either which can be found on Discord in #progress-report room. All other necessary milestones however are already taken to carry the project to its next stage which is going to unravel in early 2019. The most critical aspect of initial development is the establishment of local communities. As much as Paws has a global potential, animal and pet care work is largely local by nature which makes the participation of local activists, ambassadors, organizations and vendors is of the utmost importance. On Discord we see the initial seeds of these future communities which, given the necessary emphasis, could carry the project to success.
The next stage for Paws is the release of blockchain based technologies which is going to happen in the first half of 2019. The plan is building a multiplatform hub to register animals and pets with all the information necessary for tracking and continuous care. The system is going to be completed with pet tracker collars which are, I'm assuming, special collars carrying the key that identifies the pet on the platform. Of course, the most alluring feature of Paws is going to be its social aspect where the animal and pet activists of all locals are going to come together, but social activism can never be sustainable without funding and resources and that's where Pawscoin comes into play. As mentioned earlier, Pawscoin is not treated just for its store of value to collect funding but as an active currency that can be exchanged into goods directly on Paws network. The team wants to establish partnerships with pet/animal related company and organizations, so they can represent themselves and trade on the network using Pawscoin. Later, the trade system is going to be extended with a debit card to make in-store purchases. According to the roadmap, the team is going to begin with the first partnership initiations around the time the project is legally registered as a non-profit, which will be early 2019.
Perhaps the biggest luck in crypto world is getting onboard with a valuable project at an early stage. I see variety of ways to take part in Paws: partner, investor, community activist, brand ambassador. Of course, as much as a promising concept is important, Paws' value is going to be defined by the dedication of the people behind it. So far, they are going strong; as for the future, you must judge for yourselves. Check their website and meet the community on Discord.
