Gaming loyalty rewards within the blockchain space have been few and far between. So much so that new paradigms have had to be invented to allow for player rewards.
One of those rewards is Winners Network.
As one of the premier blockchain rewards programs on the internet, the Winners Network has created a whole ecosystem that deals with players and player rewards.
We caught up with Walter Minhoto who is the Founder at Winners Network after their recent launch.
Here is what he had to say.
Walter Minhoto Founder at Winners Network
E-Crypto News:
What’s next for the Winners Network?
Founder Walter Minhoto: We have our sights set on milestones within our project roadmap and will be announcing various strategic partnerships in the next couple of months.
Our marketing team is hard at work to get our message out there so that everyone has the ability to understand how drastically our project will impact the Rewards Industry space!
We are also placing a big focus on our tech development to make sure that our vision of bringing unprecedented value to the world of rewards becomes a reality!
E-Crypto News:
Please, can you tell us more about multi-faceted rewards within the Winners Network ecosystem?
Minhoto: Rewards have always been limited to basic rewards that aren’t flexible. For me, I think it’s important for customers to benefit in universally valuable ways.
When you accumulate rewards for your loyalty to a product or service – you should have many ways to spend or convert those rewards.
Consumers having the choice of flexibility and the freedom to do whatever they want to with their rewards is what makes Winners Network stand apart from others in the space.
Besides, our crypto rewards tend to create a sense of loyalty among consumers and introduce them to new projects. We want both on-chain and off-chain rewards.
If you want to participate in crypto, great…. If you want to use your rewards for additional coupons or special limited edition NFTs…. That is your decision to make.
We will do everything in our power and technical capabilities to make this a reality.
E-Crypto News:
Please, can you give us details of the various components of the Winners Network ecosystem?
Minhoto: Of course! Winners Network has many different verticals.
For eCommerce: Winners Network’s browser extension will enable purchasers to earn WN Gold Reward points across multiple sites, regardless of participating products or retailers.
The participants will then be able to convert their reward points for a variety of on-chain and off-chain products and services.
For gaming: Winners Network will be able to provide in-game rewards based on in-game purchases.
These rewards will then be able to be transferred outside of the game and into the real world.
For DeFi: Winners Network and the Winners Network browser extension will not only connect off-chain user activity to on-chain rewards and tracking protocols, but the team also aims to power cross-chain transfers of value and facilitate a seamless experience across the growing Web3 ecosystem.
It is often impossible for DeFi reward launch pads, yield farms and other similar platforms to intersect with non-blockchain based projects.
Winners Network and its $WINS token will help create these new intersections.
Related: DeFi Hype Has Sent Ethereum Fees Soaring to 2-Year High: Coin Metrics
E-Crypto News:
Please, can you give us more details about the $WINS token?
Minhoto: $WINS is the native token of the Winners Network Platform and the token that will be listed on DEXs, while WN Gold are reward points, to be used within our platform.
They are an internal reward point system that we use to track rewards for conversion to the WINS token, discounts, coupons and NFTs.
All transactional purchases performed with Winners Network Partners will be eligible to earn WN Gold Rewards points that can be redeemed for $WINS!
Related: NFTs Allow Gamers To Enjoy Digital Property Rights
E-Crypto News:
Please, can you tell us more about the merchants and the various incentives that merchants gain from the Winners Network ecosystem?
Minhoto: Merchants have had success in recent years with affiliate marketing to help increase their exposure to targeted audiences.
With competition becoming more and more prominent in every industry, companies are forced to get more creative with their marketing tactics to draw in and retain customers.
Winners Network can help companies with this.
DeFi projects gain access to a large network of cryptocurrency enthusiasts which significantly increases their exposure to a highly targeted group.
E-Crypto News:
How did you become involved with cryptocurrencies and their underlying technologies?
Minhoto: I became involved in the cryptocurrency industry because of curiosity about the crypto space.
Once learning about the crypto space I quickly realized how much potential the space has for innovation and growth.
I have also had a significant interest in building a rewards platform and decided that a blockchain based rewards platform was lacking in general.
As of now the eCommerce rewards and blockchain rewards are two different worlds and we plan to merge the two worlds with Winners Network.
E-Crypto News:
What are your thoughts on the recent expansion of the decentralized finance (DeFi) space?
Minhoto: I think it’s great to see how much the space has grown!
There is a lot of promise for this space to continue to grow for decades.
Decentralized Finance will allow for many more stakeholders to participate in the financial markets that may have had significant barriers of entry.
Barriers of entry are normal, but in many cases – financial barriers are systemic.
Of course, there is much more work to be done to get as many participants involved over the coming decades.
Related: What Are The Major Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Ecosystem Problems?
E-Crypto News:
What are your thoughts on the recent adoption of Bitcoin by El Salvador and the attempts to adopt cryptocurrencies and their allied technologies by different countries?
Minhoto: I think the recent adoption of Bitcoin by El Salvador is great and courageous!
There is incredible potential for cryptocurrencies in countries where many of the citizens still remain unbanked and underserved.
Bitcoin will certainly introduce new and exciting ways for citizens to participate in the modern world of cryptocurrency and digital banking.
There are challenges ahead for any type of systemic change like this and with the inclusion of so many individuals, this will be an amazing case study on what cryptocurrency can do for many other countries that have similar challenges.
E-Crypto News:
What have been the various issues with DeFi reward programs? How does the Winners Network help solve these problems?
Minhoto: The issues with DeFi Rewards are basically the same for any standard rewards system.
I have never really been in love with any rewards programs I have participated in and I have a background in the online gaming space.
Rewards have always been limited to basic rewards that aren’t flexible. For me, I think it’s important for customers to benefit in universally valuable ways.
When you accumulate rewards for your loyalty to a product or service – you should have many ways to spend or convert those rewards.
E-Crypto News:
What plans do you have to launch your independent blockchain in the future? Please can you tell us more about this?
Minhoto: We do not currently plan to launch our own blockchain. We will utilize existing efficient chains and layer 2 solutions such as Polygon, Ethereum, Cardano, Polkadot and Binance Smart Chain.
E-Crypto News:
What plans do you have for generation Z?
Minhoto: Gen Z grew up very connected to technology.
I believe that cryptocurrency and blockchain technology will be very easy for them to understand and use in comparison to past generations.
There are many avid gamers in Gen Z and we would like to bring a rewards platform that encompasses all of their needs and wants. NFTs will also have a huge opportunity within the Gen Z generation.
Since this generation lives a lot of their life on the internet it is only natural that Gen Z will welcome the technology with open arms.
Winners Network will encompass all of these ideas to make it the ideal rewards platform for Gen Z.
Related: We talk to Open Influence CEO Eric Dahan About All Things Gen Z
E-Crypto News:
How does the $WINS token help with off-blockchain and off-ledger project interaction?
Minhoto: $WINS tokens help with off-chain interaction because a Winners Network member is able to earn WN Gold through eCommerce transactions.
WN Gold can then be redeemed for $WINS based on the WINS redemption rate.
This would encourage eCommerce consumers and crypto newbies to dip their toes into cryptocurrency and therefore grow the cryptocurrency community as a whole.
E-Crypto News:
How does the Winners Network encourage participation in programs?
Minhoto: Winners Network will encourage participation in programs in multiple ways.
One way, token holders who stake their tokens on the WN platform are eligible to receive staking rewards.
We are also going to build the browser extension in a user-friendly way to make it effortless for our members when visiting partner sites.
This platform at its core will also allow for earning rewards in crypto instead of traditional rewards points, we believe people will value this.
E-Crypto News:
Please, can you tell us more about the BEP-20 standard upon which the $WINS token is based? Why has Winners Network selected Polygon to launch $WINS?
Minhoto: Winners Network is planning on having the upcoming IDO on Polygon.
A limited number of $WINS will be sold to the public for a limited time.
Be sure to get whitelisted and KYC’d for the opportunity to buy $WINS at the IDO!
We selected Polygon to launch $WINS because of its scaling capabilities.
We will become a cross-chain in the future, but we think Polygon will bring the most benefits for the launch.
E-Crypto News:
Are there plans to shift to other blockchain Layer 2 solutions besides Polygon?
Minhoto: Winners Network aims to utilize Polygon, Ethereum, Polkadot, BSC and Cardano in order to achieve a comprehensive ecosystem of scalability and interoperability.
Being a cross-chain system will be the right decision to future proof our system and technology.
E-Crypto News:
Please, can you tell us more about the Winners Network Browser extension? How will it work and when will it become available?
Minhoto: The Winners Network Browser extension will work similar to Metamask.
It resides as a plug-in installed within a user’s web browser but will remain dormant and inactive until either the project’s website calls for it, or the user manually activates it.
The function of the browser extension is to interact with smart contracts on parner project sites to allow consumers to earn rewards and to track WN Gold points.
The browser extension does not collect personal information and is a completely optional feature.
The browser extension code will be made open sourced and publicly viewable and auditable. This will of course take time… but with scale comes the ability to achieve these goals.
E-Crypto News:
Please, can you tell us more about governance on the Winners Network using the $WINS token?
Minhoto: $WINS token is also a governance token.
Token holders will be able to propose and vote on community changes to the platform.
The 3-step process, votes will run through is an initial solicitation of interest on the community forum, then a consensus vote and finally implementation.
E-Crypto News:
Can you explain the ‘platform agnostic’ part of Winners Network? How does this factor into your decision to go with a token and the broader cryptocurrency space?
Minhoto: Of course!
As of now in the rewards platform space, rewards are in their own confined boxes.
On-chain and off-chain platforms do not merge.
There are rewards in the cryptocurrency space but these rewards do not transfer to off-chain platforms. We want to build a rewards platform that runs equally well across all platforms.
E-Crypto News:
Do you have any secrets you want to tell us? Big news coming up or key elements, functions, or partners we would love to hear about?
Minhoto: We have recently signed an MOU with a strategic partner that is an intermediary that has access to many big box partners.
We are currently running a whitelisting and KYC campaign.
Get whitelisted and follow our announcements on Telegram and Medium!
E-Crypto News:
If you had three wishes and a genie that could make them come true what would the future of Winners Network hold?
Minhoto:
Wish number one, to gain valuable partnerships within the cryptocurrency industry and in the eCommerce industry.
Wish number two, to have a successful browser production release.
Wish number three, bring people into the cryptocurrency world that would not have otherwise joined.
