Last Sunday marked the end of Token Day, a crypto payment event organized by Bizkey in Singapore. From October 31 to November 18, visitors to Singapore’s Chinatown could shop, wine and dine at 30 establishments using various cryptocurrencies. The accepted currencies, selected via online vote, included ETH, BZKY, NPXS, ZIL, BNB, ELF, MKR, ZRX, OMG, AE, TUSD, and BAT. Over 87,000 votes were casted online by members of these projects’ communities, which consist of over 185,000 people.
“Many view crypto as just speculative investments, but our vision is to promote cryptocurrency as apayment method in everyday life,” said Bizkey CEO Ken Huang. “The data we got through this test will help us move forward in development.”
Token Day has received major press attention; not only was it covered by many well-known blockchain media companies like Cointime, Newsbtc, Bishijie, Jinse Finance and Huoxing, but also many mainstream finance publications such as Dow Jones and Bloomberg. “Token Day” was referenced in over 270 English media articles, reaching a combined exposure of 83 million viewers. A Google search for “Singapore Token Day” generates over 45,000 results. Joongang, a major South Korean media company, released an article comparing cryptocurrency’s reach in Singapore and South Korea. The article has featured Bizkey’s partner merchant Hotel 1887 accepting their reporter’s crypto payment. Penny, a notable Chinese influencer, wrote several articles on the event garnering over 20,000 combined views, and produced a video with over 13,000 views.
The most popular crypto wallet used for Token Day payments was ImToken, responsible for 96.5% of transactions. The success of the campaign has led some establishments, including Hotel 1887, Old Chengdu, and Xie Lao Song that have extended their lease of Bizkey’s POS device, allowing the continued acceptance of cryptocurrency through the end of the year.
“We participated knowing that there was a lot of interest around cryptocurrency, especially in Korea. The payment process was simple. It felt somewhat like Alipay or WeChat Pay or Kakao Pay now in Korea,” commented Yoo SunKyung, the general manager of Koryo Mart, the largest Korean supermarket chain in Singapore.
Many marketing campaigns capitalised on the event’s exposure. Hotel 1887 offered $1 cocktails to Fintech Festival delegates, payable only in cryptocurrency at their affiliated 18 hours bar. Bi-money, a crypto exchange, offered crypto hardware wallets to the biggest token spenders in each of the 12 token categories. The Digital Diamond Foundation, a Chinese Jewelry shop service provider, offered a diamond ring as a giveaway to Token Day participants.
During Token Day’s launch party, Bizkey CEO Ken Huang made a surprising announcement that Token Day will become a yearly event. The location will be decided via online community vote. “Our team reviewed various international community building and merchant acquisition strategies, and it was decided that Token Day had a high enough impact to warrant additional events. The market was very receptive.”
Bizkey is currently fundraising through the first round of their “Milestone Coin Offering”, which began upon the conclusion of Token Day, and will run until December 10. More information is available at Bizkey.io.