White paper

A Blockchain Based Social Platform With Your Interests at Heart

https://toqqn.com

Whitepaper V 1.0                                                                    Updated: 19/02/2019

Project Abstract		2
What - why - how - when		2
Introduction to Toqqn		3
Problems		4
Vision		5
Challenges		6
Decentralisation		6
Quality of the communities		6
Toqqn Withdrawals		7
Toqqn Platform		8
Mission		8
Privacy by default		8
An ad-free social experience		8
Crypto to the people		9
Project Phases & Features rollout		9
Phase I		9
Phase II		9
Phase III		9
Future		9
Project Timeline		10
Toqqn Cryptocurrency (TQN)		11
Allocation Fundraising TQN Value	11	11 12
Vesting Plan for the Team		12
Funds Usage		12
Team		13
Mervik Haums (Founder, CEO)		13
Sujathan R (CTO)		13
He Yaohui (Senior Partner, Marketing)		14
Shiju TV (Chief Architect)		14
Amr Gawish (Blockchain Developer)		15
Norma Tracy (Copy & Content)		15
Marketing, Support & Advisors		16
FAQ		17

Abstract

What is Toqqn: The Toqqn platform is a small step towards a big mission to give users a privacy focused and ad-free social experience. As well, users are rewarded with crypto every day, through a new activity-based ecosystem.

What’s unique about Toqqn is that, it doesn’t intend to store any user data, it doesn’t track you, nor does it follow you everywhere with ads.

Why Toqqn: When every single major social platform misuses user data for evil purposes, the relevance of a platform that doesn’t store user data increases day by day.

At the same time, we want to reach the masses with crypto, because we feel it is  the payment system of the future. So instead of exploiting users who contribute to our social platform, we reward them with crypto. This gives anyone, from anywhere, the ability to participate in the crypto economy without any financial barrier to entry.

Toqqn Platform Development: Toqqn is in development using the best of both conventional and web 3.0 technologies. Conventional systems are used to make Toqqn a user friendly platform. At the same time blockchain technology will be adopted to decentralize user data. We want to build a social media where no user data will be stored on our platform or servers.

This is to prevent any kind of misuse or exploitation of people’s private data.

Timeframe: Fundraising for the project’s development starts with a private sale on November 2018. Platform development is already in full-swing. We aim to launch the first version of our freelancers market place by the mid of next year and a have fully functional beta of the platform by the end of 2019.

Toqqn’s freelancers marketplace will enable people to buy and sell digital services across the globe without any restrictions. This adds enormous value to the native cryptocurrency TQN as a utility (which would be the primary payment method.)

Introduction

 

According to Statistica1, an online statistics clearinghouse, the total number of social media users is projected to be approximately 2.77 billion people by 2019, a steady increase since 2010.

Because of the popularity of social media platforms they are highly attractive to advertisers. This is due to the enormous amount of available user data that enables their advertising targeting to be so effective.

The result is users are constantly bombarded with ads, both on-and-off social platforms. They are subject to behavioral and demographic advertising and remarketing campaigns that hound them across the internet.

One reason user data is so readily available is because developers have given too much leeway in integrating social platforms their apps in the past. This allowed  them almost carte-blanche access not only to user information, but also to the data of user’s contacts, with far-reaching implications.

For users who want relief from relentless advertising targeting the solution is to move a social media platform that forbids advertising.

However, the expense of operating a social network is not insignificant.

This means that some other model of monetization besides advertising is  necessary. While a subscription model is one apparent way to monetize a social platform without advertising (Medium.com is an example), this model denies access to those without financial means.

Now there is an alternative for social users who crave privacy and the reassurance their data won’t be sold to the highest bidder.

Toqqn, a 100% ad-free social platform, powered by blockchain

The Toqqn social platform gives users the free social community they want without giving up their security and privacy.

Blockchain integration means that no user information will be stored on our or any servers.

Users are rewarded with crypto, through a new activity-based ecosystem

50% of the total supply of TQN (toqqn’s native crypto currency) is reserved to reward users for their daily activities. Making one’s social activities the new crypto mining.

As part of Toqqn’s mandate to bring crypto to the masses, interactions on the platform (such as posting, content shares and other activities like commenting, moderating), is rewarded with our crypto, which is also named toqqn. The overarching goal of our reward program is to help bring crypto to people who could not otherwise access it.

According to their activities, toqqn will be deposited to all user accounts every day. Users can track their earnings via their personal dashboard, which can be withdrawn to their wallets once in a week.

Plans are also in place to create a services marketplace where users can provide digital services to earn additional toqqn and spend what they’ve acquired already  for good. This provides true utility to our crypto token. Rewarding our users with crypto aids the adoption of cryptocurrency as a cross-border payment method that eliminates unnecessary third parties.

Problem:

When we sign into social media now, our privacy is lost. But what’s even worse, we have also lost all expectation of privacy. Like lambs lead to the slaughter, we  meekly accept that we will be exploited every time we log in.

Unfortunately, the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal involving Facebook is only the tip of the iceberg. Everyday there are new revelations of unethical ad practices.

We have handed over personal data to apps designed expressly to scrape not only our own data, but also the data of our contacts - all because we are eager for the dopamine hit we get from answering a silly quiz.

Apart from being subjected to scrapers disguised as quizzes and games, social media users are also bombarded with non-stop advertising. Despite users not expressing interest in particular goods or services, they may still be bombarded with ads in their newsfeeds as part of ‘lookalike audiences’ targeting. Even when users leave social media platforms, they have the unpleasant experience of being followed around the internet with retargeting campaigns.

Who knows what additional personal data is revealed when we register with social logins on websites ?

Social media platforms are free for users to join, which helps explain their popularity.

However, “free” platforms cost their owners billions in server and security costs, development expenses and more. In order to recoup costs, and deliver a healthy set of financials to their shareholders, owners ruthlessly sell their users’ personal data   to advertisers.

What should frighten social media users above all is the centralization factor in social media. So much power is concentrated in the hands of just a few companies.

Facebook has acquired and merged with no less than 67 companies, including the highly popular social platforms WhatsApp and Instagram. 2 Twitter has merged with and acquired more than 50 separate companies3 itself.

It is clear that a free, decentralized alternative platform that respects users’ privacy, and disallows advertising time has come. People can enjoy the benefits of

2 Wikipedia. “List of mergers and acquisitions by Facebook.” Accessed April 4, 2018.

3 Wikipedia. “List of mergers and acquisitions by Twitter.” Accessed April 4, 2018.

interacting with friends and family on social media, without fear they will be manipulated and exploited at every turn just to generate more ad dollars.

We believe that the solution to the problem of creating an ad-free social platform lies in the blockchain.

Our Vision:

The expense of operating a social network is not insignificant; therefore, monetizing the social platform is necessary. While a subscription model is one way to monetize a social platform without advertising, it denies access to those without financial means. So we have come up the means to provide users with access to a free platform where security and privacy are of the utmost concern, yet makes the platform attractive for investors.

In order to fund the platform and attract investors, we have decided to issue a crypto token, toqqn. But this token will not only provide a way to fund our platform, it will also bring value to our users.

As part of our goal to bring crypto to the masses, interactions on the Toqqn platform will be rewarded with points which can be exchanged for our crypto token (toqqn.) This will ultimately increase the value of the token, as demand rises which will bring new investors.

Challenges:

Decentralization - The biggest challenge faced by the Toqqn team is how to completely decentralize our platform. Our ultimate goal is to eliminate any user data stored on our servers, thus completely decentralizing the platform, and ensuring that our users’ data is never sold or hacked for profit.

The first challenge is that current technology isn’t capable of creating a completely decentralized platform. So we will combine the best of conventional and blockchain technology to provide a secure platform that does not store user data on our servers.

As technology allows, we will fully integrate the platform with the blockchain to decentralize all user data. Our plan is to run DAPP to accomplish this as soon as the platform is stable.

Quality of Community Content: In order to grow any community, the content needs to be top-notch. So the challenge is to create a platform to attract a user-base that produces great content that other users value and engage with.

The ability to earn rewards in crypto is a powerful incentive for users to stay engaged and contribute top-quality content. This ensures that useful, thought-provoking content is contributed to the platform, and at the same time, attracts a broad user-base. More users and content will also cause an increase in the amount of spam that gets added to the platform, we intend to overcome this by the ‘users are moderators’ feature.

Withdrawals: Because of the cost involved per transaction, members will be permitted to withdraw the toqqns they’ve acquired once per week initially. As the technology gets better we intend to make daily withdrawals possible.

Project (Toqqn Platform)

Mission: Our mission is to create a private and secure experience for social media users - decentralizing user data. Because of current limitations in technology, Toqqn will be built with the best of conventional and blockchain technology. This ensures user’s privacy is respected, while helping to bring the adoption of crypto to the masses.

Running the platform entirely on the blockchain at this time isn’t feasible. In the near future, we will be doing our best to transform the platform entirely to a DAPP or decentralize maximum critical data, after a stable build is achieved.

A machine learning algorithm will work on users’ crypto rewarding system (an activity-based ecosystem).

In addition, plans are in place to create a services marketplace where our users can provide digital services to earn additional toqqns. This will provide true utility to our crypto token, as well as help with the general adoption of cryptocurrency as a cross-border payment method that eliminates unnecessary third parties. Fees from this marketplace will also fund the platform.

Privacy by Default:

Because TOQQN is designed as a decentralized platform, user privacy is ensured by default. No user data will be stored on our servers; therefore, user data cannot be used in any ad campaigns or any other data exploitation. As well, there is zero risk of user data becoming hacked for this same reason.

An Ad-Free Social Experience

TOQQN platform users will enjoy a 100% ad free experience supported by sales of our crypto (TQN). Additional revenue to support the platform will come from user fees for our marketplace.

Crypto to the People:

As part of our mission to bring crypto to the masses, users of the TOQQN platform will receive rewards points which can be exchanged for our crypto tokens. This

means anyone, regardless of financial standing can own crypto by sharing content on our platform.

As well, platform users can earn additional tokens by providing digital services in our Marketplace. We are providing the Marketplace to aid in the further adoption of crypto as a payment method.

Project Phases:

Phase I: A digital marketplace of the platform is created using conventional web development technologies. Users will be able to buy and sell freelance services using TQN as a payment service. The team will be working to list toqqn on the maximum number of exchanges. This will enable platform users to trade their toqqns for other tokens or fiat.

Businesses seeking digital services can purchase toqqn crypto to pay for these services. The Marketplace will enable these businesses to obtain needed services without the complexities of dealing with financial institutions and cross-border currency conversions.

The Marketplace will create a real world purpose to toqqn as a cryptocurrency. Adding the marketplace provides toqqn with a true utility value as a mode of payment for services.

Phase II: Development to decentralise user data begins. Also additional platform features such as private communication added. All user data to be stored in the blockchain so only users will have access to their personal data.

Phase III: To decentralise user communication and the development of a Digital Services Marketplace using toqqn as a payment method.

Future:

After Toqqn has achieved a stable version, the next goal of the team will be the establishment of mobile apps.

The development team will continue focusing on moving the platform to a more decentralised infrastructure. We will also be working on developing iOS and android apps to increase accessibility of the platform on mobile devices.

Project Timeline

September 2017 - Initial Brainstorming

Ideas, drafts, calculations, charts and intense discussions going long into the night leads to the blueprint for a decentralized social platform that rewards its users with crypto.

January - March 2018 - Project Team

A group of experienced individuals join the development and marketing teams to provide the experience needed to make the project a complete success. An initial timeline draft is completed.

June 2018 - Finalizing Project Details

Finalization of the project Team with highly skilled conventional, hybrid and blockchain developers ready to tackle the project. Details of the project timeline are created.

November 2018 - Fundraising begins

10% of toqqns’ total supply will be made available to be distributed during the fund raising. A few private sale events will be conducted during November - December period to acquire the funds for development. Exchange listing process also starts during this time.

Q2 2019 - Toqqn Marketplace

We would like to bring a freelancers marketplace by the end of Q2 of 2019.

TQN to be listed on more exchanged during this period.

Q4 2019 - Toqqn Beta

Toqqn’s beta of the social platform with crypto rewarding feature for user engagement is scheduled to be finished by Q4 2019 with a more stable version of the platform. and a growing user base. Expected user base - 25k

Q2 2020 - Completion of Platform 1.0 (Phase 2, Decentralization of user communications, as well)

Fully stable version 1.0 platform by Mar 2019. Target user base 50k strong.

Q4 2020 - Toqqn 2.0 Beta (Phase 3)

Toqqn apps, and other financial services established..

Toqqn Cryptocurrency (TQN)

Our crypto token (toqqn) will be an ERC20 compliant token (a subset of Ethereum.) ERC20 allows for seamless integration with other decentralized application on the Ethereum blockchain, as well as Smart Contract integration. A strict limit of 1 billion TQN will be created and this is never to be increased. The listing and exchange submission process will be started as soon as the fundraising is finished.

Allocation:

Total supply: 1 billion toqqns (never to be increased)

10% to acquire funding - unsold toqqns to be added to platform reserve. 50% to distribute to the users of toqqn platform.

20% reserved for the team

10% for Marketing, Bounties & Advisors 10% platform’s future development reserve.

Fundraising

The Toqqn project is unusual in a way that we only aim to collect the funds that’s necessary for the platform development. We don’t aim to collect funds in millions and hence only 10% of the total supply will be offered for the investors.

We are aiming to raise only to cover the actual costs of building the project. For us, the primary purpose of Toqqn is to benefit our user base by decentralizing their data, and to further the adoption of crypto as a payment system.

A total of 100 million toqqn (TQN) will be offered during the fundraising period, with a goal to raise at least $100,000. Investors will be able to contribute to the projet from 1st week of November. Investors and supporters can secure TQN with BTC, ETH, PayPal & Payoneer.

Toqqn Price:

Toqqn’s initial value during the fundraising is set at $.001. Price will increase per week from $0.002 to $0.005. Investors will receive toqqns within the 1st week after the fundraising finishes. Later on TQN can be used as a utility, a payment method to buy, sell services in the marketplace which comes in Phase 3 of the project.

Vesting Plan for the Team:

To make sure the platform is fully built with a strong team and make sure the team’s committed to the project, we have a vesting plan in place to certain the smooth run of development and commitment of the team. Only 25% from the toqqns allocated for the team will be sent on a yearly basis to core team members. This is to ensure stability and assures investors of our commitment to the project..

Initial release:25% After 1st Year: 25% After 2nd Year: 25% After Third Year: 25%

Funds Usage:

60% of the raised funds will be used entirely for the development of the platform.

10% of the funds will be kept as a reserve to deal with any emergency situations that may arrive.

20% of the raised funds will be used for branding and other marketing activities. 10% of the raised funds will be used for legal.

The Toqqn Team

Our Team has decades of combined experience building and marketing complex web applications and SaaS projects. This experience and problem-solving skills brings strength and credibility to the project.

Team members also have extensive expertise and experience with blockchain development. This Team has been handpicked by our CEO, Mervik Haums, to ensure the Toqqn platform is user-friendly, stable and secure.

Mervik Haums (Founder, CEO)

Our CEO is a cutting-edge developer and marketing strategist - with a Master’s degree in Computer Science. He has over 10 years experience in building and marketing innovative software projects.

Starting his journey as a developer with IM projects, he launched a number of revolutionary SaaS projects for the E-commerce industry in the recent past.

Mervik has also trained hundreds of aspiring marketers and developers through marketing masterminds. He was an early adopter of crypto and very active in the crypto world since 2013. Mervik leads Toqqn’s  project development as well as the branding and marketing teams behind Toqqn.

Sujathan R (CTO)

Sujathan R, Chief Technology Officer, a highly-regarded computer engineer with over seven years of experience spearheads development of the Toqqn platform and blockchain integration.

He started his career as a PHP developer and moved to various front-end technologies according to industry demand. He spent 3 years working as a UI developer for media applications.

His immense experience in both server side and client side technologies, makes him skilled and

reliable in all phases of a project. Sujathan has served as a senior software engineer in the IT industry building SaaS projects, high level web architecture and

co-ordinating development and has long term association with Mervik.

Shiju TV (Chief Architect)

Shiju is an IT specialist with 12+ years of professional experience in web and hybrid application development. Shiju served as an application architect & associated with Yahoo Media as a lead developer in 2012.

He is an expert in a wide variety of progressive technologies such as Python, Nodejs, Python, AngularJs, ViewJs; Mysql and Postgrey SQl, and with application scaling using Solr, Redis and AWS SQS.

His experience with hybrid application development is essential to the development of the Toqqn platform.

He Yaohui (Senior Partner, Marketing)

Marketing expert, investor, and legal advisor, He Yaohui has worked in the ecommerce industry for 9+ years.

In addition, he created successful marketing strategies across various industries including crypto, e-commerce. He also serves as IM legal advisor to several leading firms in China and Hong Kong.

He Yaohui has a long term marketing relationship with Mervik and has been an active collaborator on Mervik’s earlier projects as well.

Amr Gawish (Blockchain Developer)

DLT / Blockchain Fullstack developer, software programmer, gamification advocate, Amr brings his previous experience as a Middleware Consultant to Toqqn.

He holds a Bachelor degree in Maths and Computer Sciences from Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt. Amr has created incredible software applications using many different technologies and infrastructures. Impressively, Amr has developed qualified applications to multinational corporations such as Vodafone, Oracle and more.

Norma Rickman (Copywriter/Marketing Strategist)

Norma holds a Bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga University in Spokane, USA and has 7 years experience as a copywriter and marketing strategist.

Her copy has featured prominently in a number of 7-figure product launches, primarily in the software/SaaS industry. She recently completed her first crypto project.

She believes in the promise of blockchain to build a better future for humanity - as does the rest of the Toqqn team.

Marketing, Support Team & Advisors

Frequently Asked Questions