Crypto2Go

Our logo!
A screenshot of our landing page

Inspiration

Have you ever felt powerless? If you have, you would want a way to help others. Living in first world countries such as the U.S.A gives their people an enormous power just through our USD currency exchange rate. There are a number of emerging markets that are, as a result of central banking infrastructure or political opinions, unable to vote with their actions and convert their currencies to less volatile currencies. Additionally, in our experiences we've found that when we help others, we are often repaid in full. From this, we've built Crypto2go, a site where people can track crypto and fiat exchange rates, redeem crypto for synthetic tokens they'll use while traveling, and donate leftover synthetic tokens to good causes.

What it does

It identifies the best exchange rate between a cryptocurrency and a nation's fiat currency. Also, is a frictionless synthetic token provider that enables users to travel anywhere and use a local currency-based token with price stability businesses or charities that accept it.

How we built it

We got the exchange rates using Coinbase API. We got the fiat currency exchange rates from the European Stock Exchange. This was then saved in a JSON file, and javascript was used to sort the data from highest to lowest to maximize the purchasing power of a given cryptocurrency.

Challenges we ran into

Getting fiat currency exchange rates was challenging. There is not a complete list that is easy to obtain, nor are there free APIs that capture this information in an easily digestible format.
Designing an accurate logo that transmitted to our audience what we are trying to do in this project
Building an MVP that communicated our vision.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud that we've facilitated the execution of a transaction in such a way that assures trust, performance, and reputation in a remote country was going through different financial crises. We have created a way that enables merchants to use cryptocurrency without having to worry about price instability and FX rates in a frictionless global economy.

What we learned

From a product/project management point, we learned a lot about how to turn different perspectives envisioning the end goal into resolute focus. From a mission statement standpoint, we feel as though we've learned how bad it can get for a country financially, and how lucky people in developed countries are in their financial stability. From that, we've recognized the power compassion can bring the world to an equilibrium point.

What's next for Crypto2Go

A better infrastructure of smart contracts, anti-fraud and identity capabilities, zero-knowledge interactions (to protect the privacy of people in countries with strict capital controls), and approaches to enable charity/investment where purchasing power is maximized for all cryptocurrencies, not just Ethereum and Bitcoin. Also, we'd want to help further develop the ability to accept, issue, and redeem more synthetic tokens to trade against other countries' fiat currencies.