BOLT GLOBAL, a blockchain-based content rewards platform, recently made several partnership announcements. First, BOLT’s user access to premium sporting streams just got a boost. The International Cricket Council granted BOLT transmission rights to the 2019 Cricket World Cup for users in Southeast Asia, where Cricket reigns as the number one watched sport.
In their second announcement, the team reported that the BOLT token has been listed on BitMax.io, marking its first appearance on a digital asset exchange. As of March 26, 2019, BOLT trade pairs with BTC and USDT are available on BitMax.io.
BOLT’s vision is to provide premium mobile content (live and trending) to emerging markets with their interactive token-based ecosystem. For instance, users can receive rewards for reacting to the premium content with their mobile phones. Their participation rewards can be traded in for more premium content or mobile data plans.
Additionally, live TV programs will be available, plus “BOLT Originals,” which are offered exclusively to users and include specialized content in the form of sports highlights and trending reports. All users are incentivized to participate through creating and/or engaging with the content, which represents two ways to earn the BOLT token.
One of their major goals is to eventually offer their mobile wallet to the 5 billion people they’ve identified globally who do not yet have reliable and affordable access to mainstream content. The team plans to provide a DApp that is powered by content, user engagement, and the BOLT token.
The symbiotic relationship of all types of users on the ecosystem is the basis for their tokenomics. As for utility, the BOLT token will be used to access the service and pay for premium content, microdata bundles, and advertising.
BOLT’s decentralized mobile app and ecosystem are built upon the Zilliqa public blockchain. As the first such platform to integrate sharding, Zilliqa has enabled much higher transactions per second than previously achieved by public blockchains.
BOLT is led by Co-Founder and CEO, Jamal Hassim, who has a law degree from the University of Wales and has worked for over fourteen years managing broadcast operations. The other Co-Founder, Christel Quek, is their Chief Commercial Officer, as well as an advisor to Zilliqa. Quek has extensive experience as a tech and marketing executive and was Head of Content for Twitter for two years.
Having been founded in 2017, BOLT GLOBAL has since developed several industry initiatives in emerging markets. In 2018, they Piloted a Content Ambassador program with influential YouTubers in Africa, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Additionally, they’ve partnered with the Kenya Blockchain Association in creating a blockchain educational series.
So far in 2019, the BOLT app has collected 1.9 million views with 58 videos, while the team currently reports 957,000 monthly users. On-pitch live streaming also began in 2019, with a highlighted replay broadcast feature. The BOLT team will be testing their updated mobile wallet while working to get the BOLT token listed on additional exchanges. Leading up to the May 30th live broadcast of the Cricket World Cup, they’ll be optimizing all aspects of the user experience.