Initiative Q is trying to solve a problem that people have not even noticed. They want to revolutionize payment systems. In short, they want to create a universal exchange; basically, money that you can use anywhere.

Initiative Q is the brainchild of Saar Wilf, a serial entrepreneur who started his first payments start-up in 1997, and later founded Fraud Sciences, which redefined the payment security space and was acquired by PayPal in 2008.

 

TLDR version

We have multiple currencies and the value of the currencies keep shifting. Initiative Q wishes to solve this problem by introducing ONE UNIVERSAL CURRENCY that everyone can use and exchange. The value will be dependent on the equation of exchange. This means that the more people use it, the greater the value of the thing becomes.

To incentivise this, they are giving away a certain amount to early adopters for free. The idea is that if enough of people have this currency, then it can be used as a legitimate system of exchange. The projected value of a Q is $1. You can get 100,000 Q if you invite 5 more people.

To get your free currency, sign up on their website. They require only your email and name. They have a solid privacy policy so there is no danger of spamming.

Hurry! Before the money runs out!

 

How to Sign up?

After clicking on the invitation link you will be presented with this page. Click on the “Reserve my spot” button to sign up.

 

You will be presented with a sign up page. Add in your name, email and password. Click on Sign up.

 

A pop-up requesting confirmation that you are 18 years old and accept the terms and conditions of InitiativeQ will appear. Simply click Approve.

 

Finally, check your inbox for a confirmation email containing a code. Copy and paste that code into the page.

 

Once logged in, you will requested to invite 5 more people to secure the entire Q balance available as an early adopter. Send the emails to your friends and verify their accounts after they join. This ensures that real people, and not bots, are joining InitiativeQ.

 

 

Long Version – Read for a better understanding

Money developed over many years. Before there was money, there was pure exchange. If I had two cows and wanted to buy grain, I’d exchange 1 cow for 10 grain sacks. There was no standardised money system. There was no government to tell me that my cow was worth 20 sacks of grain or 10. There were only the two people agreeing on the value of a cow vs sacks of grain. Based on what they believed the value of a thing was, they exchanged stuff.

Over time this became a problem. People needed to have standardised systems. So they used precious metals like Gold and Silver to define the value of things. Now a cow can be worth 1 Silver coin. But keep in mind that Gold and Silver, without buyers and sellers to accept and use it, is useless for everyday stuff.

After sometime we moved to paper currency. This was easier to exchange and create. So a government would put a certain amount of gold in reserve (bullion) and print money based on that. For instance, to print $1 million notes you need to keep $1 million gold in reserve. This was to ensure that a country did not print unnecessarily. Printing more cash will reduce the value of that cash leading to hyperinflation.

Soon the economies of the world moved to more sophisticated systems, but there was a problem of standardisation. How do we measure the intrinsic value of currencies? I can tell you how much a Euro is worth in dollars, or a Yen worth in Pound. But how does one calculate the value of a currency by itself?

Stay with me now. This may seem unnecessary but we are getting to the important part now. A currency is valued by the equation of exchange. Basically, there is a certain amount of money in an economy which we can call M.

 

M = all the money in the economy. V = Velocity of the money.

 

Velocity the number of times the currency has exchanged hands. Basically, how many times a unit of currency has been used. It can be used to buy groceries, ice cream or services, which means that everyone values the unit of currency. They know that they can exchange the unit for other things later.

This is the most important part. We have come a full circle but our currency is still messed up. We have multiple currencies and the value of the currencies keep shifting.

InitiativeQ wishes to solve this problem by introducing ONE UNIVERSAL CURRENCYthat everyone can use and exchange. The value will be dependent on the equation of exchange. This means that the more people use it, the greater the value of the thing becomes.

To incentivise this, they are giving away a certain amount to early adopters for free. The idea is that if enough of people have this currency, then it can be used as a legitimate system of exchange.

 

1. Existing Money Systems

You may claim that the world is doing just fine with the dollar being the International standard of exchange. We don’t need another currency. However, the way this exchange happens is long and complicated. The fees in between are a significant cost to the seller and the buyer.

2. What About Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies are based on cryptography algorithms that require specific amounts of processing power. This means that there is a limit to the bitcoins, which fixes the value. However, this is the same problem again. It is not flexible to accommodate a growing economy. This is why InitiativeQ believes that cryptocurrencies are doomed to fail. Also, you will help reduce the enormous waste and pollution caused by Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, currently consuming as much energy as 6,000,000 households!

3. Has this been done before?

Yes! The technology has been around for years. But if no one uses a currency, it will not work. This is why they have failed. InitiativeQ is trying to get as many people on board so that this payment network becomes a reality.

4. Is it an MLM?

Multi Level Marketing requires one to pay to play. InitiativeQ is not asking for your money. It is simple asking you to use the currency.

 

Features of Q

1. Removing the initial usage barrier

By giving away Qs to early adopters and incentivising Q as an exchange for sellers, InitiativeQ is making sure Qs actually make it to the real world.

2. Ease of use

Simply scan and pay! Transactions will be transparent and immediate, supported by a universal system of exchange usable everywhere. It can be integrated with your smartphone and even work when your battery dies through an RFID chip.

3. Fraud prevention

“Sellers spend 8% of their revenue on fraud-related costs.” This is a problem for both sellers and buyers. The technology for fraud prevention is built into Q. It uses the same technology in your smartphones like Biometric Scans, 2 Factor Authentication and usage patterns to verify transactions. Sellers can integrate with Q leveraging all the security features without the added overhead. This reduces the cost for the buyer as well.

4. Promoting proper business practices

There are multiple instances of sellers overcharging and slipping hidden charges into services. InitiativeQ protects buyers against this through the revolutionary Transaction Reversal. Buyers can safely pay for goods and services knowing that Qs, and the infrastructure around it, will protect them from fraudulent business practices.

5. Reversibility and dispute arbitration

“No matter how good a system is, if humans are involved, there will be mistakes and misunderstandings. That’s why reversibility (one of the limitations of Bitcoin) is so important. Allowing transactions to be reversed benefits both buyers and sellers in the long-term, as customers are more willing to engage in the market when they have a measure of protection. Moreover, this is already a feature of credit cards, and any system that seeks to overtake them will have to provide similar assurances. The Q payment network can also include an automated dispute resolution process, with an easy to use interface that allows users to submit claims and upload evidence to support those claims.”

6. Parental / departmental controls

Controls can be tailor-made based on the requirement. Sub-accounts can be created by parents for the children without exposing the entire account. The same applied to companies and departments with regard to budgeting. This ensures transparency at all levels.

7. Reporting

“Buyers can have instant access to their full transaction history, including precise times and locations for when and where transactions were authorized, what verification method was used, a copy of the invoice, details and images of the products, delivery tracking data, an instant messaging option to communicate with the seller, and a link to the Initiative Q dispute resolution forum. This would be a major improvement over the vague references and line-items on today’s credit card statements.”

8. Credit allocation

Credit can be assigned to users accurately based on their payment history, usage pattern and behaviour. This automatically incentivises better business and credit practices as more reliable users can be assigned more credit.

9. Bank-free. Hassle-free.

“Worldwide, 38% of the adult population doesn’t have a bank account. In some areas it’s far higher; in Colombia and Peru it’s over 60% and in the Middle East it’s over 80%. Initiative Q will address this issue, allowing people all over the world to make deposits, purchases, sales, money transfers, and investments without ever needing access to a bank. This can be especially beneficial in conflict and post-conflict regions.”

10. Transaction costs

Qs will automatically reduce the transactional cost by removing the red tape and middlemen. A world-wide payment network that works transparently does not require additional levels and man-power to monitor and maintain transactional data.

11. Universality

By design, Qs are universal. They can used anywhere, even in space! The system is designed to work in any economy, nation and system, so long as there are buyers and sellers willing to trade. The Q payment network offers a unified system for payments, sales, and transfers that works everywhere instantly. The same currency (Q) is used in all territories, avoiding the need to exchange currencies at hefty fees.

12. AML – Anti-Money Laundering

“One of the main causes for complexity in payments is the need to comply with regulation for prevention of money laundering. This is why international wires can take days and cost $20-100 each. The Q currency resides solely on the Q network, and therefore each Q can be tracked to its source, eliminating the need for AML procedures, and paving the way for instantaneous cross-border money transfers.”

13. Content Monetisation

Content creators can be happy about this. Qs allow for a minimal fee for ad-free content. It has all the failsafes that a customer requires to ensure that their money will be spent correctly. This could potentially boost the free and open education systems of the world.

14. Architecture

“Initiative Q aims to become the world’s primary payment network. That requires establishing locations all over the world, complying with local regulations, and providing quality customer service. To reach this goal quickly, Initiative Q will focus only on technology, standards and regulation, while delegating the financial operation to hundreds of local agents. These local agents will be responsible for customer service, safeguarding members’ funds, connecting local stores, legal compliance, and settling with other agents.”

 

Timeline for implementation

 

1. Mid 2018 – Mid 2019
   • Member recruitment campaign

2. Mid 2019 – Mid 2021
   • Payment network development

3. 2020
   • Selection of Q launch locations

4. 2020 – 2021
   • Seller recruitment campaign

5. 2020
   • Formation of the Monetary committee

6. Late 2020 – Mid 2021
   • Accumulation of initial monetary reserves

7. Late 2020 – Mid 2021
   • Distribution of payment app

8. 2020
   • Recruit Q agents in selected locations

9. 2020 – 2021
   • Seller integration

10. Late 2021 and onwards
    • Network Launch
    • Growth cycle, and gradual release of all Qs
    • Become a major payment network

 

About InitiativeQ

“Initiative Q is the brainchild of Saar Wilf, a serial entrepreneur who started his first payments start-up in 1997, and later founded Fraud Sciences, which redefined the payment security space and was acquired by PayPal in 2008.

Wilf has compiled a team of experts from a variety of disciplines, including mathematics, economics, and other social sciences. The economic and monetary models were developed with Economist Lawrence White, a professor of monetary theory and policy at George Mason University. White has published numerous articles and books on monetary theory and banking, including The Theory of Monetary Institutions, Free Banking in Britain, and The Clash of Economic Ideas.

The idea behind Initiative Q is to first create a critical mass of users, which can then be harnessed to create the world’s best payment network. Therefore, our primary focus is to get millions of Q members registered, after which we will continue recruiting the world’s top professionals in payment systems, macroeconomics, and Internet technologies.

 

Conclusion

“Initiative Q’s main goal is to achieve global adoption, and Initiative Q therefore prioritizes ease of use, stability, security, efficiency, and legality, over abstract goals like decentralization. This is a real world solution for real world problems. It is based on a network of Q agents, who employ thousands of people, conform to local regulations, and ensure that members receive quality customer service and are fully protected from thefts and scams, without requiring them to become security experts.”

InitiativeQ has not been setup yet. The only requirement is that you sign up with your email ID and name. In our opinion, this not too much to ask. And we will be participating in one of the most exciting economic experiments in recent times!

So get on board the Q train!