Hey Kevin! Happy to connect today and learn more K9kstaking project! Can you tell us more about the founding of the project and what the problem is that you were addressing?
I got involved in cryptocurrencies in early 2016 as a researcher and an investor in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Ethereum excited me the most with the platform’s utility and versatility. Fast forward to 2017, I am pursuing an MBA in Madrid, Spain and the crypto market exploded with the ICO craze and Bitcoin reaching 20K. Having a head start with a solid understanding of cryptocurrencies, I found myself at the center of all crypto discussions; the more I talked the more it grew into a passion.
I continued to get involved as co-founder of a startup that helped educate people of cryptocurrencies and now more recently as a crypto hedge fund trader, organizer for the Cardano meetup group in Chicago, and stake pool operator.
As I learned more about cryptocurrencies, I became aware of some of the limitations of Ethereum and as I looked for projects that were working on solving some of the inefficiencies of Ethereum, I discovered Cardano. Cardano is one of the most exciting cryptocurrencies in the space and I wanted to play a part in its success. Cryptocurrencies by nature are decentralized so the network is maintained by miners like Bitcoin, or in Cardano case, stake pool operators who are incentivized to run the network. K9K runs a stake pool on the Cardano network.
Could you please give us a rundown of the most important things about the K9kstaking?
We wanted to not only help grow the Cardano community but to give back to charities that are making the world better. It’s not good enough to have a transformative technology that Cardano is creating without a healthier, safer, and more peaceful world to use it. So, we decided early on to donate 25% of the staking fees we receive to charities that are voted on by the members of the pool. The donations come out of K9K rewards, so delegators rewards are not affected.
It is also important to note, we have already started minting blocks, so we have rewards saved up to be donate to charities at the end of the year, which is a huge accomplishment.
So, going forth into 2020 and beyond, how will your K9kstaking make an impact in the crypto space, or on the world?
The reality is cryptocurrencies are a new technology and still in the infancy stage. Cardano just celebrated its 3rd anniversary in September. The CEO of Binance, one of the largest crypto exchanges estimates that only 1 out of 1000 people own cryptocurrencies. So, if we can estimate that cryptocurrencies have less than 1% adoption. That is equivalent to where the internet was around the year 1990–1995. In comparison, Google wasn’t founded until 1998.
We are growing the crypto space by getting more people into space. We donate Cardano’s native cryptocurrency, ADA, to charities. We are open to all charities that are willing to accept ADA. This is to spread the adoption and awareness of cryptocurrencies as well as supporting the work of great charities. And by doing this, all ships rise. With the increase in the adoption, the price of ADA also increases which results in a more generous donation.
Now, could you tell us about your accomplishments so far, and in the history of the project, please tell us what you are most proud of.
Setting up the staking pool has been the biggest accomplishment so far. Staking is a brand-new concept so learning new skills was required. I give credit to my brother, Mike for setting the staking pool up. He really impressed me with his hard work and the ability to learn new things.
Another accomplishment is we reached over 500K ADA staked. This is a tribute to our pool members that believe in us and our mission. There are over 1000 stake pools to choose from and they want to start this exciting journey with us and be a part of something new.
Lastly, I want to give recognition to Code to Inspire, our first charity to be a part of the K9K donation. Code to Inspire empowers young women in developing countries to drive economic and social progress by teaching them how to code, find programming jobs and launch technology ventures. This will not only increase the adoption of Cardano but also go towards helping great charities.
Why should people choose to stake CARDANO (ADA) through k9kstaking.com, what is the advantages?
Keep More Rewards: Coinbase and other exchanges can keep up to 25% of the staking rewards.
Non-Custodian: K9K does not hold your ADA. Your ADA remains in your wallet and you remain in full control.
Own Your Keys: When storing on exchanges, ADA holders don’t have possession of their private keys. Without the ownership of your keys, you don’t have full control.
Stake For Charity: K9K gives 25% of the rewards we receive to a charity voted on by delegators every year.
No Minimum: Rewards are based on the % of the pool’s total ADA staked. But there is no minimum amount to join.
Communication: We have many ways to keep people informed. We run Cardano official meetup group in Chicago, schedule a call with K9K or subscribe to our newsletter.
Now, give us a quick rundown of the future of K9kstaking. For example, what new things are you seeking to bring to life and what will it mean for the overall project?
Cardano and cryptocurrencies is a new technology with a promising future. We want to be one of the first in the space and grow with our pool members. We want to provide additional services as space grows. Specifically, in the Cardano roadmap for the end of 2020 developers will be able to create applications on the network. We are also looking for more charities to work with us to receive a donation in the form of ADA. If you are a charity interested, you can reach our head of charitable giving at .
Tell us about your team. Who’re the people behind the screens?
I am proud to say, we are a family-owned company. I run the business with my two younger brothers Patrick and Mike. Patrick is a nurse at the University of Chicago hospital and runs the K9K charitable outreach program. Michael is the technical brain of the operation. He graduated with a degree in computer science and specializes in Web Development with a strong focus on making sustainable and reusable software components.
Which partnerships have you engaged so far, and which ones are the most impactful?
We are the official Cardano Meetup group for Chicago. We are one of 37 Cardano official Meetup groups in the world. We currently have 31 members and newcomers are always welcome. We are very close to qualifying to become ambassadors for Cardano.
Another shout out to Code to Inspire. We landed our first charity, Code to Inspire to receive our annual Cardano (ADA) donation. Code to Inspire empowers young women in developing countries to drive economic and social progress by teaching them how to code, find programming jobs and launch technology ventures.
If people would like to follow you on your social media pages, visit your website or read your important documents like your white paper, what are the links they need to visit? Please list them below.
If you are interested in learning more about Cardano or K9K you can visit our website for information as well as schedule a call or join our newsletter. If you’re interested to join the Chicago Cardano Meetup Group, the link is below. We have our next virtual event scheduled for Wednesday, October 28th @ 7:30 CST.
https://www.k9kstaking.com/home
https://www.meetup.com/Chicago-Cardano-Meetup-Group/
https://twitter.com/K9KStaking
Thank you so much for your time! Do you have anything to add before we finish?
If you wish to join our stake pool our pool details are listed below.
Stake pool name: K9k Staking
Pool Ticker: K9K
Pool Id: 6cabf3837d2884000af0eb9b661870f0080233cfb4e9a239a007450c
https://medium.com/media/3b6b127891c5c8711ad105e61d6cc81f/href
Project Rundown interview with Kevin from k9kstaking.com was originally published in The Capital on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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