History has a habit of repeating itself. Remember back when the mobile network came about?

Back in 1991… [insert cloudy television technique that takes you back to an imaginary past here]

It was more than 25 years ago when entrepreneurs and IT experts heard about the Global System for Mobile Communication. It was a giddy combination of new technologies and standards that held enormous promise. They could make new services possible and users could gain a lot more freedom as they could call from anywhere and even send text messages.

There was even talk that one day this new technology would allow us to listen to music or watch videos from anywhere on a mobile device…

The problem was that this technology was still in its infancy. The first devices to use it were inconveniently heavy and very expensive. They had short battery lives and the networks had limited range. Mass adoption was going to take time and the fixed telephone looked smug.

The fixed line wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. However, it would be a mistake to ignore all those people who didn’t have access to a fixed line phone.

The most needed feature was the ability to make calls between fixed lines and mobile phones at an affordable price.

Back to that group of entrepreneurs we mentioned earlier…

So, they formed a company and started to develop solutions that were capable of making calls between fixed lines and mobile phones easily and at low cost. They also started working on a bunch of other solutions that would be needed to help facilitate the mass adoption of this shiny new GSM technology.

They made solutions that registered new customers and issued new SIM cards. They made online stores where people could buy the phones they wanted. They made software for resellers of phone credit scratch cards. AND they built the back-end infrastructure designed to handle text messages and add new features like text message voting.

This company let customers earn credits using these new services — a customer would get 100 credits if he made 100 minutes of voice calls and 200 credits if they subscribed for a 100MB data bundle. These credits could then be redeemed for other services.

To finance the initial development of the company, these entrepreneurs sold these credits to a group of early adopters at an attractive discount and they could use these to pay for services later on. They could also sell these credits at a higher price to other customers. By locking their tokens, these early adopters also ensured that they gained access to all premium services and were the first people to enjoy new services as they became available.

However, there were major obstacles that still had to be overcome.

A network was needed in every country before mass adoption could become a reality.

It was a time of uncertainty. Governments were not sure how to regulate or facilitate this. Some only issued frequency licenses to state-owned telecom providers, others seemed willing to issue them to anyone who had a good business plan. Others wanted prospective operators to bid against one another for the frequencies in an auction.

There were also regulatory issues. Not all governments allowed for anonymous prepaid SIM cards, while others were happy to do so. A few governments seemed to stimulate collaboration between mobile newcomers and incumbent fixed line telecoms. Others left it to the newcomers to fight for their market share against the huge, often state-owned, providers.

Law enforcement agencies were worried about losing their ability to tap phone lines of criminals and consumer protection agencies were worried about the huge bills some customers would receive when they used their mobile freedom in foreign countries.

This is when these entrepreneurs decided that the best approach would be to focus on a globally trusted brand name and a complete solution that would consist of hardware, software and operational management. This would then be licensed to country operators who would be responsible for getting the required frequencies and other licenses from their respective governments. They would then market the new mobile services in their country and provide customer training and support.

Their country operators also worked with local law enforcement and consumer protection organisations to ensure that everyone had fair treatment without free rein given to criminals.

Fast-forward a few years and suddenly the ‘brand new scary technology’ of the past is standard fare. But there is a newcomer in town and their story is exactly the same.

It is now 2015…

A small group of entrepreneurs and IT experts heard about blockchain technology.

This combination of new technologies and standards held great promise as they would make a lot of new services possible. Users could now make payments from anywhere. They could also register their ownership of all sorts of other assets in a publicly-shared, immutable ledger that anyone could verify for themselves.

There was even a lot of talk that the new technology could make it possible for self-driving taxis to collect funds directly from customers.

Then the entrepreneurs and the IT experts realised that this new technology was still in its infancy. The first blockchains were hard to interact with and notoriously difficult to maintain. Their capacity, in the number of transactions per second, was low and the wallets and exchanges they relied on were poor quality and often hacked.

Mass adoption was going to take time and existing FIAT technologies were not about to go away any time soon.

The most needed feature was the ability to easily move money between FIAT currencies and blockchain coins at a reasonable cost. However, it would be a mistake to ignore all those people who don’t have access to traditional bank accounts.

Back to that group of entrepreneurs we mentioned earlier…

(No, you’re not in Groundhog Day)

They formed a company called WIZZLE Global and started developing solutions that made moving money between FIAT currencies and blockchain coins as easy and cost effective as possible. They also started working on several other solutions that would be needed to facilitate the mass adoption of the new blockchain technology.

They made solutions to register new customers and issue new wallets. They made online shops where people could buy blockchain tokens and hardware wallets and they made software for resellers of scratch cards. They also built the backend infrastructure needed to handle swapping currencies and allow for the raising of funds for projects using blockchain coins. They even built state-of-the-art ATMs to allow customers to easily interact with blockchain.

Wait, haven’t we had this punchline?

Oh yes, and it worked incredibly well the first time. This is why WIZZLE’s history is more than just one idea today, it is a successful business model that has thrived for more than 20 years.

WIZZLE Global made it possible for clients to earn credits using the new services. A customer would get 100 WIZZLE credits if they converted Euro 100 into blockchain tokens and 200 WIZZLE credits if they subscribed for a debit card. They could then use these credits to use other services.

To help finance the initial development of WIZZLE, the company sold WIZZLE credits in advance to a group of early adopters who got them at a very attractive discount. They could then use these to pay for services later on or to sell at a higher price to WIZZLE customers. By locking their tokens, the early adopters also ensured they would gain access to all premium services and be the first customers to enjoy new services as soon as they became available.

However, there were major obstacles that still had to be overcome.

There had to be a presence in every country. And services built on blockchain technology were very new for governments so they didn’t know how they were going to regulate and facilitate them. Some governments were considering banning these services. Others started the process of legislation that would allow compliant companies to get a license. Others have taken a very relaxed approach so as to stimulate innovation.

There are also other regulatory issues. Some governments didn’t want to allow anonymous blockchain accounts while others were fine with it. A few governments stimulated collaboration between blockchain newcomers and incumbent financial institutions, but others left it so the newcomers have to fight it out against the huge, often state-owned, banks.

Law enforcement agencies are worried about losing their ability to monitor the money flows of criminals and the ability to seize their assets. Consumer protection organisations were worried about the huge risks some consumers were taking by investing in unregulated securities often issued by companies registered in foreign countries.

This is when WIZZLE Global decided to focus on building a globally trusted brand name and a comprehensive solution that consists of hardware, software and operational management. All of this is licensed out to country operators who would be responsible for getting the required permits and licenses from their respective governments. They would market the new services in their country and provide customer training and support.

The country operators would work with local law enforcement and consumer protection agencies to ensure that customers would get fair treatment and criminals would not get free rein.

This is WIZZLE Bank-in-a-Box

This is the future of blockchain.

And you can be a part of this future. Want to be a country manager? Visit us here.

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