BLINKED - THE BLOCKCHAIN-BASED RECOMMENDATION PLATFORM THAT DRIVES UP TO 90 PERCENT OF ADVERTISING REVENUE TO USERS

ABSTRACT
Blinked is an existing social media platform for recommendations that is building upon the innovations in blockchain technology by integrating a proprietary Blinked (BLKD) crypto-token that will enable users to get paid for their recommendations and for experiencing digital ads. It is the first media platform that will deliver up to 90 percent of advertising revenue to users through the Blinked decentralized social media model.

The Blinked (BLKD) token shall be used to:

• serve as the entry token for users that will fund the Blinked platform;
• serve as the staking token for users worldwide to claim an administrative role in their territory;
• serve as the buy-in token with which advertisers will engage users;
• convert to the Blinked reward chip, Blinked Gold (BGZD) for the purpose of compensating users for their engagement on the Blinked platform; and
• serve as the exchangeable ambassador token that will allow for the stabilization of the Blinked reward chip, Blinked Gold (BGZD).

Blinked Gold (BGZD) shall be used for the purpose of rewarding users on the Blinked platform for:

• contributing in-app recommendations;
• watching and engaging with digital ads (removing centralized social media, television networks, etc.);
• other social and administrative activity (i.e., patrolling bad actors);
• peer-to-peer tipping for useful recommendations;
• redeeming rewards in the Blinked Arcade (i.e., airline tickets, hotels stays, products, services and similar); and
• conversion to Blinked (BLKD) token.

The Blinked (BLKD) token will hold utility for both users and advertisers, as users will be compensated for their (1) recommendations. (2) their administrative roles, and (3) engagement with ads. It will also allow advertisers to drive much more effective and rewarding ad campaigns utilizing the full transparency of the blockchain.

The purpose of this document is to share information about the Blinked (BLKD) ERC-20 token. The Blinked (BLKD) token will revolutionize social media by becoming the first recommendation platform to enable users to get paid by both sharing recommendations and experiencing interest-specific advertising content.

ORGANIZATION & PURPOSE
Blinked was founded by J. Benlevi-Little, who brings more than 10 years of digital media experience in the recommendation space. The inspiration for Blinked came after a successful exit from JULIB.com, a previous recommendation platform that distributed recommendations in 16 cities worldwide and became the second largest recommendation platform in the U.S. at that time. Benlevi-Little realized that the world was saturated with recommendations, and it was time to create a hub that housed them all.

After struggling with reading reviews from unknown users on Yelp, Blinked was created to improve the way users find recommendations by enabling them to choose whom it follow, a functionality similar to other social media networks. Blinked currently has 13,000 active users acquired in stealth mode while in development and with minimal marketing.

There are more than a quarter-million recommendations on Blinked today, in categories such as Food & Drink, Fitness, Travel, Entertainment, Sports, Television, Fashion, Beauty and many more.

It takes as long to post a recommendation on Blinked as it does to post anything on any widely-used social media platforms.

Using proprietary Blinked technology, users simply enter the name of their recommendation and then other data (address, web site, images, etc.) automatically populates.

The Blinked team includes both influencers and investors such as Prince Amukamara (Chicago Bears) John Brenkus (ESPN), and Yoenis Cespedes (New York Mets). Blinked has also formed partnerships with Amazon, OpenTable, among others.

THE NEW BLINKED TOKEN PLATFORM
The Blinked recommendation platform is currently available in iTunes without a token environment, (with Google Play support coming in 2018). The new BLKD token is currently being integrated into the platform and will work as follows.

What’s a Blink?

A Blink is a recommendation made by any user. It can be anything including a person, product, place, event, service, technology or other recommendation. Blinks made by friends appear in the Feed and may be viewed by swiping sideways. Blinks made by all users may be viewed in Discover.

Any user may like or comment on a Blink made by any other user. A Blink or comment made by a bad actor may be flagged by a Blinked admin and penalized.

Each Blink is created by using the Blinked icon at the bottom of most screens which uses Blinked technology to automatically pull up address, suggested images, links and other information upon entering merely the name of the Blink. Users must comment on their Blink and then submit. It takes less than a few seconds to create a Blink (and no less time than posting on other widely-used social media platforms).
INTRODUCTION OF THE BLINKED [BLKD] TOKEN
Blinked is executing a token issuance and utility token sale under the name Blinked Token (BLKD).

As described in this white paper, the Blinked token is for use on the Blinked platform, engineered to serve as the advertising and reward product itself. An advertiser, business or user purchases Blinked token, exchanges it for the performance token, Blinked Gold [BGZD], and uses it to either (a) earn within the platform or (b) offers it to the end-user for engagement with digital advertising content. There is no other purpose of use of the Blinked token.

Blockchain will be incorporated in the distributed application software platform with the goal of addressing transparency and validation issues in online display advertising and reviews. Existing nonblockchain solutions do not offer a trusted resource. The inherent transparency offered by the blockchain will address many of the concerns individuals have with solutions like Yelp and Facebook. BLKD token and BGZD are paramount for users, businesses and advertisers.

TOKEN ECONOMIC MODEL & STABILIZATION
The Blinked (BLKD) token is a utility token, whose value comes from its use within the Blinked network. Blinked (BLKD) token holders include users, advertisers, brands, businesses, and a local decentralized sales team, as well as the independently operated stabilization fund.

Blinked Users acquire Blinked Gold (BGZD) by engaging with advertisers or other users. Blinked Gold (BGZD) can be converted back to Blinked (BLKD) token at a predetermined rate (and subsequently converted to fiat currency), spent on purchasing goods and services with the Blinked arcade, or used within Blinked network (such as challenging other users or playing games). The Blinked network incentivizes Blinked users to be more actively engaged with advertisers and other users. The users are classified into different tiers based on their levels of engagement: regular users, featured users, expert users, master users, ambassador users, and premium users.

Advertisers, brands and businesses purchase Blinked (BLKD) token to identify and acquire customers that use the Blinked network, and to better understand their consumer preferences. A Blinked (BLKD) token deposited into the Blinked network is converted into credits called Blinked Gold (BGZD). These credits are usable to sell advertisements (such as impression banners or videos), acquire loyalty programs, recommendations, or any other promotions that suits their needs - without a centralized authority dictating the terms. The Blinked (BLKD) token is thus a flexible tool that allows for different marketing strategies for advertisers.

Local Advertising Sales Administrators (LASAs) are users who acquire Blinked (BLKD) token on behalf of interested businesses who wish to advertise their local or national services on Blinked. LASAs must first stake their territory to reign in their city as a LASA, meaning they may own their territory. LASA positions will be allotted based on population and geographic region, and will be promotable or demotable based on LASA performance, governed purely by the Blinked platform itself. LASAs will earn commissions as any sales team would, dictated by the governance of Blinked platform itself.

TOKEN ECONOMIC MODEL [CONT’d]
The stabilization fund is digitally operated algorithmically by the Blinked platform itself to reduce the short-term exchange rate fluctuations of Blinked (BLKD) token to fiat currency and to maintain the purpose of Blinked (BLKD) token as a utility token. The stabilization fund prevents these fluctuations by engaging clearly defined monetary rules aimed at minimizing large fluctuations in value. These rules are intended to be neutral and transparent, in that they will not benefit any particular market participant. While an exact mathematical algorithm is to be determined, the underlying principle engages when the demand for Blinked (BLKD) token grows, the stabilization mechanism expands through small fees on Blinked system transactions. If there is a slump in demand for Blinked (BLKD) token due to seasonal cycles or a sudden speculative attack, the stabilization algorithm will trigger the Blinked (BLKD) token purchases to stimulate demand and maintain its relative price. A computerized implementation of the stabilization system increases the resilience of the system by detecting and preventing attempts to exploit the currency for illicit gain.

The interaction between network users and advertisers may result in “price discovery,” where advertisers have an incentive to make tokens attractive to the Blinked users at the lowest price the users are willing to accept. The give-and-take of advertisers’ supply and users’ demand provides balance to the flow of tokens in the system. As units of user rewards may have different value depending on the advertising promotion type, the value of the Blinked (BLKD) token can fluctuate depending on circumstances. This equilibrium price of the smart contract for a given transaction at a specific time will be a product of many things, including:

• the advertiser’s budget and the reserve cost per user,
• the buyer’s willingness to accept rewards,
• how much demand there is for the advertised product or service,
• how many active users are in the network at a particular time.
• what the rewards are being used for,
• who is soliciting the advertisement, and
• the overall sentiment in the market.

TOKEN ECONOMIC MODEL [CONT’d]
The supply of Blinked (BLKD) token is guided by the following economic rules intended to ensure stable growth in its value. At the time of the token sale, the supply of the Blinked (BLKD) token is fixed to a predetermined amount of 1 billion. Any new Blinked (BLKD) token will not be issued (minted) unless the monetary overhang (the difference between total tokens issued and the tokens in active circulation) is exhausted. After this occurs, the supply of new Blinked (BLKD) token increases inelastically (i.e., in limited amount that does not exceed demand for new tokens), subject to the following caps:

• Revenue cap.
The growth rate of the tokens should not exceed the advertising revenue growth + x%.

• Inflation cap.
The growth rate of the tokens should not exceed the growth in passive BG credits (i.e., BG credits
never used) + the growth of BG credits spent internally + y%.

These rules ensure that the supply of Blinked (BLKD) token expands and allows for a moderate inflation rate that creates additional revenues without resulting in erosion of the value of the token.

TOKEN FLOW

USERS


[a] RECOMMEND: Blinked users earn Blinked Gold (BGZD) by recommending things on the platform. Users may recommend anything (people, places, products, services, technology, events, etc.). The more likes and traction a recommendation gets from other users, the more is earned by the recommender.

[b] VIEW ADS: Blinked users earn Blinked Gold [BGZD] by viewing optional, interestspecific ads/commercials on the platform. Only users who are engaged and active on the platform qualify to share in advertising revenue. No user can use the platform strictly for viewing ads and earning.

[c] GET TIPPED: Blinked users earn Blinked Gold [BGZD] by getting tipped by other users who appreciate the recommendation made.

[d] WIN CHALLENGES: Blinked users earn Blinked Gold [BGZD] by participating in challenges created by others users. A challenge is a contest whereby a user seeks to find the best recommendation from other users.

[e] BECOME A LOCAL SALES ADMIN: Blinked users earn Blinked Gold [BGZD] by becoming Blinked Admins (patrollers) or Sales Admins (advertising sales persons).

HOW USERS SPEND
THE BLINKED ARCADE
Users can exchange BLKD Gold [BGZD] for rewards in the Blinked Arcade. Rewards can include airline tickets, hotel rooms, products, services, dinners and more. The Blinked Arcade is funded by both Blinked and advertising partners. Blinked will prefund user rewards in the Blinked Arcade with funds raised during the ICO until revenue is generated from advertising sales.


For more information and join BLINKED social media today please follow these guidelines:

Website: http://www.blinked.live/
Whitepaper:https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5aa115bf7e3c3ae292046820/t/5b6ed2ea575d1febd1f16862/1533989631460/BlinkedWhitePaper-FinalAugust2018.pdf
Twitter: https://twitter.com/blinked_app
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlinkedApp/
ANN: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4932897.0
Telegram general chat: https://t.me/Blinked_App
Telegram bounty chat: https://t.me/BlinkedBounty
Profile: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2150357