Cryptonews: MINERVA - smart money on the Blockchain

Minerva is a payment service provider and application with a cryptocurrency utility token (OWL) which provides an additional revenue stream to approved merchants accepting it as a method of payment. We seek to demonstrate less violent short-term fluctuations through Proof-of-Transaction and introduce incentivized payment solutions to accelerate the mainstream adoption of digital currencies and smart contracts.

Built initially with smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, Minerva aims to incentivize approved merchants to adopt its cryptocurrency as a new payment method. Incentivization is achieved by rewarding these merchants with newly minted OWL. These are generated at a variable rate as OWL, Minerva’s cryptocurrency, is used.

We envision a world where smart contracts help address the issue of excessive volatility, changing the way businesses approach cryptocurrencies. By bridging the gap between commerce and cryptographic assets we aim to assist in bringing cryptocurrencies mainstream.

Technology
OWL is presently an ERC20 token and Minerva is a payment processor running on top of smart contracts built on the
Ethereum blockchain. Following this standard, OWL are easily transferable between approved merchants and their
clients by using ERC20-compatible wallets, and can be smoothly integrated into exchanges.

Service and Application Layer
Certain OWL will be held and issued to approved merchants to serve as “signing bonuses” subjected to a slow-timerelease
and distributed on a first-come, first-served basis at a variable percentage of the bonus vault until a point where
the vault becomes nearly exhausted rendering signing bonuses fiscally inconsequential.

Signing bonuses are in addition to bonus Minerva OWL issued to approved merchants via Proof-of Transaction at a variable rate designed to ease inflation and combat violent price swings. With this model, OWL can be exchanged for services on integrated merchant platforms and released back into the market by approved merchants, thereby creating the added monetary value. Excluding the private pre-sale and final, public crowdsale, OWL cannot be generated by any other method

Financial Security Audits

The Minerva team commits to subjecting its platform to comprehensive financial security audits. We will implement multiple strategies to provide maximum transparency in the management of assets. The goal is to prove the following:

1. All integrated merchant profits are properly recorded.

2. The company is in possession of all declared funds.

For each merchant accepting the Minerva OWL as a payment method, we will create a view-only API key which will allow anyone to verify the balance and trade history of its account. To prevent abuse, monitoring and resource tracking will limit users from the exploitation of reward rate loops.

Fork From Ethereum to a New Blockchain

The fork date will be announced via email list and confirmed by Minerva.com months before we shut down the ERC20 system. On the announcement day we will also launch our new blockchain system. To convert your ERC20 tokens to new OWL tokens, you must first register for an account on Minerva.com. As with crowdsale verification, you will verify ownership of your Ethereum address. You will then be able to send ERC20 OWL tokens to a burn contract that destroys them and credits your account with an equivalent amount of new OWL tokens.

Minerva Volatility Protocol

Minerva is the underlying infrastructure on which its economy is based. Rewards for approved merchants are directly introduced to the economy as OWL tokens, and these OWL tokens are used for all normal transactions. The MVP contract becomes accessible during episodes of price decrease. Its purpose is to incentive users to temporarily

take OWL tokens out of circulation in order to effectively decrease OWL supply and bring the OWL/USD price back up.When users freezes their OWL tokens, they will potentially receive a bonus in OWL tokens when their original OWL tokens are released. This varies on how low OWL/USD was at the time of MVP smart contract funding, and the amount of time their tokens were frozen.

MVP bonuses are never guaranteed without the reserves necessary to satisfy them. A tax is collected from rewards (reverse transaction fees) provided to approved merchants during times when the reward rate is positive in order to deposit into the “MVP Vault” which funds both voting and MVP participation incentives. If the vault is able to distribute enough bonuses to MVP contract participants to exhaust up to all of its current funds, no more bonuses can be given.

Trial & Subscription Billing with Smart Contracts

A recurring subscription is achieved by a consumer using a web3 browser plugin such as MetaMask, and the consumer calling a function with the subscription title as the only parameter. However, Minerva aims to simplify the subscription process with internally designed software and sales funnels for merchants. We are committed to simplifying the subscription process until it ultimately resembles more of a traditional checkout process than an experiment in

As noted in the Merchant Incentives section, Minerva eliminates the necessity of banks and credit cards in the facilitation of trial and subscription membership processing. Many merchants, especially those in high chargeback verticals such as adult, travel, nightclubs, etc. stand to benefit from Minerva as a new, alternative billing solution cryptocurrency.

Owl/Usd Price Reporting & Voting

Minerva employs four key methods to deter voter manipulation:

Oracles polling exchanges for automated OWL/USD reporting as a first line of defense with a decentralized voting process as a failsafe.
A deposit is required to vote; the deposit corresponds to the influence the participant’s vote has on OWL’s “contract price” and the deposit decides the reward received for voting. This deposit will be lost if the vote is found to be illegitimate.
A “votechain” is employed in this process. The votechain permits further judgment of the validity of past votes as new votes are input. When a participant votes on the current price, they are also asked to input the price from selected past moments. These votes are then compared against the previously cast votes and votes found to be illegitimate will lose their deposit. “Illegitimate votes” are defined as not falling between the 25th and 75th percentile--and not being reasonably close to either end--given a sufficient sample size.
If the amount of votes is sufficient, all cast votes are rewarded, while at the same time only a certain percent are permitted to influence the contract price of Minerva.

Minerva Smart Money Alliance (MSMA)

The Minerva Smart Money Alliance (MSMA) is a proposed consortium of organizations that either accept

OWL as payment or are strategically partnered with Minerva Technologies Limited, an Isle of Man based

blockchain software company and parent entity to the Minerva platform. We plan to work with various

groups and individuals to optimize value exchange and the secure storage and transmission of sensitive

data. It should also be clarified that “Smart Money” is a double entendre specific to the OWL cryptocurrency and Minerva platform

Token Sale

Early adopter participation takes place through a token sale dashboard accessible via Minerva.com.

60,000,000 of roughly 100,000,000 total initial OWL tokens will be distributed in two token sales. A private presale followed by a final token sale. 40,000,000 Minerva will be excluded from the token sale which is described below in the “OWL RESERVE” section. After the initial roughly 100,000,000 OWL tokens are created, new token creation, apart from bonuses associated with merchant platform utility, will be halted permanently. Within 1 year (365 days) of the token sale an announcement will be made regarding any

potential 1:1 token exchanges relating to any proposed private blockchain migrations. Such an announcement

would be made via mailing list, confirmed on the Minerva.com website and across all official social media

channels.

Roadmap