The cryptocurrency craze continues with outrageous valuations and a general shortage of graphics cards, but now something new appears on the horizon: its application in loyalty programs. Burger King has just become something of a pioneer by launching Whoppercoin, a new cryptocurrency that customers can accumulate with each purchase and then redeem for more products. For now, Whoppercoins are exclusive to Russian territory, but more companies are expected to follow the same path.
Keeping a customer loyal is one of the toughest goals any company has. The market is a real meat grinder, and resources like the Internet have given consumers great power when it comes to finding the best price-performance ratio. Of course, there are also fans who follow a brand beyond the cost or quality of its products, but the underlying idea is to turn occasional customers into regulars. That leads us to promotions, offers, discounts, the famous "2 for 1", and finally, loyalty programs. Their traditional versions involve points accumulated with each purchase; however, in Burger King's Russian branches, a new cryptocurrency called Whoppercoin has been activated.
All customers need to do to receive Whoppercoins is scan their purchase receipts, at a current rate of one Whoppercoin per ruble. Needless to say, Burger King has set a rather poor exchange rate for Whoppercoins, since 1,700 coins are needed to get a Whopper burger, and its 1:1 rate with the ruble implies a prior expense of 24 euros before you can get one. Even so, the most interesting thing about Whoppercoins is that users will be able to transfer and trade these coins, just like a normal cryptocurrency (we don't know anything about mining yet).
Whoppercoin's blockchain is managed by the company Waves, with an initial stock of one billion coins. Burger King spokespeople said Whoppercoin will have its own dedicated apps on iOS and Android starting in September. Enthusiasm is very high, to the point that the head of communications at Burger King Russia, Ivan Shestov, called the Whopper an 'investment vehicle'. If my instincts don't fail me, McDonald's will launch something similar soon.
