Quahl

Quahl
Type of site
Payment system
Available in
  • English
  • Chinese
  • Arabic
  • Spanish
  • French
  • Portuguese
  • Russian
  • Japanese
FoundedMay 30, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-05-30)[1]
HeadquartersTel Aviv-Yafo[1]
OwnerInitiative Q, LTD[1]
Founder(s)Saar Wilf
Key people
URLquahl.com
RegistrationInvite only
Native client(s) oniOS, Android

Quahl (/kuːɑːl/ k-oo-ah-l), formerly known as Initiative Q, was an attempt to create a new payment network and digital currency.[2] It was created by Israeli entrepreneur Saar Wilf, who previously founded Fraud Sciences, a payment security company acquired by PayPal.[2][3][4][5] Quahl is backed by Cato Institute economist Lawrence H. White.[3] The initiative has indicated it will not take measures to evade state regulation.[6]

Payment system

Quahl's goal was to create a new payment system rather than replace payment cards and paper money.[7][8] It is "creating a new currency (Quahl) and distributing it to anyone who helps speed up adoption."[7] Quahl is not a cryptocurrency and is not decentralized,[7][9] but will instead be overseen by an independent monetary committee, similar to a central bank.[4][7]

Since 2018 Quahl was giving away free amounts of Q currency to people who join the network, which is by invite only, and the amount of money drops as more people join the network and will stop on the launch date.[10] It has been said that each Q has a value around one US dollar.[8] "The more people join the network, the more value it has."[9]

Marketing and rollout

Registering for Quahl is marketed through multi-level marketing.[11] The currency reserved for registrants will not be released until a critical mass of adopters identify themselves.[4][10] In November 2018, Vox.com reported that more than two million people had signed up in 180 countries.[2] Later the same month, O Globo reported more than five million registrations,[12] and The Times of India reported that countries with large numbers of registrations included India, Brazil, United States and United Kingdom.[8]

Criticism

In October 2018, Frank Chung of news.com.au wrote that the marketing style could be "perceived as a scam or pyramid scheme"[3] and Daniel Huszák of portfolio.hu compared it to multi-level marketing without the fee.[11] Huszák enumerated potential problems with the scheme such as no clear crypto-currency security measures, unclear transaction/exchange costs, and potential for market manipulation by the largest holders of currency.[11] Owen Gough of Digital Spy wrote "Is Initiative Q real or fake? Short answer – we have absolutely no idea."[13]

In contrast, Brendan Markey-Tower, economist at the University of Queensland, said on Stuff.co.nz in November 2018 that it was "not a scam" and that the scheme wouldn't "make you fabulously wealthy. It is, nonetheless, an interesting idea."[9]

Cessation

In November 2021, Quahl's main site and app announced the pause of new subscriptions for now as the size of the community (10 million users) and its growth was not sufficient to launch a new currency. It said it was investigating possible ways to move forward in a way that would bring value to the community, and if it did not find a reasonable option, it would delete all user data. As of November 2022 the project is no longer live and all personal information has been permanently erased.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c "INITIATIVE Q LTD - 515853752".
  2. ^ a b c Nittle, Nadra (8 November 2018). "This new would-be currency isn't crypto — but is it for real?". Vox.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Chung, Frank (29 October 2018). "What is Initiative Q? Payment network insists it's not a 'pyramid scheme'". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Baumer, Lilach; Hirschauge, Orr (23 August 2018). "This serial founder wants to challenge Visa through a 'global currency' for the future". TechInAsia.com. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  5. ^ "eBay Acquires Fraud Sciences For $169 Million". TechCrunch. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  6. ^ Q 幣」突然冒起，是否下一個 Bitcoin？ ["Q coin" suddenly rises, is it the next Bitcoin?]. cup.com.hk (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). CUP Media. 12 November 2018. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d Gusmão, Gustavo (14 November 2018). "Saiba o que é Initiative Q, projeto que promete dinheiro virtual de graça" [Learn what is Initiative Q, a project that promises virtual money for free]. Exame (in Portuguese). Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  8. ^ a b c Mishra, Digbijay (29 November 2018). "20% of signups for new digi-currency from India". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  9. ^ a b c Markey-Towler, Brendan. "Initiative Q is not the new Bitcoin, but here's why the idea has value". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  10. ^ a b Kelly, Jemima (26 October 2018). "Initiative Q: an elementary pyramid scheme with grandiose ideas [Update]". FT Alphaville. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  11. ^ a b c Huszák, Daniel (31 October 2018). "Megőrül az internet az új fizetéses MLM-rendszerért - Kamu lenne?" [Will the Internet be crazy about a new MLM pay-per-view system - but is it fake?]. Portfolio.hu (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  12. ^ Matsuura, Sérgio (14 November 2018). "Initiative Q reúne 5 milhões de cadastros com promessa de dinheiro grátis" [Initiative Q gathers 5 million sign ups with free money promise]. O Globo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  13. ^ Gough, Owen (2 November 2018). "What is Initiative Q: Is it the new bitcoin, or just one big fake scam?". DigitalSpy.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  14. ^ "Quahl". Quahl. Retrieved 2023-10-03.