The difficulty in acquiring ETH, or any type of cryptocurrency, is one of the main reasons that Javvy needs to exist.

In the meantime, you may buy tokens, using just about any payment method or currency, via our ICO.

Visit the Javvy ICO instructions page!

During the pre-ICO, you may buy tokens, using just about any payment method, or currency, via our ICO.

Visit the Javvy pre-ICO page!

Please take a look at our ICO token purchase guide.

The short answer: First, and foremost, we are approaching cryptocurrency buying, selling, and converting from a compliance and regulatory standpoint, rather than simply providing a portion of the solution and/or simply focusing on the technology or marketing. Others have claimed to do the same, but they ended up trying to force their business and technology to be compliant and/or provided only a portion of the needed solution. In contrast, Javvy starts, first, with compliance and then builds upon that foundation to add all required pieces of technology and then add the marketing, for a comprehensive solution.

The long answer (in bullet format):

- When buying or selling cryptocurrency for national currency (FIAT), all traditional exchanges require crypto to be held by the exchange, in a wallet managed by the exchange. This presents a lucrative target for hackers, which have been extremely successful in stealing user funds from online wallets [1, 2] and online exchanges [3, 4, 5]. In contrast, the Javvy solution does not "store" user private keys, banking information*, or currency balances* (e.g. no access to funds).

*Except for optional services, such as free crypto transfers and debit card usage, where the risk is clearly spelled out.

- Existing traditional crypto exchanges enforces one-size-fits-all AML/KYC (anti money laundering / know your customer) policies that are too cumbersome and unsafe for consumers. Instead, Javvy abides by country-specific regulations to provide tailored requirements, which are far simpler and limits risk considerably.

- The Javvy exchange will support many national currencies (FIAT), chosen on a demand basis, to allow for the ability to serve niche markets and countries with fewer-to-no crypto exchange options.

- The wallet, itself, will set Javvy apart from other wallet solutions, with its beautiful, elegant, and intuitive design; but there are too many features and conveniences to list them all in this FAQ (see the Javvy homepage for details).

We strongly encourage equity investors, or buyers of the Javvy token, to consult with an investment adviser prior to making any type of equity investment or token purchase decision.

That said, equity shares and tokens are open to everyone. The decision on which to choose, or how much to split between the two, comes down to risk tolerance, need for liquidity, and each individual's personal financial situation. Below is an overview of each choice:

Equity

• Downside: Little to no liquidity until IPO, merger, negotiated buyback, or acquisition
• Upside: Reduced risk of speculation, though speculation could push valuations, if project is viewed as extremely successful and high growth

Tokens

• Note: If users decide to speculate, based on the degree of perceived project success, the Javvy token value could be very volatile
• Upside: The Javvy token should have high liquidity

Equity: Equity investors typically buy shares to benefit from an eventual exit, such as an IPO, merger, negotiated share buyback, or acquisition. However, equity shares should be considered as non-liquid investments, as they cannot be easily sold until an exit event occurs.

The Javvy financials and projections are based on a mere 20% market share in 5 years, which we feel is extremely conservative. Since high-growth industries tend to enjoy extreme multiples of valuation, especially with real, positive revenue and a strong product offering, the potential ROI for Javvy investors is considerable. Valuations based on the performance metrics of companies tend to be less speculative and, therefore, less risky than purely speculative investments.

Tokens: After the ICO ends, Javvy tokens will be able to be traded, so they may be considered as a liquid asset, provided that others want to buy and sell them and that a marketplace exists to trade them. Once the Javvy wallet is fully functional, Javvy token owners may buy, sell, and trade Javvy tokens within their wallets. Early buyers of tokens during the token pre-sale ICO will will be rewarded with bonus tokens. The tokens, including any bonuses, will be used as a core component of the Javvy wallet to exchange for national currency (USD, EUR, CNY, etc) or other cryptocurrency (bitcoin, ethereum, etc).

There will likely be some buyers who desire to speculate on the future value of the tokens, based on the perceived likelihood of success of the Javvy solution. Since the purpose of the Javvy token is to be used within the Javvy wallet, we have no metrics to propose any future value and Javvy provides nor implies any warranty or guarantee of the future performance of the Javvy token.

However, it is likely that the Javvy token will hold some value, relative to other cryptocurrencies, as the free market will determine the exchange rate between the Javvy token, national currencies, and other cryptocurrencies for which the Javvy token may be converted.

Certainly!

Our ICO is designed to accept only ETH (Ethers or Ethereum) at a rate of 500 Javvy tokens (JVY) for every ETH (same as 0.002 ETH per JVY token). Anyone wanting to buy in with other cryptocurrency will first need to convert to ETH via crypto-to-crypto exchanges, such as Shapeshift and Changelly.

To make the ICO more fair for buyers, we have set a maximum cap of 2,000,000 ETH. This way, token buyers will know exactly what price they are paying for each token (based on the current price of ETH times 0.002). Many ICOs structure the ICO in a way that buyers have NO IDEA how much they will pay. The goal of those ICOs has been to create a buying frenzy, but we feel that doing so is unfair to buyers and is unnecessary for a successful ICO. We shall see!

We are relying on the merits of the Javvy plan and our team's ability to realize our vision and convey that we are more than capable. Instead, we prefer to give everyone a chance to purchase Javvy tokens, support this ambitious venture, and help us achieve our goals for the betterment of everyone who wants to be part of the cryptocurrency revolution.

The Javvy ICO maximum cap is high enough to allow the community to show the depth of its support for our plan and the Javvy team to successfully execute that plan.

The only unknown, in this structure, is how many tokens will be minted, in total. This is because 30% is set as a reserved bonus for founders, operational use, key players, bounty rewards, etc. This type of structure works as an incentive for everyone involved in Javvy to do their very best to make it a success. As we work diligently on the project, the community will support us in pre-sale buying of tokens during the ICO, which in turn rewards us, those who earn bounties, and the company, with bonus tokens.

Other ICOs tend to immediately dilute their token's value by forcing a set number of reserved tokens, regardless of amount raised. This guarantees the founders a substantial reward, while guaranteeing token buyers nothing. Instead, we feel so confident in the Javvy crypto solution, that we are rewarded only to the extent that the community believes in us, supports our project, and buys tokens to back our efforts. We invite you to join us in bringing the Javvy crypto solution to the world!

Bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies are digital (not physical) assets, backed by a blockchain ledger. All cryptocurrencies are given value based on organic market demand, and since they are decentralized (not controlled by any government or authority); the value cannot be easily manipulated, like stocks, national currencies (USD, EUR, GBP), bonds, commodities, etc can be. If you want a LOT more detail, Wikipedia has a thorough definition here.

Converting Bitcoin and other crypto currencies to-and-from "CASH", using it in the real-world (e.g. international debit cards), in a simple, safe, and secure way are the problems that Javvy aims to solve with its crypto exchange and beautiful, elegant, and intuitive crypto wallet. Javvy will become the ultimate crypto solution.

In general, Bitcoin ATMs charge very high fees (e.g. 7%-15% or more!). Using the Javvy wallet is far more convenient to purchase cryptocurrency and will result in a much lower fee. The Javvy wallet is beautiful, elegant, intuitive, feature-rich, and its integrated crypto exchange serves everyone in the world.

Bitcoin ATMs may be operating illegally if they do not force customers to provide passport scans, driver's license scans, proof of residence, etc. It is questionable as to whether an ATM counts as an in-person, teller-based transaction. See: https://www.acfcs.org/news/330368/A-Beginners-Guide-to-Operating-Your-Own-Bitcoin-ATM-and-complying-on-AML.htm

If you are interested in this ambitious project, then you likely already know the answer to this question. For the rest, please know that peer-to-peer trading involves certain risks and additional costs.

In short, trading cryptocurrency in-person, or via automated peer-to-peer exchanges may eventually be considered illegal in some countries, including the USA (efforts currently underway). Trading cryptocurrency via an automated peer-to-peer solution also requires negotiation, generally higher prices, lower liquidity, and the risk of fraud, which then requires an arbitrator and divulging personal identification information to the arbitrator (risky). In the case of in-person trades (e.g. localbitcoins), the higher prices are considerable (more than 50% premium, in many cases!) and there is an additional risk of theft and bodily injury.

Why take the risk, inconvenience, and pay higher costs? The Javvy wallet & exchange will work to provide reasonably low prices, anonymity (where possible or the bare minimum of ID verification inconvenience as required by each country's AML/KYC regulations), and safety.

The short answer: Firstly, the Javvy ICO should NOT be considered an investment. We make no guarantees as to the future value of the Javvy token (JVY), and our ICO offering is a pre-sale of Javvy tokens for future use in our Javvy wallet. Therefore, we firmly believe that it IS LEGAL for anyone, even US citizens who are not accredited, to buy tokens in the Javvy pre-sale ICO. If one chooses to buy-and-hold Javvy tokens (JVY) for possible gain (as limited supply and token utility "may" boost organic market demand to cause an increase in value); that is left up to the buyer. We feel confident in this answer, due to the following points, which we feel go far beyond the minimum SEC guideliens:

• The Javvy tokens (JVY) are not intended to be used as an investment vehicle (serves a useful purpose)*
• The Javvy tokens offered in the ICO are a pre-sale of tokens, for future use in our wallet (to convert to other cryptocurrency).*
• We have spent considerable time and resources to develop our solution and our plan to complete and release the final product. We fully intend to follow our detailed roadmap to bring the Javvy solution to the world!*

*The SEC "grey area" becomes a problem when someone pitches an ICO as an investment for a product that does not exist, and does not deliver that product (refer to the SEC guidance on ICOs for details). In the case of Javvy, we are not providing the Javvy token (JVY) as an investment. The JVY currently serves a purpose in our prototype and our finished product will fully utilize the token as a core component upon release within ~6-months of ICO.  Our use of the JVY will set Javvy apart from competing exchanges (see patent and/or whitepaper for details). The Javvy token pre-sale will determine support for our project and provide for development, operational, marketing, and liquidity needs. During the ICO token pre-sale, early supporters will be given discounts on our tokens, in exchange for supporting the project and establishing liquidity in the exchange.

Due to the incredible growth of the cryptocurrency market, we may update our financial projections prior to the equity crowdfunding round and the ICO launch. Therefore, we ask that you please refer to the detailed financial spreadsheets, linked to on the Javvy ICO page.

We have analyzed and monitored dozens of ICOs that raised significant funds, while providing limited financials, and in some cases, no financials at all. It is astonishing that some ICOs simply stated that they would compete in big markets, much like the Filecoin ICO creators claimed, but provided absolutely ZERO metrics for projected revenue and no financial plan at all. They appear to be simply riding on very strong, established VC connections (through AngelList), extreme hype, a decent idea, a hope, and a prayer. Despite not having any real plan and only providing limited details on the technology itself, the Filecoin ICO raised well over USD $200 million, while offering a mere 10% of available tokens, in less than an hour! That is more than a USD $2 Billion valuation, wherein the founders with the idea were rewarded with TWICE as much as ALL TOKEN BUYERS COMBINED (15% to founders and 5% to the Filecoin foundation)!

In contrast, the scope of the Javvy venture is the ENTIRE GLOBAL FINANCIAL MARKETS, and the Javvy ICO token pre-sale is structured for maximum Javvy token buyer benefit. All token reserved bonuses (for founders or future company use) are a reasonable amount that is 100% dependent upon, and amount determined by, the Javvy ICO success. That success will serve as an indicator of the community's desire to bring this solution to the world and belief that the Javvy team is the right team to realize that solution.

We hope that it is apparent that the Javvy team spent a considerable amount of time, effort, and resources to provide solid financials, whereby every minute detail is considered and justified. Even considering the ultra-conservative financial plan, whereby Javvy takes only 20% of the market by year 5, using an extremely conservative 10% of the projected market growth from a recent, highly respected 115-page Cambridge report on the cryptocurrency market, Javvy will be earning as much as the world's top companies within a few years of its official product launch (est mid-2018).

In the more likely scenario (our ambitious and confident opinion), where the Javvy solution is the dominant, de-facto solution for all cryptocurrency users; this venture could very well become the world's largest company, by growth and revenue, in less than a decade. That is a lofty goal, and naturally we do not guarantee performance, but the numbers speak for themselves (refer to Javvy's detailed financial spreadsheets). Even so, we strongly encourage would-be investors to seek investment advice prior to making any investment and never invest more than one is able to lose.

We are confident that you will agree that our vision is "THE WAY" to pave the way for mass adoption of cryptocurrency and that our equity crowdfunding round, coupled with the Javvy ICO token pre-sale, will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Since the Javvy token is a key component of buying IN and selling OUT of cryptocurrencies, our goal for the token is to increase its value by steadily reinvesting a portion of revenue and providing the ultimate solution that the community has been missing. By doing so, those who buy-and-hold the Javvy token "could" benefit, substantially, from a price differential, relative to other desired cryptocurrencies (e.g. effectively discounting other cryptocurrency when converting).

Many ICOs were launched merely as a "cash grab", with no real intention to deliver a viable product or service. In some cases, the ICO was built as a scam from the onset. In other cases, the founders had good intentions but their plan was flawed and investors bought in only due to "speculation" frenzy.

Javvy falls into a different category of being a viable product idea, with a competent team, and is a project of massive scope and potential --provided that the community supports the Javvy ICO to the extent of being able to develop and launch the final product. Our hope is that by providing a wealth of documentation and transparency (by way of the patent filing, whitepaper, and prospectus), interested parties will see our "vision" and agree that we have a solid plan to reach our goals and deal with any obstacles that get in the way.

We applaud the SEC for taking steps to protect consumers and investors from unscrupulous types who have misused ICOs for quick financial gain. Their efforts will, hopefully, have a marked effect on the number of ICOs launched after their announcement. Those ICOs that do launch, such as the Javvy ICO, will not have to compete with as many "scam ICOs", as a direct result of the SEC guidance. So, that is a WIN for everyone!

Once the Javvy wallet is launched, with its buy and sell capability, consumers will be able to buy and sell Javvy tokens from within the wallet. Since the purpose of the Javvy token is to get IN or OUT of cryptocurrency, there should be no reason to buy or sell Javvy tokens outside of the wallet.

While the primary function of the Javvy ICO token will be to complete transactions within the Javvy wallet (once ready), it will need to be listed on multiple exchanges to support those who wish to buy and sell (post-ICO) before our wallet and exchange solution is ready. It is also necessary for certain partners and vendors to work with our token, facilitating certain advanced functionality of the wallet. Therefore, we expect to be listed on many, if not all, of the major traditional crypto exchanges, shortly after the ICO is completed.

There are many ways to structure an ICO, many of which are not in the best interest of buyers. In short, most ICOs launched to date have promoted a "buying frenzy" with either no cap (maximum investment) at all or a set of terms that sets the price after the ICO is complete. We feel that both of those ways are unfair and are meant to force buyers to invest, or buy in, without truly knowing what they are paying.

Another issue we take with those types of prior ICOs is that they create a type of "fastest clicker" system, such that many would-be investors, or buyers, miss out when the maximum cap is quickly reached. This hearkens back to the early days of IPOs (initial public offerings) that were only available to a select few. Instead, we want to let everyone buy our tokens, who wants to buy them.

So, in contrast, we structured our ICO with a set maximum, so that we could set an initial fixed price for our ICO tokens. This way, everyone knows what they are getting (no surprises!), and it is easy to understand how the "early supporters" discounts and the post-ICO reserved bonuses will work.

To structure our ICO in that (more fair, in our opinion) way, it is required to set the ICO maximum. We arbitrarily set the maximum to 2,000,000 ETH, to allow for the significant, recent increase in ETH price, our desired fixed price initial value for the token, and the high number of tokens potentially being minted in the ICO (determined by the amount of tokens sold, up to the maximum limit of 1 billion).

If significant funds are raised, we will activate several long-term objectives on the roadmap (some of which are not disclosed, to prevent others from trying to compete before we know how far along the roadmap we will be able to go). Generally speaking, the long-term plan, with very high amount of funding raised, includes such initiatives as integrating card payments (even for US/UK/EU citizens), incorporating national currency (FIAT) banking integration, purchase/sell certain assets (gold) within the wallet, and other objectives that will unify a wide spectrum of financial instruments.

We have a couple of brilliant financial minds handling our financials, at the moment. We also plan to add more, very reputable and capable A-lister financial team members (ideally pre-ICO but shortly after ICO, in any case).

Please see our detailed financial plan and road-map for a concise breakdown. In short, though, the below excerpt from the Prospectus elaborates on the need clearly:

The primary constraints on crypto exchange growth are the operating expenses and reserves required to handle each new customer. This is why competitors are constantly working to raise capital. The architecture of our system, and its ingenious use of the Javvy token, allows us to operate with nearly ZERO cryptocurrency reserves, lowering our startup and growth expenses by fifty percent (50%). Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid holding significant national currency reserves, so growth of our service to overtake the market is still limited by initial funding.

We expect to raise the equivalent of at least USD $10 Million, which will be sufficient to launch the initial release of the Javvy wallet with integrated Buy/Sell functionality and the most user-friendly registration process. With at least USD $75 Million raised, holding additional reserves would allow for significantly increased growth.

With more than USD $150 Million raised, we have the flexibility to begin pursuing real-world usefulness, by way of an international debit card available to nearly everyone, and long-term marketplace liquidity by offering a direct marketplace that would also yield potentially better crypto pricing, competitive fees and spreads on high volume trading, and support for speculation (shorting and margin trading).

With more than USD $250 Million funding raised, we expand our reach and solidify ourselves as the leader in the marketplace, in ways that would also speed adoption significantly, as well as increase revenues. At that level of funding, Javvy could obtain more leverage in the banking arena, offer direct competition with Paypal to easily send "CASH" to anyone, and licensing the ability to use our wallet with any existing merchant terminal. These would be “game-changers". Working to achieve those goals will increase costs, due to the increased need for personnel, development and licensing, as well as regulatory costs.

The biggest reason is that most high-growth, fast-paced companies tend to spend a LOT of time, money, and resources (especially valuable CFO/CEO and other C-level time) in raising funds to keep momentum. We, at Javvy, decided that we want to raise enough funding, based on community support and vision, to define our long-term objectives (see roadmap) and not be burdened by fundraising efforts. This will allow the Javvy team to exclusively focus 100% of our efforts on providing the ultimate crypto solution.

The secondary reason is that we feel that direct access to VC (venture capital) takes too much time, effort, and resources for those without existing connections; when better alternatives (crowdfunding and ICO) currently exist. However, we feel that the ICO opportunity may soon be "cut off" for the "little guys" (under funded startups). So, we want to take advantage of the opportunity, while it is available, and we do not want to engage in multiple rounds of crowdfunding or VC for the reason stated above.

The TenX venture pitched their idea as a way way to spend cryptocurrency, in the real world, using their re-loadable card. That is just one, small aspect of the Javvy long-term roadmap. However, those who dig deep into the TenX ICO, ICO whitepaper, and COMIT whitepaper may see that TenX diverged a bit and went off on a tangent to pitch a grand unification of all blockchains and the banking system with cryptocurrency. Since the Javvy solution intends to unify the banking system with cryptocurrency, their goals seem very similar. However, there are some very important distinctions:

1. Regulatory: TenX's premise sounds good, but they are based in Singapore, which adds complexity to the regulatory obstacles they will need to overcome. This simple fact puts doubt on their focus on the regulatory side of the equation. Their ICO pitch sounds like "invest in our idea and we'll spend millions to hire people and see if we/they can figure it out" instead of doing the research legwork, up-front, and then building a plan to make it happen. We, at Javvy, believe this is a backwards approach, so we put in considerable work and due diligence while building our plan; before creating our pitch.

To that end, their ICO and service is not accessible in the US or to US citizens. The Javvy solution will be available to nearly everyone in the world, with a reasonable registration process for buying, selling, or using an international debit card.

2. Technology: TenX "beat" Javvy to ICO, but we have been building our tech for several years (they claim to have been working on their tech for 7 years), but we have a patent on the design of a decentralized cross-currency exchange, which is not exactly the same as the COMIT network proposal.

The COMIT network is basically a digital fabric that allows disparate blockchain technologies to cooperate (like using an API to support multiple platforms). Their proposal to handling crypto to national currency (FIAT) conversions is to use a tethered blockchain asset that they create (so more of the same by a different name).

It also seems that they imply the COMIT network could seamlessly integrate with banking systems but does not state LEGACY banking systems. So, it sounds like they would have to wait for a bank to run a blockchain and integrate that into their COMIT network. However, this is superfluous, because it adds an extra layer that is unnecessary if the bank's blockchain is designed correctly.

In contrast, Javvy will integrate with LEGACY (currently existing) banking technology from DAY ONE and would just modify its cross-currency network, a bit, to validate transactions against any partnered bank's blockchain, as they become available.

3. Focus: TenX is not focused on the "Wallet" aspect, so the user experience (UI/UX) would be in question.

4. Trust: There is a question surrounding TenX's use of Vitalik Buterin's name and likeness (cited article), which may add some doubt to the management team's judgment. When one is talking about changing global finance and managing billions of dollars, one must establish trust and avoid any possibility of misrepresentation or misleading statements.

5. Financials: TenX provided ZERO financials to justify any lofty valuation of their venture, which raised a reported US $80 million (or 230,000 ETH). Now, take a look at Javvy's investor kit and financials, and let us know what you think!