As blockchain continues to disrupt processes across industries, niche coins — with hyper-specific purposes — have been grabbing their own little pieces of the crypto market. This trend of niche-specific ICOs is perfectly reflected in CannabisCoin (CANN), a blockchain cannabis solution. The CannabisCoin team aims to decentralize marijuana delivery for medical (and legal) marijuana users across the world.
The primary driver of CannabisCoin is the crypto elements, which look to service the cannabis industry. This proof-of-work coin uses the same infrastructure as Bitcoin, which was a popular method for early blockchain adopters. This means that the coin halves have a set reward-per-block, and uses Bitcoins’ original algorithm structure (POW + KGW.) It’s important to note that CannabisCoin has been established for four years now, which makes it one of the older coins on the market.
One of the tweaks that the Arizona-based crypto-startup made on the original Bitcoin infrastructure was to reduce the hardware requirements (i.e., processing power) to mine the coins (X11 algorithm.) Currently, consumer-grade mining equipment can solve the coin equations, with an average mine rate of 42 seconds. Of course, CannabisCoin shares the same core features as Bitcoin (i.e. decentralized, gamified, mined, etc.)
Initially, the founder (known as Ty) started a movement — Yes We CANN! — which sought to get growers onboard with the decentralized currency to boost usage. The movement started with a ratio of 1 gram: 1 CANN, which has now changed to 1 gram: CANN ratio (being the equivalent coins-to-dollar.) Marijuana sold through this effort is called CANNdy.
CannabisCoin specifics:
- Algorithm: X11 Proof-of-Work (POW) + Kimoto Gravity Well (KGW)
- Target-per-block: 42 Seconds
- Rewards-per-block: 420
- Halving: per 100,000 blocks
The Current State of CannabisCoin
CannabisCoin is sold on four markets currently — Yobit, Cryptopia, CoinExchange, and Bittrex.
As usual, exchanges allow you to buy CannabisCoin using any of the other coins (Bitcoin, LITE, Ripple, etc.)
Currently (December 2018,) there are 77.23 million CANN in circulation with a total market cap of $400,783. The future status of CannabisCoin (like all cryptos) is difficult to ascertain. At launch (Aug 2014) CANN was $0.0003 per coin and stands at $0.005 today. The market high was $0.359, which makes the coin volatile.
This volatility proves some inconsistencies in the original model, which was aimed at offering a 1:1 ratio per gram of marijuana. But, with the prices situation at half-a-penny a coin, that ideology hasn’t come to fruition. This makes CannabisCoin a primarily traded coin — as utilization was initially tested but has since halted. In 2018, there are no known dispensaries that accept CANN.
The Model of CannabisCoin
The original CannabisCoin structure had a unique value proposition. It’s important to note that CANN was one of the first three coins (PotCoin, DopeCoin, and CannaCoin) to attempt to align coin values with real products — namely, marijuana.
Despite the initial burst popularity of CANN, the external infrastructure couldn’t handle the original intent of the product. There were few dispensaries (1 initially confirmed, which no longer accepts CANN) and no external growers to support the internal infrastructure, which is still running smoothly.
While there are no current applications for CannabisCoin, the model that CannabisCoin helped derive — coins for physical products — is still a strong offering in the blockchain community.
CannabisCoin’s unique infrastructure and 1:1 ratio model are both incredibly exciting offerings from a blockchain startup. Unfortunately, there are no current adaptors of “Yes We CANN” rendering the coin virtually useless for transactional purposes. This is a coin that will continue to be traded until it ultimately dies away unless it’s resurrected during upcoming legalization talks.
