BRAVO

In a society that is undoubtedly migrating towards a cashless system, it's often difficult to tip the hard-working artist, waiter and other service industry professional or even settle a debt with friends. Nearly 10% of Americans no longer carry cash and 49% carry $20 or less on a daily basis.1 Worldwide, only 2% of adults have a mobile payment solution.2
Unfortunately, this problem is not unique to the U.S. and in some parts of the world it’s even more frustrating given limited access to banks. When available, current solutions typically run on archaic software,3 pose high and constantly increasing fees,4 lack guarantee and trust,5 6 transparency,7 anonymity and are unsafe leading to personal data and history sharing.8 9 10

There are many well-founded market concerns about online and mobile lack of privacy and safety. In fact, a recent study revealed that 71% of Americans are most concerned about online privacy when they are accessing their financial data.11

Recent data has shown that current non-blockchain payment methods lack privacy and protections for their users. Data exposed by researcher Hang Do Thi Duc confirmed the current systems’ weaknesses accessing public on-line data on 207,984,218 transactions of Venmo users (a Paypal company) identifying transactions by user, name, behavior and habits.12 13 What is worse, financial and non-financial companies seem to execute on this insecure behavior on purpose.14

These shortcomings of the traditional banking system gave rise to Bitcoin and blockchain, which allow people to privately and securely transact with a currency that maintains value without a central authority controlling its supply and circulation.15

Bitcoin, a first generation blockchain payment protocol, brought technology, transparency and trust to the online financial industry. It proved a brilliant concept and broke ground for other protocols and tokens with better technologies, rules, latency, stability, trust and applications beyond payments. Despite the fast evolution, the technology still lacks the qualities required to attract mass consumers; it has a fragmented clunky user experience, confusing onboarding, complex keys that often require a third-party custodian for safety, and lacks a human-centric design.

At BRAVO, we are solving the slow blockchain adoption paradigm with a proven human-centric user interface on a robust blockchain infrastructure.

BRAVO started in 2014 with a grassroots approach and was built from the ground up with iterative development incorporating user feedback in the software development lifecycle. This extensive research and development fast-tracked our product as we created a mobile fiat payment platform.

After a successful proof of concept where millions of dollars in fiat (USD) were processed using our iOS and Android apps, we are now launching our next generation platform powered by blockchain.

The Challenge

BRAVO solves various obstacles within the current payments market, user privacy, the blockchain and cryptocurrency methods of payment. The technology is robust but there are still significant challenges we aim to improve and solve.
Globally, we are moving to a cashless society, yet billions of people are unbanked and must rely on cash to earn a living and to pay for goods and services.
Cryptocurrency remains largely inaccessible to most people and businesses due to its complexity.
Mass adoption of existing blockchain payment platforms have been negatively affected by their design and lack of user-friendly interfaces. They have a complicated onboarding process and key management system, and fall short in terms of anonymity and security. Transaction fees can be expensive and the platforms slow due to high latency.16 16 This complex and at times clunky user experience forgoes the simplicity and strength of the blockchain technology.
Privacy and security of payments and personal data continues to worry consumers. Blockchain seems like a solution but implementation is hard and transactions potentially traceable.17 18

On an ideal platform, the user can sign up and create an account with KYC/AML (know your customer and anti-money laundering) flawlessly in seconds. The system should be able to execute a transaction without entering long private / public keys; should be able to keep payments private, secure and anonymous directly from a mobile app decreasing risk for web hacking and phishing; and finally, should be able to keep the account encrypted and safe but never lose access and ownership to tokens.

The Solution

BRAVO is creating a blockchain-powered mobile payments platform that addresses the technological challenges with the current micropayments market while increasing its usability and adoption for both consumers and businesses.
After proven success with mobile fiat transactions, our team began developing our blockchain platform to run the BRAVO mobile payments app and support enhanced anonymity and security, improved cryptocurrency wallet sign up and onboarding process, and a simple PIN access code that improves usability. Since launching our MVP and beta version in U.S., our team focused on improving onboarding, KYC/AML compliance, data encryption, tokenization and security.
With the BRAVO app, there is no need for long public or private keys or third-party custodians of keys or funds. Users have a simple but secure password recovery protocol to ensure full control and access to their tokens and funds. BRAVO runs on a proprietary blockchain platform created by our engineering team to optimize security, integrity and functionality. We created an Incognito Payments protocol as a solution for enhanced privacy.
Users have full control of privacy, funds and payments which are executed in seconds without intermediary bank or third party blockchain platforms and no hidden fees. BRAVO is also designed to integrate with, and power other applications.19
The BRAVO blockchain is the culmination of years of research, user feedback, design and engineering. Blockchain technology will allow BRAVO to scale at a faster rate and accommodate a much larger user base. It not only enhances user anonymity and transaction transparency, but it also broadens the applicability and reach by expanding the BRAVO ecosystem globally with a single platform that is seamless and consistent.

BRAVO (and BVO token) materializes a well-balanced combination of blockchain technology, user experience, and a successful business model that is ready for large-scale adoption. With the ability to process payments globally, BRAVO is well positioned to establish a cryptocurrency platform with a real use-case that truly serves the mass market.

Brief History Of BRAVO

At the end of a hiking trip in Southern Utah, the founders of BRAVO found themselves out of cash to tip and thank their hiking guide. At that moment, they came up with a simple idea to pay or get paid anonymously, respecting the privacy of both parties.

The company was founded in 2014 by TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield Alumni, Maria Luna, MBA and Dr. Hector Rodriguez. Hector is a physician with a background in research20 and technology (ANN)21 while Maria holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Texas in Austin. Together, they have launched several startup businesses in technology, marketing and the medical field.

BRAVO’s minimum viable product (MVP) was built and launched at TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco in September 2015 where it won the Audience Choice Award.22 Since then, BRAVO has continued to grow well beyond the test market of Arizona and has organically reached over 1,000 cities in the United States.
BRAVO’s successful beta test and deployment is due to our community integration into the feedback process and encouragement of members and users to assist in creating the optimal payment solution for everyone. The next milestone for BRAVO was to integrate these payments onto the blockchain to create a truly secure payment solution, the BVO token and ecosystem.

The BRAVO blockchain and BVO token project started in early 2017 driven by our team of engineers and will be ready for consumer use in Q2-2019.

To get a glimpse at BRAVO, and while we launch our cryptocurrency version, check out our current BRAVO fiat app and create a BRAVO account (currently available as beta in restricted markets):

1. Go to https://trybravo.com/ or download the app from the Google Play for Apple App Store.
2. Create an account in seconds with your email address or social accounts.
3. Select your
   4-digit pin.

Current and Potential Verticals

Conceptually, BRAVO was created as a simple tool for seamless anonymous tipping or payments to service professionals and artists without exchanging private information. However, the idea’s simplicity led to other rapidly-growing verticals and is now positioned to be the platform that powers day-to-day cryptocurrency micro- and macro-payments.

BRAVO BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

Building a Better Payment System

One of the main goals of BRAVO is to make tipping and paying for goods and services easy for customers and vendors while offering unparalleled security and privacy. BRAVO already has success in local markets with their currently available BRAVO App. To expand their reach globally while still providing a cost-effective solution to payments and sending funds, BRAVO will be augmenting and evolving their existing P2P platform to include blockchain technologies to create a next generation peer-to-peer payment platform that will provide faster transfer times, lower costs and strong anonymity with incognito transactions.

To accomplish this, BRAVO will release BVO Coin with a blockchain network to support the token. Anyone can join and participate in the BRAVO Blockchain and will be able to send funds from one party to another using BVO Coin regardless of location. Transactions will complete quickly and will cost a fraction of a cent. Using a blockchain token has proven to be difficult for most people, requiring access to lengthy keys through a non-user-friendly interface. BRAVO has addressed this difficulty by integrating the BVO Coin into the BRAVO app and providing hosted wallets that allow users to easily interact with the BVO Coin. Hosted wallets allow BRAVO to make the user experience seamless and intuitive while allowing users to take control of their BVO Coins through a personal wallet. Typically, sending funds to another party via blockchain is a perilous process requiring users to know the destination wallet address, a jumble of incomprehensible numbers and letters. By integrating BRAVO Blockchain in the BRAVO app, it will be easy to find friends and vendors without the intricacies of complex keys and addresses, yet still maintain the safety of blockchain technology. Finally, current blockchain technologies make recovering a lost password near impossible with a potential risk of losing cryptocurrency and assets. BRAVO has made the process seamless with a secure and simple access code.
BRAVO exists because of its users: everyday people that include your friends, neighbors, and people you pass on the street; and everyday vendors that include your taxi driver, your favorite band and your local grocer. With the incorporation of blockchain, it is only natural for BRAVO to invite its users to participate in the operation of its network to ensure smooth and secure operations while avoiding the concentration of power in the hands of a few. Collectively, users who materially participate in the operations of the BRAVO Blockchain will be known as the BRAVO Blockchain Consortium (BBC). Members of the Consortium are select merchants who provide computing resources through existing or new computing infrastructure to keep the BRAVO Blockchain running. For example, a restaurant that joins as a member can use the computers running their point-of-sale system (POS) to lend some of their computing power to the BRAVO Blockchain.

The BRAVO Blockchain network is a decentralized system that will require members of the Consortium to validate and process transactions. This differs from Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum where each transaction is validated by every node on the network which results in high transaction costs and latency (i.e. slow transactions). BRAVO Blockchain uses a modified BFT consensus algorithm where members of the Consortium review transactions, allowing BRAVO to avoid the problems associated with PoW. In addition, BRAVO cannot be compromised by what is known as 51% attack since each validator is vetted and approved by BRAVO. Each member of the Consortium is, in essence, a partner of BRAVO with a vested interest in keeping the network from being compromised while benefiting by taking a portion of the transaction fees for services rendered.

Anyone can still buy and sell BVO Coin without having become a part of the Consortium. The difference is that each buy and sell transaction is verified by a trusted BRAVO partner instead of by everyone on network.

Incognito Payments™

BRAVO Blockchain will support two different ways of transferring funds: public transfers and incognito transfers. Public transfers are coin transactions that are logged and viewable on the blockchain. Like Bitcoin and Ethereum, it is possible to trace funds going from one wallet to another. For transactions that do not need anonymity and untraceability, public transfers using the BRAVO blockchain provide a fast, low-cost method of sending coins. However, BRAVO understands that people value their privacy and wish to send funds anonymously when needed. To support this, BRAVO Blockchain will offer anonymous transfers of BVO Coin on-demand through what is known as "Incognito Transfers". This is achieved with the use of BRAVO Private Coin (BVO-P) through an algorithm that utilizes anonymizing technology, making it impossible to determine where funds came from and where they are sent to. BVO-P will be integrated into the BRAVO mobile app and support an incognito mode for payments and transfers while still maintaining the intuitive, easy-to-use interface of a public transaction. When a user wishes to send payment anonymously, BRAVO's incognito transfers work by performing the following steps automatically:

Incognito transfers require more computation resources and have higher transaction fees. Since incognito transfers are performed on-demand, users have the choice of instantly switching between the fast, low-cost public transfers and the anonymous incognito transfers.

ICO and Redemption
Bravo will initially release an ERC-20 token for those who wish to pre-purchase BVO Coin. Those who purchase the ERC-20 tokens will benefit from reduced prices and will be able redeem their ERC-20 tokens for BVO Coin to use in the Bravo App. ERC-20 tokens that are redeemed will be taken out of circulation.

Website: https://bvo.trybravo.com/
WhitePaper: https://bvo.trybravo.com/BRAVO_Whitepaper_V1.pdf
Telegram: https://t.me/BRAVOPay
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bravo_Pay
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bravopay/
Ann: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4863013.0

Vic12
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