A company is named 50cycles. A UK based specialist electric bicycle manufacturer. They revealed what it has described as the world’s first range of cryptocurrency mining e-bikes. Toba, the new series of crypto mining bikes, are estimated to generate approximately £20 (approximately $26.5 USD) worth of ‘Loyalcoin’ per 1,000 miles ridden.
Founded in 2003, UK-based 50cycles describes itself as a specialist in “advanced electric bikes.” In what the company is claiming as a world first, 50cycles has revealed the ‘Toba’ – a cryptocurrency mining electric bicycle. The company’s founder and chief executive officer, Scott Snaith, stated “This is not only the first electric bike of its kind, but it will also be the first product ever to be tokenized and which issues reward for use.
The pedal-powered crypto miners as being indicative of the company’s desire to engage with new technologies, stating “We have always been a company that moves ahead of the times by embracing the latest technology. Just like we saw the potential in electric bikes in Tokyo 15 years ago, we now see the promise and future in blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and product tokenization.”
Bike owners are unable to choose which cryptocurrency is mined, with each of the electric bikes exclusively mining for Loyaltycoin, a token which will be redeemable in exchange for products available on the 50cycles website, or can be exchanged for leading cryptocurrencies through Loyaltycoin’s platform. “At the moment we are working with Loyaltycoin to reward our customers but eventually the Toba bikes will have their own digital coin which will become one of thousands of currencies of the future, and the Toba will allow riders to become an integral part of its growth.” stated Mr. Snaith.
The Toba bikes will hold their unique private key as proof of ownership, and customers will be able to monitor how many Loyaltycoin tokens they have generated through a mobile app. The bikes are expected to be delivered to customers in September.
ASIC's and GPU's are still the king, but technology like this is what's going to help push mass adoption. Also with the likes of Samsung and IBM creating their own mining chips and ASIC's and the mining landscape will be much different in the future.