?macs si xidnup
the good
the skill and talent it takes to stay alive in such a hostile environment. it reminds me of a recent project i have been involved with called pundix.
diving back into the crypto space after being distant for sometime, made me realize that i had much research to do in regards to finding the gem of choice on my own. no youtube, no twitter, no telegram, just coin market cap.
doge, eh. ada, didnt know what i was looking for. pundix, weird name. only weird because it was foreign, tho i find my taste for foreign things to be delightful.
the project formulated in 2017 with major ambitions to change the landscape of digital payments. creating a blockchain that would integrate with a point of sale device ( those things you stick your debit card into at the store) which could allow businesses to accept and sell crypto. some cryptocurrencies indeed have real world products. interesting.
early generation xpos made by pundix
i was captivated. enthralled. empowered by the idea. options for an open platform to create your own token. create nfc cards with custom designs for your business. eligibility to become distributor, reseller, or direct merchant. it has it all. or is it too good to be true.
we are still in the good section of this post. diving deeper i come to find a secondary blockchain associated with pundix called functionx, which i find to be a clever name. functionx claims to be a decentralized chain with the worlds first phone which works directly off the blockchain, giving you the eligibility to retain your privacy and own your own data.
this is the moment i turn into an addict due to my ignorance of such a projects existence.
obtain npxs
ride wave to recent ath
swap to pundix
stake pundix for fx rewards
pundix team holding functionx bob phone
so i went ahead and dropped a bag. the staking rewards were unheard of, fluctuating between 50-110% apy. i dove head first, setting the stage to be a class act in my region of the world. business cards, website design, business shirts, advertising, scheduling appointments, all before i even had a response from pundix to become a distributor.
eager as hell to begin, i found the official telegram of pundix and stated my inquiry as i was not receiving a response. what i found was admins who were team members, not willing to give direction or respond in an adequate manner. turn off.
fuck it. find a solution and get an xpos right away was my only care at this point. on the pundix official website there is a usa distributor called arro (arro.io) which i found to be, well lets be honest, outdated. a website with broken links, images with resolution under 480i, and no phone number or address listed on website. i literally had to cross reference keywords just to find a phone number for this joint.
shady as it seemed, i took a chance and gave a call only to speak with a burned out associate too busy at the car shop to take a moment and talk business. why answer the phone if you cant talk.
whoever he was he never called back. i called back couple days later and started a email convo to get this beloved xpos. the email response i received was;
send $450 to robinhood@arro.io on paypal.
tim
no signature in email. no direct phone number. no invoice. no shipping information. no verification of anything and you want me to just send you $450.
sheeeeeeeeesh
the xpos is literally online for $300 with other venders online. oblivious.
arro.io team in hawaii
the bad.
about a month into all this and tired of waiting i stumbled upon new egg business and the fair price point of $300 to finally purchase xpos. customer service, 100. emails with invoice and expedited overnight shipping, 100. login account with follow up emails and delivery tracker, 100.
email with no signature stating send money to paypal account, 0.
if you want to be taken serious, you must operate with seriousness.
i receive my xpos the next day. amazing packaging. beautiful hardware. couple updates and i was in. only problem is that i cant use it. i mean i could use the paypal if i wanted to type everything in, but cant use the chip card reader. cant use the swipe. honestly i cant do anything with it. and the reason is the dreaded extensive kyc verification. 20+ pages worth of documentation just to use the xpos.
pretty amazing. none of this was mentioned before hand. anywhere. you literally have to purchase before you could know. as i continuously find issue after issue after issue, the pundix token has lost 70% of its value plummeting from over $8 to $1.
at this point i have no worries, knowing i invested for the long term. i begin to bring awareness on social media outlets, in the forms of organic talks with hundreds of others, in hopes of achieving some eyes upon my gem.
twitter posts with valuable information about both pundix and functionx reaching engagement numbers ive never achieved before. lively community or was it clever marketing. not sure.
a couple retweets from the ceo and hey, i was satisfied. i was speaking with clients everyday, setting appointments, and gaining interest quickly.
the ugly
the problem lies within the advertising from pundix website. misleading. they have no payment license from the monetary authority which oversees its operations. i thought the blockchain was meant to be decentralized. wasnt it supposed to give us the eligibility to break free of the system.
who would logically fill out 20 pages of documents just to accept crypto on this thing - angry merchant
compliance, right. admitting defeat in conjunction to conformity. monetary chains of enslavement.
and as if that wasnt enough, the functionx bob phone will no longer be produced, tho it is still showing on the official website as a project in full swing. ive heard there may be a collaboration with huawei and the harmony os. we shall see.
as for pundix they are a fintech company which is already partnered with the top 3 POS manufacturers including pax, ingenico, and verifone. all with the possibility of accepting crypto at this very instant.
i write all this to educate the next one who comes along. to understand you have to dyor. you have to fall in pits, or maybe you just need to be smarter than me. will you climb out or yell to your demise. how will this story end.
it hasnt ended for me yet.
npxs started off with a bang in 2021 - how will it end.
ps. Indra, Eduard, Walter, & Superbit thank you