Talent, dreams, and passion are all around the world, in each nook and corner. However, can all of us afford to tap into it?
Rudolf Markgraaff thinks so. He is the founder of TheXchange, which, at the heart of it, is a global exchange for talent. The platform powers the future of individuals from all passions of life including music, sports, art, and cinema through tradable digital collectible cards called VirtualStaX. With a paradigm-shifting approach to fundraising, TheXchange empowers people to exhibit their talents on the global stage, where family, friends, and fans can support them in their journey in a way that is both rewarding and meaningful.
Let’s take a deep dive into the project with Rudolf Markgraaff himself.
- TheXchange® is not your first project. You were also the brain behind Hotel.com, HospitalSupplies.com, and Internet Commerce Innovations, to name a few. What brought you to fan monetization? What sparked the idea?
At the end of 2017, I saw this video of a little girl. She was about 6-years-old, playing against 10-year-old boys, and she was annihilating them. I thought to myself — how does she get from South America to where she wants to be in Milan? Then I saw that her videos had 3.4 million views, which I like to call her social media net worth. My question was how do you take those 3.4 million views and monetize her dream, allow her to fund her career, get her to where she can be by allowing friends, family, and supporters to share in her journey and participate in her success.
- That’s interesting. TurnCoin® is a digital security token on the Ethereum blockchain. What about VirtualStaX? Are these digital trading cards crypto tokens or NFTs? Or, do they use blockchain technology at all?
VirtualStaX are digital trading cards in people that allow them to monetize their social media following, fund their careers, and allow friends, family, and supporters globally to participate in their journey and share in their success. All transparent and using blockchain technology.
- VirtualStaX monetizes talent, popularity, name, image, and likeness. Since these parameters are not quantifiable, how is the price of VirtualStaX determined?
Good question. The price of VirtualStaX is solely determined by a simple supply and demand algorithm built into the platform called the GPX(Global Performance Index). The more the issuers (talented people) engage with their friends, family and fans, cast their vision, and the better they perform, the more the demand for their StaX will be, thus higher the price. Very simple.
- VirtualStaX generates value for issuers as well as backers?
We have the platform set up now where each issuer will receive 100,000 StaX that can be bought, collected, and traded by family, friends, and fans on the StaXapp. Issuers receive 90% of their initial StaX sale and 1% on all future trades. They can use those to further their careers or achieve their dreams, while supporters can benefit as the popularity of the issuer increases. Issuers also have the ability to offer exciting utility for their supporters and in doing so, increase the desirability of their StaX.
- So, why TurnCoin? What is its role in the ecosystem?
TurnCoin is the digital security that funds the VirtualStaX platform globally. Every time VirtualStaX is sold anywhere in the world, whether it be sports, any genre of music, art, movies, etc, 90% of that income goes to the talented person and 10% goes to TurnCoin. 100% of TurnCoins revenue is paid out to TurnCoin holders through a monthly yield via smart contracts.
- There are multiple platforms that work around a similar concept, like Socios and Sorare. How does TheXchange fare against them?
There is nothing out there that even remotely compares to TheXchange. It is the only platform in the world that allows any talented person in any passion of life to issue VirtualStaX in themselves and share it with friends, family, and supporters around the world. Secondly, these StaX then go on an exchange known as TheXchange where the value is determined according to the GPX(Global performance index).
- The project has an elite line-up of ambassadors from around the world like Drew Brees, Randy Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Jean de Villiers. That’s incredible. Who are some of the key celebrities you plan to bring on board in the near future?
It is an honor to have them as ambassadors, because we feel they really represent the heart of the company, well, which is to uplift others. As for new ambassadors, we are currently in the process of onboarding more ambassadors that the world will know, but you will have to wait for that 😉
- How far has the project come since its inception in June 2017? What does the roadmap look like for the next year? And, what is the long-term vision that drives the project?
Well, it was quite a journey. It started with an idea to create a sports app to help talented athletes around the world to fund their careers. We were ready to launch the StaXapp for sport in 2020 which we thought was going to be the big year of sport. I don’t have to tell you that it was not exactly the best time to launch a sports app. But that helped us think outside of the box and to think of all the talented people in the world, not just in sport. We started with SportStaX, but when Covid hit, we pivoted to every passion of life. The StaX App is now ready to be launched. It will go live in early 2022 globally. The long-term vision is to create the most powerful decentralized exchange, driven by people and their passions. A platform to level the playing field for any talented person in the world to showcase their talent, allow their friends, family, and supporters to back them and share in their success and participate in their journey.
- Please tell us a little about the philanthropic activity which your companies work on, and what is on the agenda for 2022?
The heart of the company is built on the concept of giving. Giving talented people a platform to fund their dreams, as well as the opportunity to give back by choosing a percentage they would like to donate to a charity of their choice. We believe in being transparent with these donations, so we will use blockchain technology to ensure transparency of where these funds are spent. Heart of Compassion Foundation (food, water, health, and human rights) Chen foundation (for widows and orphans) and the Heart of Sport Foundation are all charities that will be run on this technology that issuers will have the choice to donate to.
- What is the one unique feature of the project that delights you the most?
That anyone from any passion of life can easily go and list themselves and make their dreams a reality by giving their friends, family, and fans a vehicle to support them and share their success.
To learn more about TheXchange and VirtualStaX, visit:
VirtualStaX: https://www.virtualstax.com
TurnCoin: https://www.turncoin.com
