Youssof Altoukhi
Courtesy of Youssof Altoukhi
Over the past 12 months, we have seen a significant increase in the number of people interested in cryptocurrencies. Many people have gone from being a novice to getting to grips with the industry very quickly. Historically, many of the more innovative industries that carry some level of risk attract a younger population. This industry is no different and many of the new entrants who are launching projects into space to use this new technology are in their late teens or early twenties. Youssof Altoukhi is a particularly young entrepreneur who launched his own coin “Y Coin” with the aim of defining a model on how to democratize decision-making when launching a coin or a project.
Early onset
Youssof grew up in London, UK, and given his young age, he has had a surprising number of encounters with entrepreneurship. His first foray into business was selling products to his friends at school. He received a 3D printer as a gift when he was in elementary school and learned how to create personalized products. He decided to make some personalized phone cases for his friends, and despite a few mistakes he eventually made a case that people would buy. He then set up a basic website that people could order from. There weren’t a lot of orders but it turned out to be a valuable experience in the online business world.
His next business idea was in an area he had a genuine interest in, reselling limited edition sneakers and clothing. He created an Instagram as well as a website and bought some sneakers. However, demand was limited and there was a significant amount of space fraud. Plus, locking up money on inventory and the associated risk was something Youssof learned. He chose to push marketing by working with influencers. However, a turning point came for the company when it advertised the company on Google Maps, which none of its competitors were doing at the time as they were focusing on other social media platforms. . The name of the company was called “Little Kicks”, so when people typed in “kicks” or “where to buy kicks”, the brand appeared at the top of search results. Once he added the store, the traffic immediately increased which in turn resulted in sales. He ran this business for just over a year before realizing that the logistics, warehousing and physicality of the business, alongside school and other commitments, were too important. .
Get started in investing
Wanting to explore something more passive that didn’t involve the physical elements associated with selling a product, Youssof began to deepen his investments in the stock market. He created a practice trading account to gain experience. After trying this, he started investing money in the stock market when he was 10 years old. In 2016, he stumbled across the cryptocurrency market. He did research to understand the fundamentals of Bitcoin. At the highest cryptocurrency record in 2017, it came across “alt” coins and how each of them solves a unique problem. He invested in some of these coins in 2017 and in 2018 bought several ASIC miners to mine Bitcoin and various cryptocurrencies. All of this paid off in late 2020 and 2021 when the cryptocurrency market took off. Having a good foundation and investing in profitable coins, he made a big return. However, there was one issue that kept cropping up during coin launches that he encountered that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with, so he decided to consider launching his own. room.
Launch Piece Y
The problem Youssof found with many new coins being thrown was that the governance model was not democratic. Essentially, if you had a scenario where 1 person with 1 million tokens votes no and 100 people with 1,000 tokens vote yes, you might have a scenario where the asset you invested in is very different and you have very little. or no influence on the decision-making process. He felt that a better structure would encourage more newcomers to the space, as they would feel they had a say in how the project’s money went rather than just seeing it as a risky investment. .
In light of this, Youssof recruited a team and developed Y Coin ($ YCO) which is a transfer and payment coin using a democratic governance model. It will be a community coin where everyone has a say, no matter how much they have. This model will not favor the rich and make “whale” behavior less likely. The ‘Y Hub’ app will launch on iOS, Android and Desktop at the end of September 2021. In addition to democratic governance, there will be free transfers at no cost to users who send transactions through the app. They intend to use simpler wallet addresses where you can reference people’s usernames, removing the awkwardness associated with many apps, and the community will also be able to earn extra Y Coins by watching ads. on the app. Ultimately, the goal is not just to create another room, but a community where people can have a seamless experience and are encouraged to continuously engage with the platform.
It’s a very ambitious project for someone so young, but Youssof is passionate about change, entrepreneurship, and the ability of crypto to change the world if done right.
This article is part of a series featuring diverse people making a difference. To submit feature ideas or keep up to date with new releases you can find me on Twitter – @ TommyPF91
