First Bitcoin Capital Corp Disrupts Loyalty Industry; Files Provisional Patent Application for Placing Airline Reward Points on Blockchains

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 3, 2017 / CoinQx Exchange LIMITED, a wholly owned subsidiary of FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP (OTC:BITCF or “Company”, “We”, “Us” or “Our”) through its CEO filed for patent protection this week in order to move trillions of travel points into the cryptocurrency world.

• The reward points business for the travel industry alone is so staggering in size that according to (Maritz)

$48 Billion worth of points and airline miles are classified as unredeemed.

Already trillions of reward points have been issued and redeemed worldwide for all industries.

In order to capitalize on this booming industry, our CEO, Greg Rubin, an inventor with several patents approved by the USPTO has filed on our behalf a provisional patent that is designed to grant protection from competitors placing rewards points on a blockchain.

We have already issued billions of rewards points on the bitcoin blockchain to be redeemed by the future clients of a new travel agency that First Bitcoin is rolling out this month via www.BitClassTravel.com

What makes our reward points unique is that they can be bought and sold in cryptocurrency markets. We anticipate that our competitors will find their travel agencies accepting our rewards tokens to compete. A secondary market could emerge for this new form of reward points as digital currencies. Complete details of the usages and crypto miles issued will soon be found at http://AIRmilesQX.com

In addition to being the first public in the blockchain space, First Bitcoin has distinguished itself as a crypto leader capable of moving at lightning speed to roll out new endeavors so much so that our crypto reward tokens are already tradeable as altcoins on the OMNIDEX against some of the leading cryptocurrencies such as Tether, MaidSafeCoin, Omni, including all altcoins our subsidiary has issued on the Bitcoin Blockchain, to date. Many of these new mileage coins will be tradeable on our subsidiary cryptocurrency exchange, CoinQX.com, against more than 100 crypto and fiat currencies, including Bitcoin.

A complete list and details of these reward tokens for airline miles will be released in an upcoming news release covering 100 of the largest airlines and top hotel chains.

AIRmilesQX will change forever frequent travel loyalty programs.

Many airlines offer frequent-flyer loyalty programs to encourage customers to accumulate “miles” which airline customers can redeem to purchase air travel or other rewards. Points, or miles earned though those programs are based on complex rules, like class of fare, distance, season or the amount paid. There are also many other ways to earn points. For example, credit card issuers partner with airlines and award loyalty points or miles based on customer’s credit card usage. Points can be redeemed for air travel, ticket upgrades, booking hotels, car rentals, magazine subscriptions etc.

Frequent-flyer program points are in essence a type of virtual currency, but unfortunately it was a one way process –people could purchase points with national currencies, but were not able to exchange back into those currencies.

Airline miles programs go back to the early 70’s when United Airlines began to reward loyal customers with points that could be accumulated and later could be used to pay for air travel. Their programs have evolved over the last 20 years, but it is not easy to use those programs.When travelers actually try to book a flight, they encounter major hurdles, like-blackout dates (days when award seats are limited or unavailable). Every airline program has its own policies, procedures, restrictions, etc. Also airlines and credit card issuers are constantly changing the rules and policies. Several Airlines, for example, recently increased the minimum number of miles needed to book some of their flights.

Research published by COLLOQUY, a leading provider of loyalty marketing research in 2015 indicates that U.S. consumers hold 3.3 billion memberships in customer loyalty programs, a 26% increase over the number of memberships reported in COLLOQUY’s prior census study in 2013. The 2015 Census shows that specialty store loyalty memberships now total 434 million, exceeding airline frequent flyer memberships (356 million) for the first time, placing second only to credit card reward programs, which account for 578 million memberships.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics, year over year air travel increased by 5.5% from 2015 to 2016. COLLOQUY survey found that a little more than half of Americans – 55% – have taken a flight for business or leisure purposes in the past two years. And three-fourths of respondents, 75%, said their most recent flight was within the past six months. Another noteworthy statistic is that 60% of frequent traveler miles issued today are not earned but instead purchased.

Points accumulating in loyalty programs globally are considered by some as real currencies with increasing value that have attracted the attention of criminals, per Barry Kirk, vice president of Loyalty Solutions for Maritz Motivation Solutions. In the US alone, 3.3 billion loyalty program memberships have stored points and miles worth an estimated $48 billion, according to the Gartner Group.

BLOCKCHAIN will CHANGE customer loyalty programs forever by giving more control to rewards owners and reducing fraud through the transparency of blockchain technologies. First Bitcoin Capital Corp trading on the OTC Markets as BITCF has developed a unique Blockchain based airline miles platform, allowing people to buy/exchange/trade/transfer miles without any restrictions, blackout days or other cumbersome rules that airlines impose on their programs.

The following statistics may be of interest to our loyal shareholders:

2016 Travel Loyalty Statistics

• $48 billion worth of points and airline miles are unredeemed (Maritz)
• 75% of travelers are willing to share personal information, such as gender, age and email address, in exchange for tailored promotions, coupons, priority service or loyalty points (Zebra
  Technologies)
• 46% of loyalty program members said they like the ability to earn points on everyday spending with their airline loyalty program (Collinson
  Latitude)
• 47% of loyalty program members said they like the ability to earn points on everyday spending with their hotel loyalty program (Collinson
  Latitude)
• 29% of men have used an airline rewards program in the last three months vs. 20% of women (Vantiv)
• 75% of U.S. consumers would be open to using a site operated by a loyalty program if it allowed easy itinerary adjustments (Colloquy)
• 83% of U.S. consumers would be open to using a site operated by a loyalty program if it were easy to use (Colloquy)
• 69% of U.S. consumers would be open to using a site operated by a loyalty program if it allows for paying all travel expenses with loyalty points (Colloquy)
• 59% of U.S. consumers would be open to using a site operated by a loyalty program if it had a mobile app (Colloquy)
• Nearly 40% of “digital native” Millennials rely on mobile apps to track and redeem their rewards, while across all age groups, the use of plastic membership cards dropped by 4% during 2016 (Excentus)
• 69% of U.S. consumers would be open to using a site operated by a loyalty program if it provides info about planned travel destinations (Colloquy)
• 64% of U.S. consumers would be open to using a site operated by a loyalty program if it kept track of travel preferences (Colloquy)
• 56% of U.S. consumers would be open to using a site operated by a loyalty program if it provided personalized travel recommendations (Colloquy)
• 53% of U.S. consumers would be open to using a site operated by a loyalty program if it offered customization of in-flight amenities (Colloquy)
• 76% of business travelers said they would extend their business trips for leisure if their hotels offered discounts for additional nights or the chance to have a friend or family member join at a discounted rate (Colloquy)
• 92% of business travelers cited that ease of redemption would get their attention, 84% cited convenience of schedule holding appeal and 73% cited ability to personalize in-flight services (Colloquy)
• 81% of business travelers cited a higher level of service as having an impact on their evaluation of a loyalty program (Colloquy)
• 19% of consumers would skip their plans if they were to encounter added charges when booking with loyalty points (Colloquy)
• 40% of passengers picked their airport based on the airport loyalty program (ICLP)
• When choosing an airport, Generation X (44%) and Millennials (41%) are much more influenced by airport loyalty programs than Baby Boomers (31%) (ICLP)
• 80% of U.S. airline loyalty program members are inactive (Skift)
• 61% of travelers look for loyalty programs with a broad spectrum of rewards (Collinson Latitude)
• Major hotel chains increased loyalty program members in 2015 by 13.1% compared with 2014 (Skift)
• 71% of travelers think the value of a loyalty program decreases if it offers a limited range of rewards (Collinson
  Latitude)
• 77% of travel loyalty program members continued to spend with a brand and earn further points following a redemption on non-core inventory, compared to just 71% who redeemed on flights and hotels alone (Collinson Latitude)
• 42% of travelers believe that loyalty programs offering only core inventory rewards are “dated and old-fashioned” (Collinson Latitude)
• 40% of travel loyalty program members would tell friends and family about a program following a positive redemption experience (Collinson Latitude)
• 33% of travel loyalty program members would actively encourage family & friends to join the program following a positive redemption experience (Collinson Latitude)
• 48% of Millennials report loyalty programs are important when booking flights and 51% say they use them when booking hotels (Diamond Resorts)
• 39% of Millennials agree: “I don’t think it’s worthwhile to sign up for loyalty programs” (ADARA)
• 68% of Millennials will remain loyal to a program that offers them the most rewards (Internet
  Marketing)
• 75% of Millennials will remain loyal to a hotel brand even if they lost all reward points (Internet
  Marketing)
• 41% of Millennials joined a travel loyalty program because it was easy to use (Internet
  Marketing)
• Top hotels in terms of customer satisfaction: Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt (ACSI)
• Top hotel loyalty programs based on customer satisfaction: Hilton HHonors, Marriott Rewards, IHG Rewards Club (JD Power)
• 83% of highly satisfied hotel loyalty program members say they “definitely will” recommend the brand (JD Power)
• 77% of hotel loyalty program members say their program is equally as valuable as it was in 2015; 11% say their program is less valuable than the year before (JD Power)
• 40% of customers choose hotel loyalty programs based on convenience of locations (JD Power)
• 55% of the affluent middle class hold frequent flyer memberships, down from 65% in 2014 (Collinson Group)
• InterContinental Hotels Group’s IHG Rewards Club is the world’s largest hotel loyalty program with more than 92 million members as of December 31, 2015 (Skift)

About the company:

First Bitcoin Capital is engaged in developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange- www.CoinQX.com. We see this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management’s experience in developing and managing complex Blockchain technologies, developing new types of digital assets. Being the first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and blockchain-centered company (with shares both traded in the US OTC Markets as [BITCF] and as [BIT] in crypto exchanges) we want to provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. At this time the Company owns and operates more than the following digital assets.

www.CoinQX.com cryptocurrency exchange, registered with FINCEN.

www.strain.ID cannabis strains genetic information depository on decentralized Blockchain

www.iCoiNEWS.com real time cryptocurrency and bitcoin news site.

www.BITminer.cc providing mining pool management services.

www.2016coin.org online daily election coverage and home page for $PRES, $HILL, $GARY& $BURN -commemorative presidential election coins.

www.bitcannpay.com Open Loop merchant services for dispensaries.

List of most Omni protocol coins issued on the Bitcoin Blockchain and owned by the Company: http://omnichest.info/lookupadd.aspx?address=1FwADyEvdvaLNxjN1v3q6tNJCgHEBuABrS

Second Omni wallet owned by CoinQX reflecting our airline mileage tokens issued: http://omnichest.info/lookupadd.aspx?address=1VuF26AgLyQ4tBoGzYTWRqtDG9zCB7QXe

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as may be disclosed in company’s filings. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company’s views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company’s filings, which are on file at www.OTCMarkets.com.

Contact us via: [email protected] or visit http://www.bitcoincapitalcorp.com

SOURCE: First Bitcoin Capital Corp.