Frequently Asked Questions

LGBT Foundation

Questions about LGBT Foundation and its mission.

Which organizations and people are behind the LGBT Foundation?

The LGBT Foundation Limited is a not-for-profit organization that has its headquarters and is legally registered in Hong Kong. The LGBT Foundation was set up by Hornet, the world’s premier gay social network with 25 million members. Although the Foundation was started and initially sponsored by Hornet, the intention is that it will ultimately become a self-governing body run by and for members of the LGBT community, and which directs its activities and resources to the benefit of the international LGBT community. The LGBT Foundation launched in January 2018 with support from a number of partners prominent in the LGBT community along with a range of expert advisers from the technology and cryptocurrency sectors.

What is Hornet?

Hornet is the world’s premier gay social network where the gay community can foster meaningful social connections and explore the world together with pride and confidence. Founded in 2011 with the mission to build the seminal digital home for the gay community, Hornet has grown to 25 million diverse community members strong. Hornet utilizes cutting-edge technology for its global platform to connect people as well as producing original editorial content by its award winning journalists to connect a variety of interests. Hornet puts user experience first and has become the number one social app in countries such as France, Russia, Brazil, Turkey, and Taiwan, and is expanding its sizable user base in the United States to create more meaningful connections.

 

Hornet was established in Hong Kong in 2011 and has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Prague, Cape Town, Sao Paulo, and Taipei.

Where is the LGBT Foundation registered and what kind of legal entity is it?

Headquartered and registered in Hong Kong, the LGBT Foundation will operate as a not-for-profit foundation but has initially been set up as a limited company. Although the Foundation was started by Hornet, the intention is that it will ultimately become a self-governing body run by and for members of the LGBT community, and which directs its activities and resources to the benefit of the international LGBT community.

What will the corporate governance structure look like for the LGBT Foundation?

The LGBT community shows great compassion and unity in fighting for equal rights and acceptance. Creating an open and self-governed blockchain ecosystem is a natural fit and extension of these successful efforts. The Foundation invites everyone to contribute to the project and specifically invites and supports financially launch partners which can help jumpstart the adoption of Token and the resulting economy. Such partners can be mobile apps, online services, or traditional offline, brick and mortar businesses such as stores or event locations, large brands or individual providers. Everyone is invited as long as they subscribe to the mission of equal rights and acceptance for the LGBT community and the proposed self-governance.

Why should potential partners trust the LGBT Foundation?

The LGBT Foundation is about more than money. It is a not-for-profit organization that aims to advance the rights of the LGBT community in countries across the world. We will do this by harnessing the power and potential of blockchain technology. But potential partners, and the broader cryptocurrency community, can take reassurance from the caliber of the people involved in the project. We are working on setting up a governing board for the LGBT Foundation that includes well-established individuals from NGO and other good-cause entities in the LGBT space that includes well established individuals from NGO and other good-cause entities in the LGBT space.

LGBT Impact

Questions about LGBT Impact, the Foundation’s charity arm.

What is LGBT Impact?

LGBT Impact is the charity arm of the LGBT Foundation. Proceeds will be used to address the specific needs of the LGBT community, help put funds in the hands of the most marginalized and oppressed members of the community, and help advance the rights of the LGBT community at local, national, and global levels.

 

Each year, a portion of released LGBT Tokens will be set aside to fund LGBT Impact initiatives.

How are projects and charities suggested for support through LGBT Impact?

Projects and recipients that aim to advance the rights of the LGBT community can be identified bottom-up and locally through members of the community. The advisory board of the Foundation will then regularly submit these projects and entities that deserve LGBT Impact support by introducing them on the Foundation website.

 

The LGBT Foundation will also add ways for LGBT Token holders to cast votes and express their opinion on the projects that deserve support.

How is support for LGBT Impact recipients determined?

Each LGBT Token holder will be able to cast votes equal to the number of Tokens they hold for the projects they most strongly support being funded. To cast votes, the Token holder need to have each Token in possession at least six months prior to the vote. Any amount of Tokens (even fractions of a Token) allow an LGBT Token community member to vote. The voting will happen in the first full week of each quarter of the year after which the results will be calculated and determined by the board.

Is only one project or entity eligible to receive LGBT Impact support per quarter?

No. The goal is that each proposed project gets an amount of support proportionate to the votes it generated. That way, we ensure that each featured project receives some level of support while allowing the LGBT community to determine what issues and projects are of the greatest priority to them. If the amount of votes for a project translates to more support than the project needs, the excess will be redistributed among the other vote-getting projects.

PRIVATE Token Sale

Questions about the launch of LGBT Foundation and private token sale.

Will LGBTF launch an ICO?

No.  The Foundation is launching the LGBT Token on the OST Simple Token platform to bring best in class blockchain and token technology to the LGBT community.

Why did the Foundation choose OST to launch the LGBT Token?

A blockchain-based LGBT Token will help to empower and connect LGBT businesses around the world, will help to establish an economic identity and shared infrastructure, will reduce transaction costs for LGBT community members across all borders, provide protection and support in countries that still suppress LGBT rights and would enable this global economy not only to grow faster, but give back to the community and support LGBT rights globally. To accomplish this, launching with OST is the fastest way to jumpstart the economy and get LGBT Token circulating on a regular basis.

 

The OST platform offers us the ability to launch a unique token, in our case the LGBT Token, securely. It also allows us to avoid the headache of setting up our own complex blockchain infrastructure and meeting the regulatory requirements and costs that go along with launching an ICO. We found OST to be far ahead of the industry in developing simple blockchain tools for non-blockchain developers. OST provides us with easy interfaces and APIs for minting our token, setting up smart contracts, integrating token transfers into our partner apps, as well as SDKs for providing easy to use yet safe and secure end-user wallets.  To read more about this decision and partnership visit here.

 

LGBT Token & Cryptocurrency

Questions about LGBT Token, how it works, and general questions about cryptocurrency.

What are the benefits of cryptocurrency over traditional fiat currency?

As we move to a more globalized economy, there are a number of benefits offered by cryptocurrency over fiat currency, with more uses for it being discovered regularly. Some of these benefits include:

 

  • A centralized government doesn’t control it: Because of the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency (in other words, you own it, not a government), ownership is not consolidated in the hands of one government or entity. This safeguards against governments devaluing their own currency or taking it away from you.
  • Everyone gets access: Many people around the world lack access to fiat forms of currency or exchange models, but they do have internet and mobile phones. Cryptocurrency ensures that anyone shut out of traditional exchange systems can partake in the cryptoeconomy.
  • Eliminates fraud & identity theft: Because of the digital and decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, it can’t be replicated or reproduced, eliminating fraud. Further, because the control of cryptocurrency rests in an individual’s hands, they need only share the payment they want a merchant or vendor to have without having to give that vendor their personal information. This is in contrast to credit-based forms of payment, in which a merchant of vendor pulls your personal information when debiting their payment from your account.
  • Lower transaction fees: Traditionally, cryptocurrency exchanges don’t require any exchange fees as, for now, cryptocurrency miners (those who approve transactions) are compensated by the network for their work.

Could the mission of the Foundation accomplished with an existing technology or currency instead of LGBT Token?

No. We believe that the LGBT community, its members’ identities, the rule of trade, and the allocation of funds to further the mission should be self-governed by the community and cannot be a derivative of a project with a different mission or uncertain prospect of survival.

 

It cannot be guaranteed that any state or corporation, or a foundation with a different mission, will be a good steward for the protection and well-being of the entirety of the LGBT community. By allowing our community members to identify as LGBT, yet keeping their identity out of reach for governments or companies, the structure of LGBT Token provides a secure, global means of transaction for the LGBT community that has been sorely needed.

How can buyers be sure they won’t be taking part in an illegal fund raising activity?

Compliance with financial current and evolving financial regulations is central to the aspirations of the LGBT Foundation. We are working closely with regulators across the world to ensure that we take the most appropriate steps to be and remain legally compliant. As far as the private token is concerned, we are not marketing to, or making LGBT Tokens available to non-accredited partners and buyers. If your government does not allow you to take part in token sales, you will not be able to buy LGBT Tokens.