Picture this: a typical Saturday morning. The smell of coffee brewing, the sun casting its gentle rays through the windows, and me in my beloved armchair with my face buried in my phone as I doom scroll Crypto Twitter (this is a cry for help). From the corner of my eye, I see my daughter, face alight with the anticipation of her monthly allowance. I reach for my wallet, only to find… absolutely nothing. Zilch. Nada. A puff of dust and a moth. The good old cash conundrum strikes again.
This got me thinking. I have the power of fintech at my fingertips. What if I could leverage Stellar’s fast and cheap transactions to solve my ‘no-cash-for-allowance’ predicament? Well, ladies and gentlemen, I did just that and took it a step further. I present to you the “Useful Super Dad Coin” (to avoid any confusion I’ll refer to it as USDad Coins for the purpose of this blog), a perfect example of a new kind of fiat-backed stablecoin.
Now you may be asking, isn’t it difficult or time consuming to create a token? Well, if you’re asking that, you’ve never issued a token on Stellar. It’s stupid easy. Just follow this four step chart:
That golden blob there is where the magic happens. You’re sitting here with two accounts you made with a trustline for the token you want to mint (that doesn’t exist yet!) and you create a payment operation to your distribution account for however many coins you want to create. Voila! You’re in the asset token business. Now, since I personally back each of my USDad Coins in circulation (e.g. my daughter’s wallet) 1:1 with USD, I would argue this asset should be on the Stellar Development Foundation’s relevant asset list. Watch out for me at the next Quarter in Review!
Cashless, Contactless, Convenient
The best part of this venture? I can do it all from my phone! No need for that elusive paper money, no need for the last-minute dash to the ATM. My daughter gets her allowance on time, every time. And you know when Soroban goes live, I’ll be writing a smart contract to automate these payments.
The Gift of Literacy (Not the Usual Kind)
Now, you might be thinking this is all fun and games, but there’s more to the USDad Coin than just a dad’s innovative solution to a personal cash shortage. See, it’s also a tool to educate my daughter about financial literacy and tech literacy. Every transaction becomes a lesson in personal finance, explaining to her about saving, spending, and the value of money.
Plus, she’s getting a crash course on blockchain technology, and trust me, it’s not as complicated as it sounds. I explain it like this: imagine a never-ending Lego tower where each block has information about who gave it and to whom, and once the block is added, it can’t be changed. This tangible visualization helps her understand the concept in a more kid-friendly way, plus I used it as an excuse to buy more Legos.
To the dads out there, I highly recommend trying this out. It’s even got my daughter asking me to sit down and teach her more about “science”. Which is a welcome departure from the entirely too frequent invitations to try on clothes on her Animal Crossing island.
Soroban and the Future of Allowances
The future, as they say, is here. When Soroban, the smart contract platform being developed by the Stellar ecosystem, goes live, we might be exploring some DeFi options made possible with smart contracts. Who knows, we could even start an “Allowance Pool” or my daughter might decide to invest her allowance coins. I’ll definitely be automating those payments, but the possibilities are simply…Stellar!
Stellar for Everyone
What’s beautiful about this initiative is that it’s not just a quirky project by a dad. It exemplifies that Stellar’s network is here for everyone and goes beyond just global remittance or award winning aid projects. Whether you’re an individual wanting to launch your own stablecoin for educational purposes, a business looking to revolutionize its transaction methods, or an organization aiming to create a whole new financial ecosystem, Stellar is here.
Now that you know about my “Useful Super Dad Coin” experiment, it’s your turn to explore the wonders of Stellar. Who knows, maybe you’ll create your own family coin or a neighborhood currency. And remember, no idea is too big or too small for the Stellar network. Go forth, and let your imagination run wild!
Serious Dad Chat
Alright, it’s time to have an uncomfortable chat. Sit down. I was cleaning your room, and I found PPPP coin in your Stellar account. I know I know, it’s just a claimable balance. I know you’re smart enough to just ignore dust transactions like that trying to advertise themselves. I just worry about you, and I feel like part of my job is to, at least once in your life, look you in the eyes and say, “Please use your brain before you buy random tokens advertised on a goofy telegram channel on any DEX.”
A Stellar Way to Pay Allowance: Meet the Useful Super Dad Coin! was originally published in Stellar Community on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.