Saddling Up an Ox

Don't call me "Dog" or Boba Fett -- will take the latter's jetpack though -- but my working days are spent as a Bounty Hunter.

To be clear, I'm hunting for cryptocurrencies, not thugs. Coins, not crooks. Tokens, not turds.

I have absolutely no desire to chase bad guys with tattoos of facial hair in lieu of the real thing. Let's leave that to the pros who actually enjoy those types of shenanigans.

You see, I'm a certified HODLer. I believe in the disruptive power of blockchain technology. I'm taking a longterm view and, current gutter-market pricing be damned, I have no immediate plans to unload any crypto.

The foundation is being laid for our decentralized, tokenized future is exciting and wondrous. The awakening (wokening?) has only begun and once the industry learns how to scale, we'll see an explosion of blockchains integrated into our everyday lives.

So for now, I have a few choices in how I can obtain digital bags holding the future inside them:

Invest in Projects

Last time I checked CoinMarketCap, it felt like looking at Walmart prices. The streets were red and although some of the blood was my own, the buying opportunities were tremendous.

There are so, so many promising crypto projects out there --established and upcoming -- but there's just not enough fiat to go around. Know what I'm saying? It's hard not to hold 50 different coins.

Enroll in Airdrops

I admit there've been some absolute gems out there -- Ontology, anyone? -- but most are either low in quality or rewards. And some make you jump through 10 hoops just to earn $1. I used to catch 'em all but now I'm much more selective.

Hunt for Bounties

Once I discovered this little niche, I was hooked. Sure, ICOs will throw you a few tokens for following them on Twitter or Reddit or Telegram or Linkedin. These bounties are great, but there's a much better one: Content creation.

If you're willing to write an article or make a YouTube video about a project, it's not uncommon to get 100x the token value compared to social media activities. Bounty hosts realize these creations take time and effort and research and thought, and they tend to compensate accordingly.

Now, it took a bit of research before landing on what I consider to be the current king of bounty programs. Although the platform is still in beta and there are some bugs to work through, it's way beyond any competition I've seen.

Have you figured out which project I'm referring to yet? ...

The Good, the Bad, and the Confusing

I'm several months into my daily hunts. There are things I like about the BountyOx platform and a few elements that could use some help. Like I said, it's in beta so some things are forgivable. But there are some issues that could be resolved with a little attention to detail.

Let's discuss...

My Likes

The searchability feature within BountyOx is especially helpful. I prefer to write articles and it's awesome to be able to use a filter that weeds out the bounties I'm not interested in. It's also great to be able to search by host so that you can maximize your tokens once you choose a project to support.

It's also super-helpful to just use the platform in general. Tracking bounties on bitcointalk can get wearisome. Plus, since the BountyOx team vet projects before allowing them onto the network, hunters get an added layer of protection.

Granted, some projects have ill intentions from the get-go and manage to fool everyone. Thankfully, those are the exception and not the norm.

And everyone but the crooks know that their thieving greed will eventually lead to bankruptcy. Financial bankruptcy, of course. They're already morally bankrupt.

The volume is great, too. Over 500 bounties are up for grabs as I write this. Nearly every time I log in to post a link to an article, there's a new host dishing out tokens for those willing to do some work.

My Gripes

Before we cover the issues I encounter when using the BountyOx platform, know this: The good far outweighs the bad or confusing. That said, there's definitely some cutting and pasting going on when new bounties are created. And sometimes that process goes off the rails.

For example, certain bounties purport to reward hunters in tokens from separate hosts. Is that a typo or is there a partnership at play? Hmmm...

And some bounty listings might say you can't post an article on Medium but then go on to say that if you do post on Medium you'll need to include a disclaimer. Huh? Can I post an article on Medium or not?

The worst offender, by far, is the currently running bounty for the HighVibeNetwork. Now, the Ox team usually does a good job of informing hunters whether or not their country of residence makes them ineligible to participate.

I found HVN to be interesting and did some further research before deciding to write an article. Halfway through writing, I tried to maximize my rewards by participating in the project's other bounties.

Now, I'm sure you can imagine the dismay caused by reading about KYC. This information doesn't exist within the article creation bounty listing. It lives within HVN's Twitter bounty:

So, after putting a few hours into a content creation bounty, I discover that my country is blacklisted. Ouch, that stings!

But it's just part of the territory. Hunters expecting a 100% success rate are kidding themselves. In fact, I just got a hurry-up-and-withdraw-your-crypto notice from one of my favorite exchanges. Residents of my country are no longer welcome.

Point is, for a number a different reasons, you can count on some bounties falling through. Things change very rapidly in the land of crypto.

The old saying, "A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush" certainly applies here. I've learned to not rely on a bounty payout until you've actually been paid.

Missing info and typos aside, there's one thing that's really missing from the bounty space. And the issue is wider than BountyOx alone. It touches the entire industry.

What's that, you ask? I'll sum it up in a single word: Tracking...

A Fresh DApp

BountyOx has their hands full with their bounty programs and bitcointalk is simply a wild jungle. Time to wrangle everything with the help of a decentralized application.

Now, this yet-to-be-created DApp must be speedy and scalable and secure. Low network fees are always appreciated, too.

And the Helios Protocol project wants to deliver all of those features and more. The team's approach to transaction throughput is unique in that transactions are divided across multiple chains.

Transactions won't clog the network because rather than broadcasting to everyone, wallet-to-wallet interactions only transmit to the wallets exchanging tokens.

This free-flowing network has a number of advantages and you can read more about them on the Helios Protocol website.

And now, onto the dream...

Personalized Tracking & Scheduling

There's a lot to keep tabs on in the bounty space. There are publishing schedules, bounty deadlines, hunter limits, submission limits, weekly requirements... and on and on.

So how do I make sense of it all? The old-fashioned way... Microsoft Excel. C'mon! It's not the '90s anymore. It's effective yet time-consuming. And that time could be spent creating content instead of clicking around in a spreadsheet.

Time to get the blockchain involved!

My dream DApp will contain form-fields for all this data:

• Project Host's Official Website
• Bounty Type
• Article Wordcount Requirement
• Project Token's Trade Symbol
• Max Submissions Per Hunter
• Max Submissions Per Bounty
• Bounty Reward Amount
  • Payout Method
  • ETH Equivalent
  • Fiat Equivalent
  • Stakes?
• Important Dates
  • Bounty Expiration
  • ICO Begin/End
  • Estimated Bounty Payout
  • Actual Payout
• Eligibility for Higher Rewards for Posting on Top-tier Sites (Hacker Noon, etc.)

Now, some of these are BountyOx-specific and others are for the wildlands. Point is, when I discover a new bounty, I want to quickly and easily enter the pertinent details aligning with my specific goals. I'd rather scroll through a sortable app than deal with a spreadsheet, which isn't too convenient on a phone.

Push Notifications

Telegram and Twitter bounties can require a little TLC. Some hosts want hunters to pop in every week and make a meaningful comment or tweet. Keeping up with weekly tasks can be tough if you're juggling multiple bounties. I've been disqualified from bounties for not meeting weekly requirements.

I want my 'Bounty Tracker 2K18' DApp to inform me when it's time to get active on social.

Time to post on LinkedIn? Bounty expiring in a few days? Does something need retweeting? Yes, please, I'd love a DApp to inform me of all that.

Final thoughts...

The invention of cryptocurrencies has spawned new methods of income generation. And not just from speculative 'sick gainz.' Those who want to get involved in a project by paying with time rather than funds have a never-ending supply of opportunities.

Between bitcointalk and BountyOx, plus a host of imitators, bounty hunters can click and scroll and theorize and postulate all day, every day. Which, as a hunter, is a wonderful thing because I can be selective about the projects I choose to freelance for.

Modern-day crypto bounty hunters have freedom of choice. Don't care for a project's mission or don't like the smarmy smile on one of the team members? Then move along, this isn't the bounty you're looking for.

But with that freedom comes responsibility. You have to stay on top of your game or else opportunities will pass you by. Luckily, we have the technology to make it easier, which is one of the blockchain's best attributes.

So, anyone out there ready and willing to build a new bounty-tracking DApp on Helios Protocol? I can think of a few ways to get paid for your efforts.

There's advertisements, subscription-based models, and, if your DApp is useful enough, I'll even let you have a percentage of my bounty rewards.

Feel free to build that 'Bounty Tracker Pro' DApp. I thank you, as do the bounty hosts who'll see an uptick in completed bounties.

We'll leave the monetization part up to you.

By the way…

If you like what you see here and need help getting your crypto message to the masses, I’d love to hear about your project.

Feel free to reach out to me here: blockchainauthor at Gmail

*This article was created in exchange for a potential token reward through Bounty0x. *** BountyOx username = blockchainauthor *** ETH address = 0x625634E6004D9EB5caac9Ab570fB00a362a909B7 ***