KuCoin AMA With AVA (AVA) — Travel Smarter with Blockchain-Powered Loyalty and Rewards

Dear KuCoin Users, 

Time: January 20, 2025, 10:00 AM - 11:09 AM (UTC) 

KuCoin hosted an AMA (Ask-Me-Anything) session in the KuCoin Exchange Group, featuring Yoav Tchelet, the Lead Growth Contributor of AVA.

Official Website: https://www.avafoundation.org/
Whitepaper: https://www.avafoundation.org/ava-2-0-whitepaper/   

Follow AVA on X, Telegram and Discord

Q: Can you briefly introduce the AVA Foundation to the audience? 

Yoav: The AVA Foundation is the driving force behind the AVA token, a utility token at the core of the blockchain-based travel loyalty ecosystem available on Travala known as the “AVA Smart Program”. Travala is the leading crypto-native travel booking service that started in 2017 and received funding from Binance Labs.

We provide a seamless loyalty experience that enables travellers to receive crypto booking rewards, travel discounts, and other crypto travel perks. In the long term, we aim to onboard additional travel and lifestyle partners via our plug-and-play approach to create an interconnected network where loyalty rewards benefit members to a significantly greater extent than traditional points models.

Q: Could you share more about the vision and mission of the AVA Foundation? 

Yoav: The AVA Foundation’s vision is to create a decentralized and self-sufficient loyalty ecosystem powered by blockchain technology. We aim to:

• Solve the inefficiencies of traditional loyalty programs, such as limited redemption options, point expiration, and fragmentation

• Empower users by providing real value through tokenized rewards that are transparent, interoperable, and versatile

• Onboard new partners into the AVA Smart Program, enabling users to use AVA tokens across multiple platforms

Our mission is to extend blockchain loyalty solutions beyond Travala to a global ecosystem of partners, making loyalty programs smarter, fairer, and more user-centric.

Q: How does the AVA Smart Program work, and what benefits does it offer?  

Yoav: Let's dive into the details.

The AVA Smart Program offers several membership tiers that are accessible by locking AVA tokens on Travala, activating up to 13% savings on every travel booking. Smart membership tiers offer the following:

• Givebacks: Up to 10% back in AVA, Bitcoin or Travel Credits on bookings after completing your trip

• Discounts: Up to 5% discount on listed travel prices at the time of booking

• AVA Payment Discounts: Up to an additional 3% discount of the total price when you book in full with the AVA token

• AVA Smart Bonus: Up to 20% bonus AVA tokens per year on your locked AVA by meeting quarterly requirements

• Airdrops: Chance to participate in airdrops of early-stage token partner projects

The top tier of the program, Smart Diamond, offers additional premium perks with a connected Travel Tiger NFT, including quarterly Travel Credit rewards, airport lounge access, entry into luxury travel giveaways, and more.

Users can join the first membership tier for FREE to get up to 2% of every travel booking back in AVA.

Q: What makes AVA’s blockchain loyalty model different from traditional programs?  

Yoav: As a native Web3 model, the key difference between the AVA Smart Program and traditional programs is that the program provides crypto rewards, which offer significantly greater flexibility than traditional loyalty points.

Crypto rewards also have the potential to appreciate in value over time and never expire, whereas traditional points are routinely devalued and risk expiring.

Q: How does the AVA Buyback Program benefit token holders?   

Yoav: The AVA Buyback Program drives sustained demand for the AVA token by repurchasing tokens from the open market each month, matching the USD value of rewards distributed to Smart members on Travala. These tokens are added to the Ecosystem Incentives Wallet to support growth initiatives.

As Travala grows and booking volumes increase, the program scales to strengthen AVA’s utility and demand while ensuring transparency by publicly sharing transaction details with the community. It’s a key step in our mission to build a sustainable and decentralized loyalty ecosystem.

Q: What role does the AVA Foundation community play in your growth strategy? 

Yoav: The AVA community plays a critical role in several key areas of the project, particularly in marketing, governance, and token demand. Contributor Tasks are quarterly tasks that Smart members can complete to receive rewards. These tasks are predominantly social media activities that aim to expand the reach of both AVA and Travala across channels.

To illustrate the rewards a Diamond member receives for completing quarterly Contributor Tasks, each Diamond member received the following per Travel Tiger NFT connected in the previous round of tasks:

• Ambassador Bonus: US$277 in Travel Credits

• AVA Smart Bonus: 125 AVA

In terms of governance, 20% of the new AVA token supply is contributed to the Community Pool, which can only be used if the majority of the community votes in favour of proposals.

Finally, the recently introduced AVA Buyback Program means that the more travel bookings that are made by the community, the more AVA is repurchased on the market to stimulate further demand.

Q: Could you share a glimpse of the AVA Foundation’s roadmap?    

Yoav: There is a lot coming up! One of the major upcoming developments on our roadmap is the AVA Open Loyalty Protocol. This model will enable a smart contract-based AVA Smart Program to function as a truly interconnected loyalty ecosystem between communities by seamlessly connecting partner projects with AVA Smart Program members using Web3 wallets like MetaMask.

Other upcoming initiatives include:

• Smart Trial: limited-time enhanced perks for new Smart members

• AVA Deals: exclusive travel deals on Travala when booking with AVA

• Additional Perks: introduction of new perks for Smart members

• New Partners: integrating the AVA ecosystem into additional projects

Multichain Expansion: expansion to further networks beyond ERC20, BEP20, and Solana

Q: Do you have any plans to burn in the future to reduce the supply of $AVA tokens and increase investment attraction? If yes, please share?  

Yoav: We have introduced the AVA Buyback program. Each month, the AVA Foundation will purchase AVA tokens on the open market equivalent to the USD value of all the AVA giveback rewards distributed to Smart members for travel bookings in the previous month. These AVA tokens will be bought using stablecoins received from Travala.com as part of their partnership with the AVA Foundation. The purchased tokens will be held in the Ecosystem Incentives Wallet, further supporting the ecosystem's growth.

You can read more about it here.

Q: What inspired the AVA Foundation to integrate blockchain technology into loyalty programs, and how do you see it transforming the travel industry in the next few years? 

Yoav: With the advent of crypto, we saw an opportunity for a comprehensive crypto travel ecosystem to be built when the AVA token first launched back in 2018. Our goal was to tokenise the traditional travel loyalty program model by giving travellers greater freedom over their rewards through the power of blockchain technology. As we see even more crypto users coming on board over the next few years, especially as regulations continue to positively evolve, there's substantial room for loyalty programs to shift from Web2 to Web3.

Q: Can you share some success stories or case studies of users who have benefited from using the AVA token and participating in the AVA Smart Program? 

Yoav: Many of our long-term members have saved thousands of dollars on travel bookings by being in the AVA Smart Program and collecting rewards along the way.

Towards the bottom of the page below, you can find testimonials from some of our most loyal users about how they most benefit from the AVA Smart Program.

Q: Can you explain the Travel Tiger NFTs and how they integrate with the AVA Smart Program? 

Yoav: Travel Tiger NFTs work in tandem with a 2,500 AVA lock-up to activate the Diamond membership. Once activated, the Diamond membership unlocks premium benefits, including:

-Quarterly Travel Credits (currently over US$200+ per quarter!)

-AVA Smart Bonus (125 AVA per quarter)

-Up to 10% back on travel bookings in AVA, BTC or Travel Credits

-Airport lounge access to 1,300+ lounges globally

-Guaranteed participation in airdrops of early-stage partner projects

-And much more!

Check out all the info about the Diamond membership here.

Q: What is the role of the AVA Foundation in the ecosystem, and how does it support the growth of the AVA token?  

Yoav: The AVA Foundation's role is to oversee the development, growth, and sustainability of the AVA ecosystem. It drives innovation by expanding and managing partnerships, and ensuring the ecosystem aligns with its mission to create decentralized, transparent, and user-focused loyalty solutions. The Foundation also fosters community engagement, governance, and adoption while setting the strategic direction for AVA's long-term success.

🎁 Participate in the AVA AMA quiz now for a chance to win 10.20 AVA.   

  The form will remain open for five days from publishing this AMA recap  

KuCoin and AVA have prepared a total of 1,755 AVA to give away to AMA participants.

1. Pre-AMA activity: 688 AVA

2. Free-ask section: 45 AVA

3. Flash mini-game: 360 AVA

4. Post-AMA quiz: 663 AVA

Sign up for a KuCoin account if you haven’t done so yet, and ensure you complete your KYC verification to be eligible for the rewards. 

Follow us on Twitter, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit.