$STC Token Redemption Announcement

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Introduction

In an important decision marking the culmination of our journey, the Student Coin Team has resolved to conclude the project, initiating a comprehensive $STC Token Redemption process. This decision reflects our commitment to integrity and the best interests of our community, ensuring a structured and equitable closure that will allow all the $STC Token holders to redeem or sell their tokens for USDC at a fair price.

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The journey of Student Coin since its inception has been remarkable, characterized by innovation, community engagement, and the pursuit of democratizing financial education through blockchain technology. Despite our successes and the creation of valuable educational resources and platforms like STC University and Coinpaper, the evolving challenges and market dynamics have led us to this difficult but necessary decision. The redemption and sale process is designed to honor the trust and investment our community has placed in us, providing a transparent pathway for all the token holders.

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Throughout this transition, our focus remains steadfast on ensuring fairness for all the groups of holders and honoring the commitment of every community member. With an above market price redemption range between $0.006 and $0.0137, we are committed to making the process as seamless as possible, providing detailed guidance and robust support at each step. The redemption price will vary based on each token's history, offering higher values for tokens purchased via STC Wallet or received through active engagement in the Premium Holder Program, while assigning lower values to tokens acquired on the open market or received as complimentary bonuses and airdrops. As we approach this final chapter, our gratitude towards our supportive community is boundless, and we eagerly anticipate the enduring impact of Student Coin's legacy on future blockchain innovations.

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1. Student Coin history and its summary

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Student Coin was initiated by a group of undergraduate students at Kozminski University in Warsaw, Poland, in 2019. Initially named "ALK Token," its primary utility was to explore blockchain capabilities, including sending, receiving, and converting tokens. The successful outcome of this experiment encouraged us to pursue our vision of imparting blockchain knowledge through practical application, leading to airdrops of the token to students at Kozminski University and other Polish universities. The overwhelming support prompted us to list the token on the Waves Exchange and launch international airdrops. By the end of 2020, we will have reached more than 15,000 students from more than 500 universities around the world, enabling anyone with a valid student ID to claim free student coins.

In the project's early stages, we aimed to add substantial value to the $STC Token. We established the STC Academy (called initially the STC Educational Panel), a comprehensive online resource covering blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and personal crypto security. Encouraged by the growing enthusiasm within our community, we sought funding to develop more sophisticated project elements, such as a wallet, exchange, and terminal, enabling students to create their tokens. A pre-launchpad at the end of 2020, pricing the token at USD 0.0025, significantly accelerated our development, allowing us to enlarge our team and secure listings on Uniswap and the first centralized exchange.

February 2021 marked the beginning of the STC Launchpad, which expanded our community from 20,000 to over 200,000 users and facilitated the sale of $STC Tokens at remarkable valuations. We were immensely grateful to the cryptocurrency community for this opportunity, which enabled us to expand our business and technical teams and introduce additional projects under the Student Coin banner. The $STC Token was also listed on over ten exchanges, including major platforms like KuCoin, Bittrex, and Bithumb Global.

By the end of 2021, we had launched an upgraded version of the STC Wallet, introduced the STC Terminal for custom token creation, and established Coinpaper, a crypto news portal. In 2022, we co-developed the DeFi derivative exchange Logium, enhanced the STC Educational Panel to the STC Academy, and updated the STC Wallet. We also revised some initial strategies, such as university-based tokens and startup crowdfunding support, as we faced obstacles we did not foresee in advance. A rapidly changing environment caused some of these circumstances, and others originated from lack of practical experience about the various elements of the initiatives we intended to undertake.

In 2023, we launched STC University, an advanced version of the STC Academy offering comprehensive blockchain education and produced numerous educational videos about cryptocurrencies. Coinpaper experienced significant growth, with an active user increase rate of nearly 19,75% each month.

Throughout the project, our legal and finance teams worked diligently behind the scenes to protect the project's funds from major collapses in the crypto world such as Luna, UST, FTX, Genesis or Celsius and navigate through bear markets and legal uncertainties.

As of April 2024, we can summarize our significant achievements and candidly address the goals we did not meet, explaining these shortfalls.

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‍Achievements:

• Engaged a community of over 300,000 users
• Listed the token on more than 10 exchanges, including KuCoin, HitBTC, and Bittrex
• Generated over 300 million impressions in our campaigns
• Collaborated with more than 20 partners in education, software, and legal fields, such as SSRN, multiple academic clubs and software-houses
• Directly employed over 80 individuals throughout the project's lifespan
• Produced over 2,000 pages of educational material on digital currencies
• Recorded more than 50 hours of educational content on digital currencies
• Educated over 210,000 individuals through STC University and STC Academy
• Reached over 15,000 students globally
• Backed $STC Token through partner-based token acquisitions and the Premium Holder Program
• Developed the STC Wallet and STC Converter applications
• Launched the STC Terminal for creating diverse tokens
• Introduced mobile versions of the STC Wallet on the AppStore and Google Play with over 80,000 downloads
• Established Coinpaper.com, a rapidly growing crypto news portal
• Reached 60,000 monthly active users at Coinpaper
• Participated in multiple conferences worldwide
• Co-created a Decentralized Exchange for derivatives
• Launched two popular newsletters via Coinpaper and STC University with over 30,000 subscribers
• Allocated project’s cash equivalents in the responsible way to deliver over the market interests with minimal risk that significantly minimized the total costs
• Safeguarded the project's finances through STC Research and Finance unit during various crypto bankruptcies
• Successful managed of project’s finances during the USD and Anchor Protocol collapse
• Secured the total funding during the Celsius, FTX, and Genesis collapses
• Minimized project business service costs through proper process management and building internal know-how
• Performed ongoing monitoring of the market and legal and financial environment, so that legal strategies were implemented and the corporate structure was modeled before real problems in these sectors occurred 
• Performed ongoing tax optimization that has reduced project costs to the minimum legally possible

Having outlined our achievements, it's essential to reflect on the challenges that hindered further development.

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‍Unrealized Goals:

• Widespread Promotion of STC Terminal: We aimed for a large-scale promotion of the STC Terminal. However, this was not possible due to fewer people than expected wanting to create and use their own personal tokens. 
• Launch of University-Based Tokens: Our goal to launch official university-based tokens faced challenges. Despite multiple discussions, universities were hesitant due to their difficulty in integrating cryptocurrencies into their daily operations. 
• Startup Launchpads with Partner Projects: We intended to launch multiple startup launchpads in collaboration with partner projects. This goal was hindered by the low quality of projects that approached us for launch on the STC Terminal and STC Wallet. 
• Development of STC Wallet and Logium: We aimed to fully develop the STC Wallet and Logium into popular cryptocurrency exchanges. This was not achievable within our maximal commitment to operate entirely within certain legal and regulatory frameworks. 
• Token Pricing Levels of 2021: We hoped to reach the token pricing levels seen in 2021. However, this was not possible as we focused on building the project's value fundamentally rather than concentrating on marketing expenditures.

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A significant hurdle was encountered with the STC Terminal. We envisioned a world where individuals, organizations, and startups would each have their utility tokens, similar to how $STC Tokens were aimed to function within our community. This vision would allow for greater engagement and decision-making among community members. However, our outreach to various universities, including prestigious institutions, revealed widespread opposition to issuing digital assets due to legal uncertainties. Additionally, our efforts to promote the STC Terminal as a platform for token-based startups did not attract candidates who met our criteria for sustainable, value-driven projects. These circumstances undermined the relevance of the STC Terminal, calling into question the assumption of a world where everything is tokenized. We also took steps to develop the operation of the Terminal using other principles. Ultimately, we concluded that we must focus on other projects within Student Coin.

Our goal to establish STC Wallet as a comprehensive exchange faced similar obstacles. Initially, we aimed to create an STC Exchange supporting crypto-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat transactions. However, a thorough legal analysis and observation of risks, compounded by the collapse of other exchanges like FTX, led us to reconsider the plan. We opted for a partnership to create a non-centralized exchange, Logium, which did not progress satisfactorily despite its innovative approach. We have performed our role within the framework of this partnership and have decided not to expand it, as the entire project did not progress satisfactorily. Consequently, we decided to maintain STC Convert as a functional exchange feature within the STC Wallet instead of launching it as a separate entity.

Lastly, our objective was not achieved to restore the $STC Token's value to its 2021 highs. This shortfall was due to our inability to scale the project as anticipated and a significant overvaluation in 2021. Despite our efforts to support the token through market operations, liquidity provision, and marketing, the bearish market sentiment proved too strong, resulting in unsatisfactory performance.

Facing these challenges has led us to reassess our approach and premises. We've concluded that creating fundamental value for the $STC Token on our desired scale is nearly unattainable, leaving us three paths: continue as is with little hope for improvement, pivot to a new token with fresh speculative value, or initiate a comprehensive token redemption. As we do not want to build a speculative token that will spend all of its money on marketing to increase the price, or become a meme coin, we believe the most ethical choice is to proceed with redeeming the $STC Tokens, acknowledging the inability of satisfying our community under current conditions.We aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the project's journey better to explain the genesis of the STC Token Redemption decision.

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2. The Genesis of the $STC Token Redemption decision

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The decision to close the Student Coin project was influenced by multiple factors and needed to be considered at multiple levels. The primary reasons include challenges with capital allocation to build the token value fundamentally, legal uncertainty, and significant pressure on the team.

Firstly, the pricing of the $STC Token reached an enormously high pricing of $0.06599 per token at its All Time High and sustained over $0.02$ during two months in 2021. The all-time high that occurred after the STC Launchpad completion meant that token increased over 13 000% from its initial listing in 2019. While this could be seen as a success, it set a very high expectation for the project to outperform and continually deliver substantial value to the community. Despite our best efforts, we realized that achieving such significant value again through creating token utilities in our existing fundamental initiatives, including the STC University, STC Academy, Coinpaper, STC Wallet, and STC Terminal, is not feasible. We've observed that increased spending on our project's development doesn't significantly impact the token price as expected, indicating that the price is more influenced by unsustainable marketing dynamics than by its utility and fundamental factors. This realization led us to conclude that the current allocation of the project's funds was not optimal for the $STC Token holders, prompting us to rethink the project's future and what we should do with the remaining funding.

Secondly, our commitment to the principles of decentralization and freedom and the opportunities that the cryptocurrency world has provided for both our project and personal development remains strong. We continue to believe that blockchain technology, in particular, is a great achievement of modern science and that it will be implemented in many areas of the changing world, not just in the world of decentralized finance. However, the cryptocurrency landscape has shifted considerably in recent years, with a growing focus on price speculation rather than the foundational building of projects. This shift has placed Student Coin at a significant disadvantage, compounded by our very rigorous adherence to legal standards in an increasingly complex and uncertain regulatory environment. High-profile cases like FTX, Genesis, Celsius, and Luna, where leaders have faced legal consequences, highlight the unpredictable nature of the sector. 

The challenges mentioned have hindered our ability to establish and pursue long-term objectives due to ongoing legal uncertainties. This environment restricts us to short-term planning, limiting the development of initiatives like transforming STC Wallet into a full exchange or expanding STC Terminal for partner startup crowdfunding, due to potential unforeseen legal repercussions. The current landscape shows no signs of stabilizing to allow for forward-looking project planning. This ongoing legal uncertainty and the associated risks have significantly impeded our project's development, serving as another critical factor in our decision to close the project.

Finally, the gap between our community's expectations and our project's potential, alongside the relentless cryptocurrency market uncertainty and risk, has placed big pressure on our team. Initiated during our college years, Student Coin was born from a vision that has since evolved. While we are deeply grateful for the support and lessons learned from the STC community, we have realized that the cryptocurrency space and Student Coin, by extension, is no longer the right environment for our future growth and realization of the initial goals of the STC Wallet or STC Terminal. Consequently, we have made the difficult decision to give the opportunity to our whole community to redeem and sell the $STC Tokens above the current market price to us for all of the remaining project’s funding instead of continuing to use the funds into project’s development. With the redeeming action, we want to give back to each member of our community full decision-making power in terms of whether they want to continue participating in the cryptocurrency market or whether they prefer to take a different path.

‍Some of you may have harbored hopes for Student Coin to join the top 20 cryptocurrency projects or for the token to revisit its all-time high. Unfortunately, we believe these outcomes are no longer attainable. We extend our sincerest apologies to our entire community. As a final act, we are committed to conducting the $STC Token Redemption and sale in the most professional manner possible, focusing on rewarding our most loyal supporters and all community members. Thank you for your understanding.

As we have explained the main reasons behind our decision and the project's story, we would like to provide a comprehensive overview of the $STC Token Redemption process and sale. This will encompass community structure, assumptions, and the procedure for the $STC Token Redemption.

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$STC Token Redemption funding and background

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The $STC Token Redemption will be a very complex process due to the long history of the project and the complex community structure. Designing this process presented numerous challenges, leading us to establish certain principles to ensure a fair distribution of redemption value.

Key challenges included determining a fair redemption price, deciding between a uniform price or an individual approach based on specific circumstances, categorizing user groups for redemption, and structuring the redemption process.

‍We also would like to remind, that as a private entity, Student Coin is not obligated to redeem or buy all existing $STC Tokens, given that $STC is a utility token, and not a security tied to company shares or direct business outcomes. The distribution of the total funding is solely at the decision of the Student Coin team.

It should be noted that Student Coin is not obliged by any commonly applicable law to carry out a token redeeming operation. It is not an operation in the nature of a legal action under the law of financial markets or financial operations in the unregulated markets of the respective countries. Any action taken in a redeeming action is in the nature of a legal transaction between the Student Coin as a project and the community member concerned carried out under freedom of contract.

‍Nevertheless, we believe that redeeming the tokens is a moral imperative and the right way to reciprocate the community's involvement and faith, whether through token purchase or contribution to the project.

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‍Total Funding, Expenditures, and Revenues

‍Assessing a just redemption value was also challenging due to the complicated history of the project's funding. Our total funding derived from diverse sources like: $STC Token open market sales in the whole project history, pre-Launchpad in 2020, STC Launchpad in 2021, OTC deals, and partnerships, plus all revenues from operational activities. At the other side, the crucial expenditures included marketing (-9%), exchange listings (-4%), market liquidity provisions pre-2023 (-4%), software expenses (-3%), team expenses (-4%), and other costs, totaling -25.8% of our total funding. However, interest from USDC allocations, project revenues, and treasury management post-2023 reduced the above mentioned costs to only -8.5% from our total funding. Consequently, we're able to allocate 91.5% of our total funding towards $STC Token Redemption and open market buy liquidity, reflecting our commitment to providing equitable value back to our token holders.

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‍Token Redemption price range

After careful consideration, we've decided to set the redemption price range between $0.006 and $0.0137 per token, depending on purchase history and account activity.We debated whether to use a single redemption price for all or to adjust prices on an individual basis. Our conclusion was to maintain a relatively consistent price across groups but to particularly reward our long-term holders, Premium Holder Program participants, and those who purchased tokens directly with STC Wallet.

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4. $STC Token holders community structure and history

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To facilitate a fair redemption, we've identified thirteen distinct groups of $STC token holders, considering their activity history, initial price levels, and considerations for determining their respective redemption values. This approach ensures a tailored and equitable process for all involved.

‍STC Launchpad participants

‍Our primary focus is on STC Launchpad participants from 2021, especially those participating in the Premium Holder Program and active members of our Telegram Chat. It's noteworthy that Launchpad participants bought $STC Tokens at prices ranging from $0.005 to $0.0221, with various bonuses potentially reducing their effective purchase price by up to 50%. During the purchase with STC Wallet, STC Launchpad participants could experience the following bonuses:

• 30% STC referral bonus (including self-referrals)
• 20% ETH referral bonus (including self-referrals)
• Up to 10% referee bonus
• Up to 10% purchase bonus (related to the method of payment)

The bonuses were used by over 93% of STC Launchpad users. Consequently, the bonus-adjusted price range for these participants is estimated at $0.0033 to $0.0147, with a weighted average purchase price estimated at $0.0118 per STC. Tokens acquired during the STC Launchpad will be redeemed from $0.006 to $0.0137, with the specific amount determined by the real bonus-adjusted purchase price.

Premium Holder Program participants

‍We've chosen to especially recognize Premium Holder Program (PHP) participants for their significant contribution by locking their $STC Tokens, which provided essential liquidity for operations and token conversion at STC Wallet. Recognizing their commitment, the users received up to 16,65% additional tokens over three years of the program, PHP tokens will be redeemed at a premium rate of $0.01 each.

‍On-chain token holders

‍Throughout the project's five-year history, numerous users bought $STC Tokens on various centralized and decentralized exchanges. These tokens were acquired at prices ranging from $0.0005 in 2019/2020 by slightly over $0.06 in 2021 back to $0.003 in 2022 and 2023. Due to active trading at over 15 platforms, it's challenging to track individual unrealized gains or losses nor identify the actual holders behind on-chain wallets. To address this, we're facilitating token sale availability by introducing open market liquidity, enabling all on-chain holders to exchange their tokens at $0.006 each by just filling our buy orders.

‍Students, partners, team members and other

‍Several groups are holding $STC Tokens, including those who acquired them through OTC deals, partners as part of agreements, and team and advisory board members as a recognition of their support. Considering their unique contributions and acquisition methods, we plan to individually redeem the tokens for these groups within a general range of $0.003 to $0.006 per token.

‍Student Coin reserves and project’s tokens

‍It's crucial to note that Student Coin and its sub-projects like Coinpaper and STC University currently hold around 5 100 000 000 (5.1 billion) of $STC Tokens. The tokens were kept by the project to boost future development, funding and partnerships. We've resolved to burn these unused reserves and all tokens acquired from open market operations, ensuring they're excluded from the redemption process. This action allows us to redirect Student Coin's project funding back to our token holders, enhancing the value returned to the community.

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The following table summarizes our current community structure of the $STC Token holders:

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Summary of the assumptions for the redemption process

‍This redemption decision was complex due to the diverse origins of our token holders, from airdrop recipients to those who bought tokens at various market prices over the five years of our project. We have done our best to satisfy all holders, but we must prioritize particular groups.

To manage this, we've developed specific assumptions for the redemption process:

• Different treatment for each group or holder based on their purchase price
• Preferential redemption rates for STC Launchpad participants
• The high rewards for tokens acquired through the Premium Holder Program
• STC Wallet users will be given priority
• At STC Wallet the "Aggregated Redemption Price" for all tokens will be calculated based on each user's history and activity level
• The redemption process will occur simultaneously across STC Wallet and open-market sale at KuCoin, Uniswap, OTC deals, and other exchanges
• The unused funds from STC Wallet will be redirected for open-market liquidity after the end of the redemption process at STC Wallet
• The 5.1 billion $STC Tokens currently held by Student Coin, will not be redeemed but instead will be immediately burned

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The graph illustrates the $STC Token price history across various holder groups and their acquisition periods. Given the vast price range from $0.0005 to $0.06599, equating to a difference of over 13,000%, a logarithmic scale is employed to make the early pricing data (2019/2020) visible.

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5. Token Redemption Pricing

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With the $STC Token holder community structure defined, it's essential to understand the pricing mechanism for the $STC Token Redemption and Sale. Given that some users may fall into multiple categories, the following table clarifies the redemption pricing for each token type based on its holding and acquisition criteria:

For STC Wallet holders, the "Aggregate Redemption Price" for all of their tokens will be automatically determined after logging into the app, providing a breakdown of holdings across different token categories to clarify and simplify the redemption process.

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The $STC Token Redemption process is designed with fairness and equity at its core, reflecting our token holders' diverse experiences and contributions. The redemption pricing has been thoughtfully structured to acknowledge the varying levels of purchase and involvement within the STC community.

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The tailored process aims to balance the diverse experiences of our token holders, rewarding early and active participants while providing a fair and equitable process for all involved. We strive to ensure that the $STC Token Redemption reflects our values of fairness and community, and that we are grateful for the support that has made the Student Coin project possible.

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Having detailed the pricing, we will next outline the specific steps for the redemption process, including redemption methods, timeline, and additional relevant information.

6. Timeline and deadlines for the redemption

Specific redemption methods are time-limited due to security reasons and to maintain support and technical teams. The $STC Token Redemption & Sale process starts at 9th of April 4:00 PM (UTC) with different stages that will end during the next five years.

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For STC Wallet Users:

• June 9, 2024 (2 months from the announcement): Deadline for fast redemption process within the STC Wallet.
• October 9, 2024 (6 months from the announcement): Deadline for redeeming tokens via Late Redemption Request.

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For Users Holding STC Outside the STC Wallet (e.g. Metamask and On-Chain):

• June 9, 2024 (2 months from the announcement): Deadline for selling tokens at any centralized exchange such as KuCoin.
• April 9, 2029 (5 years from the announcement): Deadline for selling tokens via On-Chain Burn Procedure or limited Uniswap V3 liquidity.

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Should these redemption deadlines be exceeded, tokens held within the STC Wallet will be automatically burned, while the funds reserved for redemption will be utilized to enhance $STC Token liquidity in the late On-Chain Burn Procedure. A comprehensive explanation will be provided in the next sections.

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The following graphic summarizes the deadlines for $STC Token Redemption and deadline.

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7. Final Words

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On behalf of the entire Student Coin Team, we extend our deepest gratitude for your unwavering support and active participation throughout our project journey. Your faith in our vision and engagement in discussions across chats and social media has been invaluable. The decision to conclude the project and initiate the token redemption was immensely challenging, but we believe it to be the most honest and correct course of action.

We acknowledge the disappointment this may bring to those who envisioned STC ascending the ranks of top cryptocurrencies. It brings us joy to have delivered substantial value to our early backers. However, we must also recognize that some members have yet to receive satisfactory returns on their $STC Token purchases. Our commitment in these final stages is to act fairly, ensuring that the redemption process is as equitable and beneficial as possible for all parties involved.

We are profoundly thankful for this shared journey and the collective achievements we have celebrated together. Looking ahead, we wish you tremendous success and hope that the USDC you receive will help foster future undertakings that will meet your expectations and fully satisfy you financially.

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With heartfelt appreciation,

The Student Coin Team

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