Many has asked about our growth plans along with offering up suggestions.

We thought we would take the time to mention where the Manna team is focusing its attention in general terms.

Hopefully, this outline will triggers ideas among others within the community.

###### Growth of community
This is an obvious starting point.  Without a thriving community, any project such as this is doomed to fail.  Manna is a basic income/giving token meaning it all begins with the recipients of the UBI.  We are happy to see such great progress in this area.  The total for this week who will receive the token just passed 110,000 with 2 days still left.

![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmf7BtpM8N9noFx8swvg3FFhV8r6PJtp7FEXiSEFfTeBHt/image.png)

We believe this is the starting point of since people need to receive the token in order to use it.  

Putting the currency in people's hands gives ultimately gives them a couple different options.  One could opt either to spend it (more on that in a bit) or hodl it.  We need both for Manna to be successful.  

##### Growing the value of the currency itself
We are well aware that if the marketcap of Manna does not grow as we progress along, the entire project is just an exercise.  Recipients need to receive value to make an impact in their lives.  

There are many reasons why currencies go up and down which are familiar to us all.  We feel excitement is a primary factor.  As we unveil the different initiatives, we believe people will start to see the vision behind this project.  It is something to get excited about.  This will translate into others buying the token in either support or as an investment.  

We realize being on different exchanges is crucial and that is being worked on.  One criteria that is important to exchanges is the interest in a token.  This is why the growth of the number of recipients is crucial.  We understand how their interest increases the more wallets a project has out there.

Another factor into the token price tends to be not only the liquidity, but the ease one can switch into other currencies, especially fiat.  This is something that will occur as more exchanges pick it up.  We realize that people who are signing up for the UBI to use for basic necessities require immediate exchange into their native currency.  This is not something overlooked by the Manna team.

###### Develop Mannabase into a thriving social network
Our ultimate vision of the Mannabase site is that it is a social network based around giving.  Using Manna as the means, we envision it as a forum for global giving, tipping, and microdonations.  Blockchain technology provides the ability to transact with less friction, than the current banking system.  We foresee Mannabase as a central hub to be able to locate those who are in the greatest need and target them directly with Manna.  

Having a social network centered on giving will, in our view, only spur more of it.  We want to provide a place where those in need can come to post their projects while those with resources can help directly.  This should remove a great many of the barriers to giving that are present in the system we have now.

###### Point-of-sale 
With any currency, it is the chicken or the egg.  People will not want the currency if nobody accepts it while vendors will not accept it if nobody has it.

Having a place for people to use their Manna is vital.  Distributing a basic income to people is not of great value if they have no place to buy the necessities required.  We know this is a crucial area of need.  There were two sites we came across in the last few weeks, both mention [here](https://steemit.com/basicincome/@mannacurrency/introducing-the-manna-marketplace-merchant-of-manna), that are now accepting Manna.  

This is where the Manna community is really going to have an impact.  Entrepreneurs can expand their markets by either accepting Manna in what they are currently doing or establishing businesses based upon providing products and services for the Manna community.  

On the giving end, we are in discussions with some global non-profit organizations that might be open to accepting Manna.  

We know this is a broad outline of some of what is taking place.  There are a number of others items being pursued that we did not go into here for a variety of reasons.  

Hopefully, this provides Steemians with some insight into where things are going.  We appreciate the effort everyone on Steemit put in.  There is a wonderful community of people involved in Manna forming on here.  It is a central area that we are looking to support since we feel Steemit is going to be an important part of the blockchain world going forward.

Being a non-profit, our resources are tight.  We did further our standing within the Steemit community by purchasing just shy of 230 Steem which we used to power up.  The Steem token is an asset we using to help back the value of the Manna currency.  Our approach to Steemit is long term ensuring that Manna also benefits as Steem grows.  Our analysis of the blockchain industry led us to believe this is a good asset to diversify our holdings with.

Thank you to everyone for the assistance and support.  We are truly grateful to the Steemit community.

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