Item number: C141

Year: AD 2000

Material: Paper

Size: 22.2 x 29.8 cm

Provenance: 澳洲私人收藏 2024

This is the June AD 2000 issue of FHM (For Him Magazine), an adult-oriented men’s magazine published in the United Kingdom by Bauer Media Group. The magazine was in circulation from AD 1985 to AD 2015.

The magazine often featured scantily clad young women on its covers. The cover model for this issue is Australian model Holly Valance, posing in a bikini. The tagline, “FREE SEX BOOK YOUR 69-PAGE BEDROOM COMPENDIUM,” clearly reflects the magazine’s target audience and stylistic orientation.

The magazine also features an advertisement for the pioneering virtual currency “beenz.” The ad depicts a red bean set against a light green background, with the trademark “beenz™” prominently displayed on its surface. At the centre is the tagline highlighting the unique features of the virtual currency: “Click. Earn. Spend.”

A text block at the bottom explains how users can earn beenz online and spend them on items such as CDs, books, wine, and travel. It also provides a link for more information: www.beenz.com.

Beenz, often regarded as the first widely recognised form of virtual currency, was introduced by British entrepreneur Charles Cohen in March AD 2000, during the height of the dot-com bubble. Leveraging the domain beenz.com, Cohen launched this innovative currency in the United States. Together with his associates, he secured $86 million in funding from prominent venture capital firms, including SoftBank, Apax Partners, Vivendi, and Oracle. This substantial investment enabled the rapid establishment of 13 offices worldwide within a short period.

The operational model of beenz involved partnering with websites to distribute a designated amount of virtual currency. Visitors to these participating websites could collect beenz at no cost and subsequently use them for purchases on the same platforms. However, just eight months after its launch, the rapid expansion of beenz began to face significant challenges. The service struggled to maintain its momentum due to its accelerated growth and the emergence of competitors like Amazon and Visa, which introduced more straightforward and widely accepted online payment systems using credit cards.

Ultimately, on August 26, AD 2001, beenz and its parent company declared bankruptcy and ceased operations. The collapse of beenz serves as a quintessential example of the unsustainable growth and volatility that characterised the dot-com bubble era.

The dot-com bubble, which occurred during the late 1990s and the turn of the millennium, was characterised by a surge in investment surrounding emerging internet technologies and concepts as the internet became increasingly mainstream. This period saw numerous speculative investments, many of which ultimately ended in failure. However, some of the companies that emerged during this time—such as Google, PayPal, and Amazon—have since become household names and global industry leaders, illustrating the lasting impact of the era despite the financial turmoil it caused.

物件編號: C141

年代: 公元 2000 年

材質: 紙

尺寸: 22.2 x 29.8 cm

來源: Private Collector, Australia, 2024

這是一本公元2000年6月號的《FHM》(為他雜誌) ，為鮑爾媒體集團在英國發行的成年男性取向雜誌，發行時間為公元1985至2015年。

雜誌經常以穿著清涼的妙齡女郎作為封面，本期的封面女郎是澳洲女模霍莉·瓦蘭絲穿著比基尼的性感照，搭配副標題「FREE SEX BOOK YOUR 69-PAGE BEDROOM COMPENDIUM」(性愛自由指南：69頁臥室全書)，明顯能了解這本雜誌的客群和風格取向。

這本雜誌還有虛擬貨幣先驅「beenz」(紅豆錢) 的廣告，一粒以青綠色為背景色的紅豆，表面還印有商標「beenz TM」。並且在中央展現虛擬貨幣特色的口號「Click. Earn. Spend.」(點擊 賺取 花費)。最下方的文字段落則是解釋如何在網頁上賺取紅豆錢，並且能用這些虛擬貨幣購買CD、書籍、紅酒和旅行，以及了解更多資訊的網址「www.beenz.com」。

紅豆錢是英國人查理斯·科恩在公元2000年3月，即網路泡沫的狂飆之際，於美國以其創辦的「beenz.com」(紅豆網) 網域，推出世界上第一種具有知名度的虛擬貨幣「紅豆錢」。科恩和友人設法從軟銀、安佰深集團、威望迪和甲骨文等知名創投公司募得8600萬美金投入創業，在短時間之內於全球設立13個據點。紅豆錢的運作邏輯為科恩會在簽約的網站釋放一定數量的虛擬貨幣，供網站的瀏覽者得以無償收集後，再向簽約的網站以紅豆錢進行消費。然而在短短8個月後，紅豆錢就因為業務拓展過快，以及競爭對手亞馬遜和Visa推出更為直觀的線上信用卡付款而受到衝擊。最終在公元2001 年 8 月 26 日，紅豆網和紅豆錢宣告停止服務和破產，成為網路泡沫時代的一個典型案例。

網路泡沫為上世紀90年代和千禧年之際，隨著網路這項科技逐漸普及化，出現許多圍繞著相關技術和概念的投資熱潮，雖然多數的投資最終以失敗收場。但是現今世人耳熟能詳的跨國公司，諸如Google、Paypal和亞馬遜就是這段時期的產物。