Is Manna Cryptocurrency/UBI Viable?

This is intended to be a simple overview and discussion for those not familiar with the Manna cryptocurrency.

Let's start with the positives.

Manna is operated out of a website called Mannabase.com, which is easy to navigate and signup on. It is free to signup, and payments are deposited automatically. In order to get these payments, all you have to do is have an account. It is totally passive, and payments are distributed once a week. If you want to come back in a year to check out how much you have and never check it in the meantime, that is totally cool. There is literally no reason I can find not to sign up. I've been signed up for nearly a month, and I see no signs that they have done anything inappropriate with the data I have given them (which isn't much). Their referral program is great because not only does the person using the referral get paid more as a reward, but the person using the referral link actually gets paid more than if they had just signed up on the site as well!

( On that note, here is my referral link. If you do want to signup, which there really is no reason not to, then please use this link so we both get paid more! https://www.mannabase.com/?ref=e5b4681aa5 )

On a personal note, and this might not be a positive for everybody (hence the separate paragraph), I love the ideology behind this project. As I allude to in the title of this piece, the group behind this, the People’s Currency Foundation, believes in a Universal Basic Income (UBI). This is the idea that everybody should just have some money to live off of just by virtue of being alive. It is not intended for people to get rich, but rather just to survive. This would eliminate starvation, homeless, lack of access to healthcare, etc. It tends to be a more left-wing idea, but it has sometimes attracted Libertarian support because it could replace many welfare systems without the need for the same bureaucracy. People would just get a check and decide how to spend it, with very little need for paternalism. Personally I think that a UBI would help make society stronger and give everybody a better shot at improving their lives and opportunity in general. This site, in terms of its very idealistic goal, wants to potentially become a way of providing a UBI. Hence the model of being able to just sign up and get money. For more info on this idea and the site, see this great article by @phelimint https://steemit.com/manna/@phelimint/universal-basic-income-and-weekly-cryptocurrency-distribution-from-mannabase

Of course, there is a catch...here are the negatives:

Realistically the site is nowhere near achieving that goal. Forget the logistics of getting everybody in the world to sign up - everybody knows that is not realistic at this point. The real issue is that the currency is not worth much. Expect to get cents per week. Of course, all cryptos start small, and if this does grow up quickly then those already invested could gain a lot. However, don't plan to make much unless you get a ton of people to join via referrals. They do ask for some information, including address and phone number, when you first sign up. Obviously this is to prevent people from referring themselves, but I know for a lot of crypto-heads that might be an issue. So be aware of that. There also aren't that many exchanges that actually will trade Manna - although it is possible. Just don't expect the choice you would have with bitcoin, or even STEEM.

Overall:
I am certainly not unhappy to have an account, but there is a very high chance this wont go anywhere. However, since it is free and automatic, there really is no reason not to start using it. I'd say to go ahead and make an account, but don't spend a lot of time checking back on it. If the founders manage to get it on some more exchanges and get it accepted as payment somewhere, the value could increase substantially. https://www.mannabase.com/?ref=e5b4681aa5

Anyone else out there who has had experience with Mannabase, or wants to add more on to the ideas in this article, please go ahead and comment. Upvotes always appreciated.