ICOs in general are not performing as they were earlier in the year, which has made navigating the ICO landscape tricky. The best ICOs are scooped by Venture Capitals in the early stages and usually now ICOs run airdrops or put a very small allocation on lottery for smaller investors to create “hype” over their project (i.e. Quarkchain). The state of ICOs has changed rapidly in recent months, as not too long ago a small-scale investor could easily get into big ICOs like Wanchain and Icon. Now, it’s a different story, as most of the ICOs that even smell of a good investment are invested by Venture Capitals. This is also due to regulations that ICOs are facing, as it is safer for them to sell tokens to a licensed investor with connections than to small investors with unknown funds.
Origo
Hard Cap: TBA
Whitelist Date: 21.6 – 4.7
Total Supply: TBA
Total Supply Designated for Investors: Unknown
Official Website: https://origo.network
ICO Backstory
Origo aims to create a smart contract enabled blockchain platform with strong privacy features. Similar to Loki Network, Edenchain, and upcoming project Aergo, Origo Network aims to feature privacy as one of the main drivers of adopting decentralized applications (dApps). Nowhere is the need for privacy more paramount than in the collection of identity and behavior data.
In the Origo Network there are three main components. The first is the participants of the smart contract. The second component is the blockchain, or simply the distributed ledger. The third component is the smart contract executor.
The difference between top privacy blockchain projects such as Monero, Zcash, and so forth is that those projects just keep the transactions private. Origo Network – apart from keeping the transactions confidential – will also help in keeping the creation and execution of smart contracts private without revealing input and output. The project at the moment has some strong investors backing them. The idea seems interesting, but with no MVP and very long roadmap, it may lose hype early.
Origo token will be used for a variety of use cases, such as transaction fee payment, governance participation, participant bidding for executor usage, executor deposit to run smart contracts, and honest participation rewards
Product Roadmap:
• December 2018: Testnet up and running,
• September 2019: Mainnet up and running, swap Origo ERC20 for mainnet token
Key Points:
• No prototype
• Token metrics not available
• Strong investors – Polychain Capital, FBG Capital, Kenetic, etc
• ERC20 token
• Long road map – risky investment
• The core team comprises of experts in the field of IT and data privacy
• Origo has a lot of work ahead of them to accomplish
CertiK
Hard Cap: TBA
Whitelist Date: TBA to the telegram group
Total Supply: 100,000,000 CTK
Total Supply Designated for Investors: Unknown
Official Website: https://certik.org
ICO Backstory
Founded in Silicon Valley and New York City, CertiK is a formal verification framework for building fully trustworthy smart contracts and blockchain ecosystems. They aim to help people construct bug-free and hacker-resistant smart contracts and blockchain ecosystems. Many security-focused companies in market relies on manual code review and only provide limited automated property checking. It is inefficient, non-scalable, takes long time, and – more importantly – not as secure as CertiK’s service is planned to be.
They claim that blockchain ecosystems are not truly trustable. Due to their transparent policy and the potential benefits of performing a successful attack, these ecosystems are highly sensitive to attacks and are far more vulnerable than previously expected. CertiK mainly focuses on building the automatic and scalable formal verification platform to provide functional correctness proofs on smart contracts and blockchain ecosystems implementation. Mathematically ensuring that they are hack-resistant and bug-free. Their platform is comprised of smart labelling, layer-based decomposition, pluggable proof engine, machine-checkable proof objects, certified dApp libraries, and customized certification services.
There is competition from established projects like Quantstamp and Zeppelin. However, the solutions from both projects and others in the space are very human intensive and do not involve much automation, so they are far less scalable than CertiK.
It is also worth pointing out their strong team. CertiK’s founders are world-class formal verification experts from Yale University and Columbia University. While its senior software engineers have worked for companies such as Google, Facebook, and FreeWheel. If the team can execute their roadmap, they will be massive competition for the likes of Quantstamp and Zeppelin in the future.
Key Points:
• ERC20 token
• It is one of the few projects that Binance initially invested in
• More scalable opportunity than competitors Quantstamp and Zeppelin
• Very strong team
• Verification framework for building fully trustworthy smart contracts and blockchain ecosystems
Block Cloud
Hard Cap: $15,000,000 (80% sold on presale) – 1 BLOC = $0.008
Whitelist Date: Q3 2018
Total Supply: 10,000,000,000 BLOC
Total Supply Designated for Investors: 20%
Official Website: http://www.block-cloud.io/
ICO Backstory
The Blockcloud ICO and BLOC Token offer a solution to the challenges of scalability and trust stifling the growth of the IoT sector. On a traditional IoT network, most platforms provide a centralized server to aggregate all connected devices, data, and services. Such structuring ultimately creates barriers to scaling through high-bandwidth consumption and a centralized point of failure. As a solution to these problems, Blockcloud proposes an incentive-driven protocol for IoT services, architected for scalability and security, that will form the foundation of a viable ecosystem of interconnected smart devices.
Blockcloud contends that blockchain technology offers the most viable means to introduce the mechanisms for incentive and trust necessary for a functional IoT ecosystem. The protocol will include an application-layer overlay on top of the underlying network of connected devices, utilizing Service-Centric Networking (SCN). In essence, Service-Centric Networks (SCN) provides the mechanisms required to deploy replicated service instances across a distributed network. Routing client requests (i.e. from IoT connected devices) to the closest instance, while maintaining the most efficient usage of the network infrastructure.
The team behind Blockcloud have an exceptional track record in the application of technical knowledge to business use case scenarios. Between the 12 members, they have published more than 50 papers in top academic journals, which have been cited more than 300 times worldwide, and they have applied for more than 80 patents. Moreover, the developer team draws on previous experience with Chinese tech giants such as Huawei, Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent.
The industry connections afforded by parent company Oudmon in the IoT sector have already resulted in over 30 signed partnership agreements with various players. Plus, efforts are underway to expand these arrangements. Many of these partners will serve both as service providers and customers in the Blockcloud ecosystem. With a long list of partnerships and strong community support for an early stage project, the Blockcloud ICO is showing signs of a bright future ahead.
Key Points:
• Own wallet
• The road map is rather slow
• IoT space is competitive
• Very strong team
• Long list of partnerships
• Product development is in its early stages
Vite
Hard Cap: $28,200,000 (60,000 ETH) – 1 VITE = $0.0672
Whitelist Date: TBA
Total Supply: 1,000,000,000 VITE
Total Supply Designated for Investors: 40%
Official Website: https://www.vite.org
ICO Backstory
Vite is a general-purpose platform for decentralized applications. It is designed to support industrial-strength applications by offering high throughput, low latency, and scalability while at the same time providing security. Vite is a universal dApp platform that can support a set of smart contracts, each of which is a state machine with an independent state and different operational logic, which can communicate by message delivery. Main benefits that Vite addresses are ultra-high performance, reactive contract, and integrated decentralized ecosystem.
The Vite team are dedicated to addressing current performance and scalability issues of infrastructural chains, so that truly practical applications with high-frequency data requirements can be built in a blockchain framework.
Vite is entering a space that has been very interesting to see evolve. Combining DAG technology with decentralized applications is a combination that suits perfectly. We’ve seen how fast and scalable DAGs can be with examples such as Nano, and we’ve seen how well Decentralized Applications run on platforms like NEO amd Ethereum. Vite does have some competition (Fantom) but competitors in this space all seem to be in very early stages of development. This still gives them an opportunity to get ahead of them.
The list of investors is pretty long. It includes principally crypto funds from Asia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Their long-term commitment and plan is indicated by the well-developed roadmap, which is prescribed until 2020. At this moment, because of the hype there is an assumption that the project will hold an airdrop.
Key Points:
• Own wallet
• Possibility of airdrop
• Well connected investors
• Long roadmap, until 2020
• Built and developed through DAG ledger
Ankr
Hard Cap: $16,000,000
Whitelist Date: TBA
Total Supply: TBA
Total Supply Designated for Investors: 30%
Official Website: https://ankr.network
ICO Backstory
Ankr aims to build a resource efficient blockchain framework that enables distributed cloud computing and provides user-friendly infrastructure for business applications. Its blockchain infrastructure will be based on Proof-of-Useful-Work (PoUW) consensus on an SGX-enabled trusted execution environment (TEE).
Its team wants to create a distributed cloud computing platform on its own blockchain. Tokens can be earned or mined by contributing computing power. Ankr uses Software Guard Extensions. This limits hardware adoption to a specific set on Intel processors. Main futures that Ankr is planning to provide: proof of useful work consensus protocol, distributed cloud computing platform, oracle service, and multi-chain structure.
They are planning the use of widespread hardware technology (Intel SGX) to unlock an array of idle resources creates potential to increase adaptability of their blockchain, with focus on niche industry such as real estate, fintech, and art collection.
On the roadmap, it says that the proof-of-concept was developed during April 2018. However, information on the MVP has yet to be released and will be announced soon, so this makes them basically a paper project at this point. The team has not released any information on the deal structure or token metrics publicly yet.
The project has a high market awareness with a low hard cap for a blockchain project. Most of the hard cap is contributed by funds. The project is a very ambitious that is trying to solve many problems at once. Given the early stage of the project in both the technical and business development side, it is a project that appears to be flying under the radar.
Key Points:
• Ankr is supported by NEO Global Capital, a successful blockchain investment fund
• ERC20 token
• Project trying to tackle multiple big problems facing blockchain
• The roadmap doesn’t go beyond July 2018
• Key members (CEO and COO) are fresh out of college and have limited working experience
• The prototype is coming out in July
Perlin
Hard Cap: 30,000 ETH
Whitelist Date: TBA
Total Supply: TBA
Total Supply Designated for Investors: TBA
Official Website: http://perlin.net/
ICO Backstory
The Perlin ICO and PERL Token are raising funds for the launch of a scalable DAG-based protocol using Avalanche consensus. The Perlin ICO also includes the launch of a decentralized computer layer, called the Perlin Network, which will serve as a marketplace for the exchange of computing resources between providers and customers. Perlin is optimized to be a solution for developing dApps that require large amounts of computing resources and disk space, opening the door to a variety of potential use case scenarios.
Perlin Network frames a trustless market around an untapped computing power supply, consisting of highly underutilized computing resources to make supercomputing economically viable and accessible globally. It is a distributed computing platform based on DAG and using a consensus approach called Avalanche consensus. This new consensus approach is based on high scalability and transaction. Initial test results showed 1600+ tps (transactions per second) on 2,000 nodes.
The Perlin network accesses underutilized computing power such as mobile phones to quantify the available resources of each participant. It aims to build a distributed computing platform where underutilized computing resources can be commodified into highly parallel batches of computing power, which can be utilized for tasks such as analyzing big data and machine learning modules. Therefore, it can achieve very low costs of the Perlin Network and consequently allows computing power to be used by startups, researchers, and other small businesses that are cost sensitive.
Key Points:
• Low costs of network opportunity for startups and small businesses
• No schedule or roadmap has been published yet
• Team highly experienced in blockchain space
• Not much info at this point, project still under the radar
• DAG protocol and innovative decentralized computing platform
• Target markets are highly competitive
Aergo
Hard Cap: TBA
Whitelist Date: TBA
Total Supply: 500,000,000
Total Supply Designated for Investors: 30%
Official Website: https://aergo.io
ICO Backstory
AERGO is a fourth-generation enterprise ready blockchain protocol, with the ability to deploy on either public or private blockchain networks. AERGO will give businesses the flexibility in developing and deploying blockchain applications with speed, scalability, and performance. AERGO is designed as a flexible, plugin-based smart contract infrastructure where Clients can execute smart contracts written for the Ethereum Virtual Machine or AergoSQL. AERGO will support Smart Oracles, hence it will also allow smart contracts to consume data with external services or internal databases and trigger events. Aergo’s architecture consists of three components – chain, hub, and marketplace.
The chain will use deterministic delegated proof of stake consensus supporting over 1 million TPS via sidechains. Aergo hub is a blockchain hosting service for building, testing, deploying and managing independent blockchains based on AERGO Chain. The marketplace allows you to buy and sell computing assets such, as Storage Computing Power and others.
The roadmap could be more detailed, but from what is available we see that the smart contract enables storing and accessing data. SQL-like scripting language should be ready in Q2, Beta chain in Q3, public testnet Q4, with the mainnet in Q1 2019. More info on the alpha should be released soon.
There are more than 30 companies or projects trying to deliver this kind of blockchain solutions worldwide. When it comes to high throughput blockchain angle we already know that the market is quite saturated and the number of competitors seems to be countless.
Aergo is likely to be one of the more exciting projects for the second half of 2018. Its architecture is designed to solve real-world problems by adopting solidified developers and newcomers alike. The ability to provide permissions and privacy throughout its design also bodes well for real-world enterprise adoption.
Key Points:
• Own wallet
• High competition
• Not a lot of info avaliable at this point
• ICO from South Korea, which tend to bring good returns to investors
• Mainnet in Q1 2019
DREP
Hard Cap: $28,700,000 – 1 DREP = $0.0110
Whitelist Date: 22.6 – 30.6
Total Supply: 10,000,000,000
Total Supply Designated for Investors: 30%
Official Website: https://www.drep.org
ICO Backstory
DREP aims to offer a decentralized reputation network that leverages blockchain technology to tackle issues of fake news, fraudulent accounts, and false content. The goal is to empower existing internet platforms to quantify, monetize, and share reputation value. It wants to encourage users of internet platforms to create and maintain high-end reputations and then monetize that reputation value. Consequently, participants can trade reputation value and share it with internet platforms.
The challenges facing internet platforms with regards to reputation management include passive community, distorted reality, and isolated platforms. DREP makes great efforts to tackle these reputation challenges. The project is offering a distributed reputation platform focused on enabling a more engaging, high-quality. and interconnected internet community.
DREP’s competitive advantage stems from its promise to build a stable and fast infrastructure for an interconnected ecosystem, which allows for monetizing reputation value and sharing of reputation value between similar platforms. DREP has already established strategic partnerships with major entities from different sectors. They include Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Shanghai Singapore Business Association (SSBA), Blockway Capital, QuarkChain, and QTU, among others.
Project Roadmap:
2018 Q4 – Beta test for reputation infrastructure network
2019 Q1 – Mainnet launch
Key Points:
• ERC20 token
• The roadmap is short
• Established strategic partnerships
• Small amount of token for public sale (30%) is concerning
• Team has blockchain expertise and background in target market
Cognida
Hard Cap: $20,000,000
Whitelist Date: July – August
Total Supply: 550,000,000
Total Supply Designated for Investors: 57% (3% for airdrop)
Official Website: https://cognida.network
ICO Backstory
Cognida is a blockchain agnostic data integrity and management platform created by Windmill enterprise. It’s an open-sourced project, the platform allows distributed data to interact with different blockchains in a highly secured way whilst maintaining data integrity. Data and messages can also be translated into a common shareable format, enable all devices and services to communicate with one another using a common protocol.
Cognida as a solution is aimed towards an open-sourced platform/interface that allows distributed data to interact with different blockchains. Cognida provides the highest level of security mechanisms needed to access this data, whilst maintaining data integrity at all times. It also offers a flexible programming environment that is script-based and template driven. Templates are used to format and translate native data and messages into a common shareable format, enabling devices and services to communicate using a common protocol.
Look at an example of Cognida at work. Enterprise company uses Google cloud, Dropbox, AWS, Asana etc. Currently the IT administrator needs to log into each platform and change the privileges for each user. With Cognida the IT administrator can change/monitor/verify usages of all the above platforms within a single interface, whilst employing multiple security functions saving time and ensuring security.
Despite being super early in its lifecycle this could be one of the best tokens for 2018. It has a very experienced team, with both marketing and blockchain experience on hand in droves. There is a reasonable amount of tokens allocated for both pre-sale and public-sale. The main advisor is the president of Wanchain, as such has huge experience that will help the team produce a great product. The only concern to point out is that there is no social media presence at this moment, despite the public token sale starting in July.
Key Points:
• ERC20 token
• No notable marketing at this point
• Strong team of Harvard alumni and fortune 500 companies
• Offers real-world use case and advantages over a legacy system
• It’s a very difficult space to penetrate
Marconi
Hard Cap: TBA
Whitelist Date: TBA
Total Supply: TBA
Total Supply Designated for Investors: TBA
Official Website: https://www.marconi.org
ICO Backstory
A new blockchain protocol using programmable packets to enhance security, privacy, and net neutrality. Marconi is a blockchain and networking Ethernet protocol that allows it to process network packets using smart contracts.
At the root of the project lies two concepts – Marconi Protocol and Marconi Network (network of networks). The network is formed by peers that participate in it and communicate based on the rules and primitives defined by the Marconi Protocol. Peers may include infrastructure service nodes, internet-enabled computing devices and network users. The ultimate goal of the Marconi system is to enable applications intended to enhance decentralization, security, and networking.
The problem Marconi is trying to correct, is nothing less than solving problems of the Ethernet protocol, a protocol which has existed already for more than 30 years. According to the Marconi team, Ethernet has the following three problems. It’s centrally controlled (mostly controlled by a few ISPs), insecure (no encryption), and difficult to manage (inflexible network infrastructure with high setup and maintenance costs).
Marconi Network has high ambitions and is going to build a decentralized peer-to-peer networking protocol on an Ethernet level, which will allow for more flexibility, privacy, and security. The team is fundamentally very strong and makes quite an impression, so they’re expected to deliver what is promised. It is an ICO to have a watchful eye on in the future, as all details are not clear yet.
Token Utility:
• The Marconi Network is powered by the Marconi token
• Used for network bandwidth, fuel for network traffic, running smart contracts
• Compensation to service nodes for block confirmations
Key Points:
• Possible scaling problems due to the proof-of-work PoW consensus
• The roadmap seems to be relatively short
• The current progress seems to be very promising
• The adoption of the technology will be very difficult, as currently Ethernet is the sole standard and powers about 99% of all network data
• The team seems to be very strong with great engineering and IT backgrounds
