I mostly just use ICOBench and look at the ICOs with the highest ratings. That normally gives a good idea of which ones have good marketing and are of high quality.

In this post, we’ll be exploring the utility value of the TON$ token on Tontine Trust’s upcoming platform. I will then attempt to roughly estimate the minimum total market cap that TON$ could reach when only factoring in the tokenomics implemented by Tontine Trust. To provide more solid figures, I will just be including factors which Tontine Trust have already placed a number on when calculating the potential minimum market cap. We will then identify additional variables that would ultimately determine the Total Market Capitalisation of TON$ when it hits exchanges.

Please note that this article won’t be factoring in global variables such as market volatility and investor sentiment, as the aim of this article is to analyse how Tontine’s Trust success provides value to the TON$ token.

About Tontine Trust

Tontine Trust is a Start-up which aims to disrupt the global Annuities industry by introducing Fully Regulated Peer-to-Peer Tontines secured by the Blockchain. Tontine Trust intends to use a Smart-Actuary which will administer its Tontines.

To fund their idea, Tontine Trust will be conducting an ICO, where investors will have the opportunity to purchase ‘TON’ tokens. There will be a total supply of 1 billion TON$, with 1/3rd of this supply being distributed to sale participants. One TON$ during the ICO is valued at $1 USD (1).

TON$ Utility Value

To easily explore the functionality around TON tokens, below are the ways that key stakeholders will interact with the token on the Tontine Trust platform.

Tontine Customers:

• Individuals who buy into a tontine will be paid monthly in the form of TON$ tokens onto their TON$ card (2)
• These individuals can then obtain ‘special card privileges’ which depend upon the level of TON$ that they hold on their account (3)
• Individuals who invest in a Crypto Tontine may also be investing a portion of their savings into TON$ (4)

Financial Advisers:

• Will be incentivised to promote Tontine Trust’s products by being initially paid in TON$ (5)
• Will be required to buy and hold the value of 1 years’ worth of fees in TON$ from the open market (6)
• Will be required to purchase and stake TON$ with a value equal to 5% of monthly expected referral volumes (7)

Tontine Trust:

• Will distribute 330m TON$ to financial advisors so that they promote & distribute their Tontines. Tontine Trust expects to reward financial advisors with 5% of the assets they bring into their Tontines (
• 333 million TON$ reserved for the Tontine Trust team as incentives that are gradually unlocked when certain patent and AUM milestones are reached. Their incentives won’t be fully unlocked until Tontine asset volume is more than 1 trillion USD (9)
• Will buy back 0.5% worth of TON$ per year and add it back into their reserve (10)

Calculating TON$ minimum total market capitalisation when certain AUM milestones are met

$1 billion AUM
Fees held in TON$ by Financial Advisors & TON$ staked by Tontine Cardholders (11) = 1% - 2% ($10 - $20 million)
TON$ staked by Financial Advisors = 5% ($50 million)
Tontine Trust buy back = 0.5% ($5 million) (12)
Total = $65 to $75 million

$100 billion AUM
Fees held in TON$ by Financial Advisors & TON$ staked by Tontine Cardholders = 1 – 2% ($1 - $2 billion)
TON$ staked by Financial Advisors = 5% ($5 billion)
Tontine Trust buy back = 0.5% ($500 million)
Total = $6.5 to $7.5 billion

$1 trillion AUM
Fees held in TON$ by Financial Advisors & TON$ staked by Tontine Cardholders = 1% - 2% ($10 - $20 billion)
TON$ staked by Financial Advisors = 5% ($50 billion)
Tontine Trust buy back = 0.5% ($500 million)
Total = $60.5 - $70.5 billion

Additional factors that will affect TON$ Total Market Capitalisation:

Unfortunately, there are many other variables that we can’t yet calculate which will affect the total market capitalisation of TON$ when they reach certain AUM milestones. Although we can’t put a figure on these factors, it would be worthwhile considering the following and how they would affect the price of TON$:

    The number Tontine Customers & financial advisors who may keep a portion of the TON$ that they are paid as a cryptocurrency investment
    The amount of TON$ that Tontine Customers would need to stake to obtain special card privileges & how heavily the Tontine Trust team would market this to Tontine Customers
    The amount of TON$ that the Tontine Trust team may sell into the open market as their TON$ incentives are unlocked
    The proportion of TON$ in Tontine Trust’s Crypto Tontines and the amount of assets that these may accumulate in proportion to the total AUM

I hope this article helps you make a more informed investment decision in relation to Tontine Trust. Please let me know if you have any thoughts or feedback as I greatly value others perspectives.

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this piece that relates to Tontine Trust was accurate as of the 23rd of April 2018. The information within this piece is not financial advice, and individuals should conduct their due diligence before making investment decisions. This post was also originally published on my Steemit account called 'CryptoGrant' which can be viewed here: https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@cryptogrant/analysing-the-tokenomics-around-tontine-trust-s-tonusd-token

Disclosure:

I have invested over $500 USD into Tontine Trust’s ICO, as I concluded that it has the potential for high-growth in the long-term, while having a low risk to reward ratio in the short to medium term due to their presale bonuses (13).

References:

    https://support.tontinetrust.com/knowledge_base/topics/if-the-tokens-are-1-dollars-are-you-guys-valuing-the-project-at-$1b-either-way-if-you-allocate-1-slash-3-of-the-total-tokens-in-the-crowd-sale-thats-a-starting-valuation-of-$333m-based-on-coins-in-circulation-which-is-still-very-high
    White Paper Page 17 (WP)https://tontinetrust.com/whitepaper-nt/TontineTrust.Non-Technical.Whitepaper.(V1.01D).pdf
    WP Page 17
    https://tontinetrust.com/
    WP Page 21
    WP Page 21
    WP Page 21
    https://support.tontinetrust.com/knowledge_base/topics/will-there-be-a-set-number-of-ton$-mined-our-will-tontinetrust-mine-more-ton$-as-needed
    https://support.tontinetrust.com/knowledge_base/topics/if-the-tokens-are-1-dollars-are-you-guys-valuing-the-project-at-$1b-either-way-if-you-allocate-1-slash-3-of-the-total-tokens-in-the-crowd-sale-thats-a-starting-valuation-of-$333m-based-on-coins-in-circulation-which-is-still-very-high
    https://support.tontinetrust.com/knowledge_base/topics/what-is-benefit-for-ton-holder-slash-investor-is-there-passive-income
    https://support.tontinetrust.com/knowledge_base/topics/what-is-benefit-for-ton-holder-slash-investor-is-there-passive-income
    https://support.tontinetrust.com/knowledge_base/topics/what-is-benefit-for-ton-holder-slash-investor-is-there-passive-income
    https://blog.tontinetrust.com/the-ton-pre-sale-55m-of-bonuses-on-the-table-tontine-style-3da29d8d53b5

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Unfortunately I think Ethereum decreased along with other currencies because there isn't any incentive in staking it. Once the Casper Network comes out, there should be a higher and more stabilized since people will be less willing to sell their ETH

Thanks for linking that website Cluster2k.


I've Inputted your feedback riderinred .

Due to what you mentioned, I heavily rely on third party rating sites such as ICOBench. I also don't consider ICO's if there aren't any videos or media surrounding them, as people become much more reliable once they are made public.

Thank you for your feedback and suggestions riderinred! I agree with your advice. I'll add those to the post as soon as I have time  .


Yes it's unfortunate that there are so many scam ICOs. Combined with a lack of restrictions as to whom can invest it really creates a situation where the impure of heart can profit significantly from the inexperienced.


That's a great point. Until securities are made properly legal, tokens with those properties just have another element of risk. And the reason that so many Startups fail is due to great ideas that people just aren't interested in.

To provide context, a VC (Venture Capital firm) is an organisation which actively seeks out projects and businesses which have the potential to generate significant returns at some point in the future. To varying degrees, everyone who invests in Cryptocurrencies is seeking to invest in coins that they believe will either significantly rise in value and create a positive impact. While many of us would like Cryptocurrencies to be separate from traditional financial institutions, I (as have many others) conclude that we can make far more informed decisions as to what we should invest into if we were to implement & modify some aspects of what Venture Capital firms use to evaluate Startups.

When a Venture Capital firm listens to a pitch from a Startup, they essentially mark them based on:

1. The problem they're addressing

2. The solution to that problem

3. The size of the market that the Startup is entering

4. The level of competition that they'll face when entering the market

5. The reputation, experience and skill of the team, and;

6. Their business plan

To that end, below is a list of questions that I modified and refer to when I'm personally evaluating an ICO that I may potentially invest into:

1. Is this ICO addressing a real problem which is severely affecting a specific segment of consumers? This should be the first thing you look for. If they're not addressing what you believe is a real problem, then it's probably not worthy of your investment (thank you riderinred!)

2. Does the solution that the ICO propose address and solve the issue that they are mentioning?

3. Is there a sizeable market that the ICO could feasibly obtain a share of? If there isn't, who is their target customer base and how will they persuade them to use the ICO's product?

4. Who are the ICO's main competitors? (If the ICO says they don't have any competitors, they either haven't done their research/lying or are the first in their field. If they are genuinely the first in their area, then you have to be extra sure that they are addressing a problem and that their solution is something that individuals will use)

5. Does the ICO have a well-rounded team that has experienced and highly reputable individuals? And does the team have all of the skills required to make their project a success?

6. Is there business plan well detailed and realistic?

For ICO's, you also need to consider these questions:

7. Does the Token which the ICO is selling have strong utility value?

8. Is the Token designed to increase in demand/value as the project becomes more successful?

9. Is their website highly responsive and look presentable? (Thanks riderinred!)

10. Are they only aiming to raise as much as they need? (Thanks riderinred!)

11. Will the project provide equal to or more value than the money it is asking to raise around the time that they're aiming to launch their coin on exchanges? If not, does their seem to be enough hype around the project for the coin to increase in value once launched on exchanges? If the answer is no to both of those questions, then you're most likely better off waiting until the coin is on a crypto exchange, as you'll most likely get it for a cheaper price. It also lowers the risk for you as the project has passed the exchanges checklist.

If you are short on time, it would be best to check off questions 1, 9 & 10 at first. If the ICO that you're looking at checks off those questions in your eyes, then you can go through all of the other questions. (Thanks riderinred!)

If the answer is no or you are unable to find sufficient information, it is always best to contact them for further details. The way that they respond to your queries can also help you in determining if they are worthy of investment, as a company which treats their (potential) investors & customers well is far more likely to succeed.

While it can take specialist knowledge to answer the questions above fully, I've found that if I refer to the questions above when looking at a particular ICO, I can form a strong opinion as to whether an ICO has the potential to succeed. By using these questions, I have also been able to avoid investing in many scam ICOs.

In conclusion, I believe we all have the knowledge and the gut instinct required to make successful investment decisions when it comes to ICOs. I hope this post helps you in your future ICO investment decisions. Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback, I'm always happy to help and to learn more from my fellow peers .

I think Ethereum is still a good investment. However I cannot say for the life of me when the price will bottom out. All I know is that as long as they transition to Proof of Staking eventually, the price of Ethereum will rebound as it will stake a lot of coins and incentivise people to hold due to the interest they can get.

My favourite ICO atm is Eternal Trust (which is why I am using their signature!). They essentially aim to bolster industries that humans (especially millionaires) desire such as longer lifespans, space travel etc via the blockchain. This alone excites me greatly as I'm a bit of a futurist myself!

Unfortunately I don't think Ethereum will overtake Bitcoin in Market cap this year. Ethereum definitely has a lot more utility value, so in that way I'd argue that Ethereum has already dethroned Bitcoin.

Yeah hindsight can be a pain when it appears that a sub-optimal trade occurred. The best thing that can be done is to evaluate what could've been done better and to move on ensuring you don't make the same mistake again.

I think as long as there are quality ICOs out there, it is always a good time to invest into ICOs. This is because they come with greater reward potential as you're essentially buying in at the 'ground floor'. The risk of losing it all however is significantly higher due to the scams you mentioned. That's why it is always important to conduct due diligence before investing. That will greatly reduce the risk in the long term.

I personally like Proof of Stake a lot more than Proof of Work. This is because PoS has the potential to reward many more individuals then PoW. It also requires the investor to put some 'skin' into the game which also helps the currencies market.

I just see PoW as a process which is environmentally damaging, too centralising and a plague on gamers who want to buy affordable GPUs :S.

Unfortunately it's generally hard to tell just by viewing the airdrop itself. The airdrop is most likely legit if the ICO itself isn't a scam. Due to that, you'd probably need to conduct basic due diligence. If they aren't a scam and you don't receive your tokens, they should have a support staff whom can assist further.

That is a very peculiar mechanic. Given that option, I wouldn't pay the fees as those who pay the fees will lose out in the long run. That's because the exchange will take a significant cut of the fees and only provide a token amount that traders may win. Due to this, the chances of profiting from the lottery by paying fees is akin to winning the lottery or profiting from gambling, it's just highly unlikely unless you're very lucky.

The biggest risk of an ICO is that it's a scam. Due to the large amount of scams that even manage to get high scores in ICO sites such as ICOBench, you really need to do indepth due diligence to try and find if they are a legitimate startup.

The other risk is that they may not be solving a problem worth solving, or their tokenomics may be really bad so that their success doesn't correlate in an increase of their cryptocurrency. Due to this, the investor really needs to know how to research whether their value proposition is strong, and whether the token is inter-woven into the company so much so that the price will increase as the Startups product is more widely used.

If you're willing to find a trading bot that is regularly updated and legit, as well as willing to learn the ins and outs of the bot and continually modify your settings, then the trading bot can definitely be worth it.

I typically leave my computer for a little while to clear my mind up. Then I attempt to evaluate what happened and to determine whether it seems like the price drop will be permanent or temporary. If it appears permanent, I re-evaluate what I should use with the remaining value in order to try and make a profit.

I overcome my fear of holding by ensuring that the coins that I purchase in the first place have very strong fundamentals (i.e solving a real problem, strong team, sound tokenomics etc). That way, even if the coin drops significantly due to significant price instability, I can be confident that it should increase in the long term as it generates more and more value which will convince more people to hold and use the token, which increases demand and the price.