1. BitDegree ============
Education seems to be of those areas where a blockchain could be used to improve most aspects of the traditional ways of interacting, transacting, and storing data. It's also an area that has received relatively little attention compared to the things like banking. BitDegree is an online education platform on the Ethereum blockchain. They want to improve return on investment for learners and the availability of people with the skills that companies need. Companies act as sponsors, buying tokens in the recruitment process, while building their brand and advertising. For students, coins are used to purchase educational services and as an incentive structure similar to scholarships.
Market------
- Education is a stable market, with demand that inherently scales with the global population size
- They understand the trend at the tech-education interface, which is free large-scale online learning
- They're targeting a real revenue source in the recruiment market
- Addressing real problems -- educational incentives, supply of needed skills, RoI
Team----
BitDegree has a strong team that contains a good mix of roles, including several people with technical experience (as opposed to the teams composed almost entirely of businesspeople that we see all too often). The CEO previously built the cloud web hosting provider 000webhost. The team does not come from a background in education or education administration/management. However, they seem to have a good understanding of the market and its problems.
Notable advisors include:
- Jeff Burton, Co-founder of Electronic Arts
- Arnas Stuopelis, CEO of web hosting provider Hostinger
Relevant Partners-----------------
- Preply, a platform for matching students to private tutors
Accountability (where BitDegree suffers a bit)--------------
- Little information provided about the company itself (e.g. location, if it's incorporated, type)
- Little information about their legal situation and regulatory landscape (a concern with most ICOs)
- No discussion of escrow for funds
- Their MVP is just some boilerplate static course pages
Summary-------
- Education is a good sector for applying blockchain tech
- A way to transparently track student identities and credentials while maintaining privacy
- Avenue for monetizing the free open course education model
- Targeting a real revenue source in the education market
- Real utility / areas of improvement for both students and employers
ICO Dates---------
December 1 - December 31
2. Qchain ============
I've been following Qchain for some time now, and they've just recently started their ICO. Qchain is a marketing and advertising platform built on the Ethereum and NEM blockchains. Their main product is an accessible direct-buy ad marketplace, with a focus on native advertising and integrated personal data management features. They want to use blockchain tech to provide more control to advertisers and publishers, increase transparency and privacy, and cut out overhead from middle-men. In my opinion, this is one of the more underhyped and undervalued ICOs.
Market------
- Digital advertising is a massive industry and a huge growth market
- They understand the trends in online advertising and where problems exist
- They're targeting the future revenue centers of online advertising -- native display ads and data management
- Addressing real problems -- overcentralization, transparency/privacy, RoI and efficiency
Team----
Qchain has a strong team that hails from a variety of big names in the media, tech, financial, and academic sectors. One of the biggest draws here is that most of the team has both a technical background and varying degrees of experience in advertising, marketing, financial, and media roles. They have one of the most relevant advisory boards I've seen for any ICO.
Notable advisors include:
- Lon Wong, President of the NEM Foundation
- Kailin O'Donnell, NEM Foundation founding member and core team developer
- Misho Ceko, COO of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy
- Grant Fondo, Chair of the Blockchain Technology Practice at Goodwin Procter LLP
- Evgeny Yurtaev/Alexey Bashlykov, CEO/CTO of Zerion (one of the original Solidity development groups)
Relevant Partners-----------------
- LuxTag, a platform for digitally tagging and tracking goods and assets using blockchain
- Xhai Studios, a mobile apps, games, web, and blockchain app development studio
- Cryptogene, a platform for blockchain tech integration in Africa via knowledge exchanges and decentralized markets
Accountability--------------
- US company based in California
- Has done due diligence in legal and regulatory compliance
- Followed through on their word to ICO after releasing a demo and perform legal due diligence
- Escrow for their ICO funds, with 2 third-party accounts on both their NEM and Ethereum wallets
Summary-------
- US-based company backed by a strong law firm
- Dual blockchain support with Ethereum and NEM
- Targeting the growth centers in the advertising market
- Has released a demo
- Real product and tech briefings (instead of buzzword whitepaper)
- Real utility / areas of improvement for both advertisers and publishers
ICO Dates---------
Now - December 5
Questions - https://t.me/qchainplatform 3. Bankera ============
Though certainly not a small fish, I'm including Bankera here because it's actually an interesting project with long-term prospects, among the field of various financial ICOs that have sprung up.
Team----
They have a solid team, with a mix of technical experience and relevant industry experience. Unlike most of the banking ICOs, they are building off an existing product -- Spectrocoin, a cryptocurrency exchange and wallet service that includes a debit card for spending with Bitcoin.
Notable advisors include:
- Lon Wong, President of the NEM Foundation
- Modestas Kaseliauskas, Former Head of Lithuania's State Tax Inspectorate
- Antanas Guoga/Eva Kaili, European Parliament members
While Spectrocoin is a far cry from Bankera's stated objectives, this shows they actually have existing financial infrastructure to attempt something as ambitious as Bankera. Contrast this to the likes of Monaco and Centra, which have yet to answer to investors or deliver a coherent plan, and are perhaps most notable for defrauding investors by selling them on a made-up partnership with VISA (way to burn a bridge with the world's largest card processor outside of China). Bankera is aiming for legitimate integration into the banking sector, with banking licenses in the EU, UK, Japan, and Singapore on the roadmap (the US is not specifically mentioned, more on this later).
Accountability--------------
- Based in Lithuania
- Needs to follow banking laws in areas where it's obtained banking licenses
- No discussion of escrow for funds
Investor Caveat---------------
A lot of ICOs are using a blanket claim of being a 'utility token' and not a security (however most do not have any clear utility like BitDegree and Qchain do).
Bankera's token is explicitly a security, as the entire purpose of the BNK token is to entitle holders to a dividend from Bankera and SpectroCoin's revenue. This in and of itself is okay, as Bankera intends to integrate into the existing banking system and obtain banking licenses according to its whitepaper. The first con associated with this is that by integrating into existing banking sectors subjects, it itself to much of the central control and limitations of traditional banking.
The other potential issue, which is probably of greater interest to token buyers, is how the token is treated in locales where Bankera has not established legitimate banking ties. While this is probably not a problem Bankera's home locale of Lithuania, it will likely be an issue in large markets such as the US (which Bankera has not named among its target markets in its whitepaper roadmap) if Bankera does not specifically target these markets and acquire the appropriate local licenses. For example, in the US, Bankera's model blatantly violates federal securities laws unless Bankera registers with the SEC and obtains a money transmitter license.
As for the token itself and investors, this becomes problematic if (when) the SEC and its counterparts in other countries start imposing regulations on cryptocurrency exchanges. Otaining proper licenses to conduct banking, money transmission, and securities issuing activities are not simple, fast, or cheap processes. Following the US/SEC example, a plausible worst-case scenario would see BNK tokens ineligible to listed on (or be delisted from) US-based exchanges (which includes Poloniex) until all the bureaucracy is sorted out. Of course, this would present liquidity problems to all of the investors in these locations. While Bankera may end up getting the proper licenses in the US and elsewhere, this presents a tricky situation in general, as you have the traditional banking and securities regulations of every country versus a blockchain token which is an inherently global asset.
ICO Dates---------
November 27 - ?
