ICO Analysis: MandalaPublished on May 24, 2018
By Fredrik Vold
TeamThe first thing I always do when research an ICO team is to check the LinkedIn profiles of the key team members. This is a really simple way to check their level of commitment to the company launching the ICO, and very often I find the same result: Most of the team members haven’t even listed the company on their LinkedIn.
In the case of Mandala, the two co-founders have both listed the company as their employer. The Chief Marketing Officer, on the other hand, has no mention of Mandala on his personal profile.
The Chief Technical Officer, Zach Daniels, lists Mandala as one of six current employers on LinkedIn, which makes us seriously question his level of commitment to the company.
The CEO and co-founder of Mandala is Nate Flanders. Nate has a diverse background as founder of a blockchain-based online casino and a phone repair company in Florida. According to his LinkedIn profile, Nate is still working as Vice President of Operations at the online casino while he is setting up Mandala.
The other co-founder and CSO of Mandala is Chicago man Anant Handa. Just like the CEO, Anant also has a background in the phone repair business, and he remains CEO of ReVamp Electronics. In addition, Anant also remains an advisor to BitWatch.io, an app that helps crypto traders manage their trading activities and portfolios.
All in all, the two co-founders both have entrepreneurial experience and first-hand experience with blockchain technology, which is undoubtedly a positive for Mandala.
VerdictThe main problem when it comes to the Mandala ICO is clearly the lack of any prototype or MVP to demonstrate that the team is capable of building the platform they describe in the white paper. It should be clear for everyone that investing in an ICO that has nothing more than a website and a white paper is a very risky venture.
Regulations also pose a question mark when it comes to this ICO. It is unclear if the platform will be able to accept fiat currencies at this point, and we frankly don’t know if they will be able to obtain any regulatory approvals at all.
What we do know is that the company says they are “thoroughly researching and studying all applicable laws and will be be properly registered with the appropriate governing bodies, including the SEC and the CFTC[…]”
Unfortunately, the white paper that the team has prepared also appears somewhat generic and lacks details on how the platform will work.
Growth Potential
- With the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies comes an increase in demand for exchanges. Simplistic exchanges that are targeting new traders and investors certainly have a place in this space. +3
- If the team can build user-friendly and reliable tools for backtesting of technical indicators and trading signals, that would be a big plus and could provide a boost for the platform as a whole. +4
- The two co-founders have previous experience with blockchain projects, and the overall team appears competent, although we do have questions regarding the level of commitment from certain team members. +3
Risks
Generic-looking white paper with very few technical details on how the platform will work. A lot of general commentary about cryptocurrencies and blockchain, as well as visions and ideas for the coming Mandala exchange. -2
No minimum viable product (MVP). According to the roadmap, the beta release of the platform is scheduled for Q3 2018, with the full platform expected by the end of the year. Investing in ICOs with no MVP should always be considered high-risk. -4
The press releases published by the company, as well as the white paper, talks a lot about all the regulatory approvals that the team is planning to get, but lacks any details on what they have already acquired. -2
DispositionIn summary, we believe that the idea of a simplistic exchange for new crypto traders is good, and we do think there will be a growing demand for this type of exchanges. The success of Coinbase clearly shows that this is something that can work very well if carried out in the right way.
Unfortunately, we cannot recommend investing in an ICO without an MVP, without knowing if the platform will accept fiat, without any regulatory approvals, and with a very general white paper without technical details.
Overall, we arrive at a score of 2 out of 10 for the Mandala ICO.
Proof:
https://hacked.com/ico-analysis-mandala/
