My Utopia Review:Expectations and first impression:
I don’t install clients from crypto projects very often and when I do, I usually don’t expect very much. Most clients are pretty much the same despite developers claiming otherwise. But after a quick download (Mac OS) and smooth installation, the first thing I realized after running the client is that there is certainly more going on with this one. As some here have stated before, it is overwhelming for a few minutes until you get an overview of the basic functions and navigation between them.
In the welcome message it says “By tracking real-time events using Geo locations and seeing them on the map, you will receive information first-hand and will always be on top of events happening around the world or in your city.“
I was wondering where that geo-tracking data gets logged and stored and whether I can manually search for events by typing in my location in some specific menu. I then noticed that under the “Tools“ section in the top bar there is an item called
“uMaps“. You can search locations similar to Google Maps, but I don’t fully understand how to easily find real-time events or whether someone published anything at all. If Utopia grows and meet ups become more realistic, an overview section of available events that are taking place right now or are scheduled (based on a location I type in manually) would be helpful. Right now I felt a little bit lost on the map as navigation is complicated as it also shows a lot of outdated data point. The map opens up within the client.
The question whether I can switch the geo-tracking function on or off, led me to check out Utopia
“Preferences“.
First of all, the preferences are very detailed and essentially cover everything you need and way more. Some of them have been mentioned in other reviews, so I refrain from being redundant here. However, I did not find anything about geo-tracking and this leads me to the question how the geo-tracking works on the client side and where and how the data is stored and for how long it is kept? Geo-tracking data must obviously be tied to an account and, hence, to a public key. If I want to hide my whereabouts, joining a very specific location based on coordinates and showing up in the channel is probably not that smart unless you use a different username for Utopia than you are using for other applications.
Afterwards I checked out the “
uWallet“.
The option to spend CRP and UUSD on other platforms accessible through the website under “
Merchants“ is awesome.
Advantages of the Merchants section:
- Allowing for CRP and UUSD to be spent on items of all kinds adds a big deal of utility to the cryptocurrencies.
- In turn, merchants accepting CRP and UUSD further drive adoption and people familiar with Utopia can list their items for CRP and UUSD as well
- The granted anonymity of CRP/UUSD voucher payments can be a big plus for both merchants and customers
But with the advantages also come
some disadvantages and suggestions for improvements:
As I am not aware how the listing of merchants works, one question is whether there is any vetting process in advance or whether any merchant can get listed on the Utopia website? I was wondering whether they could provide dangerous links to their websites on the Utopia website. I would advise everyone to use a safe setup before opening the merchants' websites listed on Utopia. While I would also suggest a review/recommendation/rating feature added to every single merchant on the platform, I don't really know how to set it up such that it can't be faked. It would save other Utopia users time to click through all the merchants in order to find one that is worth visiting the website. Perhaps it would be helpful if a number of successfully completed purchases can be attached to a merchant's section on the Utopia website.
I had a look at the gift card merchants and only one of them accepted CRP/UUSD, but with a massive surcharge in general (no Utopia issue though). The other gift card merchants offered cryptocurrency, but they did not offer CRP / UUSD payments.
It looked like this:
There you could choose the crypto in the first step, but when you choose Perfect Money, it immediately asks you for your log in data. You could then set up an account, but the payment would still have to be made in Perfect Money USD and no option for CRP/UUSD is offered. A review feature would allow others to leave a note that CRP/UUSD payments are not possible anymore and the merchant section could be cleaned up accordingly.
Further, I can only refer to @Neuroticfish here as the search function is all good, but it still is kind of insufficient to allow for people to get a decent overview of what is offered.
In the process of trying to make a purchase, I familiarized myself further with the “uWallet“ and decided to
- convert some CRP into UUSD, which took about 33 seconds to complete
- send some CRP to Crypton Exchange, which also took about 33 seconds to arrive
- and to send CRP back from the exchange to my uWallet, which took just a few seconds
The transaction fees for normal transactions and withdrawal from the exchange is 0.1% fixed. The transaction fees for creating a voucher is 0.15%. The network fee for making a swap within the client is 0.0002 CRP. When you swap tiny amounts in the client from CRP to UUSD, it seems as if you are getting less than when you sell CRP on the exchange. That difference approaches zero if you type in larger amounts. It is a rounding bias.
The sign up on the exchange is
extremely smooth. You are definitely safe from KYC procedures and you only need your public key, your Utopia nickname and a password. Any action is broadcasted to the client, which immediately notifies you about log ins, deposits and withdrawals. The minimum withdrawal is 5 CRP, so if you intend to just try it out, don't send less than 5 CRP. The withdrawal fee for Bitcoin is 0.00015 fixed. This seems to be a little expensive to me, but I won't complain. Though I think when someone with smaller amounts wants to trade their CRP for Bitcoin (CRP > USDT (TRC 20) > BTC); they should keep in mind that 0.1% trading fees apply and the withdrawal fee of 0.00015 BTC as mentioned above.
Conclusion: As the developers say in their greeting when you first open the client, they have put countless hours of work into building the ecosystem. There are still so many function to have a look at, but what I have seen so far is a solid foundation for the ecosystem to grow. All transaction-related functions are working smoothly. They are clearly designed, quick and safe in execution and the uWallet is in general designed very intuitively. Creating and sharing vouchers is as easy as it can get. Anonymity is a big big plus! The sign up on the exchange works like a charm. Sadly, the exchange doesn't have deep order books as of now. I would seriously consider using that exchange from time to time when there was more liquidity. Hence, spreading the word and driving adoption is key. CRP is no currency that is just lying around, but has several use cases, among which is also earning rewards from delegated proof of stake, which requires 64 CRP per thread. UUSD is redeemable for both TRC20 USDT and DAI, the latter of which is used to back UUSD and can be
verified on the Ethereum blockchain.
