ICO Crowd - Issue #0

www.icocrowd.com

ISSUE ZERO, JULY 2017

NEW

The New Era of

CROWDFUNDING is Here

Tim & Adam

Upcoming ICOs ICOs and the Migration of Intellectual Capital

DRAPER

Catapult Themselves into the Crypto Capital Revolution

Price: 0.01 BTC 0.1 ETH 0.5 LTC

The Rise of ERC223 The future of ICOs on Ethereum ERC-223

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Raisa Ambros EXECUTIVE EDITOR Ismail Malik MANAGING EDITOR Annemieke Dirkes

Welcome to the ICO CROWD, the magazine dedicated to disruptive investors seeking to explore Initial Coin Offerings.

ICO, Blockchains and Crypto-Financing are in a state of flux. Daunting as all this can appear, it is sometimes worth looking for the positives.

ICOs have many threats and one is the need to upgrade the current Ethereum ICO smart contract ERC-20, with this I dig deep into why with ERC-223 we may just have the answer.

LEAD ICO ANALYST Donovan Obosi ICO PRODUCT ANALYST Nina Anne Pahnke

by ISMAIL MALIK Chairman & Executive Editor ICO Crowd

CONTENT EDITOR Pam Tatro MARKETING Tzvi Shishler

“It´s not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent. It’s the one that is most adaptable to change” - Charles Darwin

“ERC-223 vs. ERC-20 - ERC-223 improves ICO transactions and takes over, in terms of functionality, going into the future”.

Photo credit © Shutterstock

ERC-223 improves ICO interactions.

Looking at the leveraging of the ERC-223 token for an ICO, there are three topics of paramount importance to be regarded: • The right fallback function, using three parameters.

• Upgradeable contracts. ERC-223 offers the solution to upgrade to a new standard.

• The ability to separate your contracts state from its logic, divided into three parts: “tokenfrontend”, “token-DB” and “token-logic”.

We already face a coexistence of the ERC-20 token and the ERC-223 token on the Ethereum chain.

Please send all communication to info@icocrowd.com If you would like to advertise with us please get in touch at advertising@icocrowd.com Disclaimer. All opinions and views expressed in this publication are those of the author only and do not necessarily represent the views of ICO Crowd magazine, its Management or Advisors. All content of ICO Crowd Magazine, in particular but not exclusively, photographs, businessdetails, facts and figures, names, adresses and dates, historic details and offers, are the sole responsibility of the author of each artice. Copyright violations by the author are the sole responsibility of the author and ICO Crowd magazine can not be held liable, whether on the whole or on particulars. www.icocrowd.com

Despite that projects are built with ERC-20, the ERC-223 already shows it´s high potential to be the next, more secure and flexible replacement thanks to its agile and fast compatibility.

But how does it work?

Being backward compatible with ERC-20, ERC-223 supports all ERC-20 functions and contracts. All services working with ERC-20, work with ERC-223 correctly.

The “token-frontend” should execute the functions of the “token-logic” contract using a ´delegatecall´.

If there is a need to upgrade a contract, only the “token-logic” should be re-deployed and connected with a “token-frontend” contract.

“Pursuing perfection” ERC-223 improves the ICO process. There are two major problems with the ERC-20 token standard: The lack of handling of ERC-20 token transfers and “re-approval attack”. And the blockchain bloating transfer, a 2-step process of transactions to send ERC-20 tokens into a contract.

With ERC-223 this can be done without any requirement of updating 3rd party services or contracts that store balances. “...users still lose money because of using the ERC-20 token standard.”

Many ICOs are still launched on ERC-20.

ERC-223 solves these problems while raising efficiency.

We can build upgradeable contracts with ERC223 now to avoid problems.

The transfer is a just single transaction - 2 times more efficient - consuming less gas.

Hire a talented auditor and then launch a bug bounty.

No more lost tokens during the transfer of ERC20 tokens to a contract, ERC-223 allows users to send their tokens to either wallet or contract with the same function transfer.

Key contributors to keep an eye on: Dexaran Derat, Jorge Izquierde, Fabian Vogelsteller. “when will you switch?”

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CONTENTS 04 05 06 08 10 12 15 16 18 20 23 24 26 28 30

Advisory Board AIBanks: Transforming Capital Markets and Banking with Blockchain The Ins and Outs of an ICO // PAVEL KRAVCHENKO

Use of Blockchains to Solve Identity Issues Interview with Vinny Lingham // DAN EVE

Fund and Reward Open Source Development on Your Favorite Platform // TIM DIERCKXSENS

Use of Smart Contracts to Facilitate Trust // ALEXANDER NORTA PhD

ICO, Key to Democratizing Other Asset Classes // ALAN FRIEDLAND

AdEx: Disrupting the State of Online Advertising through Blockchain // VANINA IVANOVA

Fear of Missing Out // MICHAEL ANDREWS

The ICO Revolution Interview with Adam Draper // DAN EVE

Blockchain’s Killer Applications What Makes Them Different to Those of Other Industries // IGOR PEJIC

SunContract – Decentralized Energy Market on the Blockchain // ROK GORNIK

Navigating the Initial Coin Offering Minefield // HELEN DISNEY

impak Coin Challenges the Economic Status Quo // EAMON LEONARD

ICO’s and the Migration of Intellectual Capital // MARC KENIGSBERG

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32 35 36 38 40 41 42 44 46 50 52 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 69 70

ICOs Connect the World Interview with Tim Draper // MATT ARMSTRONG

Susan Poole Brings You Latest Insights on ICO Why CORION’s ICO is Setting Crypto World On Fire // MIKLÓS DENKLER

A New Kind of Bank Account – HiP – Launches Today, Where Property is Money Evolving the Blockchain from the Digital to the Physical Ousting Censorship with Blockchain // LARRY CHRISTOPHER BATES

HUMANIQ First Humanitarian ICO, Blockchain and Financial Inclusion // DINIS GUARDA

Shifting ICO Investment Paradigms // STEVEN GLEISER

Blockchain ICO’s — The New Era of Crowdfunding Is Here // AVIAD GINDI

Value, Utility and Trust Interview with Shingo Lavine // MATT ARMSTRONG

Ties. Network LinkedIn for Crypto-community // ALEXANDER NEYMARK

Advices to Minimise Failure with ICO // DR THEODOSIS MOUROUZIS

Aira. ICO First Phase // SERGEY LONSHAKOV

Beyond the Void’s ICO: A Case Study // MANON BURGEL

Evaluating Initial Coin Offerings // JOEL JOHN

A Libertarian ICO Where the Founders Place Investors as Film Fans First // NICK AYTON

Centz Revolutionizing Gift Cards with Blockchain Power of the Rising Sun // AMAL SHARMA

FAIRMONEY. Making Sure You Get the Best Deal on Your Loan, and Anything Else // ROGER GEWOLB

Everex The Door to a World of Decentralisation // JUSTIN O’CONNELL

Advisory Board SUSAN POOLE

BRYANT NIELSON

MATT ARMSTRONG

Founder, BlockBridge Advisory Co-Founder, Blockchain Training Institute

Executive Director at The Blockchain Academy & CapitalWave Inc. Speaker

CEO&Founder of Crypto Camp

SIMON COCKING

BRETT KING

MARC KENIGSBERG

Senior Editor at Irish Tech News Freelance for Sunday Business Post, Irish Times, The Southern Star, Dublin Glob

Speaker, Startup Founder, Bestselling Author, Radio Host, TV Commentator

Founder of BitcoinChaser.com

SEAD MUFTIC

SERGIO A. FERNANDEZ DE CORDOVA

ANDREY GOLUB, PhD

CEO at Blockchain Information Exchange Security Corp

Chairman – P3SmartCity Partners, Inc Private Sector Advisory Group, SDG-FUND, United Nations

Entrepreneur, CEO & Founder @ELSE Corp- a Virtual Retail company

MUKHTAR MUSSABETOV

EMMANUEL R. GOFFI, PhD

THEODOSIS MOUROUZIS, PhD

Blockchain Entrepreneur, Founder at BlockSpace Labs

Associate doctor with Science Po-CERI Research fellow with the Centre FrancoPaix, at the Université du Québec à Montréal

Program Director of MSc in Business Intelligence and Data Analytics at Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM) Research Fellow at UCL Centre of Blockchain Technologies (London,UK)

JULY 2017

AIBanks: Transforming Capital Markets and Banking with Blockchain Banking platform AIBanks reduces the cost of loan creation and servicing by connecting investors, banks, and borrowers via blockchain technology.

AIBanks has opened registration to AIB Test Net, an innovative blockchain+AI platform that has facilitated the offer of 12,000 mortgages from 7 banks and 25 investors in the past six months.

The platform uses Artificial Intelligence to perform text recognition to read and sort incoming loan application files, a process that saves up to 70% on documents review and processing time.

The blockchain-based solution makes bank loan records traceable and transparent which secures the interests of investors. It also enables banks to quickly sell loans off a balance sheet directly to investors or tokenize assets for sale on an exchange.

TEST NET TERMINALS

Using AIBanks, any bank can offer the most competitive rates to any borrower, dramatically cut the costs and time of loan origination and improve customer satisfaction and retention.

Regulatory compliance is also simplified due to the built-in transparency that blockchain provides.

Beyond cost-reduction and risk mitigation, banks can also rapidly create new revenue opportunities by stimulating the emergence of smaller and better-specialized products. For example, a bank could cost-effectively offer a loan via Facebook Messenger or a chat bot connected to the marketplace.

“AIBanks transforms the way money flows from capital markets to borrowers by making it smarter, faster and far less expensive because of the built-in advantages of blockchain tech, - says AIBanks CEO Valentin Preobrazhensky. –“Borrowers can get better rates, fewer refusals and the entire industry will save billions of person hours and hundreds billion dollars each year.

By simplifying the process for securitization in a compliant way, banks can acquire more customers at lower cost.”

AIBanks is the next step in a distinguished career for Preobrazhensky, who started Zalogo, a Mortgage Lending as a Service (MLaaS) mar-

The blockchain-based solution makes bank loan records traceable and transparent which secures the interests of investors.

By simplifying the process for securitization in a compliant way, banks can acquire more customers at lower cost.”

ketplace, which has processed more than 1000 home equity loans. The marketplace uses Artificial Intelligence to perform text recognition to read and sort incoming loan application files, a process that saves up to 70% on documents review and processing time.

The AIBanks Advisory Board has already joined such blockchain experts as Anish Mohammed (Elon Musk’s Hyperloop and HSBC advisor), David Drake (Chairman of LDJ Capital), Ismail Malik (chair of Blockchain Lab), Ransu Sagalara (chair of TokenMarket).

Registration to AIB Test Net as well as subscription for incoming ICO announcement is available via http://ai-banks.com/ 5

JULY 2017

The Ins and Outs of an ICO A simple explanation of ICOs, tokens, and their prospects WHAT IS AN ICO? ICO is the result of a start-up pre-selling its own currency (tokens). Their value is directly linked to the number of future users (and their level of activity), and can rise exponentially in response to limitations on issue, and growing deby mand.

PAVEL KRAVCHENKO Founder of Distributed Lab

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WHY ARE STARTUPS SEEKING INVESTORS VIA ICOS? It seems like an easy way of making money, without getting into long discussions with investors. On top of this, there are no legal consequences for a start-up if it fails.

WHY ARE PEOPLE INVESTING IN ICOS? As I see it there are four main reasons why people are investing in ICO’s 1) the desire to make money while the wave is on; 2) the effect of the crowd - “other people are investing, I will too”; 3) a desire to feel like an investor; and 4) a belief in start-ups. The premise of the ICO investment is that tokens will ‘pump up’ the startup, as will the observation of the expectations of other investors. A significant percentage of those in the market, or those who are eager market observers, remain certain that the old-style model of venture invest-

ment (with its negotiations, tractions requirements, and due diligence) is dying out. In fact it’s not uncommon that investors with no strong feelings about putting their money into a startup will leap at the chance to participate in its ICO. I feel this can only be satisfactorily explained by them really believing in the existence of significant numbers of people who’ll buy at a higher price.

WHAT IS A TOKEN? Tokens are coins that are generated in support of the Blockchain platform.

Tokens can do many things and store complex, multi-faceted levels of value.

JULY 2017

Examples of a token are as follows: 1) A share or stake in a specific startup.

2) An accounting system (number of API calls, or the volume of torrent uploads) 3) A digital asset (i.e., digital rights to land ownership or a way to reward miners) 4) A reward for miners (i.e.,Bitcoin) 5) A currency - a way of making payments between the participants 6)A payment for using the system.

HOW CAN I TETHER A TOKEN TO MY OWN BUSINESS? The most difficult problem in setting up a blockchain system with tokens, is to set up a viable economy with balanced supply and demand for each stage of the project’s development. The difficulty is that with user growth, the cost of tokens and commission on transaction fees will rise sharply. To set up an effective system a startup will need specialists in economics who are not just blockchain developers alone. In 95% of blockchain projects, internal tokens aren’t needed at all.

WHAT'S INNOVATIVE ABOUT ICOS? In the future, most business will be financed through ICO-like mechanisms.

The premise of the ICO investment is that tokens will ‘pump up’ the startup, as will the observation of the expectations of other investors.

There are several reasons for this, among which are: 1) the simultaneous involvement of numerous investors stimulates an effective price discovery.

2) access to a liquid secondary market at the time the sale is completed.

3) cutting down the demands made on investors (today in the United States only accredited investors can participate as investors).

4) cutting the legal set-up costs by making use of standardization.

5) lowered infrastructure costs for holding, trading and registering securities (Ethereum, in fact, does all of this for free).

IS IT POSSIBLE TO SELL SHARES VIA ICO? Yes, it is possible in both Singapore and Switzerland as it is legal in those countries. Investors still have to go through the identification process (KYC) whether selling or buying, but as far as I know, regulators are still closing their eyes when it comes to the secondary market.

IS IT WORTH SELLING ICO SHARES? Now that’s a tough question. On one hand, people are now buying to-

kens in any strongly-promoted ICO. Yet on the other, price growth in the shares can’t work out as dynamically as growth in the value of the tokens because tokens are usually required to trigger ANY kind of action on the platform. All this tarnishes the attraction of ICOs for speculators.

WHAT'S THE FUTURE FOR THE ICO INDUSTRY? Despite all the innovations in the mechanisms for ICOs, the market will go through inevitable stages of euphoria, disappointment, regulation, and then stable growth. The most significant consequence will be that regulators will relax the requirements for investors and legal procedures, which make the entire investment process a lot cheaper. Currently the the number of potential investors for such projects exceeds the actual numbers of projects available for investment. Sooner or later some kind of balance will be established, and everything will fall into place. Investors will once more be carrying out due diligence, and startups will be required to explain exactly how the money will be earned, and whether they really have any kind of expertise in what it is that they’re doing.

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Vinny Lingham Co-founder & CEO of Civic Vinny is a South African Internet entrepreneur and co-founder of SiliconCape, an NGO based in South Africa. His mission is to turn Cape Town into a technology hub.

INTERVIEW | JULY 2017

Use of Blockchains to Solve Identity Issues Q. What were your motivations for the project, what kicked off the idea for Civic?

A. We started off with identity as the core outlet, if we can solve the identity problems using the blockchain it will change the way the world will look at by democracy.

DAN EVE

@Cryptopoly, COO CryptoCamp

Q. Getting the ID on the blockchain is a great way for accessibility of information, one challenge I see is the fact people are paranoid of their data being on there. Have you found challenges around that area?

A. The cryptographic hashes solve this problem.

Q. Finscope released a survey that 11% of south Africans are unbanked, do you see this ID system willing to accelerate that? Would you rather them be banked or decentralised?

A. What we focus on is providing the identity layer so the people can do what ever they want to do. Some countries banking makes sense, and in some countries it doesn’t. The mix will depend on the geographic area, the rules and regulations etc.

Q. Will Civic key be working with local governments?

A. Quite frankly governments take forever, big companies take forever, so we are not trying to target anyone specifically. We are creating a platform for anyone, governments, and big companies to congest the technology itself. We don’t have a big sales team, in the past two weeks we have had so many buyers there’s no way we could have a sales team big enough. That’s why I had to go out and network. Basically we want

people to become integration partners; we want people to ask their government be a part of the network.

It needs to be grass root driven, for a 360 degree view of things. This is not a sales pitch, the margin tool is that its secure, everything from building passports to whatever. Obviouly we are early in our journey so there’s a way to go.

But as we release more functionality and tools. This is something the world needs to gravitate towards. Its a network.

Q. In terms of the technology you chose rootstock, why?

A. We built the platform three years ago when Ethereum was not around. We started building it on BTC. We felt that BTC is the most secure network in the world, with its hash power and security. We are chainagnotic, we can use multiple chains at a time. It doesn’t matter.

ly state doesn’t make sence. Once it’s at that level we feel comfortable, open sourcing is not going to make the network vulnerable. For now we will be the dictators for what happens, as it needs to evolve. Right now we are a small team working on it when we have hundreds and thousands of people getting involved coding and building it, then we absolutely have to. We are using open source technology like BTC. There are parts that aren’t open source, but will be in time, and there are parts that are open source now.

We want people to become integration partners; we want people to ask their government be a part of the network.

Q. Do you see any threats as a result of using BTC that could impact CIVIC? A. In the end crypto decentralisation is here to stay. We are playing the application layer, if the protocol changes worldwide then perhaps. But for now BTC is unarguably the number one protocal. We will go with whatever makes most sense for the world to consume the services that we are offering. For now we still believe in BTC. Q. Will Civic be open source?

A. Civic will be open source at one point in time. Not right now. Open sourced security software in an ear-

Q. How do you see regulation impacting on future ICOs? A. I think if people are going to try to sell a security, they are going to get into trouble. We are doing a token sale; we are not selling a security. There’s no profit sharing, we are building a network. We are offering tokens, people can participate in that. We have the right to limit the amount of tokens. We are not issuing securities.

Q. Will there be a move to finalize the tokenization?

A. To be honest not every government is going to be helpful moving forward, but not all governments are alike. Some governments will regulate it, some make it legal. As ICOs are over the internet it will make it more difficult. Certain countries will over regulate and some will under regulate. The markets will be affected by this. It is important that we have a voice as there are a lot of ICO scams, its important to be vigilant about them.

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JULY 2017

Fund and Reward Open Source Development on Your Favourite Platform

by TIM DIERCKXSENS Analyst and Project Manager, FundRequest

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Open source software has grown exponentially over the past decade thanks to platforms such as Github and StackExchange. These platforms have created a marketplace for likeminded developers to gather around, co-create and innovate with one goal in mind, to work on the things they love. Every day new technologies are proposed and developers flock together to work on the new flavor of the month.

THE FUNDREQUEST He uses open source software tools to BUSINESS CASE make a difference for the enterprises The massive growth rate of open source he supports but he often gets disruptsoftware didn't go unnoticed and com- ed in his work and turns to the DevOps panies started to leverage technologies community for support. One of the developed by these communities. As a worst cases he encountered was when consequence companies became more he had a blocking issue while using Jendependent on the goodwill of the devel- kins (Jenkins is an open source automaoping community. Red Hat recognized tion server to support continuous integrathe pain and jumped on tion and incremental softthe opportunity to supware development). Karel port enterprise adopraised an issue with the tion of open source soft- Before launching any Jenkins community and ware by offering month- ICO we plan to launch hoped to receive a fix or ly service level support at the very least an anlicenses and certifying a pilot version. swer. Days turned into open source products. weeks and weeks into For a long time both months. 1 year later and open source and enterprise support his ticket is still unresolved and he has models co-existed nicely and it's been a abandoned hope that his issue will get good ride for all of us. resolved any day soon.

Karel, our CEO, however wasn't satisfied and felt left out. Karel is an entrepreneur with his own consultancy firm and is a DevOps engineer at heart.

With the rise of Ethereum and blockchain technology in general, the landscape has changed yet again and we believe we can move one step further and

JULY 2017

support open source development with enhanced decentralized funding. FundRequest offers the users of open source communities the ability to fund open issues on any project and to reward the people that are contributing their free time and effort to support open source software. Both open source and blockchain technology are here to stay and FundRequest aims to provide premium support.

When Karel explained his vision last November the rest of the team quickly understood the value proposition of his idea. We built a website, wrote a draft whitepaper and developed an MVP in the form of a demo video. The response was overwhelmingly positive so we decided to move forward with the project and develop an ICO-model to fund our ambitions.

FND-TOKEN AS AN INVESTMENT TOKEN At first we wanted to create a token that gives the token holders/investors a ROI based on a percentage of a funded issue. We worked out the financials and with our assumptions it seemed viable to start a business supporting the token model. At every milestone we kept validating our assumptions with other expert advisors. We got to a point where we could hire expert financial advisors specialized in tax and legal issues and they've determined that we could risk paying a 30% tax before distributing any profits to FND-tokenholders. Since tax and legal issues are currently ambiguous we don't want to take any chances with people's hard earned cash so we abandoned the whole idea of using the FND-token as an investment token and went back to the drawing board.

FND-TOKEN AS A VALUE TOKEN We adapted our token model to become a value token instead. Backers of the FND-token can use it to fund open source issues on

the FundRequest Platform and will do so beble carbon voting so the token holders can cause they believe in the project, team and choose what additional features should be in the value proposition and thus the todeveloped relatively to the amount they ken value of FND will rise in ratio with othhave invested. er crypto pairs after launching the service.

By creating a value token instead Some ideas to kick off: of an investment token we are fol• Instead of funding issues on lowing the best practices of sucGithub, why not add the possibilcessfully launched ICO's such as ity to fund a project or a competiGnosis and ICONOMI and Brave tion? browser's Basic Attention Token.

• Let's fund questions on StackExDetails can be found in the new change.

A marketplace for version of our white paper (v3.0) • Why not develop a JIRA plugin like-minded deto reflect the changes of our ICO to fund User Stories, Bugs and velopers to gather model.

Change requests?

Without too much details let's delve into the broad topics of how we plan to launch an ICO: • The ICO will last for at least 3 hours: We want to give each investor, innovator or early adopter an equal chance to invest in our platform.

• The ICO will last for 2 weeks max: The minimum funds required are very low in compared to past ICO's therefore we believe that two weeks is enough to raise our funds.

around, co-create and innovate with one goal in mind, to work on the things they love.

OUR ROADMAP Before launching any ICO we plan to launch a pilot version on the Ethereum testnet, to build the FundRequest platform and integrate with existing open source platforms. We hope to expand our services and pivot to seamlessly integrate with any platform.

We continue to refine our strategy to asses possible integrations with We believe we can new blockchain tech assets such as move one step fur- the Bancor Protocol to allow direct ther and support trading of crypto-assets without open source devel- passing an exchange such as Krak• The ICO will have a hidden en or Coinbase. Next to funding isopment with encap: FundRequest will abide hanced decentral- sues with crypto assets we will alwith a hidden cap. All profits exlow transfers of non-cryptocurrenized funding. ceeding the hidden cap during cies to fund issues on the FundRethe first 3 hours of the ICO will quest platform. be utilized to fund additional features.

The core team will develop some of these ARE YOU INTERESTED TO LEARN MORE? features, other feature requests will be Come and visit our new website fundrequest. transferred into GitHub issues and we will io and read the updated white paper (v3.0). Or then use our own platform to fund the de- just send us an email at info@fundrequest.io, velopment of these features. We will enaand get invited to our slack channel.

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JULY 2017

Use of Smart Contracts to Facilitate Trust Smart contracts, and blockchain technology in general, hold great potential for the automation of business relations — reducing the need for paperwork, expenses and the involvement of lawyers and court services to facilitate trust. However, to date, smart contract technology is almost impossible to implement as the basis of real-world agreements due to its obfuscated nature and lack of legal viability. Agrello utilizes state of the art AI technology to bridge this gap between the blockchain, the legal world and the non-coding end user and seeks to make smart contracts worthy of their name — making them both — legally binding contracts and smart.

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by ALEXANDER NORTA PhD Chief Scientist of Agrello

THE CHALLENGE With the development of turing-complete blockchains and the IoT, it has already been demonstrated that smart contracts can safely and swiftly move assets around, interact with physical objects, and lead to the automation of many business-related processes that until now required vast human resources and time. This capability holds the potential of serving as the basis of a new form of legal contract - the self-executing contract, which both formalizes an agreement between two parties, as well as enforces its terms without requiring a third party acting as a trusted authority.

Nevertheless, in order to serve as a substitute for traditional paper-contracts and the legal relations they dictate, these automated agreements will have to be orchestrated intelligently and flexibly, and be embedded in an interface that allows humans to make sense of them.

Furthermore, legal formality can’t be disregarded. The need to use some sort of court system to provide dispute resolution services might be mitigated by efficient smart contract based agreements, but most probably not done away with.

Following this understanding and more than 15 years of research in the field of digi-

JULY 2017

tal contracting, the Agrello team concluded that in order for smart contract based agreements to effectively replace traditional forms of paper-contracts, they will have to meet the following requirements: HUMAN ACCESSIBILITY Traditional legal documents are complicated enough and often require trained professionals to be understood correctly. Smart Agreements should remedy this situation and not make it worse by replacing natural language with obfuscated code. The UX/UI of a Smart Agreement should be as easy to use and understand as a well developed software application.

LEGAL VIABILITY In order to be used as a legal instrument, smart agreements have to be structured in such a way that they serve as proof of acceptance of certain conditions and include the description of an offer, its acceptance, and the mutual intent to be bound by its terms. This also entails the management of digital identities and signatures in an officially acknowledged and immutable fashion.

FLEXIBILITY AND CONTROL To accommodate for the realities of the business world, smart agreements have to be open for management, adaptation and renegotiation. A party to a Smart Agreement should

THE AGRELLO SOLUTION FOR AI POWERED SMART AGREEMENTS In order to accommodate for these features and to allow for truly self-executing contracts that can still be monitored and managed by humans, Agrello introduces an offchain contract management interface. The inThe need to use some sort tuitive interface allows Agrello users to easily of court system to provide create contracts which dispute resolution services are then translated to might be mitigated by Agrello’s smart agreement markup language efficient smart contract and reflected in a pubbased agreements, but most lic blockchain.

have the option to waive the other side’s obligations at will, or to refrain from their own obligations, if the ever-evolving circumstances dictate so.

INTERACTIVITY A smart agreement has to encompass the entirety of a contract’s life-cycle, allowing its course of action to branch into different scenarios according to user input. A smart agreement has to allow users to confirm that the other side has or hasn’t met their obligations, and/or serve as undeniable proof that said obligations have been satisfied.

probably not done away with.

OVERSIGHT AND ANALYSIS In order for Smart Agreements to outcompete their analog counterparts they’ll have to thoroughly exploit the advantages of code over paper-based text. Smart agreements could and should be analyzable by an AI agent, bettering users insights regarding their best course of action, the same way a human counselor would do.

The resulting code is managed by AI agents on the user’s behalf, triggering relevant smart contracts and blockchain events to fulfill agreement terms. Beside acting as an intermediary link between the user and the blockchain, Agrello’s intelligent agents perform as the user’s personal counselor: the agent guides the user through their agreement, notifies them of their legal duties and rights, and identifies contract obligations that can be automated and executes them on their behalf.

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JULY 2017

To illustrate how this works, let us consider a simple rental agreement between two parties using the Agrello platform.

Landlord John and lessee Mary want to form a rental agreement using the Agrello platform. After they complete a short session using the template wizard, the system provides a well-rated and localized contract template from a community repository.

At this stage, the contract agent ensures that a down payment can be withdrawn from Mary’s wallet and then instructs John’s agent to form a transfer of possession act, who then hands digitally signed copies to both parties. Once the transfer of possession is ratified, the contract agent notifies John’s agent that it’s time to hand keys to Mary.

A party to a Smart Agreement should John’s agent now checks whether this have the option action can be automated or if it reto waive the othquires human involvement. If a smart er side’s obligaAfter analyzing the contract terms, lock can be detected, Mary is given tions at will, or the system generates three intelligent exclusive access. In any other case, agents — one for John, one for Mary John’s agent notifies him that a phys- to refrain from and one to govern the agreement as ical key has to be delivered to Mary, their own oblia whole. John’s and Mary’s agents who on her side is asked by John’s gations, if the could, if you will, be regarded as their agent to verify the handover. ever-evolving counselors, while the third one govcircumstances erning the contract occupies a posiIn the case that Mary’s agent detects dictate so. tion similar to that of a judge or an that funds in her wallet won’t be suffiadministrator.

As a first step, each of the parties’ agents scans the contract and extracts a series of actions that have to be performed by John and Mary.

Mary, for example, would have to connect a blockchain wallet to her agent, while John’s agent sends him to take pictures of the apartment to document its current state. The pictures are then handed to Mary to be digitally signed.

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cient to cover the upcoming rental payment, she is notified to deposit the required amount. Would she fail to do so in due time, John’s agent would jump in and present him with the options of imposing a fine for late payment or setting a new due date on which the penalty will come into action. After a period defined by the contract’s terms, John can instruct his agent to terminate the agreement, which would result in Mary being notified and her smart-lock access being revoked.

In the case of a legal dispute, both sides can request a digitally signed hardcopy of the agreement from the contract agent, including a timestamped list of all actions performed by the parties, along with met and breached obligations. The plaintiff ’s agent can then automatically fill and submit the required forms, initiating a lawsuit. At court, the contract hardcopy can then eventually be presented to an actual judge.

By automating most functions that are normally performed by lawyers, the need for expensive legal personnel is, in this example, reduced to an absolute minimum. Representation in court would in many cases still require a human professional, but their job would be considerably easier with the objectively verifiable event log provided by the contract agent. The number of cases eventually ending up in court, however, would be expected to drop significantly due to the clarity and consensus provided by the Agrello system.

For more information about Agrello, please visit us at Agrello.org, subscribe to our blog at blog.agrello.org, and find us on Telegram and slack.

Our team members will be glad to answer all your questions.

JULY 2017

ICO,

Open: June 14, 2017

Key to Democratizing Other Asset Classes

Target: $45 Million

In mid-June, Fintech Investment Group officially launched Compcoin with a $45 million ICO, kicking off what we believe will be a paradigm shift in the way that investors buy and sell financial assets – using artificial intelligence (A.I.) and blockchain decentralized network.

by ALAN FRIEDLAND Founder, Fintech Investment Group

Compcoin is a digital token focused on investing and growing capital, not on transacting like Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Investors can acquire and hold Compcoin to leverage as an alternative investment vehicle, similar to other financial asset classes like stocks, bonds, commodities, etc. However, the primary function of Compcoin is to grant investors access to ART, Fintech Investment Group’s proprietary, automated money management system, which is initially targeting forex investors. (FORex Exchange; trading in currencies) ART uses sophisticated technologies such as machine learning and predictive analytics, and 30 years of trading data, to build an A.I. algorithm that successfully manages multiple asset classes. Previously, such sophisticated technologies were only available to hedge funds, large pension funds, major insurance companies, global banks and elite, accredited investors.

Over the last eight years of testing, ART’s outstanding success rate delivered quarterly returns of 10% or more . Which is significantly higher than the average ROI for retail traders, who would be happy with 10% ROI per year. Once traders begin experiencing increased returns on their portfolios through ART, the demand for Compcoin will eventually outgrow the limited supply of 10 million coins, thus in-

creasing the value of each coin for longterm investors and speculators.

financial asset trading that’s decentralized, democratized and, above all, creates a level playing field for all investors.

Unlike other asset classes, historical data shows that trading patterns are also somewhat predictable. ART analyz- Right now, blockchain is used as a tool es current market conditions, compares by most as a ledger to record transacthem to positive outcomes tions and preserve informafrom similar past scenarios, tion. However, some see it and automatically executes as both the foundation and trades that have the highest raw materials for building probability of success. By exethe next version of the Incuting trades based on historternet. Visionary compaical data and predicted behavnies are already building opiors, ART takes away much of Over the last erating systems and applithe guesswork and emotional eight years of cations on top of blockchain mistakes that can derail even testing, ART’s to increase its functionalithe most concrete investing outstanding suc- ty and take advantage of its strategies. stability, processing, storcess rate delivage, encryption and other ered quarterly SO WHAT DOES THIS capabilities. Compcoin is a MEAN FOR INVESTORS? returns of 10% innovator in this space, and Traditional investing is the has created its own proprieor more. tip of the iceberg for Comptary blockchain. coin and ART. Other asset classes, such as commodities, pre- Imagine the possibilities for everycious metals, and crypto-currencies day investors who have access to finanalso leave behind tell-tale trading pat- cial trading applications built on top terns that ART’s intelligence can per- of blockchain. Financial trading on the ceive but other experienced human blockchain means greater transparency, traders or trading technologies might accessibility, control over investments miss. That is the impetus behind the and potentially lower fees by cutting Compcoin ICO. Surely we could have out the middlemen. It’s time that the released ART to the trading public power to create wealth is placed back in and done quite well with licensing, the hands of the everyday investor, and transaction and subscription fees. blockchain will be the catalyst for that But we have a vision for the future of momentous shift.

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JULY 2017

AdEx: Disrupting the State of Online Advertising through Blockchain The online marketing and advertising industry today has reached a statusquo; a state, in which it’s too rigid but still generates revenues so high that ad tech giants have become resistant to change.

Fortunately, there is a solution: blockchain.

by VANINA IVANOVA CMO

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WHAT IS ADEX? AdEx is a decentralized advertising exchange aiming at solving some of today’s advertising industry’s key issues: violating end users’ privacy; misleading reporting for advertisers; ad fraud; increasing ad blocker use and much more.

Our mission is to create an ad network that enables trustless consensus and empowers advertisers and publishers with a platform beneficial for all the parties involved in the process, end users included.

AdEx Crowdsale period: June 30 - July 30 or when the maximum amount of tokens is sold; Maximum amount of tokens to be sold to the public: up to 80,000,000, which amounts to up to 80% of the total number of tokens.

THE CURRENT ADVERTISING LANDSCAPE The online advertising marketplace today is dominated by giants like Google and Facebook for example. There is nothing wrong with this per se, however the bigger these advertising networks become, the less flexible they become towards advertisers, the more intrusive they are towards users, and the harsher they are to publishers.

This is bad for the entire industry. Advertisers start to look for alternative ad exchanges and networks but none of the smaller solutions offer the results that the majors (say, Google AdWords or Facebook Ads) yield. This situation effectively turns them into hostages.

Publishers, on the other hand, are subject to more and more rules and restrictions by the networks, which leads to

JULY 2017

discouragement, lack of trust in the system, and even censorship when it comes to content creation.

Finally, the end user is bombarded by so many ads that they develop ad blindness and/or install ad blockers. In 2016 alone, more than 615 million devices had an ad blocker installed on them, and half of these devices were mobile.

HOW CAN BLOCKCHAIN FIX THINGS As I mentioned earlier, the current advertising ecosystem leaves a lot of room for improvement. The most prominent issue, however, is ad fraud. This phenomenon encompasses the fraudulent or incorrect representation of ad impression, clicks, conversions, etc. for revenue generation purposes.

While existing ad networks have some fraud-prevention mechanisms in place, they are not transparent and advertisers still rely on the information that the network provides. There is no way to verify the data.

According to a report by The & Partnership and the Adloox audit verification company, in 2017 brands will suffer losses in the amount of $16.4 billion due to ad fraud (bots, exploiting backdoors in ad serving networks, etc.).

This is where blockchain technology comes in handy. Its most valuable use for the advertising industry is precisely that: full transparency in ad delivery verification.

When an ad exchange is implemented over blockchain, it essentially creates a ledger where anyone can track a particular banner, video, ad, or similar promotional content. The blockchain will give users data about where and how many times each item is seen or shown, who was it broadcasted to, how much money this broadcasting cost, and so on.

Moreover, with a blockchain-based exchange like AdEx, all the participants in the advertising market operate with the same unified KPI, and can keep a very precise track on their return on advertising spend (ROAS) or ad revenue.

THE ADEX TOKEN (ADX) To acquire or sell advertising property within the AdEx ecosystem, participants will need to use the ADX token. It will be based on Ethereum, a decentralized platform for running smart contracts in a cryptographically secure manner.

THE ADEX CROWD SALE The ADX token crowd sale will be facilitated by the WINGS DAO. In it, up to 80% of the available tokens will be offered to the general public and the profits of the sale will be used to fund the development of the AdEx exchange prototype.

Smart contracts are computer programs that run on a distributed public ledger; they ensure consistent and transparent results. Furthermore, the technology allows AdEx to remove the need for intermediaries and central authorities. Through smart contracts, the complex process of choosing and tracking ads as bidding/payment can be described in the contract itself. The whole mechanism will run on the distributed Ethereum network and will take advantage of the blockchain qualities.

The bigger these advertising networks Investors who want to participate become, the less in this ICO will have to do so usflexible they become ing ETH, the native cryptocurren- towards advertisers, cy of the Ethereum network. The the more intrusive token price will be set 3 days prior they are towards to the crowd sale. users, and the harsher they are to The tokens will become transferpublishers. able immediately after the crowd

CROWD SALE BACKING AND SUPPORT Currently, our list of partners includes some noteworthy brands and organizations. AdEx is supported by WINGS, BITMAIN Technologies and Stremio. Our advisory board is also very strong, and since the official announcement of the crowd sale, the project has been gaining significant traction.

This reinforces our belief in the success of the token offering and in the future of blockchain in the advertising industry in general.

sale, and unsold tokens will be locked for 12 months. The latter will be used by AdEx to promote

For more information about AdEx, visit www.adex.network.

the company’s services and incentivize the AdEx exchange adoption.

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JULY 2017

Fear of Missing Out

by MICHAEL ANDREWS

I’m heading to Blockchain to join the gold rush!

Like many ‘newbies’ to the crypto currency boom, I have been lured by the promise of overnight riches through ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings).

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Headlines screaming ‘two Pizzas worth of Bitcoin purchased in 2010 would now be worth $20 million USD’, reports of ICOs raising millions in minutes and overnight doubling or tripling in the valuation of crypto coins have gradually overruled my healthy skepticism of the area.

After months of reading and watching the ICO space and after a bit of searching, I came across a site called ICOrating.com which shows an upcoming ICO called Aragon.

ity by bringing in more than they realistically need to launch their platform.

If they reach their secret cap, they will stop accepting funds immediately. Oh, and they have built some code with a team of four that is available to test, but the actual fully functioning product won’t be ready until May 2018 and isn’t expected to be mainstream for at least 5 years…

The Aragon team have written a peer reviewed whitepaper which explains their idea and proposal for a platform. PotenAragon is apparently a platform for man- tial investors are urged to read it before aging decentralized organizations built investing. Like any good user-manual, I on the Ethereum blockchain. It claims to don’t bother to read it until afterwards. be everything you need to run your com- Instead, do some searches on Googpany, from accounting, laws, to payroll le and find that the one of the founders through a single interface.

(Luis Cuende) is a 21 year old tech prodigy listed among the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Now, it’s worth recapping what an ICO List and is being backed by venture capis; basically it is a hybrid between a italist firm Boost VC. Further ‘research’ crowd-funding and a traditional IPO: and I find significant chatter on public • Crowd-funding because the company is forums like Reddit and Twitter, indicatraising funds on the basis of an idea or ing to me a lot of people are excited and an MVP (minimum viable product) but intending to invest. no actual revenue or significant business and; So, despite not really understanding the • An IPO because generally post the ICO business idea, knowing that there isn’t the coins or tokens issued will be avail- a fully working able to trade on one or more of the product or revecrypto exchanges that have popped up nue, and knowing enabling 24x7 trading on crypto curit’s run by a bunch rencies. of guys barely able to legally purAragon’s website doesn’t say how much chase alcohol in money they are raising. They say they some countries, have a hidden cap to stop the compaI’m ready to take a ny overfunding to avoid losing credibil- gamble.

In order to invest, I need a few things: • Ether (ETH), which is a crypto currency that the ICO is accepting as investment currency.

• A wallet to safely store my ETH until I pay it into the ICO and to store the Aragon tokens (ANT) I will receive in exchange.

• Access to an exchange where I can convert Fiat currency (real world money) for crypto currency (ETH in this case).

I sign up for an exchange recommended on multiple blogs - Coinbase, and after a relatively quick and easy identity verification process, I am able to deposit hard cash (Dollars, Pounds, Euros) using a direct bank transfer or a debit card.

I transfer about $510 USD and instantly convert it to Ether on Coinbase. This gives me about 6 ETH after fees (each ETH being around $85 at the time).

The day of the ICO arrives -17th May 2017. The Aragon website has a countdown showing the sale will start at 7PM. It will run for 4 weeks or until the secret hard cap is reached. From reading about some of the other hot ICOs, I know

JULY 2017

they can reach their target in minutes, so I set an alarm for 7PM. I’m booked in for wine tasting at a local wine store with my girlfriend, but I assume I can manage on my smart phone.

On the way to the wine store at 6PM, I refresh the Aragon site which shows the countdown and the address to which I need to send my ETH when the sale opens. But I’m not entirely sure if I can just send ETH directly from my Coinbase account to the website…

Reading the Aragon blog, they have guides for preparing transactions beforehand using one of several wallets that are supporting the ICO, so I pick one (imToken) and download it to my phone.

I have to setup a password and backup the key in a secure location (which I do later on).

I transfer 3 of my 6 ETH from Coinbase to my new wallet (which works out to 2.9121 after transfer fees). I decide upfront that I’m just going to invest $255 dollars worth of Ether and hope I’m not completely flushing it down the toilet.

Half a dozen generous tasting sizes of free wine later, I’m juggling a glass in one hand, tasting notes

and my phone in the other whilst trying not to knock any bottles over in the narrow confines of rows of wine bottles and a stampede of people trying to get their hands on free vino. Someone at this point might suggest making investment decisions whilst drinking unwise, I’d probably agree.

hits me: FOMO! (Fear of Missing Out). I decide this is big, really big. I want to put more in, immediately!

So, despite not really understanding the business idea, knowFinally, the Aragon countdown hits ing that there isn’t a zero, I surreptitiously glance at my fully working product girlfriend who is queuing up for a or revenue, and refill – the coast is clear – I open my knowing it’s run by a imToken wallet and navigate my bunch of guys barely way to the ICO section for Aragon able to legally purwhich is listed in the App. I hit the chase alcohol in some ‘Join Now’ button, type in 2.9 ETH as the amount (the Aragon ICO ad- countries, I’m ready dress is already prefilled by the app), to take a gamble. enter my password and click ‘Confirm’.

My Ether balance reduces by 2.9 and my Aragon balance is populated with 290 ANT (1:100 conversion ratio), valuing each ANT token at around $0.85 cents.

Sorted! I put my phone away just as my girlfriend hands me a fresh glass of wine. A few seconds later I can’t help having a sneaky glance at the Aragon website to see the progress. The homepage shows over $9 Million raised– it’s only been what?… 7 minutes! Then it

Then it hits me: FOMO! (Fear of Missing Out). I decide this is big, really big. I want to put more in, immediately!

I open imToken and submit another 2.9 ETH - the transaction shows up as pending - but I don’t have enough ETH in my wallet, it’s still in my Coinbase account! I switch back to my Coinbase app and transfer another 2.9, but at this point I’ve attracted the attention of my neglected girlfriend who waggles her finger at me and intones, “Put. It. Away”.

I reluctantly obey, knowing my explanations that I am about to make my fortune buying a crypto currency that some guys in Spain made up and put on the internet will be futile.

Later I find out that the sale finished in less than15 minutes and raised $24.75 million USD . According to Aragon’s blog “the 4th largest crowdfunding event in history, and the 2nd largest in the blockchain space”.

I feel a pang of regret as the ANT token is almost immediately listed on multiple Crypto Currency exchanges and goes up by 50%. Within a couple of weeks it’s 150% over the ICO price.

However, in the same period of time the value of ETH increased by around 200%, meaning that (on paper at least) I made more money by not investing than I did investing.

Bubble? Absolutely – you have been warned.

19

Adam Draper

Interview with Adam Draper, Founder & Managing Director, Boost VC, a California -based startup accelerator that focuses on Bitcoin related companies. Mr Draper is a 2x entrepreneur and a 4th generation venture capitalist. He also has a very large comic book collection.

INTERVIEW | JULY 2017

The ICO Revolution

by DAN EVE @Cryptopoly, COO CryptoCamp

Q. ICOs have been under some fire recently from critics. Aragon was certainly one of the more transparent and successful ICOs but there’s a lot of concern about transparency of funding within the ICO ecosystem and information available at ICO launch – what are your thoughts?

A. Honestly, if you want to invest in an ICO that is great but there is almost too much information and choice. I believe there will be regulation in the future but when, how and where is anyone’s guess.

Q. When it happens do you think it is going to be more government or community based and will it be able to self-regulate?

A. Well I think the community can regulate it better than the government – they understand crypto. There are so many standards

that aren’t written down that everyone is abiding by. Also, companies are becoming very creative with all their ICOs and they are all a little different in their concepts, timeframes and strategies. I think it’s almost too difficult to regulate it from an individual government standpoint because it’s truly global. So, we’re moving toward community regulation, with checks and balances based on it being a hugely transparent system.

Q. I was looking at the wings platform earlier and I like the idea of their ICO wrapper, providing community or analyst consensus before you even go to the ICO launch stage.

This gives investors a bit more confidence or warning depending on the scenario.

A. The government is going to come up with something at some point. It’s just that this concept of token is a little difficult to find for a lot of people because some people are treating it as equity and some are not. Here’s a great example, file © BOOST.VC storage coins… you’re 21

JULY 2017 | INTERVIEW

allowing your computer to be decentralised storage – rewarded by something that’s not equity but should have a value because that network will grow. It’s really fascinating as it’s almost like getting to choose our own currency. I’m looking at it as rapid prototyping for a perfect government in the digital era.

Q. One buzzword getting investors excited is ‘disruptive’.

People know that crypto technologies can take a piece of so many existing pies from supply chain management to government infrastructure like property title deeds. Do you think cryptocurrencies get resistance due to existing infrastructure getting worried about impacting their growth?

A. Investors are moving in droves to these ICO systems, mainly due to the economic incentives, you’re incentivizing the first users to own a piece of the project right from the beginning.

Q. Some people seem concerned about the amount of money going into the system, but I feel it is just natural progression due to ease of disseminating information and sending forms of value, in tokens, over the internet. Before you had a meeting with Venture Capitalists to get a limited number of participants, now the investment gates I think it’s almost too difficult are open to everyone. to regulate it from an individual A. We’ve had crowdgovernment standpoint because funding for a while now but with crypit’s truly global. So, we’re to it’s easier and almoving toward community most effortless.

Everything is a curregulation, with checks and rency at some levbalances based on it being a el and it’s all about the trust that is behugely transparent system. ing built.

Q. ICO’s enable a platform for people at the earliest stages of projects to be catapulted into a position to compete with the big guns. Which is great from the community’s perspective. Do you think this 22

community spirit acts a drive to accelerate funding?

A. Yes and it’s an evolving platform. Right now, we are trying to build an entire new ecosystem.

Not all of the projects will succeed but this helps trigger more due diligence and information sharing to help protect the community.

Q. Do you think there are still negative connotations associated with cryptocurrencies?

A. Yes, people aren’t too confident and avoided it. So, like many in crypto I’ve experienced years of people joking, “Hey how’s your bitcoin going” because I was known as ‘that bitcoin guy’. And now everyone is asking, “Should I buy?

Should I get in? What’s the deal?”, especially when it wasn’t doing too well. But the great thing is that most people want to learn and I was so happy to talk about it. But it’s all changed so much.

Q. Do you think the Ethereum price is mainly driven by ICOs? A. Yes and no, people are realizing that to participate they need to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum. Ethereum has a higher delta so it’s been going up on a percentage basis more than BTC. They’re holding Ethereum to buy ICOs which helps fuel demand. But other coins can be used to buy into ICOs so there is general speculative demand. © BOOST.VC

Q. Do you see the number of tokens, currently 700+, growing much further or contracting and consolidating?

A. I think what’s been Some people seem concerned proven over the last 2 years is that tokens about the amount of money are here to stay. Most going into the system, but I feel people know nothing about cryptocurit’s just natural progression rencies and there is so due to ease of disseminating much room to grow. information and sending forms Just think about pure market size, $100bn of value, in tokens, over the is a drop in the bucket of traditional curreninternet. cies. Governments are starting to look and say, “Hey how do we get a piece of this $100bn market”. The IRS will release new rules as all these things are about to happen, but I can say with absolute 100% certainty that tokens are here to stay and will still be here in 10 years.

JULY 2017

Blockchain’s Killer Applications What Makes Them Different to Those of Other Industries In the high-tech sector winning format Some of them are driven by established wars is the highest precept. For the institutions like the Citigroup-led digital triumphant company it means high currency Citicoin. margins or high revenues from licensing fees.

SOLVING Sometimes it means both.

COMPATIBILITY AS THE One way of making their MAJOR CHALLENGE Identifying the killer by own format dominant IGOR is to leverage a killer application as early as PEJIC application. For many possible in the technology’s blockchain advocates lifecycle is the key to beat ICOs that can there is no doubt bitcoin competitors. To reap the is this killer application profits, the specific product manage to bridge for payments. Bitcoin is the divide between attributes that this new by far the best-known technology enables have today’s and cryptocurrency, even to match the needs of the tomorrow’s world users. Which attributes better known than the blockchain itself; in fact, of the new product will are certain to to explain the blockchain arouse the interest customers be demanding? most resort to bitcoin Everybody is pointing to of incumbent (as in the 2016 book title speed and convenience. But financial Blockchain Revolution: with the blockchain we have institutions as How the Technology Behind a paradox. The explosion Bitcoin is Changing Money, of altcoins aiming to solve well, which will Business, and the World by customers’ problems automatically Don and Alex Tapscott). has created a new need: boost the overall interoperability.

Bitcoin had an early-mover willingness to advantage, because it set People don’t want to carry invest into such the technology lifecycle in hundreds of currencies, not ICOs. motion and is still growing. even if it is crypto-coins At 42 bn USD it has by stored in digital wallets. far the highest market capitalization They don’t want to go through costly of all blockchain applications. The gap and cumbersome exchanges. This is to the second placed Ethereum (33bn why the killer application will not USD) or the third placed Ripple (9.5bn be one coin or one particular token, USD) is staggering. Many leading but an application facilitating the FinTech projects use bitcoin as a basis communication between systems, soon which they code their own solutions, called interledger technology. Some just like the Goldman Sachs-backed serious forays already exist. Ripple Circle Internet Financial. But given its uses the blockchain to let banks operational scale limitations and the exchange money with a trusted third energy resources bitcoin gobbles, it intermediary. The Commonwealth Bank will not be able to sustain the immense of Australia partners with Ripple to expectations. Therefore, by 2015 there enable permissioned, blockchain-based were already 440 active altcoins, which transactions between its subsidiaries.1 were basically an alternative to bitcoin.

The Turing-complete Ethereum is

the second biggest application that facilitates large-scale interoperability.

It can run any coin, any protocol.2 And indeed in 2014 Ethereum became the second most successful ICO in history and the sixth largest crowd funding project in general. ICO’s or initial coin offerings are a cryptocurrency version of crowdfunding. Most of them are powered by the belief that their currency is blockchain’s next killer application. But most of them will carve out a profitable niche for themselves, because only interledger solutions have the potential to reach the pinnacle of ICO valuation lists. The major reason is that the market potential of interledger solutions is not limited to a specific coin, nor even cryptocurrencies in general. Interledgers can also handle Euro- and dollar-denominated value.

This is good news for those who come up with this killer application, but even more importantly, this time it may help incumbents stay on top. Current systems can be connected to new ones, diminishing the risk of obsolescence.

ICOs that can manage to bridge the divide between today’s and tomorrow’s world are certain to arouse the interest of incumbent financial institutions as well, which will automatically boost the overall willingness to invest into such ICOs. Ripple and Ethereum are the prime examples, the two applications that are clearly leading the hunt to displace bitcoin as the number one in terms of market capitalization.

1

Wild, Jane / Martin Arnold / Philip Stafford (2015): “Technology: Banks Seek the Key to Blockchain: Financial Groups Race to Harness the Power of the Bitcoin Infrastructure to Slash Costs.” In: Financial Times: https://next. ft.com/content/eb1f8256-7b4b-11e5-a1fe567b37f80b64 – retrieved on: July 12, 2016.

2 Swan, Melanie (2015): Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media Inc., p. 15.

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JULY 2017

SunContract

A Decentralized Energy Market on the Blockchain by ROK GORNIK Community Manager and PR

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Blockchain technology will probably change a lot of traditional business models. One of those traditional markets is definitely the energy industry. Blockchain technology offers fast transactions between the sender and the receiver without the need for a middleman, this encompasses the true essence of decentralisation. Transactions are irreversible, so once a transaction is conducted it will always stay the same. Blockchain could, therefore, bring transparency and traceability into the energy market.

THE VISION The SunContract project that will build a platform for decentralized energy trading wants to diversify and decentralize energy sources and make trading more transparent and simple for everyone.

Start June 28 to July 25 Minimum cap 10,000 ETH

THE PROBLEM The current energy production model is dependent on fossil fuels and non-renewable energy sources that are very harmful to nature and the ecosystem in general. Electricity is usually produced far away from urban areas or industrial zones, so governments need to build infrastructure such as transformers and

Max. cap 100,000 ETH

power lines to transmit that energy from power plants to consumers.

Building long distance infrastructure is very expensive and time consuming. Long distances make loss of energy a major issue. Electricity needs to be transformed to a higher voltage to travel more effectively over longer distances, then once again transformed back to lower voltage for local use.

Each of these steps lose energy along the way.

Big power plants that are in the middle of the current centralized system also expose the network to the problem of a “single point of failure�,

JULY 2017

which describes the possibility of network instability if only a few of the most important power plants go offline. This instability would mean that some households or industrial factories could end up without energy. National grids usually solve that problem by buying more expensive electricity from neighbouring countries.

That, of course, results in higher costs of electricity. And there is not much you as a consumer can do about it. Until now!

THE SOLUTION The SunContract vision supports self-sufficient communities based on renewables and peer-to peer trading based on blockchain and smart contracts.

By decentralizing energy sources, electricity can be generated in local areas. In these local areas where people live and work, communities try to maintain clean air and protect nature, with SunContract if one would like to produce energy locally, one would need only to use green and eco-friendly technologies like wind, sun, water, bio-mass etc., as the burning of fossil fuels in these areas can damage communities.

SunContract is a decentralized energy market, focused on renewable energy, especially solar, but is not limited to it. Energy from the sun can be generated all around the world. Some parts have more sun hours, some less, but all of us can harvest it. Investment costs into sun power plants have significantly reduced throughout the years and that is why this source of energy is readily becoming more accessible. SunContract wants to make the energy trading platform available for everyone that would be interested in energy production and consumption. On the platform, members will be able to sell and buy electricity directly without the need for a “middleman�.

A simple explanation would be as follows: 1. Your neighbour will invest into solar panels and produce electricity for himself and will produce some surplus.

2. Because he wants to speak directly to you as a consumer, he will join the SunContract pool where you will be able to buy electricity directly from him.

3. A smart contract will take care of merging and trading energy and will publish it on the blockchain. This will make it possible for you to buy electricity from peers in negotiated quantity and price.

er plants on the roofs of households, wind turbines, small hydroelectric power plants, CHPs or even biomass power plants. Smaller units will also help to decentralize the system and meet higher standards of electric distribution security. There will be less centralisation, and with that, less chance of a national energy crisis.

ty that contributors send Ether from their private wallet. We advise not to send Ethers from exchanges or other non ERC20 compatible wallets as this may result in a loss of tokens.

By using the SunContract platform it means that there is no longer TOKEN GENERATION a need for energy EVENT (TGE) retailers. The reSunContract platform is intended to sult will be lowbe built on the Ethereum blockchain er prices for conthat will take care of conducting and writing transactions on a public ledg- sumers and highWhen dealing with the supply and demand of er. The platform will need a dedicatelectricity, we will use the existing national grid er returns for proso you and your neighbour need not worry about ed token for its operations that will be ducers.

SunContract TGE will accept only Ether due to the need for smart contract transparency. The SunContract team will announce all important information and details regarding the TGE very soon. Everyone that would like to contribute in the event has to subscribe on suncontract.org for a newsletter, from where the necessary information will be sent for participation. It is important that you only follow instructions that come from suncontract.org.

By using the SunContract platform it means that there is no longer a need for energy retailers.

The result will be lower prices for consumers and higher returns for producers.

SunContract plans to raise approximately 10,000 ETH to build the platform. If the TGE raises more assets, then the SunContract team plans to expand the model through acquisitions, expansions and by increasing market share. You can read more about the SunContract business model on their website or join them via live chat on Slack.

distribution. Grid operations will still be conducted by the distribution system operator, who normally takes care of electricity distribution and grid maintenance.

This concept will encourage people to invest in small and local power units like solar pow-

created through a Token Generation Event (TGE) and will be called the SNC. The SNC token will be created through the TGE smart contract and will be an ERC20 token. That means that if one participates in the TGE, he will be given a smart contract address where Ether will be sent to. In return, the smart contract will issue newly generated SNC tokens and send them back to the address from where Ether were sent. It is of absolute necessi-

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JULY 2017

Navigating the Initial Coin Offering Minefield Heard of digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ether? (to name two of the best-known) Maybe you have managed to get your head around Blockchain, the distributed ledger technology which goes hand-in-hand with them, then you may be one of the few people to have already heard of a new funding trend: Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs).

An Initial Coin Offering is, in many respects, simply a new crowdfunded version of an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Largely confined at the moment to companies dealing with cryptocurrencies or building applications with Blockchain technology, it involves the sale of by newly-created cryptocurrency tokens.

HELEN DISNEY Founder and CEO of Unblocked Events

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loans. Blockchain technology does not only open up for the creation of new business models in a variety of industries, it also offers up the promise of a whole new way of funding its own development.

So what is an ICO? Similar to a crowdfunding or equity crowdfunding camRecently ICOs have hit the news and paign, the investor receives tokens of caught the attention of investors and a new cryptocurrency issued by the entrepreneurs – firstly, because they start up that can then be traded on exare raising large amounts of money rap- changes and eventually even turned idly and, secondly, because they repback into fiat currency, if desired. Just resent a brand new way for start ups like shares, these ‘participations’ in the to get access to much-needed capital. company may or may not prove to have Jamie Burke, Founder of Outlier Vena higher value in future. tures, has even hailed 2017 as ‘the year of the token’. So far in 2017, have been Many start ups doing open source debig news with blockchain businesses velopment work may not be approraising $327m through ICOs, exceedpriate candidates for venture capiing the $295m raised through VC fund- tal funding but they could be adding ing last quarter, according to research value or new features which would published by one of the main industry otherwise not get funded. Since the news sites, CoinDesk.

Ethereum network makes it relatively easy to create and sell your own set New technology companies traditionof tokens – in other words securely ally have had to rely on access to venencrypted digital assets – it is easy to ture capital, angel investment or more see why ICOs have grown rapidly in traditional means of funding like bank popularity.

JULY 2017

Blockchain technology does not only open up for the creation of new business models in a variety of industries, it also offers up the promise of a whole new way of funding its own development.

The current ICO marketplace is something of a Wild West for investors and especially for members of the public wanting to get in on this digital gold rush.

Many start ups doing open source development work may not be appropriate candidates for venture capital funding but they could be adding value or new features which would otherwise not get funded.

A range of technology companies are all launching or investigating the options of an ICO. This could be either as an additional source of funds alongside VC funding or as their primary source of funding. Current examples include the decentralised prediction markets Augur and Gnosis, decentralised cloud storage service Storj, the internet browser Brave, mobile gaming platform MobileGo, Golem (a marketplace for idle computer power), ID verification service Civic, decentralised internet service, Blockstack and messaging app Kik. Many others are sure to follow.

There are some key differences, however, between a traditional IPO and an ICO. Instead of getting shares in a company, an ICO investor receives digital coins or tokens that can be in a lot of cases even used to pay for services within the company’s decentralised application (dApp). A key difference, however, is that although these tokens can be traded, unlike ordinary shares, they do not necessarily represent any ownership in the company. Instead, you could think of a token as an opportunity to be part of the internet economy, where the value is in the token itself. We have to remind ourselves that Fiat Money is since decades largely not supported anymore by its historic backer: gold or silver. It is also based on trust.

The current ICO marketplace is something of a Wild West for investors and especially for members of the public wanting to get in on this digital gold rush. Companies like Brave and MobileGo have recently raised vast sums via ICOs. Brave raised $35m in 15 seconds; Mobile Go a staggering $56m. These are massive sums for what are mostly untested start ups with no real customer base. Essentially they are being funded by investors who are taking a view on the likelihood of Blockchain technology and related applications becoming major players in a future marketplace and are looking to reap the rewards.

For those still looking to invest, information is starting to be made available about how to judge whether an ICO is a scam or a promising venture. AngelList, for example, has launched a project with Protocol Labs, called CoinList.

This will be a new platform for token-based networks to reach investors and raise money for the development of their projects. Since it is not yet clear that all tokens issued in ICOs comply with U.S. securities laws or that all of them are companies that have good use cases for their new coins, CoinList is designed to allow accredited investors only to navigate some of these concerns by using a new form of agreement called a SAFT (Simple Agreement for Future Tokens).

ICOs clearly raise a number of legal and regulatory questions. It is not yet clear that policymakers have caught up with the trend or how ICO investments would be treated under national and international corporate law if things go wrong. For those willing to take the risk, do your research, be prepared to lose as well as make money and watch out for compliance. The ICO marketplace is still very much a case of caveat emptor.

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JULY 2017

impak Coin Challenges the Economic Status Quo

The Initial Coin Offering runs from June 26th to July 26th.

The bonus structure is as follows: June 15-26: 25% bonus pre-sale for those with VIP code June 26-28: 20% bonus June 28-July 12: 15% bonus July 12-26: 10% bonus

Launch of the first cryptocurrency dedicated to the social impact economy

by EAMON LEONARD Community Architect, Impak Finance

Impak Finance Inc., the Canadian Fintech company famous for raising over $1M in its equity crowdfunding campaign last October (and creating thousands of ambassadors for its project) announces the public presale of impak Coin (MPK). impact Coin is the first cryptocurrency dedicated to the social impact economy.

This pre-sale is scheduled to begin on June 26, 2017 at www.impakcoin.com. “We want to mobilize those in the international community who wish to create an alternative to the dominant economic model. It is time to bring together citizens, businesses and investors worried about the current state of the planet to create an economic alternative - that takes into account not only financial profitability, but also the positive impact on our collective well-being. As an organization 100% dedicated to the growth of the impact economy, we appeal to, among others, followers of cryptocurrencies to join us - as far as I know, they want to change the world, too!� said Paul Allard, CEO at Impak Finance.

IMPAK COIN, A CRYPTOCURRENCY FOR A BETTER WORLD Cryptocurrencies have existed for many years now. Yet, their usage is

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not widespread - they are mainly used by people driven by a desire for decentralization, control, censorship resistance, anonymity and speculation on profits. Most cryptocurrencies have in fact been designed to appeal to that same crowd, hence promoting even more to the same circle of people.

Impak Coin (MPK) is designed for a different crowd. This new generation cryptocurrency will provide an answer to the need for purpose, stability, positive social impact, ease of use and peace of mind. The software and governance of the whole project is aligned to meet these

requirements. Since MPK targets a different crowd and has a different purpose, it had to be fundamentally different to be able to properly address those differences. impak Coin aims to accelerate the interaction between citizens, investors and entrepreneurs in this new virtual space dedicated to the social impact economy, called impak.eco. Impak Coin combines the advantages and functionalities of complementary currencies, recognition programs, and new cryptocurrencies. Based on blockchain technology, it is stable, safe and more energy efficient than many

JULY 2017

We want to mobilize those in the international community who wish to create an alternative to the dominant economic model. It is time to bring together citizens, businesses and investors worried about the current state of the planet to create an economic alternative that takes into account not only financial profitability, but also the positive impact on our collective well-being. As an organization 100% dedicated to the growth of the impact economy, we appeal to, among others, followers of cryptocurrencies to join us - as far as I know, they want to change the world, too!�

other digital currencies. Designed for everyday use, transactions within the impak ecosystem are free for both merchants and customers.

By rewarding user participation in the ecosystem with impak Coins, we ensure that all actors in the ecosystem become winners and continue to grow the impact economy.

This project is carried out in close collaboration with technical and legal experts from the world of cryptocurrencies and has been developed in accordance with our values of transparency, collaboration and citizen participation. impak Coin is the first cryptocurrency designed to support the growth of the impact economy.

THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS impak Coin: 1. Is built on a decentralized technology called the Waves Platform: —Paul Allard, CEO at impak Finance.

- No single point of failure - Transparent - Immutable transaction ledger - Has a centralized governance body to accomplish the following: - Ensure accessibility of impak Coin to every citizen wishing to support the impak project - Ensure protection of end users by easing the burden of private key management - Ensure a stable price and isolate the MPK from any speculation to avoid money laundering and malicious usage of the impak Coin

ABOUT THE IMPAK COIN ICO The Initial Coin Offering has been scheduled to run from June 26th to July 26th.

The bonus structure is as follows: June 15-26: 25% bonus pre-sale for those with VIP code June 26-28: 20% bonus June 28-July 12: 15% bonus July 12-26: 10% bonus

ABOUT IMPAK FINANCE Impak Finance is a startup company about to create a new 100% digital Canadian chartered bank. Impak Finance is a Fintech entirely dedicated to the development of the impact economy, a fast-growing sector. It proposes to radically change the way citizens and organizations collaborate and transact by building an ecosystem called impak.eco that connects investors, businesses and Citizens sharing the same social values.

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JULY 2017

ICO’s and the Migration of Intellectual Capital

With the recent explosion in ICO’s and mainstream media attention to Cryptocurrency, there is an ongoing debate as to the merits of the ICO market and whether ICO’s are good or bad for Cryptocurrency in general. I would like to suggest that there is an additional viewpoint that is not being widely discussed and perhaps should be.

by MARC KENIGSBERG Founder of BitcoinChaser.com

Recently I found myself trying to explain to a friend what Blockchain technology is and how it can be used.

He wanted to hear about practical examples for its application. As I ran through examples of ledgers, health tech, real estate, smart grids and smart contracts, his answer was always the same: “That can be done today without Blockchain”.

This left me thinking well after the conversation ended. Even if many of these applications could be created today with previous technology, albeit inferior, the point is that they weren’t. Despite the obvious reduction in the technical barrier to entry that Blockchain provides for these applications, Blockchain’s real benefit is that it has captured the imagination of the technical community. People want to create these applications today because of Blockchain. And for that I thank Satoshi. But how is this relevant to the ICO debate?

THE YEAR OF THE ICO 2017 has thus far been the year of the ICO. Last year we saw ICO’s launching every few weeks and struggling to

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raise their minimum funding levels of dollars in a day for an idea that over the course of weeks or longer. has no clear existing use case, Today we see multiple ICO’s a day and is based on the promise of a with all of the tokens selling out prototype to be delivered in the in as little as a matter of minutes. future. For traditional investors, this Investors simply can’t is anathema to everything get enough tokens to that they understand satiate their appetites and about value and as a result this has led to a debate many are labelling ICO’s as about their validity as an ponzi schemes or scams. investment vehicle. And the debate is fierce! In THE FUTURE OF THE I hypothesise that ICO INDUSTRY one corner entrepreneurs are looking to capitalize Whether we will see the 2017 and 2018 on the freedom and will see one of the hand of government and opportunity offered and regulation intervene or largest migrain the other corner is the thousands of people will tions of intellecalleged impending crash lose their money or a new tual capital that of Cryptocurrency and generation of millionaires the modern world will be created, I don’t the looming threat of has seen. draconian regulation. know. But I suggest that there is an additional Traditionally three metrics are used benefit to the current climate as measures in the ICO debate: regardless of outcome. And that • Valuations of these ICO’s is that the potential of ICO’s has • Use Cases captured the imagination of a new • Prototype or Minimum Viable generation of technical wizards.

Products (MVP’s) The manifestation of Blockchain Today it has become commonplace technology, the increasing to see an ICO raise tens of millions mainstream acceptance of Bitcoin

JULY 2017

and Ethereum and recently the ability to raise funds through ICO’s has created a perfect storm situation to attract the brightest and most inventive minds in the world. ICO’s can capture the imagination and interest of the whole gamut of developers, economists, marketers and entrepreneurs. The ability to get paid to build something new that no one has ever worked on and potentially get rich doing it; who would want more? And with each new ICO we are exposed to a new use case or another way to use the technology. And each new use case strikes a chord with another group of professionals or sparks ideas for newer and even more forwardthinking use cases. And all of this can be done without the traditional barriers to entry for development or the need to convince a VC to support it. And let’s not forget the ideological drive of youth to change the world and how alluring the Cryptocurrency community must be when first discovered.

THE COMING EXPLOSION OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL Based on this I hypothesize that 2017 and 2018 will see one of the largest migrations of intellectual capital that the modern world has seen. Primarily

developers and graduates - but also all capital to an already impressive array of types of professionals will give up their talent will compound the acceleration day jobs or known career paths for the of Cryptocurrency in general - in a way opportunity to create something in that will shock even those of us already Satoshi’s image. Personally, I don’t believe involved. And assuming that I am correct, we are anywhere close to a bubble and in for that I thank and support ICO’s. fact not even near full momentum yet. As the WITH GREAT POWER ICO space accelerates COMES GREAT and money keeps RESPONSIBILITY Investors simply can’t pouring in, I expect to That being said, I get enough tokens to see more ICO’s, more advocate and urge a inventive applications middle road approach satiate their appetites and of the technology to this explosion of this has led to a debate and more disruptive technology and wealth about their validity as an collaborations in all creation. There are sectors. many ways to get investment vehicle. there and some are I assert that regardless more favorable for of whether regulations everyone involved. I are unleashed, urge this for all parties internal politics involved: for the people happen, hacks occur, or scams are revealed behind these ICO’s as well as the seasoned - we are in the golden age of ICO’s and and speculative investors looking to make Blockchain. Not because of the money money. Approaching this amazing period that will be made but because of the in history responsibly will result in more intellectual capital. I predict that within profit for everyone involved. And more the next two years Blockchain technology importantly, that will help facilitate the will be the first choice amongst the incredible benefit that this technology world’s most talented development teams. has to offer to the world. And that is our And the addition of this intellectual responsibility as a community.

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Tim is the founder of Draper Associates and Draper University. He has been listed as #46 of the most outstanding Harvard alumni, #7 on the Forbes Midas List, #1 Most Networked Venture Capitalist by Always On, and #98 on the 2014 Worth Magazine 100 Most Powerful People in Finance.

Tim Draper

Š DRAPER.VC

INTERVIEW | JULY 2017

ICOs Connect the World The Bitcoin Legend, Tim Draper, gives his views on ICOs

by MATT ARMSTRONG CEO&Founder of Crypto Camp

Q. What controls and regulations, if at all, should be in place for ICO’s?

A. Generally speaking, I think ICOs are like non-profit organizations in that they are for the good of society, and should not be regulated or controlled by any government. I don’t see why we need to regulate something where people are basically saying I’m buying coins for the good of society. ICOs are transformative ideas that are allowing us new ways of governing, building applications and moving money from one place to another. This is really an exciting time.

Q. Should ICO’s be community lead or lead by the government?

A. ICO’s are world-wide, and provide opportunities for us to think of ourselves as global citizens. It’s a very exciting time because it will potentially transform how we operate and it gives us freedom to try new things without affecting the various governments around the world. Countries around the world can discover new ways of governing and/or adopt new ways of governing if they see them really working well. If the ideas spread then they will become very valuable and if they don’t then they’ll just go away.

The governments who embrace these tokens are going to win big just the

It’s a very exciting time because it will potentially transform how we operate and it gives us freedom to try new things without affecting the various governments around the world.

ICO’s are world-wide, and provide opportunities for us to think of ourselves as global citizens.

way the US won big because they embraced the internet, they allowed it to run without regulations. Just as the US benefited from the internet, Switzerland, Singapore, Korea and Japan are all looking to benefit from bitcoin and the blockchain. What I’m seeing is governments in competition with each other for the top. They need to accommodate for the people in the world, the money in the world, the entrepreneurs, and the business’ in the world. They are in competition for us and the more they embrace new technology, and new forms of operation the more they will be able to attract the great entrepreneurs in the world and that’s where all the capital will go. Capital is pouring into Switzerland, Singapore, Korea and Japan because they have said “We accept bitcoin, we look at this as a valued currency”. Once you hear that from a government there is a huge flood of new entrepreneurs that will happen around that technology. The same thing happened with the US and the internet, they said “This internet thing is great”.

The US was embracing it and won big.

Q. What would you recommend for the best due diligence when investing in a ICO? For example, what research or steps would you take before investing?

A. Well, I’m in the business of investing and ICO’s are a little different. I 33

JULY 2017 | INTERVIEW

© DRAPER.VC

look at these as exciting opportunities, bitcoin is so exciting. What they have been able to do has allowed other ICO’s to come and try their hand out because bitcoin is to finance, what the internet is to media, communications and information. I think that this allows us an exciting new platform in which we can rethink banking and finance. These industries can be reconsidered because of bitcoin and other various tokens. It’s very powerful and it brings out amazing creativity.

ICOs are transformative ideas that are allowing us new ways of governing, Q. So, there are few ICO type plat- building applications and forms providing ratings, for example Wings, do you believe that moving money these platforms are doing what from one place they need to be doing or are they to another. adding unnecessary layers or third parties?

A. I think that’s good, they can rate them and they can determine what they are doing. People can say: this one sounds like it’s going to be something interesting for society so I want to get behind that one, or it looks like somebody just trying to make money 34

and I don’t want to back that one. So, I guess as a token buyer I think that the things I’m looking to buy are tokens that I think they have potential to transform society.

Q. Are you investing in any ICO’s now, and if so which and why?

A. Well it’s already been published that we’re very close to Tezos. We are going through the paces to set up an ICO and build a backend as securely as possible so, we are very excited about it. I’m also very excited about the continuing strength of bitcoin, it’s still the work-horse behind all of this, as well as Ethereum, and all the other currencies that are built on it. *I like Tezos* because it’s transformational for society and the people who are behind it are very thoughtful, smart, driven and they are looking to make a transformational change, and that’s exciting for me, and why we are going to back them.

Q. Are there any other ICO’s other than Tezos?

A. I won’t say there aren’t any other ICOs right now because we haven’t made anything official. However, I’m a believer in the new technology around bitcoin and I will continue to consider it, as for now I think Tezos is so fundamentally exciting that it’s here to stay.

Q. What are the biggest threats to cryptocurrencies in general?

A. I actually think it’s a matter of how rapid the cryptocurrency is deployed versus how fast the government can try to put a stop to it; this means that the company loses business in a country. If it gets pushed down in one place it pops up somewhere else, so I think that it’s just a matter of how quickly we can deploy all of this. When it’s easy enough to pay for things with Bitcoin, Tezzies or any other cryptocurrency, then the sooner it becomes a real currency to people. At that juncture we become wealthier, as liquidity creates wealth and moral liquidity will create more wealth for all of the world and also the individual countries who embrace these technologies.

Susan Poole Brings You the Latest Insights on ICOs ONE MINUTE QUICKFIRE: Explain ICO, Token, Asset, Ether, Crowdsale, Blockchain - GO! Okay if you can’t tell your family what all of those are (yes, they’ll be asking you…) - then you’ll want to join me here every month at ICO Masterminds. ICO Masterminds is my new monthly column that will bring you into the inner world of ICO Masterminds - those who are right now leading the ICO and Token revolution.

What if you had known more about the internet's potential right when it was just taking off? Wouldn't you want to engage with the global innovators at that early point in time? Well this time, with ICO, you can do exactly that, have your chance to connect and be part of the most cutting-edge experience of Successful ICO best practices. Wait, Susan, aren't you Susan Poole from the Blockchain industry? You may

have that question… and the answer is yes. Blockchain technology has been at the forefront of the genesis of ICO's. And with that, many ICO Masterminds are coming from the blockchain and digital currency space.

If you truly want to be part of the ICO movement then you'll want to get the insights on ICO, Token creation, Token distribution, crowdsales, whitepapers, and foundation technologies of blockchain and digital currency.

Who are these ICO Masterminds?

The global leaders in ICO: VC's, ICO Innovators, ICO Finance, ICO Legal Minds - the revolutionaries who have rolled up their sleeves and made their mark in ICO's. Get their "ICO Lessons Learned" and best insights when you join me here every month at ICO Masterminds, part of ICO Crowd Magazine. And you'll be able to connect - what do you want to know from these minds… connect with me at Susan@ICOcrowd.com.

JULY 2017

CORION Sets World on Fire by MIKLÓS DENKLER CEO Corion Platform

“CORION eliminates the guesswork for coin holders who typically monitor exchange rates closely in order to know when and where to use cryptocurrency”.

Bitcoinist TAKING CRYPTOCURRENCY MAINSTREAM BY A STABLE-RATE TOKEN Bitcoin has been heralded as a disruptive alternative to traditional money and banking for years. Enthusiasts enjoy its inexpensive fees and fast delivery. Investors like it while it has generally increased in value, rising from $200 per Bitcoin just a few years ago to a high of $3,000. Still, many mainstream populations have been weary of putting their hard-earned money into a speculative asset. What if the so-called bubble bursts, or another Mt.

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Gox sends bitcoin into a tailspin? Could a new currency be the counterpoint to bitcoin’s troubles, and present benefits compelling enough to take cryptocurrency mainstream?

WHAT IS CORION? STABLE PRICE DIGITAL CURRENCY: When cryptocurrencies are stable, people are more likely to use them for payments. You wouldn’t want to spend a digital asset that you believe will double or triple in value over time.

Instead, you want to spend something -- like the U.S. dollar or many other national currencies -- that you believe will hold a very similar value in the future.

ICO June 18 July 30, 2017 More than $1,000,000 raised so far

CORION is the first stable-price token built to eliminate the guesswork that comes with fluctuating prices. Built on Ethereum Classic, its algorithm enables special automated inflation-deflation control, assuring stability of the CORION token as a stable means of payment worldwide.

This concept is disruptive to the industry because traditionally, all cryptocurrencies have been speculative. Investors put money into them with hopes that their value will increase. In many cases, it does. But that speculation has kept key players, like business owners, hesitant to participate in this new frontier.

We have special automated inflation-deflation control assures the stability of CORION (the token), the payment medium of the Platform. The token is demand-based. That’s part of what makes CORION so compelling.

If the price of CORION rises above $1 on the main exchanges - signaling a de-

JULY 2017

mand for more tokens, the system will release a maximum 2.5 percent additional tokens daily. On the other hand, if the price of CORION token drops below $1 on the main exchanges - signaling there are more coins in circulation than needed, then token release will stop until the demand will take it to $1 or above. To make sure the system works, set fees are calculated after each transaction and later burned - to make sure they never appear in the system again - to cause additional token supply not based on demand.

Due to CORION’s stable price, products and services can be widely distributed with no fear of losing money due to currency price fluctuations.

MULTIFUNCTIONAL WALLET: Our easy-to-use, secure and convenient wallet is the main interface of the platform, providing the tools and backup for all users to transact in the top cryptocurrencies. Our unique payment gateway facilitates the massive mainstream adaption of cryptocurrency.

BUILT-IN P2P EXCHANGE: Based on smart contracts, our decentralized exchange offers all the necessary anti-theft security measures. We will start by offering the ETC/COR pair and shortly thereafter also offer the most widespread cryptocurrencies.

ties that generate more demand for the Platform. As business, and interest grows, so does the token supply, fueling the system and allowing users to earn daily rewards from staying active in the community.

By incentivizing CORION holders through participation in the community rather than mere speculation on volatility, CORION presents a truly groundbreaking concept for which cryptocurrency can be taken mainstream.

CORION PREMIUM TOKEN: Our premium token entitles investors to get extra benefits from the CORION ecosystem.

INCENTIVE-BASED DAILY REWARD When cryptocur- ICO investors will reSYSTEM: rencies are stable, ceive one CORION Premium Token for every You can become a Serpeople are more vice Provider if you pur- likely to use them 5,000 regular CORION tokens purchased. COchase at least 3,000 Cofor payments.

RION Premium Tokens rions. And, other users will become highly valwho are linked to you ued tokens in your portare rewarded for being folio of crypto investments. active on the platform on a daily basis. Users earn interest through CORION GAMIFICATION: Service Providers without havUsers earn tokens as they learn ing to deposit or pledge their tohow the platform works with enkens. The token supply reward is tertaining activities and games. In allocated by an appropriate, fair order to get the best mainstream and transparent system. Instead adoption, it is essential to eduof risky margin trading, one can earn as much as 2.5% release dai- cate and inspire potential users to get involved. The CORION Game ly profit. is not only for fun; it is an integral part of the token price stabilizing BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY Business owners can join the CORI- mechanism.

ON community as Service Providers WHY JOIN ICO NOW? to grow their businesses on both a local and global level. CORION pro- It is always good to be among the first in a new business and so it is vides rewards through affiliate and with CORION. bounty programs and communi-

You can earn 3-20% bonus as an ICO Investor. The 20% bonus is valid until June 24 - after that it decreases by 3% every week. Your CORION tokens will be deposited directly in your CORION Wallet. During the ICO you will earn 0.20% daily for being an early investor and you can get additional

tokens by referring your friends to join the ICO crowdsale.

Check our Groundbreaking Concept in Cryptocurrency out www.corion.io CORION ICO Promises a Big Future for Crypto World, Come and Join Us!

Universal Cryptocurrency for

eSports Industry

ICO end 21 July Most of the past and current ICO’s did not need to release their tokens, because they will not be used for much outside their services. In our project, SkinCoin will be used as a main payment method in the entire eSports industry.

https://skincoin.org crowdsale@skincoin.org

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JULY 2017

A New Kind of Bank Account – HiP – Launches Soon, Where Property is Money Release cash in your property, invest and trade in a unique crypto based offering – stable and staking just got a whole lot more interesting Recognizing the limitation of today’s property market, which excludes a large part of the community from buying, owning and investing in property, HiP Interactive Property (HiP) launches soon. It is a first for home owners, developers, investors and buyers enabling them to take control of their property finances by finding affordable financing packages, releasing value from their assets and investing flexibly in high-yield property markets. HiP introduces its own Ethereum-based smart token which serves not only as a currency within the HiP ecosystem, but also has actual inherent value based on a real physical assets (properties) and their financial returns making it a stable and staking crypto currency, different from many others.

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The main reason behind HiP’s ICO (Crowdsale) are as follows: 2 HiP’s ambition is to establish a global footprint from the outset which the crowdsale will provide by creating a global community of supporters, investors and early adopters.

2 HiP will use the blockchain technology to publicly record all debt & equity transactions.

2 Smart Contracts will be used to manage the investor and property owner relationships.

2 The HiP-Token will be created to increase efficiencies and eliminate the current friction related to global capital flows.

2 Partnerships will also be an incentive to bring business to HiP. 2 The HiP App & HiP Digital Trading Platform will be fully completed.

2 The full roll out of HiP's business plan will be enabled.

2 A Global Liquidity Pool to kickstart our ecosystem will be created.

BENEFITS: 2 Access superior returns 2 Invest across equity and debt 2 Choose investment criteria and manage risk appetite 2 Explore new sectors for investment at lower risk 2 Invest in countries, regions, counties, cities or boroughs 2 Trade investments without time restrictions

OWNERS: … can access the money in their property like a bank account.

…all via a 3D real word design delivered via a mobile application

BENEFITS: 2 Buy and sell equity, releasing cash to pay for home improvements, reduce loans, pay interest or invest in new opportunities 2 Refinance for more flexibility 2 Take control of debt and equity 2 Trade debt and equity simultaneously for the first time, providing flexibility in managing property loans and assets 2 Invest in more sectors in more locations 2 View your property, neighbouring properties or your portfolio anytime, anywhere in real time INVESTORS: … can invest freely in properties without restriction.

BUYERS: … can access liquidity to make their chosen property affordable BENEFITS: 2 Live in a house you thought you couldn’t afford 2 Access financial structures that make properties affordable 2 Have the flexibility to adjust the financing structure when it’s opportune

The HiP app will be available soon to download, users can register, set up a profile, find their property or properties on the interactive 3D map, see data about current value and explore how the property could release value.

Property developers and investors can transfer their loans to HiP and start managing and trading their debt and equity immediately, monitoring their position transparently through a user-friendly dashboard. Initially focused on commercial properties, it is open now for institutional and private investors. It will open for the residential home market based on demand.

Peteers added: “HiP improves liquidity in property – a big issue currently. Not only does this unlock the market, allowing everyone to benefit, it also has the potential to speed up new development to help the housing crisis. A developer, for example, could sell 10% of equity across its portfolio to release cash for new developments in weeks, instead of having to secure finance or relinquish ownership of assets. Equally, investors can negotiate their position, trade or reconcile in real time.”

Imagine you could sell some equity to release cash for a home improvement; imagine you could sell equity to buy a better house; imagine you could sell equity to pay off your loan; imagine you could then buy the equity back when you’re ready; imagine you could do all this in real-time.”

KAI PETEERS, Founder of HiP

Kai Peteers, founder of HiP, says: “Imagine you could sell some equity to release cash for a home improvement; imagine you could sell equity to buy a better house; imagine you could sell equity to pay off your loan; imagine you could then buy the equity back when you’re ready; imagine you could do all this in real-time.”

“Homeowners have money locked in their properties, which they can only release if approved by a mortgage lender. HiP unlocks the value in property, making equity a real-time currency that gives people control of and access to their bricks and mortar assets.”

HiP is simple to use and understand.

Colour-coded zones indicate what stage a property is in its transaction: the red zone is where a property gets registered and the most suitable debt/ equity structures is agreed, amber is where it all gets checked and verified, and the green zone is where the transaction takes place. Safeguards and smart contracts to secure buildings against investors and all transactions are published to the blockchain to protect user and investor interest.

JULY 2017

Evolving the Blockchain from the Digital to the Physical A New Model of Distributive Manufacturing Created by OTHR ABOUT OTHR OTHR, the brand leading the charge in revolutionizing the way products are conceived, manufactured and purchased by utilizing 3D printing. OTHR partners with the world’s best designers such as Claesson Koivisto, Rune, Luca Nichetto and Snarkitecture.

They create useful, aesthetic and unique objects designed specifically for end-use, 3D printed objects.

Since launch in May of 2016, we have produced over 200 SKUs which are manufactured on demand through our decentralized manufacturing network.

OTHR have successfully raised an Angel Round of $850k from investors like Joanne Wilson, David Heller (Standard Hotels) & Sandy Cass (CFO Bonobos & Artsy) and their Advisory Board consists of industry stalwarts such as John Edelman (CEO, Design Within Reach). OTHR has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The Financial Times, Cool Hunting, The Telegraph, Vogue and is recently a Winner of Inc. Magazines InnovaUser Subsribes to our Library of Unique Designs for 3D Printing

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tion Awards for “The most Entrepreneurial Design Studio of 2017.

THE NEXT OPPORTUNITY IN 3D PRINTING Home 3D Printer sales are more than doubling each year growing from 1M in 2017 to 12M in 2020* and there is currently no branded, curated marketplace creating the content for this consumer base. OTHR is uniquely positioned to own this space by allowing access to our proprietary product lines, created by the world’s best designers, on a monthly subscription service. In 2018, we will be unveiling new collaborations, new designs, and an entirely new platform that will change the way that this technology is integrated in our lives. This company was founded with the intent of beThey Select a Design and Download for 3D Printing

coming the most important design brand since the midcentury movement, and that mission requires us to address this unmet need.

HOW WILL THIS BE ACHIEVED? OTHR is announcing the creation of an entirely new, blockchain-enabled service. This new service will provide customer access to our library of proprietary I.P. for design objects, developed exclusively to be 3D printed on desktop 3D printers.

Unique, new product designs for this game-changing marketplace will be released on a weekly basis — creating the largest library of proprietary designs developed exclusively for 3D Printing. This platform will decentralize manufacturing from a They Print at Home

select few countries to hyper-local service providers and into one’s home, thus making great design competitive with Amazon in terms of price and delivery speed.

HOW IT WORKS Users will subscribe to our new platform which will give them access to a vast and growing library of useful, aesthetic and unique objects from the world’s best designers which are designed specifically to print on a desktop printer. They can download any file and print it out on their home printer from any device or location.

Imagine you are having a dinner party and decide to print a set of napkin rings designed by David Weeks for your event. Simply go to our site, press “make” from your mobile phone or laptop and stream to your home printer and they will be waiting for you when you get home. If you do not have a desktop printer, simply connect with another node who can print it for you at an agreed upon price.

Manufacturing completely decentralized made manifest.

Or Print thru a Node on our Platform

JULY 2017

Ousting Censorship with Blockchain

The ICO will launch on July 17th, 2017

Innovative hub, onG.social launches Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and creates buzz with the blockchain’s first incentivized social dashboard.

by LARRY CHRISTOPHER BATES Chief ICO Officer onG-coin

Call it the great media equalizer, or call it on time, but onG.social is determined to reward uncensored contributions in cryptocurrency. Forging a new way of life for creators who risk being silenced for their content, the forward-thinking company is taking incentivized social media to the blockchain. Already creating a buzz as the most exciting ICO of 2017, the time-tested site brings hundreds of thousands of active users to the effort. For posting relevant truth-driven content, site members will take a power position on two fronts. First, with a power to the people approach and blockchain-based security, they will weaken the regulatory control of status quo social media sites. Secondly, they will directly benefit from every meaningful contribution they make via onG-coin.

In recent months, talents have been squeezed out of their hard work and carefully crafted content by profit-driven algorithms meant to silence their opinions. onG.social is created to assure that real news makes it to the worldwide stage curated at the hands of those who live it, in real time. Creators will no longer be subjected to random, or targeted shut-downs. Also, the creators bottom lines won’t be adversely affected. Finally, an honest forum.

SO, HOW DOES IT OPERATE? Using Ethereum and WAVES, a decentralized social dashboard creates a bridge to all existing or centralized social networks. It also scales the gap between decentralized social networks enabling users to connect, consume, create and distribute onG.social is determined NO MORE FAKE information across to reward uncensored NEWS a myriad of avecontributions in Could this be the nues; all without cryptocurrency. catastrophic implohaving to abandon sion of the same old existing systems media at its finest? already in place.

In a global sigh of expectant relief, This method gives each user ulticreators give the thumbs up as onG. mate control over their content, sosocial announces the July launch of a cial channels, privacy, and data ennew way of life. cryption. Dually, by moving to the

blockchain, they will also include API's to decentralized networks such as Steemit, Akasha, Golem, MaidSafe, and others.

WHAT DOES IT PAY? While earning onG.social currencies onG-Coin, G-Fuel, and G-Bucks, users can earn additional types of cryptocurrencies all at once. They will have access to STEEM dollars, GOLEM Network Token (GNT), SAFECOIN, and STORJ tokens as well.

HOW DOES IT PAY? The compensation algorithm called Gravity™ measures and rewards community verified truth and overall global impact for each post made to social media.

Free speech, anyone?

ICO LAUNCH DETAILS The ICO will launch on July 17th, 2017 and will include a decreasing discount, smart contract structure that will slowly increase the token cost as more are sold. Beginning token price will be $0.50 per onG Coin at: https://onGcoin.io Pre-sale terms are available now until July 16th, 2017 as detailed on the site.

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JULY 2017

HUMANIQ First Humanitarian ICO, Blockchain and Financial Inclusion

Innovative technologies have fostered the emergence of the P2P economy, mostly driven by digital platforms and partly by cryptocurrencies. The strength and opportunity of P2P economy is that is shaking and shifting the very internal conventional foundations of economics as we have known it for the past 100 years. An important part of the global phenomena of P2P economy is the recent emergence of the crypto economy, particularly its innovative concept of ICOs (Initial Coin Offering).

by DINIS GUARDA CEO and Co-Founder Humaniq, intelligenthq.com

HUMANIQ THE GLOBAL UNBANKED AND THE CRYPTOCURRENCY ECONOMY Launched in the end of 2016, Humaniq has been working to provide mobile finance for the 3 billion unbanked or underbanked people globally through its mobile app and token HMQ. Humaniq aims as well to develop an open source full stack as well as an API that will be available for start ups and other third parties. It enables them to build services using Humaniq’s technology and making it easy to adapt their services into the Humaniq network to reach a huge, untapped audience.

Humaniq has built its business footprint through an ICO in an effort to sustain an organisation focused on building an human-

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itarian capitalism and fostering financial inclusion, by using blockchain for good. Humaniq ICO, considered to be the first full focus humanitarian Initial Coin Offering (ICO) for HMQ Token, ran from April 6, 2017 through April 27, 2017.

It raised USD $5,163,000. The amount raised during its public crowd sale was significant, providing the organisation with a budget for the execution of the plan formulated in the Humaniq white paper.

Since it’s ICO, Humaniq has been creating a software platform, minimum viable product (MVP), and has assembled a formidable team of fintech, blockchain experts and technologists, passionate about delivering financial services to 3 billion unbanked and underbanked adults worldwide. It is now expanding in Africa and Latin America and building partnerships with local and international organisations.

Humaniq’s ICO had 11,860 participants. With this number of participants and an average check of $435, Humaniq’s ICO was one of the most decentralized and participated ICO’s in history. Its successful outcome produced the stability necessary for the sustainable development of Humaniq’s mission and the building of its HMQ Token.

ICOS AND HOW BLOCKCHAIN DISRUPTS THE STARTUP FUNDING INDUSTRY Humaniq’s ICO represents a tipping point in a fast changing industry. It is an example of how blockchain and crypto economics are disrupting the mainstream world by affecting and democratising funding, which impacts at large the venture capital industry.

HMQ token, which was released in May has been growing steadily, sustained by a powerful community and at the moment of this article has been stable in a market cap of 24 to 30 Million USD.

An ICO is an event in which a new blockchain project sells part of its cryptocurrency tokens to the public in exchange for money today. ICOs enable the cryptocurrency project to raise initial funds for its operations. Most

JULY 2017

ICOs raise money in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

In an interview with influential thought leader and VC Brock Pierce, entitled “Why this venture capitalist wants to make traditional VC obsolete IPO” Pierce says:

ance around how to create tokens, i.e virtual currency. Sooner or later more governments will follow the example of Singapore.

SMART CONTRACTS, ETHEREUM PLATFORM TECH ICOS – THE NEW BLOCKCHAIN CRYPTO ECONOMY Humaniq ICO used the fast grow“Venture capitalists have been invest- ing Ethereum platform since its ining in innovation and disruption for a ception. Ethereum is being used frevery long time, but as an industry they quently and successfully for doing a rarely innovate themselves. If you’re crowd sale and getting the tokens in in the blockchain or bitcoin space, our the investor’s’ hands. Over 80% of view is that we’re trying to decentralthe ICOs are happening there today, ize the world, we’re trying to democso it might be the platform to finance ratize the world in a way that creates a the start ups of the future. level playing field where everyone has equal access. ” Many people are still fearful of ICOs because they think that it’s a field The process of raising funds through that is not really regulated. Andrean ICO is so recent, that some of its as M. Antonopoulos, a technologist inherent fragilities need to be tackand serial entrepreneur who has beled. This is the reason why it is urcome one of the most well-known and gent to add substantial regulatory well-respected figures in Bitcoin has overhang to ICOs. Rather than cirhighlighted and explained some of cumventing regulations, innovators the problems and merits of ICOs. and entrepreneurs have to ask themselves: “Is this something that can be ICOs will have an impact on many indone within the rules? Can we do this dustries. It is not just venture capicompliantly?” tal: it is private equity, it is real estate. All of these illiquid asset classes A few governments have tackled this are going to be soon disrupted by this question. In 2014, the Monetary Aumodel. This mutation is operated by a thority of Singapore gave some guidconvergence of the financial technol-

ogy, mostly blockchain, cryptocurrencies and decentralised systems.

ICOs will have an impact on many industries. It is not just venture capital: it is private equity, it is real estate. All of these illiquid asset classes are going to be soon disrupted by this model.

I suspect that ICOs will become more and more frequent, because innovators in the industry are: 2 creating liquid venture funds 2 allowing access to a broader group of investors 2 investing in the trend of start-ups doing ICOs (initial coin offerings) 2 showing these start-ups how to do it compliantly

ICOs “investments” are here to stay and it will be partly how start ups will be financed in the future. Historically venture capital funds have only allowed elite investors in. So one merit of ICOs Andreas M. is they allow small investors from all Antonopoulos, over the world to participate. technologist and serial entrepreneur

Some governments, as mentioned previously, are beginning to regulate the field though and whether we like it or not, the disruption to the way people invest and fund their projects is happening at a fast and furious pace.

As to Humaniq we are working to make it possible to innovate and create solid solutions to the 3 billion underbanked all over the world, using the best innovative tools the blockchain crypto economy has to offer today.

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JULY 2017

Shifting ICO Investment Paradigms From Focusing on Capturing Value to a Focus on Value Creation

by STEVEN GLEISER Content Manager & Analyst at bitcoinchaser.com

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A decentralized world requires a change in paradigms. This is abundantly evident in the overcrowded ICO market, where investors struggle to find the profitable projects using well-established analysis paradigms. Changing these paradigms however, doesn’t necessarily mean that we must reinvent the wheel. Instead we must do exactly what Satoshi Nakamoto showed us: Focus on the fundamentals.

A closer look to the decentralized revolution that started with Satoshi’s white paper and the creation of bitcoin, allows us to gain a valuable insight. In a world obsessed with capturing value, the banking system built a wall within, in which its activity was highly profitable but decreasingly valuable to the economy. The alternative

paradigm thus, must focus on the fundamentals that were clear to Nakamoto: it is about creating value first, and then capturing a small fraction of it in the long run.

AN ALTERNATIVE PARADIGM The exercise of picking successful ICOs beyond the psychological thrill

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of investing in blockchain technology, must focus on a clear initial separation between price and value. Conventional investment paradigms often conflate both terms. These paradigms penetrated popular culture through TV shows such as Shark Tank, and success stories such as Apple or Facebook. ICO investors must understand that investing in a radically abstract concept that aims to become its own economy in a way, would never get the backing from any Shark. It would also fail to do what Apple and Facebook did because both of those success stories – Apple in particular – largely profited from capturing the value that others created. This is harder to replicate in the world of cryptocurrency.

ICO investors must thus remember the quote attributed to Philip Fisher, a legend in the world of investment. Fisher’s quote is short and incredibly insightful: “The stock market is filled with people who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.” Knowing the value of the ICO is the key; the short-term price of the token is just there to confuse investors and convince them to take profits without focusing on value creation. That is what drives Shark Tank-like investors away from ICOs where creating value is a long-term game.

CREATING VALUE VS CAPTURING IT This brings us back to Satoshi Nakamoto, his white paper, early bitcoin adopters and the swinging mood of the ICO markets.

The price of bitcoin is a reflection of typical investor behavior under the current paradigms. It took years for bitcoin to establish itself in the market, price wise. But just a few minutes after early adopters read the white paper, they understood how much value the project would create. That is why these early adopters invested, and why all of us followed.

The stock market is filled with people who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.

The value that bitcoin created however, could not be immediately captured. In fact, it took years until those early adopters became millionaires precisely because it took time for price to catch up with value creation to yield a profit. Then, and only then, could early investors capture the value Satoshi created. This would never happen in the world of centralized projects that must be quick to capture value created or face extinction.

CONTROL OBSESSED INVESTORS Classical start-ups, centralized organizations and their investors can be obsessed with control. This often leads them to seek immediate profit. Satoshi Nakamoto inverted that behavior altogether and generated a value-creation centric innovation industry. In this industry, the best way to capture value is to be patient and to forgo control. The interaction between the two investment paradigms often creates a clash that is evident in token price behavior, after ICOs are over.

Bitcoin, Ether, Classic Ether, Litecoin, Steem and other prominent coins have that Ushaped price chart over time – although some are still off their all-time highs – that shows just how long price might take until it catches up with value creation.

The first peak is where the investors that are eager to capture value quickly – the current investment paradigm – get out. That triggers the downfall of the coin in terms of price, but not necessarily in terms of value.

Value-creation centric investors, understand exactly what they saw in the ICO and are willing to withstand the dip They capture value once the price comes through to the other side of that U-shape.

PICKING A WINNER: FOCUSING ON CREATING LONG-TERM VALUE INSTEAD OF CAPTURING A FRACTION IMMEDIATELY! It is more than obvious that picking a winner in this overcrowded ICO market, is a question of understanding that the project will indeed create value. But to put ourselves in a position to do so, we must invert our thought process. That is a real challenge; at any given time, most of us succumb to the temptation of capturing value as quickly as possible.

That is how we can turn a profit in record times on most ICOs, because the mind-set of the investor collective tends to display immediate value-capturing behavior.

Nevertheless, that kind of thought process may lead us to either exit too early, or invest in the wrong ICO altogether.

When we manage to focus on long-term value creation, we can identify the ICOs that deliver on the most important parameter. To do so, we must calibrate our thinking and go back to the fundamentals, like Satoshi did.

Reading Nakamoto’s white paper, the value creation proposition is crystal clear; it is in the first sentence of the abstract. When we evaluate ICOs diligently to invest in them, we must follow this decentralized kind of thinking, although it is not easy. This is how a small group of early adopters, who installed Satoshi’s software, started mining and kept their coins, are now millionaires – and why Satoshi kept a million coins, less than 5% of the total, and is now a billionaire. The rest of us are still going through that paradigm shift, teaching our minds to focus on value creation instead of a Shark Tank-like immediate capture mentality.

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JULY 2017

Blockchain ICO's — The New Era of Crowdfunding Is Here Initial Coin Offerings are taking over the investors’ radar, and everybody wants a piece of the pie.

More than 25B$ has been invested in April 2017 alone, as that’s only the beginning. bitJob.io – The Student Jobs Marketplace is preparing for its upcoming ICO and has decided to share some campaign tips.

Crowdfunding is a method for small companies to finance the establishment and development of their business. An unorthodox method, compared to the traditional stock exchange IPO. This approach helps many projects get more, faster, and lower-cost funding than by they can achieve otherwise.

AVIAD GINDI CFO & Co-founder of www.BITJOB.io

When crowdfunding is used by businesses, the public gets the opportunity to invest in startups, hoping for future profits from the company’s anticipated success. In 2013, more than $5.1 billion was raised worldwide through crowdfunding efforts. This rose to $16 billion

in 2014 and more than $34 billion in 2015. (Those numbers are based on all crowdfunding platforms worldwide.)

In 2016, a wonderful thing happened when Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), the cryptocurrency version of crowdfunding, started to get investors’ attention.

ICOs are one of the easiest and most efficient methods today for startups and individuals to receive financing without regulation that is financially burdensome while the project has no income.

People who participate in an ICO crowdfunding campaign, aka “Token Sale” can pay through bitcoin or Ether “cryptocurrencies” that they either already have or purchase for the situation. The investor will receive the issued currency, also known as a “token”.

For example, bitJob.io is planning to call their issued currency “STU” tokens, which represents a “student coin” in the Students’ Jobs Marketplace.

The issued currency has a predetermined value in Bitcoin and Ether,

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JULY 2017

which is calculated by dividing the total num­ ber of tokens that went public by the amount of money that the company would like to raise.

The purchase of tokens is defined as a contribution to the development of the project, usually without any commitment from the company that raised the funds. There are also projects that promise future income for their investors, relying on future revenue streams (dividends) The lack of regulation in this field attracts investors who are willing to invest low amounts of funds and receive yield potential that can reach thousands of percentages in a few days or weeks.

fined by the market at the end of the ICO, depending on the amount of equity raised.

BITCOIN AND BLOCKCHAIN FINANCING HISTORY More than 25B$ has been invested in the month of April 2017, and it seems like only the beginning. For example, the “Aragon” project held its token sale in May 2017 and raised 25M$ in under 15 minutes. The token sale for the “MobileGo” project token sale, which ended that same month, raised 53M$.

If you combine all cryptocurrencies, the current amount in circulation is worth ~80B$. The most valuable tech brand in the world, Google, is worth ~675B$. It is reasonable to expect the cryptocurrency market to continue to grow and gain new investors, some bigger than the market is now.

To illustrate the strength of the cryptocurrency market, let’s review the Bitcoin price over the last 12 months.

THE MAIN TYPES OF INITIAL COIN OFFERINGS: 1. The company defines how much funding they want to raise and how many tokens they’ll be issuing. That defines the value of each token, so the value stays the same through the entire ICO. 2. The company assigns a value to each token that varies according to the price of Bitcoin when the token is issued.

3. The company is interested in raising money without a cap limit (there is only a minimum limit and no equity maximum target). The value of each token will be de47

JULY 2017

roadmap for the project, and describe the general business model. Think of the whitepaper as the business card of the company; you can’t present yourself without it.

3. Building a professional website and even a basic mocked-up POC. This increases potential investors’ trust, demonstrates company seriousness, and illustrates the feasibility of the product.

4. Building an experienced board of advisors. A blockchain-based project requires technical knowledge. Including experience in the team will save time and money, and it is important to give the CTO the backing he needs for his delicate and crucial part in the very complex development process.

EXAMPLE OF POST-ICO VALUATION: The numbers are clear – the potential for ICO is huge. Still, there are some major challenges facing the mainstream adoption of blockchain technology. The average Joe doesn’t trust Bitcoin or its reputation, finds blockchain technology too difficult to use, doesn’t understand or know about it, and has no drive to reduce centralisation.

Here are some factors that help make an ICO launch successful. BitJob.io plans to use them in their own upcoming ICO campaign.

1. Starting from the right foundation.

The company must have a team of founders with the right skill set. There should be a CEO with experience in managing teams and leading projects, a quality control technician with proven knowledge of the blockchain architecture, a gifted marketer, and a financial expert . ANY solid project needs a great CFO to back up the token distribution and the economic expansion plan.

2. Writing the Whitepaper. This business prospectus document will detail all the technical and financial issues, show a 48

5. Using escrow agents. Escrow agents have been proven to be extremely beneficial for many ICOs. Investors have no guarantee that their funds will be returned, but escrow agents can give the investors some assurance that the projects they are investing in are audited and guided by a wellknown person in the blockchain communities. This obligates the founding team to get the agent’s approval for any transaction they wish to post with the crowdsale funds, which is an external confirmation that they are following the company roadmap they published when they offered their ICO to the public.

6. Reaching influencers. The blockchain community is still growing and developing, but the core influencers are well known.

Get the news of your ICO to them so it can reach as many people in the world as possible.

7. Using Professional PR. For an ICO to get its story to the right investor, it needs community-based advertising and marketing. A number of companies provide PR services for ICOs, raising the chances of a successful crowdfunding campaign.

JULY 2017 | INTERVIEW

Value, Utility and Trust by MATT ARMSTRONG CEO&Founder of Crypto Camp

Q. What controls and regulation if at all should be in place for ICOs? A. At the end of the day, teams should be legitimately committed to their projects and transparently communicate risks to participants. Companies like TokenMarket are trying to standardize token offerings on some level, and provide an initial quality screen. Given the decentralized nature of the technology, it will be hard to regulate, but I think you will see some countries try.

There is a gray area of whether these ICOs are securities, tokens or something else. Part of this is the legal community is scrambling to understand the underlying technology, and put it into a legal framework that fits. It’s interesting to see them do this with Ethereum Smart Contracts, which are essentially programmatic trust.

We thought a lot about Bitquence, and decided to avoid anything that is similar to a security or a currency. Early backers of Bitquence are pre-purchasing tokens and will be the first users of the platform. Because the platform won’t be available in the U.S. for a while, we are not allowing U.S. consumers to participate. We really want to see the value of Bitquence grow along with its utility and trust. We are explicitly creating a token that will be used to run a platform, provide liquidity and power services.

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Shingo Lavine CEO of Bitquence

We want to bring the power of cryptocurrencies to everyone and accelerate this exciting technology towards mass adoption.

At the end of the day, teams should be legitimately committed to their projects and transparently communicate risks to participants.

Fraud, scammers and governments banning or overly regulating the space.

Q. Could it be community led and not government?

A. Absolutely. In theory, the governance should be community-led too, which is the ethos behind a true, direct democracy. A deregulated market is the most economically efficient market, but it comes a great deal of individual responsibility to keep things honest.

At Bitquence we hope to be deeply involved with the community who will give us feedback about how to make our platform and token the best it can be. and will be rolling out features such as the Proof-of-Stake community consensus to give the community a voice in the new economy.

Part of our vision at Bitquence is to enable our community to rate tokens and cryptocurrencies on their technical value and future potential. We’re doing this through our proof of stake community consensus, where community members stake Bitquence tokens on rating and predicting future performance of any digital asset. This “put your tokens where your mouth is” approach we think is the best way to derive an accurate community consensus of a new token’s quant technical value and future performance.

Q. What would you recommend for best due diligence e.g. research steps to take?

A. Great question, and one that we have talked about here at Bitquence.

INTERVIEW | JULY 2017

We wrote an article about measuring fundamentals in a speculative market and we boiled it down to the following categories and questions: • Technological Underpinnings - How strong is the technology? Are there any bugs, network issues or vulnerabilities? How good is the codebase?

ditional finance and banking sectors that will have to decide whether they embrace or contest this space.

Q. Is the blockchain hype real or are people buzzwording?

A. Not every single person in the “blockchain” space has to use blockchain. But the potential for Blockchain to revolutionize different sectors of computing is very real.

automatic gas conversion and mobile transactions we will begin to establish the Bitquence DIgital Liquidity Network using BQX to transfer value across crypto and fiat assets instantly.

Q. Where do you see the market cap going by the future?

A. Historically in the token and cryptocurrency space, market cap has been tied to robust technical support for • Usefulness - Does the token solve a probthe token and unlem? Does it do something better than derlying technology, something else? Is there demand for a token Q. Do you think Saand trading volume. that does what it does? toshi will ever reA company we are veal himself? modeling ourselves • Development Team - Does the token have A. If I were Satoshi, I off of is Ripple, who There are technological a dedicated development team? How strong wouldn’t. Would you has a $10B+ circuadvances we may not are their credentials? Commit history? Are if you owned 1 millating market cap. they getting funded? lion Bitcoins?

How did Ripple get even be aware of yet so big? They focused • Community - Is there a passionate commu- Q. Will intellecon having a highin fog computing and nity behind the project? Is the communitual property ly robust platform distributed applications. ty active in improving the token? Are they rights interfere that can transfer valfriendly and helpful to newcomers? with open source ue in the blink of an community that's eye anywhere around • Governance - How is the project run? Open been built from the world. They fosource? Company/VC/Foundation backing? the ground up? cused on a key vertiVoting? Community sway?

A. No. The bigger iscal, which is banking, sue is countries participating in open source in especially with a vision of becoming decentralQ. Have you invested in any ICOs right a single direction, eg consuming without givized international money transfer. now? If so, which and why? ing.

A. I am an investor Golem, Maidsafe and SiaSo, to make Bitquence more valuable, we need Coin. We believe in the ability for blockchain Q. Where do you see BQX going by the end to have strong technical support for the token and distributed technology to revolutionize of the year? and the platform, and make the token inherently more sectors than just currencies. There are A. By the end of the year we should have the useful. The vertical we are targeting is consumer technological advances we may not even be Bitquence Universal Wallet, One-click diversifi- and merchant spending which involves integrataware of yet in fog computing and distributed cation, Proof-of-Stake Community Consensus ing cryptocurrency into existing financial strucapplications. and Cold Storage fully functional. During that tures. Cryptocurrencies aren’t going to replace time we will also be working on a legal framewhat we have already, but they are going to make Q. What are the biggest threats to crypto- work with Morrison Foerster, a leading globmoney a whole lot easier to use and send. We currency in general? al law firm, to make sure that the platform is want to bring the power of cryptocurrencies to A. Fraud, scammers and governments bancompliant and available in as many countries as everyone and accelerate this exciting technology ning or overly regulating the space. Also there possible. Using the liquidity generated by activ- towards mass adoption. We believe that this will are very large entrenched interests in the traity on the platform such as asset diversification, drive a lot of value for the Bitquence token.

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JULY 2017

Ties.

Network LinkedIn for Crypto-community

The Ties.Network - a LinkedIn for the crypto community, is a distributed business platform that allows traders, investors, developers, consultants and enthusiasts to find business partners. They offer their services, enter into joint deals based on smart contracts, hire staff, advertise their own services in a comfortable and secure environment, and also finance projects (individually or as a part of a particular community).

The platform allows you to get maximum PR exposure in the crypto-community through a system of ratings and reviews. It also allows you to act anonymously while keeping transactions with other community members safe.

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At registration, each user by default receives either a rating formed by the system based on objective witnesses of the users’ activity in the crypto-community, or on documents that the user provides. Furthermore, the community corrects this rating by a method of clarificaby tion, impartial and decentralized voting ALEXANDER NEYMARK and by adding reviews, and so, achieves its maximum objectivity. This allows you to change monopolies of collusion.

The platform is based on a “Profile” that allows you to provide information about yourself, for a fast keyword search from a desired party that is created on the features and services you offer. Participants make deals based on smart contracts - to offer goods and services and pay for them, to hire, pay for consultations, form communities and set up joint projects, co-finance the transaction in the framework of projects, etc. The platform enables you to not only find a party, but also to offer a job, to get people involved in a given blockchain project, making it easier to test new ideas, and discuss them with crypto and blockchain technology market professionals. Using the platform you will not only get feedback and criticism, but also form a team in order to launch your own project, and receive funding from interested parties.

The platform is anonymous in essence, but each user sets an acceptable level of anonymity for themselves. Public figures who care about high rating and trust level, will reveal as many details about themselves as possible. However the platform also has a feature that

can completely hide an account’s identity, should the owner wish to enter into a business transaction without disclosing his or her identity.

TIES NETWORK USE-CASES Ties Network is useful in the following cases: • The user comes to the platform searching for consultants to create a product or make a cryptocurrency-related deal. Through keywords and the rating system, he or she can find a consultant, discuss the terms of the deal, and pay for that consulting through a smart contract.

• The user comes up with a business idea and creates a “Project” (similar to a group in linkedin), describes the essence of the idea and adds a preliminary document. The platform allows you to find interested parties for the project: programmers and managers for implementation, as well as business partners to participate in the project.

• Collective due diligence of existing or emerging projects are used to cut off scams. Collective discussion of a project, research for white papers, smart contracts, terms and business proposals of the project, adequacy in terms of market realities, the possibility of involving a group of market experts for in-depth discussion of the project.

Platform anonymity allows you to express any opinions, even negative, and send documents that can protect investors from investing money in a fraudulent or obviously unrealizable project without the fear of compromising themselves.

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Given that the personal rating of each user (in- cess to their content or perform complex opercluding experts) will be built and will be regu- ations with them. larly adjusted depending on objective decentralized voting of the entire crypto-commuThe second problem: HOW to store data? Simnity (as was mentioned above), experts will ple files do not represent a data structure. be able to evaluate the project as objectiveThey can not be linked to each other, neily as possible. This is based on personal expe- ther one can look for the contents of the file. rience, personal opinion, personal rating (usTo search for data, you need to organize ining scales calculated from the expert’s person- formation in a special way, to provide a quick al rating), as well as the views of the communi- search on the contents of a file or a fragment ty as a whole and the materials sent (including of it. Searches by title and by document, with insider information that can be the ability to add a new document provided under condition of anoand delete the old one, modify the nymity for the source). Thus, the document, etc, are necessary. due diligence of the project will not be influenced by the collusion The third (and the most imporof monopolies in the market and tant problem): the issue of TRUST becomes as objective as possible. between the organizers of conThe Ties.Network - tent storage in a decentralized This will benefit the crypto-community and will give a new round a LinkedIn for the network. The fact is that a pubof development to the market. crypto community, lic decentralized network assumes that everyone can become a memis a distributed WHAT IS THE POINT ber of the network. A free license business platform for the product code assumes that OF STRUCTURED DATA that allows STORAGE? any user who bought the server At first glance it seems that traders, investors, and installed the appropriate softeverything is simple. In fact, deware can be an organizer of the developers, centralization creates a lot of difstorage (that is, a node). Members consultants and ficulties and new problems that of a single network do not know enthusiasts to find each other and are not required have to be solved practically on business partners. to. They can be located in differthe go. ent parts of the world and even be The first problem is WHERE to store the data? in open conflict with each other, while effecIf there is no single server, then there is no tively supporting the work of the database as a guaranteed site where you can add informawhole, performing their part of the work. The tion in a structured way. The decentralized problem of trust between participants and incloud storage market offers a solution in the teraction between those who do not trust each form of renting users’ computers and storing other by default, is a key problem of public, files on them, but this solution is extremely distributed, decentralized systems. The solulimited in its capabilities, because the content tion to this problem is a fundamental step in of information is not taken into account - as a the development of the decentralized applicarule, these are simply files. No one can get actions market.

WHAT SHOULD THE NEW DATABASE BE LIKE? The new type of database should be: 1. Public: anyone can join the network and become a node.

2. Decentralized: it should not have a single trust center and a control center.

3. It should provide all the capabilities of a distributed network: the content should be stored on different servers, yet used as a single piece of information.

4. The content should be stored in a structured manner, providing the ability to quickly find information within it.

The most important problem that arises when you create this type of database is trust between nodes.

CAMPAIGN DETAILS: Ties.Network prefund contract • Prefund emission maximum: 20,000,000 UMP • Token price: 0,0025 ETH You can buy any amount of tokens starting from 0.1 ETH. Bonuses depend on the total amount of tokens already purchased: • Up to 7,000,000 UMP => 80% • 7,000,000 - 14,000,000 UMP => 55% • 14,000,000 UMP - 20,000,000 UMP => 40% For example, if the sale reaches 2,000,000 UMP, you can buy more tokens with an 80% bonus. If participants have bought a total of 8,000,000, then from that moment on you can buy tokens with a 55% bonus, and so on.

More information: https://github.com/ TiesNetwork/prefund-contract/wiki/Ties.

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Advices to Minimise Failure with ICO Initial Coin Offering, or commonly known as ICO, is a form of crowdfunding or fund-raising activity based either on established cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), tokens or fiat currencies. Startups that are incorporating coins into their product’s design, are using ICOs as a method for capital raising since it is easier and more efficient, bypassing in this way the rigorous, timeconsuming and regulated processes required by venture capitalists and banks. An advantage of this method is that it allows a team to focus more on their product rather than marketing and pitching to investors, which usually takes a high percentage of their time.

by DR THEODOSIS MOUROUZIS Program Director of MSc in Business Intelligence and Data Analytics at Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM)

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ICO campaigns extend over a period of a week or more, in which potential investors are allowed to purchase the company’s coin (analogous to shares).

During the campaign, investors buy the company’s coins and this purchase is executed as a form of smart-contract, that is equivalent to a shares’ acquisition agreement. If the company does not raise the minimum funds required, the money should be returned to the backers, while if it is successful the money is transferred to the company for carrying on with product’s development. This is encoded and secured via a smart contract and the data should be publicly available for transparency.

As of May 2017, it is claimed that TECHNICALITIES: over than $380M have been invest1. Whitepaper: Aim to develop a ed into ICOs. It is worth mentioning whitepaper that is clear, consistthat the cryptocurrency eco-system is ent, of well-explained content and experiencing a tremendous rise, with clearly explains the technical deBitcoin market capitalisation growing tails of the product. Don’t leave from $11B to $47B in one year. Many room for disputing the underlying startups follow the ICO direction for technology and make sure to have fund raising by advertising mainly a the answers to the majority of the whitepaper and a coin dependent on expected questions. a small (initially) network of nodes 2. Ensure that the incorporation running the underlying infrastructure of a coin into your product folof their Blockchain. lows naturally. If you just plug in the idea of a coin in order to go Below we summarise some key points through the ICO process, it may that start-ups considering an ICO be wiser to seek traditional should pay attention to. funding.

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3. Ensure that your technology is correctly chosen and implementable, in terms of the selected blockchain framework. Address all issues of scalability, fault-tolerance, security, efficiency, latency and transparency for your proposed architecture.

4. Ensure that you are able to answer in full, any requests regarding the storage of assets, if they are going to be secured and where.

COMMUNITY AND ADVISORS’ FEEDBACK: 1. Aim to receive sufficient feedback from experts within the community before you publish the whitepaper. Such feedback can be obtained by publishing posts and ideas in various channels/forums such as Reddit, Bitcoin Talk Forums, Bitcointalk or even social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. 2. Form an Advisory Board and bring in people from both Industry and Academia that have experience in Blockchain technologies and Cryptocurrencies. Ensure that this team can advise you on technical, business development and marketing/ sales issues.

3. Attend conferences and workshops such as Consensus, Blockchain Expo, Blockchain and Smart Contract in order to have direct access to experts’ opinions.

LEGAL ISSUES & TRANSPARENCY: 1. Be as transparent as possible with your intentions, stages, milestones and coins/funds allocation, especially for the founding team.

2. Ensure that the legal framework is fully defined and leaves no room for disputing. Hire (or partner with) a lawyer if possible in order to make sure you don’t break the law.

3. Use the funds in an efficient way and explain step-by-step how you plan to spend them for product development.

4. Be open and transparent when engaging with the community.

5. Protect your investors. Keep investors’ terms very clear and ensure that there is a process in place for returning the funds to the investors in case the ICO is not successful. A de facto requirement has become the collection of all funds in a multi-signature escrow wallet with all the names/key-holders announced to the

public. Some of these keys are held by people uninvolved in the project so that any conflicts of interest are minimised.

6. Keep the ICO framework as transparent as possible, as many investors have been cautioned regarding ICO’s; some of them may be fraudulent due to lack of regulation by financial authorities.

PROFESSIONALISM AND PLANNING: 1. Define the vision/goals of your product/idea and clearly communicate it to the community and potential investors.

Never overpromise, over-plan or oversell your idea.

2. Meet the deadlines and milestones as listed in the initial project plan or whitepaper. This will show that you are trustworthy and you have seriously planned the project idea from the very beginning.

3. Ensure that there is a market need for your product and that you really solve a real-world problem. Never create new or more problems.

4. Ensure you understand technical, business development and marketing related details of your product.

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Aira.

ICO First Phase

by SERGEY LONSHAKOV Founder of AIRA project

Aira’s first successful 1st ICO phase finished on the 28th of May. Aira issued tokens of an Autonomous Intelligent Robot (= Air token) and formed a project development fund.

Token distribution is one of the most interesting economic tasks! An inner project token is not only a chance to raise money for the project, a token is a key element of the vital capacity of the infrastructure that you are building. Encouraging the usage of the inner token in the project modules under development and also creating a working module of the infrastructure so that using of the inner token is stimulated, will help the project to come through any trials.

DISTRIBUTION OF AIR TOKENS, PHASE 1 On May 25, 2017 the Airalab team published a release of the Aira project titled Foundation. By May 28th we had distributed 1,000,000 tokens of our autonomous intelligent robot to the genesis investors.

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Air is an internal capital token of the conception “Responsive robot economics”. For the realization of this conception we aim the forming of an infrastructure of smart contracts around using the air token and instruments of working with them in the Ethereum network. It will turn the air token into an inner capital asset of the environment that is being created.

2 Aira IoT and Aira ROS Bridge are developed 2 Project on direct economical relationships between a man and a robot “Drone-employee” is presented

TIME LINE OF AIRA PROJECT

2016: Deep dive into Ethereum and supporting the association in Russia 2 Investigations and development in the sphere of creating decentralized autonomous organizations 2 Publication of smart contracts being created in GitHub into the repository Aira core 2 DAO Factory is developed and implemented into the project work DAO IPCI 2 Development of autonomous agent interfaces. Aira interface release 0.1.0 2 Beginning of cooperation with Microsoft Russia about training work with Ethereum net 2 Building-up the pattern of projecting autonomies

2015: 2 First mentions of Aira in the interview to forklog 2 Decentralization research of the Internet of things

2017: 2 Beginning of the work concerning the robot economics doctrine 2 Publication of the project Aira 0.7 release — Robot liability prototype

AIRA PROJECT LAYERS After successfully completing this economic experiment, for which about 6 months are set aside, the Airalab team will fulfil the second phase of the token distribution in an auction format. The total amount of tokens will go to 10,000,000. This will show the market evaluation of the capitalization of robot economics infrastructure that we created.

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financing by the fund. The given list of the repositories does not limit the possibility of creating new repositories within the Aira project, if the aim of their creation is developing the Aira project.

DISTRIBUTION THE AIR TOKENS, PHASE 1 At the phase 1 Air tokens will be distributed in 3 directions.

The 1st direction: to the balance of a smart contract of the developers’ congress from the fund, for supporting the association and motivating the implementation into the modules development by the group using the Air token.

The 2nd direction: personal motivation of the project founders (congress participants).

The tokens of the founders will be frozen for 1.5 years.

The 3rd direction: distribution to genesis investors. The Air token distribution at the first phase is conducted without an auction at the fixed price and is aimed at supporting the earlier version of the project.

Blockchain technology does not only open up for the creation of new business models in a variety of industries, it also offers up the promise of a whole new way of funding its own development.

2 Presentation of the project Aira at Bitcoin & Blockchain conference Moscow 2017 2 Publication of the project Aira 0.8 «Proofof-R&D» release 2 Aira release 0.9 “Foundation” May 25th 2017 2 The first phase of ICO has been finished May 28th ALL AIR’S Unsold tokens in phase 1 and 2 will be sent to the contract of the Airalab developers’ congress and will be spent by ways of grants, aimed at infrastructure development by using an Air token in the processes of robots direct work with the obligation market. The main requirement to tasks results from the Airalab developers’ congress names is the outspokenness of the results and their publication in one of the existing Airalab repositories in GitHub. There is compulsory publication in the data archive in the IPFS net with a notification to the developers’ congress. The existing Airalab repositories in GitHub, whose development will be stimulated by the fund, are the following: Aira, Aira-IoT, Aira ros bridge, DAO Factory, dapp-aira, core. The rest of the repositories, existing nowadays in GitHub of the Airalab organization, do not participate in

On successful result of the experiment concerning the creation of careful robot economics the token will be the most important unit of the system. Because if we want the robot economics market to be able to take on the role of the further activity coordination, stimulation and regulation performed by machines in the human society, it is necessary to form its capital assets, because the capital is the driving force of the market. Subesequently, we are now ready to move to the second stage of the token distribution.

THE PLAN FOR THE SECOND “ESTIMATING” PHASE OF THE AIR TOKEN DISTRIBUTION This phase has the following goals: (a) searching for a fair price of Air tokens by ways of an auction; (b) raising the available number of Air tokens for any user of Ethereum net; (c) transparent and fair distribution of the tokens for everybody; (d) extension of financing by the fund concerning the projects having participated in the experimental phase; (e) further development of the robots economic infrastructure in Ethereum net and other peer-to-peer networks realizing the support of smart contracts on the ground of an open back code from Airalab repositories in GitHub. We will use the scheme resembling the one made by GNOSIS, but unpurchased tokens will stay not in the company or the fund, they will be distributed proportionally between the genesis investors of the first phase with the help of a distillation cube smart contract.

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Beyond the Void’s ICO: A Case Study For French-based gaming platform Beyond the Void, holding an initial coin offering (ICO) was an opportunity to share ownership of the project with customers, fans and other partners, as well as improve user experience.

In November 2016, the company held an ICO and raised $332,014 by selling tokens they created on the Ethereum blockchain.

According to CoinDesk’s state of blockchain report, ICOs composed close to 30% of the venture capital that blockchain startups raised in the first quarter of 2017. Traditional sources provided $107 million, while ICOs brought in over $36 million.

by MANON BURGEL Communication & Marketing

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Void in early 2015. The following year, his elder brother Eric Burgel, a Bitcoin enthusiast, joined the project. Other family members have since joined the team, including blockchain developer Rémi Burgel.

perience in addition to funding the project. With the facts on the table, we found it hard not to agree with him. The token became a priority in the plans to deliver the game.”

Turning the idea into reality, however, primarily fell The deal maker however was on the shoulders of smart contract application, Rémi.

The group has designed a real-time strategy game that which allowed us to create lets players conquer planets in “Knowing that tokens, set up a virtual shop the universe from probably hundreds and carry out an ICO without a mothership in of thousand euros going through a third party space. Their vision and the project’s is to offer players future was dependescrow service.” a Multiplayer Oning on my code was line Battle Area very stressful,” said The ICO figure is likely to double in the (MOBA) video game to play in quick ses- Rémi. “In the end everything went alsecond quarter, given that cloud-storage sions lasting about 15 minutes. right and we went much further than I startup Storj alone raised $30 million expected.” in early May. The trend is catching up to Nexium (NxC) tokens serve as the platinclude companies that in the past had form’s share capital ‘certificate’ for those They also had the option to create tonothing to do with blockchain. A case in who want to own part of the project. kens through a centralized system. Howpoint is messaging app Kik, which orOnce the company releases its first verever, they chose to put them on a pubganized a crowd sale of its Kin token. sion of the game, the token will also play lic blockchain because it offered more adICOs make it easy to crowdfund projects the role of the in-game currency that vantages. Remi continues, “Transaction through public support. For this reason, players use to buy virtual assets for use in speed and the fact that it is the second many innovators and entrepreneurs see the game. biggest blockchain guided the choice to them as a perfect option for open-source use Ethereum. The deal maker however software projects whose business modCHOOSING ETHEREUM was smart contract application, which alels may be incompatible with the expec- Maxence disclosed that Eric was the one lowed us to create tokens, set up a virtual tations of traditional angel investors. who introduced the idea of using the shop and carry out an ICO without going Ethereum blockchain to create the tokens through a third party escrow service.”

BEYOND THE VOID for the game. He said, “Eric made a case Game developer and concept artist to the rest of the team on how a token on Eric concurred that using the Ethereum Maxence Burgel founded Beyond the Ethereum will add value to the player ex- blockchain was a wise decision. “I did my

INTERVIEW | JULY 2017

research on Ethereum technology and I truly believed that it had a great future ahead,” he stated.

“I am glad we chose to take the risk. It worked really well.”

Building the Brand and the Community

THE BREAKDOWN Beyond the Void created 100,000,000 Nexiums. In a private pre-sale that happened in June 2016, 5% (4,245,183) of the tokens were sold for 4,238 ether (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain. The founders of the project kept 15% and another 15% was set aside for promotional bounties.

Q. According to the feedback and comments on Twitter and chat groups there’s Between October and November 2016, the rea real buzz around the project, in both maining 65% (65 million Nexiums) were put up the Beyond the Void game itself and the for the crowdfund sale. $NXC coin integration. The price was To reach prospective investors, the team around $0.05 during Coinfest in April launched social media campaigns, especially on and has seen a fantastic rise since. Do Twitter. They also engaged online forum commu- you have any worries about the current nities such as Bitcointalk. Aside from online acgrowth rate and volatility impacting negtivity, the team was active at Bitcoin conferencatively on your projects? es and gaming meetups, largely in Europe, to ex- A. I think we have three main communities right pose the brand. now. Traders that tend to trade and not play, traders that also like to play, and then pure gamThe company managed to sell 28,904,984 ers, many of which no little about crypto but just Nexiums during crowdfunding and received like the game itself.

22,008,962 ETH and 6,896,022 BCY. BitCrystals (BCY) are an in-game currency created on the The price does not concern us but if it rises too Counterparty blockchain. much we will sell our assets cheaper to keep people interested. For now, until the game is fulThe remaining 33,478,413 Nexiums were dely launched, the $NXC price is more relevant to stroyed according to a promise the company traders who gain from the trading aspect. made prior to the crowdfunding.

Q. At the moment BTV is built for PC. The Eric explains, “We made a decision before the phone/tablet versions are not on the horistart of the crowd sale to destroy all the coins zon yet as the game is not built for touchthat will fail to sell by the end of the designated screens. Are there any plans to release conperiod. There would also never be mining after sole versions e.g. PS4 or Xbox? the crowd sale.”

A. We have a similar problem with consoles as the gameplay is really designed to be used with GROWING VALUE the keyboard and mouse. It’s not out of the quesNexium coins are currently traded on Poloniex, tion but it’s also not the time just yet.

Bittrex, OpenLedger, HitBTC and EtherDelta cryptocurrency exchanges. The price of NxC Q. On the retail side have you been making has grown by close to 90% across the exchanges good progress negotiating with any platsince their release. forms like Steam?

A. Steam is the largest and most famous but we Eric anticipates the coin will do even better are still looking into other platforms e.g. we are going forward as Beyond the Void adds more currently in the process of being ‘Green Lighted’. games and features to the ecosystem they are building. In particular, he believes the supply Outside of the local community we are travelling of the coin will continue to influence how it around Europe to conferences and game festidoes in the market. vals, like Insomnia in Ireland tomorrow. We will also be in cities in France to present the game, “Part of the terms of use is that half of every let players test it along with surveys for feedamount used to purchase premium game assets back. All of which is to improve gameplay, defrom us will be destroyed as well,” he says. “This signs, music and the overall experience. If we are makes the coin deflationary.” able to build a community it will really help us succeed.

Because Nexium tokens exist on the Ethereum blockchain, you do not have to be a Beyond the Q. It’s a very good point you make about Void player to hold them. By using any Etherecommunity. ICOs often gain popularity and um wallet that supports ERC-20 tokens, you can momentum based on the community aspect buy Nexium for speculative purposes at one of alone, how are you managing this side? the exchanges.

A. It’s funny you should ask as we have actually hired someone specialising in marketing Beyond the Void is free to download and play. A to build the brand and focus on this. From our beta version of the game was released on May 3, research it’s clear that potential players who 2017. Early access is slated to happen on June are on the lookout for new games aren’t so in28, with full release planned for September. terested in trailers, they want streamers and

Interview with Manon Burgel, Communication & Marketing, Beyond The Void other influencers to help them decide which games to play.

So the new marketing focus is reaching out to these influencers and well known people in the gaming industry to help us get the game out there and to get positive reviews. Next week we will start using a series of gameplay videos to help promote us, supported by a new trailer with the latest features on Steam Greenlight, Twitch, Youtubers and traditional gaming forums.

Q. Are there any plans to implement VR in Beyond the Void?

A. Developing for VR is very specific and we’re not sure that it would fit BTV’s gameplay.

Q. So ICO’s are gaining some incredible popularity within the traditional investment world and there have been some very successful projects. How do you see the regulation evolving around ICOs? A. It’s difficult to speculate on regulation but if the community doesn’t self-regulate and reduce the risk of scams and projects that are doomed to fail then governments will start to step in.

Q. From your own perspective, what would you recommend as the best due diligence steps for people to take before investing in an ICO? A. It is important that there is a real product that can be used and tested because people like to see a working product and not just an idea.

You should also read the whitepaper and take the time to connect to the community and get their feelings on the project. Also, there are some sites that provide ICO information/research like Smith and Crown, but you should not rely on just one site or source.

Q. What was BTV’s biggest challenges around the ICO? A. The first challenge was building the community and getting enough traction for the ICO to work. We knew how to code and develop on the blockchain but we didn’t know how to advertise and sell it as a concept. We struggled two hours before the ICO with some technical issues but in the end it all went OK and we were very happy with the outcome.

Q. If you were to do another ICO is there anything you would change next time?

A. I think ICOs and the blockchain world are moving very fast. The ICO you would do now is not the same as six months ago or one year ago.

In the blockchain technology space one year is a very long time.

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Evaluating Initial Coin Offerings

by JOEL JOHN Analyst for the Blockchain sector at Tracxn.com

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Each time a new asset class enters the financial industry, there are sufficient experts covering the basics with enough jargon to dissuade the average retail investor from being able to derive maximum benefits from being an early adopter. Seasoned traders often capitalize upon the inexperience of new investors towards their benefit through making seemingly simple things overly sophisticated, or insanely sophisticated things seemingly simple, as the situation demands.

Take for instance, the case of asset backed mortgages that lead to the recession of 2008.

By packing mortgages of varying variety - good and bad -, and allowing individuals to speculate upon it without understanding the basics of what went into these securities, bankers were able to charge unknowing investors insane amounts of money. All the while internally discussing how bad these deals were. The blockchain sector is in a similar quagmire at this point of time. Retail investors have suddenly woken up to the power of its ability to democratize, globalize and mobilize capital to projects. However, given the frantic frenzy with which millions of dollars flow into some of these start-ups, it is evident that the valuation metrics for most of these projects are not really clear. This article would aim to provide some clarity in regards to the basics of what an investor should look into while wanting to invest in an ICO. Considering how startups and projects raising funds through a ICO have very similar characteristics, the basic parameters I define here would seem similar to how VCs look at startups.

IS THE TOKEN REQUIRED ?

A vast number of coins issued in the early stages of the industry were ab-

solutely not required as they provided utility Bitcoin or a smart contract token like Ethereum did. Teams often tend to issue their own token depending on the need to customize distribution, block verification timings or transaction fees. Unless the value proposition of the token being released is unique and there is a market where it can be utilized to a point where it attracts adoption, the token can be as good as well, nothing.

A good number of entrepreneurs in the space tend to find problems with the “solution� they have in the form of a blockchain. They could possibly hype their project and raise funds but from a value investment point of view, it might not hold its ground and could eventually lead to a complete collapse.

HOW IS THE TOKEN DISTRIBUTED ?

Bitcoin often comes under scrutiny when people look at how the coin is distributed. Satoshi Nakamoto - the entity or individual believed to be the founder of the coin - is believed to be in possession of over a million coins that he had mined as the earli-

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Seasoned traders often capitalize upon the inexperience of new investors towards their benefit through making seemingly simple things overly sophisticated, or insanely sophisticated things seemingly simple, as the situation demands.

est adopter of the system. If these coins are to be “sold” at market prices, it could lead to drastic price reduction, at least momentarily. A good number of ICOs have founder premines that are liquidated as the coins get listed on exchange and reach new heights.

As a thumb rule, it is believed that the more a coin is distributed, the better it is. This ensures that a single individual does not manipulate the market or hold the power to crash the price of the coin. ICOs with incredible amounts of founder pre-mines stand the risk of token developers running away with the raised money and money acquired through selling the tokens they hold. Due to the same, it is important to see how fairly the token is distributed. At the core of decentralised technology is the idea that a single individual does not hold complete power.

A coin without sufficient stake-holders basically beats the entire purpose of decentralisation if a single individual holds the vast majority of the coins.

WHO IS RUNNING THE ICO ?

Whilst it was common for individuals to remain anonymous during the early days of cryptocurrencies, it has become an increasingly common norm to do background checks on the educational and professional qualifications of those issuing tokens.

In the event that the token issuance is being done by someone completely individual, then other metrics such as Github activity, forum posts and previous collaborations of the developer with other projects are taken as reference points. Whilst “identity” is often a skewed metric in the industry with so many well established projects coming from unknown individuals, it serves the purpose of giving a track record for a plausible in-

vestor to look at while deciding upon how much he should invest. A good example for this would be Vitalik Buterin. He was actively vested in a number of projects well before he began working on Ethereum at a larger scale. The same can be noticed for a number of other developers. Generally, validating the capabilities of the team to pull off what they state they could be doing helps ensure you have a safe investment.

MARKET SIZE & PRODUCT-MARKET FIT As with any start-up it is important to see whether the token being listed has a market that is large enough to justify the price of the token. If a niche coin is released and it has little to no adoption, then its inherent price will be far from where you would want it to be in order to book profits. It is important that you understand the size of the market, get an estimate of how much the team will be able to penetrate into, understand the possible revenue they’d generate and its impact on the price of the token. If it is a protocol token, early adopters stand to benefit heavily as adoption increases. If it is an equity based token, then it would boil down to the revenue and profit they generate.

ICOs are still in the earliest stages and if the trend continues as it has, we will see them crossing $1B before the end of the year in a single month. As of June, 2017 ICOs have raised 10x what VCs have invested into blockchain based companies. The valuation metrics for the industry is still in its earliest stages and people around the world are still defining how it is to be valuated. These are some of the basic qualitative measures you can look at while choosing to put your money on an ICO. 63

JULY 2017

FANS FIRST!

A Libertarian ICO Where the Founders Place Investors as Film Fans First

by NICK AYTON

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In a crypto world where ICOs are coming thick and fast it is important to remind everyone who is the most important person in the room, yes you guessed it, it’s not me, it is the Investor. Not just any investor but quite often investors termed as unsophisticated.

Maybe it is their first time getting involved in crypto- currencies, or a hobby, or in some cases a test, a bet to see how they get on. A voyage of discovery… although many are now seasoned and buy into many start ups that hold much promise.

The 21Million Project www.21Million.Co.Uk is making a film about the Bitcoin Revolution is an Indy Film Production company that sits on the public Ethereum network. Bringing an open, transparent, gender and pay equal approach to filmmaking, the complete opposite of the current Hollywood system. A system that is often viewed as a closed, sexist and discriminatory world of middlemen and erroneous expenses and costs that are applied so as to not make a profit. Where investors often miss out along with cast and crew and their interests are ignored.

Our 21MCoin is an ERC20 complaint Ethereum token. It is the first ‘Royalty Token’ that delivers for the coins/ token holder a contractual right to receive royalties from the sale of content. In this case the 21Million mini series, for perpetuity, for season 1 and follow-on seasons. During the production process we will also be applying for production grants and make use of the various tax incentives schemes that operate internationally. Our lead producer Raiomond Mirza has a great deal of experience in minimizing downside risk for investors.

As you may expect any film involving a bunch of Libertarians, they focused on

how to create a fairer system, a better way of doing things. We have sought to propose to investors a fair and attractive package with our 21Million ICO. https://tokenmarket.net/blockchain/ ethereum/assets/21-million/ With ETH (the native currency of Ethereum) doing well and raising the roof in closing in on $325 (as I write this) we have decided to create an investment floor of $350, so that investors can plan ahead. And where the 21MCoin allocation will reflect the ETH price at the end of the main ICO 6pm on the 28th June, where ETH by then could be $400+. We decided to offer a ‘floor’ at $350 where investors get for 1ETH not less than 350 21MCoins plus early bird discounts starting at 25%, and a 5% referral program it is an amazingly fair deal for investors.

Here is what one of our early investors thinks of the $350 floor announcement.

“Are you serious? That is awesome!

I cannot wait to see the product you guys release. This is such a prime example of how the Ethereum ecosystem can and will change the world.

This is an amazing surprise as I was watching the price rise and wondered what I missed out on by not just

JULY 2017

holding the Eth I contributed. You guys are doing it right- Thank you for the update and great news!”

FANS CAN GET INVOLVED – WE INSIST! We want fans and investors to get involved and contribute to the story line and the production. An extra on set may be all part of our Rewards Program. Access through a mobile app and an integrated Wallet and Payment Card will make owning 21MCoin entirely spendable. And we may even look to return ETH to investors as royalty from sales of copyright are made, as the mini series is distributed and sold.

“Are you serious?

That is awesome! I cannot wait to see the product you guys release. This is such a prime example of how the Ethereum ecosysAnd once again 21Million comes up trumps for investors where 100% of income from roy- tem can and will alties is returned to investors and the income change the world. is controlled by a multi sig Ethereum WalThis is an amazing let where our Lawyers, TokenMarket and me (Nick Ayton) sign for transactions. To protect surprise as I was the value of money raised we will use some watching the price hedging in the early days given ETH and other rise and wondered crypto currencies propensity for volatility. what I missed out on by not just holdMany ICOs support entrepreneurs want to ing the Eth I conchange the world, writing code in their attempt to reinvent an industry or create a new tributed. You guys decentralized Blockchain model that is more are doing it rightefficient, trusted and delivers better options for the people. At 21Million we expect the fans Thank you for the as investors to tell us how the story progress- update and great es and it ends as Viewer Controlled Content. news!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du-aazncIHg The 21Million Project uses the public Ethereum network where smart contracts control the ICO process and the allocation of tokens along with Royalty payments. All operational activities are entirely visible along with the production budgets that show how the producers and directors are making sure the best content is created for the best returns on investment.

Transparency, communication and collaboration remains the core ethos of the project.

Let’ s not forget our BAFTA, EMMY and Oscar winning Advisory Board to guide us and help us get the best content produced! It includes our Musical Director Martin “youth’ Glover, Pinks Floyds Producer and having produced U2, Tom Jones, Dido, Paul McCartney amongst many others…We have a great team of Libertarians and we expect that the soundtrack will sell well.

It is the first ‘Royalty Token’ that delivers for the coins/ token holder a contractual right to receive royalties from the sale of content.

In this case the 21Million mini series, for perpetuity, for season 1 and Unlike many ICOs coming unto the market the follow-on seasons.

21Million Team have thought things through and created a package of options for investors that go that bit further to help them come to terms with what they are about to invest in.

The 21Million ICO starts 12th June 2017, the Business Plan, White Paper and Terms can be found at www.21million.co.uk along with links to the main ICO page and lots of great content, videos of the team and a teaser where the story of the Bitcoin Revolution starts…

It is time for fans to get involved. It is time to drain the Hollywood Swamp.

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Centz

Revolutionizing Gift Cards with Blockchain Centz has constructed its business model using blockchain to apply patent pending technologies that decouple gift card balances utilizing Centz Gold Bucks. https://youtu.be/ GJ4Z6nWPvFw

shopping data become more valuable to retailers because of the overspend dynamic; when people shop using gift cards they spend an average of 38% more than the face value of the credit.

Registering all individual identities and gift card balances on the blockchain eliminates the biggest problems and restrictions for the safe and secure use of gift cards. Concurrently, Centz will disrupt the gift card market leveraging the blockchain to generate revenue in ways that have never been done before.

Blockchain technology allows Centz to deliver cutting edge security to totally eliminate fraud and money laundering. Similar to credit cards, the % of fraudulent activity is on the Inevitability Centz will rise which ruins the forge Gold Bucks into a Centz will disrupt the gift shopping experience totally independent crypfor all. Our proprietary tocurrency. It will be card market leveraging blockchain solutions will tradable on many difthe blockchain to generate be adopted by the retail ferent exchanges worldrevenue in ways that have industry once breakage wide, backed by the valis eliminated. Partnering ue of gift cards, and pronever been done before. with Centz is the only tected by our use of the way that the industry blockchain. This cryptocan “make up” for the lost funds of breakage. currency will be extremely stable and secure as the supply of Gold Bucks increases into the bilCurrently the industry pays 4 ½% to both the lions of dollars, something we see lacking with issuer and seller of gift cards. Centz will pro- most other virtual monies. vide both of these functions together more efficiently and at lower cost by issuing totalCentz’s vision is one where we see the true poly safe egift cards securely locked on to our tential of gift cards by the use of the blockblockchain. chain, It will enable Centz to revolutionize the payment industry in ways that are unimagined As the shift to online, storage, sales and detoday by a sleepy and forgotten industry. livery of egift cards increases, the Centz mobil app will become the only option which www.io.centz.net combines gift, reward, loyalty and coupon Keep an eye out for our launch.

Using the blockchain totally eliminates any retailer’s ability to grab unspent balances which is called “breakage”. You can’t take someone’s money if you know who they are, that’s illegal. The entire gift card business is set up to hide identities in order to keep breakage flowing. The industry has purposely ignored all the negative customer experiences so they may continue to take “free” money. Last year $160 BILLION of gift cards were sold in the US alone. 20% of the total goes unused. That’s $32 Billion, which cannot be confiscated when we apply the Centz blockchain solutions.

Shopping data will be derived from our gift card registration platform. These data will be used to increase the effectiveness of advertising by retailers and increase their sales. These 66

credits in one place, so they are always available for immediate use.

Centz will become the dominant player in each of these markets, generating billions of dollars of revenue before the competition realizes what we have created and achieved; yet this will only represent a drop in the bucket as we totally decouple all monetary credits from gift cards.

ICOLAB.COM

The Global ICO Launch Partner

JULY 2017

Power of the Rising Sun Up until now, making big Hollywood and Bollywood movies was the private playground of wealthy production companies. That is about to change with the new TKRS Ltd initiative to do an ICO Crowd sale for TWO movies based upon “The Kracht of Rising Sun”, a book written

by Vania Von Vanistan alias Austin Ross.

Also republished under the name ‘The Crash of the Rising Sun’ available on www.amazon.com.

decisively more economic as well as necessary due to the story. The release of Part 2 – The Revenge will take place ten months after the release of the Part 1.

shot in English and dubbed in Hindi, French and others as required.

This movie will be released in two parts of two hours each, and ANYBODY can An animated trailer of the movie can be participate in its funding and profit found on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/ from its results.

QMP30_LxDfk Token Distribution, Redemption and THE CONCEPT Trading The ICO/ITO will start on July Vania Von Vanistan combines Politics 14th and will last until August 31st. A Power and money in this thrilling new maximum of 1,250,000 TKRS Tokens novel. He shares his life experiences as will be created during the ICO and no an Executive Manager and part owner more will be created thereafter. Each of a Swiss private bank in Geneva in the Token will be worth 10 US Dollars at early nineties, collaborating with peoinception (time of creation).

by Promotion visible on You Tube https:// ple from around the globe. In the world AMAL SHARMA youtu.be/hMrlfJHU8Tk of shady Swiss Banking, one of the big- Look out for the very attractive return gest scams of the eighties is unfolded on your investment on our launch date!

No longer it will be up to some to have and reveals a ruthless conspiracy. Peothe huge benefits because of all the ple participating in their new found in- Minimum Amount targeted is sale of product placement fees, TV and Satternational pass time; 'quick in and 625,000 Tokens. The reason for this ellite rights, grants and of course the quick out’ at whatever cost. Minimum amount is, that is enough to finalize box-office takings. exposure, maximum rewards and the Part 1 of the movie. We will call for exhighest level of profit. From Geneva, ternal established investors to fill the Our unique approach of offering a set Hong Kong, to Munich and New York, financial gap if need be. The price of convertibility rate with a variable com- the story captures a serious side, along the token is related to the price of an ponent will enable investors to really with humor, intrigue, love, sex, power average movie ticket. profit from the venture rather than eiand corruption. The movie will be shot ther making a paltry fixed income or in Georgia, France, UK and the US priRelease is planned: Part 1 for Summer hoping for dividends distribution when marily, mixing major artists in an in2018 and Part 2 for latest June 2019. shares are involved. ternational production from the World over. The technical prowess of porDon’t miss out on our launch! It will revTo secure the venture, high profile actraying its main actor aged 74 to look olutionize the way big movie productions tors with a huge crowd following them like a 25-30 years old, mimicking the will be made from now on. The millions daily, known directors and producers are mega star’s past successes is sure to at- of dollars normally flowing into already involved. The movie will be released in tract many cinema viewers in India and deep pockets, now will benefit the public two parts, shooting them all at once is around the World. The movie will be actually paying at the box office.

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JULY 2017

FAIRMONEY

Making Sure You Get the Best Deal on Your Loan, and Anything Else Against the current tidal wave of ICOs many of which are speculative, prerevenue and even far-fetched, FairMoney (fairmoney.com) stands out as already fully operational and ready to rock, setting the world of customer choices on fire.

by ROGER GEWOLB Director Fairmoney Comparison

er bodies and even government organizations. More and more customers are demanding fairness and transparency in their dealings with sellers of all types – more of what is best for them, and not being ripped off by clever advertising and promotion.

stances, unlike anything else available at present.

And, the better FairMoney gets to know the customer, the more these algorithms adjust themselves to individual needs, preferences and circumstances and the better the cusWhat makes all of this work is FairMon- tomer is served; the more money ey's highly sophisticated tech, compared they save; the more value they get. In FairMoney gives customers far better choices in the products and services to the simple A-frames displaying prod- this way, FairMoney will become the very first place that customers look they purchase, with the very best prices ucts and services that so many other and features tailored to their own indi- comparison sites simply buy in from me- to buy anything. vidual circumstances. Truly completely dia agencies; the customer often Here is a monindependent, not just claiming to be. doesn't really beney-making opporA new comparison suite efit and customers tunity that is reStarting in the UK, where very lowbased around totally are getting fed up freshingly undertech price comparison website portals unique mobile first artificial standable, highhave generated huge revenues and prof- with poor comparison choices. ly disruptive and its over the past decade, FairMoney intelligence machine learning. looks like a sure will quickly take its share of this marThe next Fairwinner. Starting ket and then take its branding around Money development on top of this, out with loans, which is the trickiest the globe. which is only months to compleproduct to sell online, the website will tion, is a new comparison suite based expand into many other products and The Unique Selling Points of FairMonaround totally unique mobile first ar- services, both consumer and comey are its tech and its approach, giving tailored, fair and honest service to cus- tificial intelligence machine learning. mercial. So keep your eyes peeled for this one. Strong demand is expecttomers buying products and services, in This will make for purchase recomopposition to many other players, who mendations and offerings to consum- ed for this ICO which launches in earers that are even more individually ly July and is projected to raise up to have encountered fierce criticism for bad practices from the media, consum- tailored to their very specific circum- ÂŁ25 million.

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JULY 2017

Everex

The Door to a World of Decentralisation

Everex is in the business of financial independence and inclusion. The Everex blockchain products that are in production will transform the lending, remittance and payments industries for the betterment of finance and people everywhere. An early adopter of Ethereum, Everex’s suite of products minimizes costs and trust, while maximizing transaction speed. It does this by connecting industries, that may otherwise be disconnected, with the use of blockchain technology.

Everex first began developing on Ethereum in early 2015. Its projects include Chainy, Cryptocash, Ethplorer and Everex Wallet. The Everex suite enables users to trade tokens on the Ethereum Network, monitor ether-based capital, proby vide proof of existence on the blockJUSTIN chain, and much more.

selves in the crypto industry, but, unlike others, Everex provides an Ethereum-based set of remittance, lending, and credit building products that are based on machine learning, transparency, and a unique business model.

EVEREX FIAT REMITTANCE PILOT Migrant workers will send home more than $450 billion through traditional remittance methods in 2017. That’s $45 billion in remittance fees. Everex can do this thanks to Ethereum blockchain technology at no cost, as demonstrated in the startup’s 2016 pilot. http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/15/ news/economy/migrant-workers-global-remittances/index.html

100 migrant workers transferred money instantly over blockchain to their homes in Myanmar in 2016. The average transO’CONNELL action took under one minute and parBlockchain ticipants reported savings of more than There are several cross-border remitResearcher tance services making a name for them- 7% in remittance costs and currency ex70

change rates. In the pilot, sending and conversion of currencies both happened in under one minute. No centralized entity performed the actual remittance, and test recipients used Myanmar currency exchangers to switch from Cryptocash into physical cash.

EVEREX WALLET (http://everex.cash) The Everex Wallet is a user friendly multi-currency, multi-asset trading wallet for Ethereum tokens. Unlike many Ethereum wallets, the Everex Transfer Wallet is available for mobile platforms, and can transfer any custom digital asset over the Ethereum blockchain. Downloads for the Everex Wallet app on the Google Play Store currently rest between 5001000 and it stands at a 4.8/5 based on user feedback.

Everex Transfer wallet app (https://blog. everex.io/everex-and-ethereum-bring-financial-inclusion-to-all-ec75904447ce) is

JULY 2017

free and available for download in Android and online compatible versions.

CRYPTOCASH Everex’s Cryptocash represents the digital version of contemporary national currencies. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, this digitized version of fiat currency can be exchanged for fiat currency. As with most Ethereum ERC-20 tokens, Cryptocash is already tradable on the Everex Wallet, third-party applications and exchanges.

Essentially a digital foreign exchange network, Cryptocash allows potential borrowers to build up publicly available credit. With 2 billion people lacking access to financial services, due in large part to a lack of credit, risk today can be assessed by blockchain networks such as Ethereum. If approved by a lender, borrowers can take out loans in a specific currency and pay it back in any other. Users can send their earnings electronically and near-instantaneously, to anywhere in the world.

Everex uses the Ethereum public ledger so that unbanked individuals can build a history of credit on the blockchain.

Lenders can then keep track of capital flowing through the system, and know a particular individual’s credit history, allowing them to asses risk in order to make the right judgements.

Traditional banks, other centralized financial institutions and trusted money exchangers, as well as open-ended smart contracts, will help Crypto-

cash connect with real world. Everex-affiliated banks are governed by a peerto-peer network. Should one prove untrustworthy, the network can elect to interact with another institution.

The fiat currencies digitized on Cryptocash trade under the traditional currency symbols, but with an ‘EX’ added at the end. So, for instance, ‘USD’ becomes ‘USDEX’ and ‘THB’ becomes ‘THBEX’ CHAINY (https://chainy.info/) Chainy provides irreplaceable blockchain URLS (‘aeon links’), permanent proof of existence for documents, and a public text message service on the Ethereum network. By using Ethereum smart contracts, Chainy solves the problem of hackers and malware operators phishing with malware-infected links.

Content moderators must ensure users cannot replace short links with submitted content after that content has been published. Content creators on many websites have the ability to switch out links with affiliated third-party services once content has been approved and published, by going back into a website or platform and making edits.

Chainy makes it impossible to replace short URLs. The real address destination is saved on the Ethereum blockchain, with the help of unique shortcode and is therefore immutable. That

is, it cannot be changed after content has been published.

The average transaction took under one minute and participants reported savings of more than 7% in remittance costs and currency exchange rates.

ETHPLORER (https://ethplorer.io/) Public blockchain networks and tools such as Ethplorer, an ERC-20 token explorer for the public Ethereum blockchain, enables users to monitor blockchain transactions. Using auditing tools, anyone can determine the cost of their transaction, the fees they have been charged, location of their digital assets, and more.

With an ever increasing numbers of token sales, Ethereum participants need tools to analyze their portfolio or potential token purchase. Currently, token sale investors have very few tools at their disposal to keep track of this blossoming industry. With data available immediately after a token hits the market, a user can keep track of tokens with Ethplore and trade them with the Everex Wallet.

AUDITABLE The need for credit tools in the blockchain space is clear. The fact that blockchain technology ensures accurate records and swift transactions, enables Everex to give lenders the information and confidence to lend to borrowers.

The blockchain space has a clear need for credit evaluation and monitoring tools. Everex uses blockchain technology to give investors confidence to lend specified amounts, until a credit system can be established.

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Everex, as one of the first companies to build applications on Ethereum, brings tested applications to the real world.

exciting decentralised financial technology. Whether it be for remittances, while traveling or payments generally, Everex technology is familiar, simpleto-use and tested.

Much like the current banking system, however, it is imperative that certain tools accompany a credit and lending platform in order to maintain a focus on the best public interest. Everex provides the technologies and the platform, but the users provide sustainability.

Auditability is not only the ability to see where a transaction went, but to ensure everyone in the community is held accountable. Blockchain has been solidified in this role due to immutability.

CROSS-BORDER Blockchain technology is borderless.

Cryptocash, Everex’s aforementioned platform that places national currencies on the blockchain, makes it easier than ever for individuals to send the currency of their choice between countries. Everex’s tools also enable individuals to bring their national currencies with them internationally, and use them even while they are abroad.

It’s clear blockchain will transform cross-border payments. By placing national currencies on a blockchain, Ev72

erex provides consumers with the comfort of familiarity.

FAST-RESOLUTION Blockchain networks are renowned for their fast transaction resolution times.

The average Bitcoin blockchain transaction process is 1-2 hours. The Ethereum network processes and confirms transactions in under 1 hour. Traditional financial institutions and the SWIFT Network take no less than 24 hours. In the abovementioned Everex pilot project between Thailand and Myanmar, transactions took less than one minute.

IMMUTABILITY Making use of blockchain’s immutability, Everex chose the ERC-20 standard for Cryptocash because it enables an unchangeable record of transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. Further, all information about transactions and credit history is visible and auditable to the public through tools such as Ethplorer.io.

INDEPENDENCE Blockchain empowers individuals worldwide to take control of their financial lives, and Everex makes it easier than ever to tap into this new and

The Everex suite enables users to trade tokens on the Ethereum Network, monitor etherbased capital, provide proof of existence on the blockchain, and much more.

TRANSPARENCY Traditional lenders and savings institutions offer customers little more than the illusion of transparancy, resulting in hidden fees, slow transaction resolution and poor user experience. Everex provides transparent services by using decentralised technology - both open-source and proprietary - to police malicious actors and offer transparency to the unbanked.

The fact that blockchain technology ensures accurate records and swift transactions, enables Everex to give lenders the information and confidence to lend to borrowers.

The Everex Wallet allows users to transfer money between countries in a few minutes for free. (currently, Thailand-Russia, Myanmar-Thailand)

TRANSFORMING CROSS-BORDER FINANCE, SERVING THE UNBANKED As a digital money transfer, lending and remittance service provider, Everex must design simple and secure products to send money.

Cryptocash provides a forex trading platform and the ability for users to receive money via portable devices and computers.

Chainy authenticates content with blockchain-based proof of existence.

Ethplorer is a window into the fastpaced and lucrative world of token sales, providing investors with the transparency they need to know about the projects building the future of financial technology.

Everex, as one of the first companies to build applications on Ethereum, brings tested applications to the real world.

Universal Cryptocurrency for

eSports Industry ICO end 21 July Trading and betting skins is a 7 billion market sitting at a crossroads. It faces multiple challenges that need a rapid solution which is reliable and easy to use.

So the cryptocurrency we created couldn't have come at a better time. If it gets adopted by the industry, this will change things completely for the future of skins betting. Having tremendous experience in this market and being the creators of some of the major websites operating in it, we are perfectly positioned to fully take advantage of this business opportunity. All we need is backing from people, who will no doubt greatly benefit as well from what are about to achieve.

https://skincoin.org crowdsale@skincoin.org