AERGO REVIEW — BLOCKCHAIN FUEL FOR AUTONOMOUS BUSINESS
Summary
· Project name: AERGO
· Token symbol: AERGO Bit
· Website: https://www.aergo.io
· White paper: https://paper.aergo.io/AERGO_Whitepaper_v5.0.pdf
· Hard cap: $30 million (token sale contributors will own 30% of the total token supply)
· Maximum market cap at ICO on a fully diluted basis: $100 million
· Private sale / white list: The private sale has completed. Details on the public sale and whitelist will be provided by the team soon.
· ERC20 token: Yes (the tokens will be migrated to the mainnet after it is launched)
Project Overview
AERGO aims to develop an open source blockchain protocol that is “enterprise ready”. Using their platform, businesses and developers would be able to easily design, build and deploy their applications onto the blockchain within the cloud, with the option of deploying on either public or private blockchains.
As a next-generation blockchain, AERGO aims to resolve the issues of IT integration, software development, privacy, scalability, and interoperability that exists in today’s blockchains.
AERGO seeks to be the first to provide features such as SQL, reactivity and isomorphic programming. It will also introduce a new software stack comprised of SQL, AERGO and Meteor. The goal is to create a platform for developers to easily build and deploy decentralized applications (dApps) within the cloud with faster transaction speeds and lower operational costs.
The project is supported and developed by Blocko Inc., a blockchain infrastructure provider founded in 2014 with operations in the UK, South Korea, and Hong Kong.
AERGO will be utilizing Coinstack, a permissioned blockchain solution developed by Blocko that enables users to share data with third parties in a secure and efficient manner and has already been deployed to 25 million users around the world.
Blocko works with a number of established companies including Cisco, Hyundai-Kia Motors, KRX Korea Exchange, IBM, Microsoft Azure, SK Telecom, Lotte Card, Samsung SDS, LG CNS, etc.
The AERGO platform is comprised of three major components: AERGO Chain, AERGO Hub and AERGO Marketplace.
AERGO Chain. The public internet of blockchains which will feature an SQL-based smart contracts platform with performance potentially exceeding 1 million transactions per second using sidechain technology. AERGO uses deterministic delegated proof-of-state (DPoS) governance model to enhance performance and maximize network stability. It will also support the Ethereum Virtual Machine to achieve interoperability.
AERGO Hub. The public interface of AERGO Chain that will enable developers to build, test, deploy and manage independent blockchains. AERGO Hub is essentially a web-based blockchain hosting service (similar to current public cloud web services) that provides various tools and services, and connects secure dApps using AERGO Chain.
AERGO Marketplace. A peer-to-peer marketplace for software applications and computing resources such as storage, computing power, algorithms, contents, etc.) for AERGO Chain. Third parties such as service providers and cloud infrastructure vendors will be able to market their products and services to AERGO’s users. The marketplace will be accessed through AERGO Hub’s public interface.
The project’s future development roadmap is as follows:
Q3 2018 AERGO Chain Alpha
Q4 2018 AERGO Chain Test Network
Q1 2019 AERGO Public Network (Main net)
Q4 2019 AERGO Hub & Marketplace for businesses and developers
Team
The team is currently comprised of at least 36 people, including 3 people on the AERGO Board, 3 Committee Heads, 5 on the technology team and at least 25 additional people from Blocko. The biographies of the key team members are summarized below.
AERGO Board
Phil Zamani — 20+ years of open source, cloud business and blockchain experience. Currently the COO of Blocko. Prior positions include Global Head of Big Data & Cloud Business Models at Banco Santander; Senior VP of the Cloud Business Unit at Deutsche Telekom; VP of Sales and Business Development in Internet Appliances at Red Hat. He has also worked in various roles at other companies including Cygnus Solutions, Synopsys, Novell, Springsource (now Pivotal), etc. Obtained his MBA in Entrepreneurship at Warwick Business School in 2003.
Hun Young Park — 13+ years of experience in developing databases and distributed systems with expertise in large scale and high performance software design. Currently the CTO and Director of Blockchain Research Development of Blocko. Previously the Principal Software Engineer at TmaxData and Senior Software Engineer at Tibero. Obtained his Master’s degree in Computer Science at KAIST in 2005.
Roderik van der Graaf — Over 20 years of experience in private equity, venture capital, and equity derivatives trading. Currently the Founder and Managing Partner of Lemniscap (a blockchain investment firm) and an advisor to Blocko. Previously a Managing Director at Caldera Pacific and at KCP Capital. He also worked in various roles in equity derivatives trading at Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Rabobank, Bear Stearns, LIM Advisors and All Options. Obtained his Master’s degree in Information Technology at the University of London in 1997.
Committee Heads
Won Kim — 15 years of experience in Relational DBMS and distributed systems. Founder and CEO of Blocko and Technical Advisor to Lemniscap. Previously worked in research and development of distributed databases and database administration at S-Core and TmaxSoft. Obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at Boston University in 2008.
Jane Lee — 7 years of experience in strategy consulting with expertise in digital transformation and technology commercialization. Currently the Chief Strategy Officer of Blocko. Previously the Strategy Manager of Accenture where she worked for more than 6 years. Obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Hotel Administration from Cornell University in 2009.
Alison Shim — 5 years of experience in strategy consulting with expertise in go-to-market strategy and business development. Currently the Chief Innovation Officer at Blocko. Obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Communication Studies at New York University in 2012.
Advisors of the project include Eddie Alleyn, former Director of the UK’s Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Vincent Zhou, founding partner of FBG Capital; Sinhae Lee, partner at GBIC; Riad Hartani, founder of multiple tech startups, and others.
Investors of the project include FBG Capital, GBIC, Lemniscap, Rockaway Blockchain, Dekrypt Capital, and Block Crafters Capital.
Token Sale Minimum / Maximum Amount to Raise. The soft cap is yet to be confirmed and their maximum amount to raise is $3o million. Fund Allocation. The proceeds from the tokens for sale are intended to be used to develop and advance the technology programs and partner ecosystem development aspects of AERGO. The funds will be allocated as follows:
· R&D 40%
· Marketing 15%
· Ecosystem incubation 30%
· Strategic alliances and business development 10%
· Miscellaneous 5%
Token Sold-Kept-Ratio. A total of 500,000,000 AERGO Tokens will be issued; and the allocation and use of tokens will be as follows:
· Proportion of Tokens for Sale 30%
· Reserved by token issuer 25%
· Employees of token issuer and affiliates 5%
· Advisors and key backers 10%
· AERGO community incentives and strategic partners 30%
Quality of Campaign Strategy. The team is in the process of securing funding via private sales and the details are still to be confirmed, so it is difficult to calculate the duration of any private sales and how the team will evolve their campaign strategy once a crowdsale date has been confirmed.
Hype Factor
This section is not included in the rating. Hype is something that constantly changes and is too subjective to include in the rating. However, we do feel that it is important to consider it when analyzing a project.
The project has begun to develop a good level of hype and has been covered by a number of leading social media influencers. The AERGO Telegram channel has over 25,000 members, and the AERGO Twitter account has just over 2,000 followers. This is impressive and the team still have time to significantly increase their social media activity. This is one of the most anticipated projects from the first half of 2018, among cryptocurrency private circles.
AERGO ICO Strengths and Opportunities
Much of the fundamental tech behind AERGO derives from Coinstack, the private, permissioned enterprise blockchain service offered by parent company Blocko. This core technology is currently used by approximately 40 companies with which Blocko also maintains partnerships, including Korea Exchange, Hyundai Motors and Lotte Card.
AERGO and Coinstack both offer enterprise blockchain platform frameworks. Coinstack, however, is purely private, whereby node providers and applications are self-contained within enterprise organizations. Conversely, AERGO will leverage cloud architectures as well as both public and private blockchain networks, creating an interlinked system that combines the best of both worlds.
Taking into account the real-world needs of current clients, AERGO is designed to provide a comprehensive platform that allows both for proprietary data to remain on a permissioned network while also facilitating exchange of tokenized assets and data with external subsidiaries and service providers via a public chain. The success of Coinstack with enterprise clients affords a high degree of confidence that the team can replicate their success on a larger scale with the next iteration of their blockchain product.
AERGO will leverage existing enterprise clients to encourage integration with the permissionless chain. When clients upgrade to Coinstack 4.0, the tech will be replaced by AERGO so that enterprises will by default have the option to build on and access the public network.
To spur development on the public chain by enterprise software developers, the AERGO Virtual Machine supports an array of programming languages, allowing programmers to code business logic into dApps and smart contracts in SQL, C++, Golang, JavaScript and Python. Toward the aim of maximizing interoperability, AERGO also supports smart contracts on the Ethereum network via EVM.
AERGO ICO Weaknesses and Threats
The application of blockchain technology in the enterprise realm is quickly picking up pace. Major tech companies such as Microsoft, IBM and SAP have already developed blockchain products specifically for enterprise implementation. Products like SAP’s Cloud Platform Blockchain Services, which recently entered the market, pose potential competition.
Yet at this nascent stage in the development and application of blockchain technology, there are a multitude of factors that could play into the hands of players like AERGO. The prospect of a platform that bridges permissed and permissionless chains is relatively novel in the space, and combined with the feature of interoperability, could greatly expand the usage of distributed ledger technology beyond current applications which are limited to self-contained networks.
As a leading provider of blockchain services in the Korean market, AERGO also benefits from an existing clientele of major companies using Coinstack who will soon by default have the ability to utilize the permissionless chain.
The Verdict on the AERGO ICO
AERGO is one of the stronger ICO projects and has serious backing in the form of Blocko Inc., which provides a variety of tech solutions for a host of established companies such as Cisco, Hyundai-Kia Motors, IBM, Microsoft Azure, SK Telecom, Samsung, and LG. The team is strong and maintains a good balance between technical knowledge and expertise in business development and marketing. This will prove crucial to AERGO fending off competition from companies such as Microsoft, IBM, JP Morgan, and R3 who are all developing blockchain solutions for enterprises, and SAP who have recently developed and launched their Cloud Platform Blockchain Services.
There are areas of concern such as the lack of an MVP, and the relatively long development roadmap, which forces investors to place a large amount of faith in the team’s ability to deliver. It has also been suggested that the DPoS consensus mechanism may sacrifice decentralization for scalability and leave the door open for groups of significant coin holders to wield a large amount of control over the network. However, AERGO seems likely to take advantage of a number of beneficial factors, and their enterprise solutions suit companies in a variety of industries. Most importantly, Blocko is proposing to introduce AERGO to their existing clients and when upgrading to Coinstack 4.0, the tech will be replaced by AERGO by default. This gives the team a massive advantage and should see them quickly gain clients and traction, and once a strong client base has been developed, the team will need to solidify their position in the South Korean market, while making sure to go on and establish themselves as major players in the world blockchain tech industry.
AERGO has a long roadmap which is a slight issue in terms of returns, however it has extremely strong support from Blocko, and it looks set to develop a significant body of clients in a short period of time. In the current market, the project may be slightly overvalued, however with enough media coverage we believe it can definitely outdo RChain in terms of valuation.
For more information about the ICO, please visit the following links:
Website: https://www.aergo.io
Whitepaper: https://paper.aergo.io/AERGO_Whitepaper_v5.0.pdf
FAQ Page: https://www.aergo.io/faq/
Blog: https://medium.com/aergo
Telegram: https://t.me/aergoofficial
Telegram (announcements): https://t.me/aergoannouncements
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AERGO_IO
