Built on Ethereum, a blockchain technology which allows for the execution of smart contracts, Augur is an open-source prediction market platform that is completely decentralized. After the alpha version was released in mid 2015, a global crowdfunding campaign was set up to raise funds for future development. Developers were able to release a beta version in early 2016. The platform is expected to go live in the latter half of 2017.
Project Website: https://augur.net/
This decentralized prediction market uses the "wisdom of the crowd" principle to forecast the outcome of specific events. Feedback collected from the aforementioned "crowd" is averaged in order to discover the most likely outcome. Truthful reporting is incentivized by offering rewards for correct predictions and penalties for incorrect reports. Augur is powered by tokens called Reputation ($REP). Individuals use these tokens to either report or weigh in on the potential outcome of events.
According to Andrew Miller, a computer scientist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, believes that Augur could potentially feed legitimate real-world truths into any other online application at some point in the future. People who could not trade in more traditional markets, could see themselves making very real cryptocurrency profits in the future.
Even in its infancy, Augur has grown from strength to strength in a relatively short amount of time. Some may use this as a measure of the platform's future success. An alpha version of Augur was released halfway through 2015. Between August and October of the same year, a global crowdfunding campaign was set up to raise funds for future development. An impressive $500 000 USD was raised on the first day, and a total of $5.2 million USD collected by the end of the campaign. This result was one of the strongest coin offerings in 2015 when compared to others in the same year.
Source: https://btcgeek.com/augur-raises-over-500000-on-first-day/
The Augur Management Team
Augur's management team is backed by a wealth of know-how and expertise, cementing users' beliefs in the potential success of the platform.
Dr. Jack Peterson, Ph.D., is a fountain of knowledge relating to physics, entrepreneurship, and software development. He developed a fascination for distribution networks while completing his studies at the University of California, San Francisco. His range of expertise encompasses blockchain programming, scientific computing, web development, and peer-to-peer networking, amongst other subjects.
Joey Krug studied Computer Science at Pomona College and has spent the majority of his time perfecting his programming skills. His in-depth knowledge of Bitcoin Core enabled him to conduct the first Bitcoin transaction via sound. Joey is a member of the Theil Fellowship, a foundation that selects promising students under the age of twenty, funding their projects and offering guidance along the way. It is no surprise that Augur's connection to the billionaire founder of this fellowship, Peter Thiel, provides the platform with a competitive advantage not exhibited by other cryptocurrencies.
How Will Augur Be Used?
It's probable that gambling will be the platform's primary use -- in the beginning, at least. Augur is the perfect match for opinion-related sports betting. Binary-related "yes" or "no" questions are an obvious choice for Augur users betting on whether or not their teams will win the next match.
Of course, it won't be limited to sports betting. The platform could be used to predict political and presidential outcomes, which actors or musicians will win coveted awards, or virtually any other scenario users can think of. Augur could be used by businesses to offer rewards and bonuses to employees, and to predict whether or not certain projects will be completed on time or within budget.
Aside from betting, Augur can be used to predict the outcomes of various daily occurrences. Users will be able to monitor and participate in predictions relevant to their personal interests and passions. The excitement experienced by people wagering on outcomes will be unmarred by the potential loss of their hard-earned wages. Instead they will enjoy all the benefits of wagering with a cryptocurrency that involves no "real" loss. There's a certain novelty in this particular wagering process that may not wear off, as there are no major negative associations.
Augur's Advisory Board
Augur is backed by an advisory board that offers expert advice and guidance as a result of several decades worth of combined knowledge and expertise:
Vitalik Buterin -- This Russian-born programmer and is one of the founders of Ethereum. He received the Thiel Fellowship Award in 2014, as well as World Technology Award in the IT Software category in the same year. He has also been featured in the Fortune 40 under 40 list.
Dr. Robin Hanson -- Dr. Hanson is an Associate Professor of Economics at George Mason University following his post-doc at U.C Berkely. His knowledge of health policy, regulation, and formal political theory makes him an invaluable member of Augur's advisory board.
Houman Shadab -- Professor Shadab is a member of the law faculty at New York Law School. He is also co-director at the Center for Business and Financial Law as well as an editor for the Journal of Taxation & Regulation of Financial Institutions. Having an attorney on the advisory board provides Augur with a competitive advantage for navigating legal waters as the company grows.
How Do Rep Tokens Work?
Reputation ($REP) is the token upon which Augur is based. Each REP token entitles users to 1 / 22,000,000 of Augur's total market fees. This is a solid investment for the simple reason that the more of these tokens an individual owns and uses to report with correctly, the more fees they will collect. While this is a speculative practice, the solid purpose of the tokens and an invincible management team make it an undeniable boon to potential investors.
REP tokens are available for sale on number of third party crypto exchanges including Poloniex, Kraken, Bittrex, Gatecoin, and ShapeShift. These tokens can be safely stored offline, cold storage solutions like the Ledger Nano S and should not be left on centralized exchanges.
Any individuals wishing to do their own research on Augur can do so by joining their Slack channel at http://invite.augur.net/ or by connecting on the following social media platforms:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/augurproject
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Augur/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AugurProject
Overall, the view for Augur is overwhelmingly optimistic. Backed by a stellar management team and no small amount of potential, the platform is gaining momentum at an alarming albeit impressive rate. While not widely used today, decentralized prediction markets will likely influence the way we live in many ways.
Farmers could make use prediction markets to hedge against weather cycles. Doctors could use them to diagnose patients more accurately. The potential uses are almost limitless, which is what makes Augur's potential uses all the more exciting.