All About Akroma
I tend to focus on just a few projects at a time. This allows me to better evangelize them to anyone that will listen to me ramble. Akroma is one such cryptocurrency project I can’t keep shut about for very long. For a change of pace, I’m posting a little something here, for the benefit of the greater community. For those of you with short attention spans, I include lots of pictures.
Does naming your company after a Magic card count as a MtGox shoutout?
Friendly Ghosts and Friendly Hosts
Ethereum’s Casper is expected to implement the next big thing, Proof-of-Stake. This rewards users coins for securing the network (and the coin’s value) by locking them up in a wallet.
Following that, the next next big thing is masternode functionality. Masternodes circumvent a lot of the plutocratic tendencies of Proof-of-Stake, and gives a cut of the cake to everyone that is dedicated to the network.
Unfortunately, masternodes often get a bad rap from speculators that flip coins, and the indie developers create them. Cryptocurrencies that include masternode technology are often comorbid with:
- Unstable Code unabashedly forked from Dash
- Uninvested Developers interested only in making a quick buck
- Unstable Price subject to absurdly high, wildly destabilizing ROI %.
Masternodes.online sorted by annual ROI — There are some sub-100%s near the bottom
The Akroma Anomaly
So with Masternodes loosely defined, what makes Akroma — a masternode bearing coin — so different? I’ll try to answer this specifically as it relates to Tech, Team, and Token metrics.
Tech
Akroma is a fork of the popular Ethereum blockchain. This is quickly becoming the new masternode meta, but they’re among the first. For the moment, it actually means more work, since there isn’t as much reference material to borrow from when making additions.
The team has stated their goal is to build their blockchain out as a platform — not a cashgrab. Masternodes, Oracles and Smart Contracts are part of that grand vision of the future.
Akroma shines most visibly in its masternode setup process. With a few scripts and an easy-to-follow, highly visual guide, Akroma has the simplest setup you’ll ever find for a masternode. I’ve seen my fair share and was taken aback by how easy the process became with a little automation.
It’s less of a guide and more of an automagical copypasta
Team
The team itself consists of real people, with LinkedIns, Twitters and the like.
Check their work LinkedIn profiles and you’ll learn that many of the team members have worked together in the past on cryptocurrency-related projects.
Message their Twitter account on an “#AskAkroma” AMA day and a corresponding department member will likely respond to you directly. Please note that the Director of Moons & Lambos does not participate in these events.
Finally, if you hop into their discord, you’ll see they regularly check in the progress they make on the project in a dedicated channel.
In short that means: relevant work experience, regular communication and actual identities. The team seems so normal that it’s almost… weird.
No, he is not on the team. Yes, that is a good thing.
Tokens
Technically Akroma is a coin and and not a token, but I needed a third T-word, so whatever.
Two major potential token issues come to mind for cryptocurrencies which incorporate masternodes:
- Excess Supply stifles Demand
- Devs can more easily dump & disappear
I feel safe from both pitfalls here, because Akroma has once again gone out of their way to remedy the standard anxieties associated with indie coin development.
First, current payouts are ~2.5 Akroma per day. This is 5% of what would likely be ~50 Akroma/daily once live. Napkin math says that with the additional user influx upon launch on April 9th that the masternodes will NOT overproduce themselves into an inflationary state.
Second, while each dev is being paid, they also each have a public address that has to conform to the following rules as per their medium blog:
Do not open until October 1st
Conclusions
Will all the praise I’ve given the platform, I feel I should close by addressing the potential issues that may arise later down the road.
Hard to Flip
I’ve run into quite a few many people who look into masternodes hoping to ride the initial wave to cash out at the top (no, I’m not one of them). With Akroma though, I’m not so sure that will work out.
Many current holders are early adopters, as they are already running masternodes for the intentionally paltry beta payout. Presently, it’s unclear when/where the masses will come in, or be able to use this as a platform. That means a speculator won’t know exactly how long they have to wait for the first big, dumpable pump.
Undermarketed
As with most cryptocurrencies that draw my attention, I have no idea how I discovered Akroma. Somewhere out in the ethereum I found my way to their twitter and have been a fan ever since. My masternode dolphin & whale friends hadn’t heard of Akroma until I brought it up, and that worries me.
The current marketing approach for Akroma has been very low-key. It is not listed on any masternode ranking site, and has no major articles short of a few interviews on sites I have heard little about. I’d like to think they simply want all their ducks in a row before they turn on the hose of new users, otherwise it could remain in relative obscurity for a while.
Undermapped
There isn’t a long-term roadmap at this point in time. That isn’t to say that masternodes, a masternode hub, oracles and smart contracts make for light work. However, we’ve only been given thematic ideas of what will be implemented after that. Even the worst coins will tell you they plan to have their iOS wallet out in Q4 2019 as a stretch goal — right after they unironically get a linked credit card.
All jokes aside, the fact that Akroma doesn’t specify beyond the essentials this is unusual, but not unforgivable.
End
Nonetheless, it is my personal opinion that Akroma has an exceptionally bright future ahead of it. It is still early in its lifespan, but will likely see a gradual rise in value in the coming months, in addition to steady income. Whether you feel that will be worth the opportunity cost is up to you.
Their website: https://akroma.io
My Twitter: @IraFudmore
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1537991;sa=summary