Hello!
I'm on a mission to find the best cryptoassets in the World. I've thus come up with a criteria for assessing different projects within the space and will complete 1-2 reviews each week. My thinking is that crypto projects are very much like startups, 90+% will fail. <9% will be useful, helpful and profitable. <1% will be exceptional.
This is my journey to find the Top 1%.
I read every whitepaper in its entirety, research every team member, check every Github, every Reddit, join every Telegram and more. I put about 10 hours of dedicated research into each project.
My criteria is far from finished but I've decided to get started right away. You can expect it to improve as time goes along. Would definitely appreciate comments and suggestions to make my reviews better. Let's get into the review of Electroneum!
General Information
Asset - Electroneum
Symbol - ETN
Date reviewed - Tuesday 6th February 2018
Current price $US - $0.07 via CoinLib
Current supply - 6.08B via CoinLib
Market cap $US - 440.60M via CoinLib
Exchanges available - Cryptopia
Asset Description
- What is it? - A cryptocurrency, based on Monero. The key points of this currency is that it will use 2 decimal points and offer a ‘mobile mining experience’ to users. It intended to enter developing nations offering a wide cross section of people a more affordable entry into cryptocurrency via their smartphones.
When was it created? - August 2015
ICO? - Yes, $40M USD hard-cap reached
Type of blockchain? - Public but can’t confirm that it’s appropriately decentralized as this information was unavailable at the time of this review despite attempts to confirm with admins on Telegram.
Forked? - Yes, from Monero.
Premined? - No information available despite attempts to confirm with admins on Telegram
Distribution Model? - No information available from Electroneum Telegram, despite direct questions to group admins
Does it solve a real problem? - No
Has anything been built? - Electroneum Blockchain, Android ‘Mining Experience’ App, Electroneum Block Explorer
Asset Ratings
- Does it have a whitepaper or other papers? - Yes, ‘Business Whitepaper’, 5/10 | ‘Technical Whitepaper’, 6/10.
The Business Whitepaper was repetitive and uninformative. It pushed more to convince the reader of the merits of Electroneum without describing them in sufficient detail.
The Technical Whitepaper was almost a direct copy of the CryptoNote Whitepaper which informed the creation of Monero. It didn’t convey what would make Electroneum different.
Clear and consistent message? - No, 6/10
Knowledgeable and capable team? - No, 5/10
Upon reviewing each team member individually, it became clear that the Electroneum team are by no means experienced in working with blockchain technology. I question their ability to deliver. They seem more suited as a marketing team rather than a team capable of building out the vision described in their whitepaper.
- Does it have a sustainable long term business model? - No, 4/10
I don’t believe they do. While they’ve identified a market they’d like to target, they’ve given no indication as to how they’d actually reach this market. They claim to want to educate their users in order to drive crypto adoption but that has not been my experience in the Telegram group, on their Facebook or on their Twitter. Since they haven’t shown a strong ability to educate at the outset it makes me question their ability to do so in future. However recently they’ve become the first cryptocurrency to become a member of the GSMA, which is a better sign than none.
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organizations in adjacent industry sectors.
- Does it add real value (usefulness) to a specific user? - No, 3/10
I don’t see a significant competitive advantage that Electroneum holds over another cryptocurrency.
Asset Future
Is this project likely to be around in the next 2-5 years? - Maybe but leaning more towards no. While there is a large Electroneum community, my experience has been that this community is mostly uninformed as to the finer details of cryptocurrency, they’re mostly concerned with price. I’m concerned as to the team's ability to deliver what they’ve proposed before their funding runs out.
Do I believe enough in the project that I can publicly support or back the project? - No
Can I identify any immediate, or major risks with the project before it can achieve its objectives? - Yes, due to a lack of technical expertise, I believe the Electroneum team will be unable to respond effectively when things go wrong. They may run out of money before they could build something remarkable. They’re don’t paint a clear picture in terms of direction and they aren’t consistent at all with updates to the core code. As this project is a fork of Monero, with no support from the Core Monero Developers, not only is the project non-innovative it’s also unsupported by the team that created it’s original version.
Is this project geared towards short term trading (flipping) or long term growth (holding)? - Flipping
Overall Rating - 5/10
Useful Links
Coinlib Link - https://coinlib.io/coin/ETN/Electroneum
Website - https://electroneum.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/electroneum
Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/Electroneum/
GitHub - https://github.com/electroneum/
Telegram - https://t.me/joinchat/DxoSakHOdk5mqsE-LelfVg
I'm interested in the 1%.
If you'd like me to do a review on a cryptoasset you like, leave me a comment! Be sure to include an explanation of why you that asset. I'm very open to improving my criteria over time so if you have any suggestions I'd also appreciate it!