NB this is a continuation of my 'X worth more than Hive?' mission - but ETN (electroneum) is such a bit PHAT NO for investing in for me that I thought it deserved a special title!

And shame on shame Electroneum (ETN) is currently sitting two places above Hive on the coinmarketcap rankings, at 174 - but with a marketcap of $57.9 Million (10 billion tokens valued currently at $0.0056) is it really worth more than Hive?

The answer is no,

No,

and

No

What is Electroneum? (Eletroneum.com)

According to the website it certainly sounds like an interesting and worthwhile project (good marketing!):

Electroneum is 'focused on empowering a greater number of people by providing them with the tools they need to earn a living from the digital economy'.

Their main application is 'anytask.com' which is a freelance marketplace where you can offer services and pay and get paid in electroneum - and there is a desktop and mobile version of the app available.

The app allows you to advertise your own services, search for services and to earn and pay in electroneum.

It follows that the app also has an electroneum wallet.

They are working with regulation and are KYC and AML compliant. So if you want to make use of their services, you need to give up your ID!

The project bills itself as a means to getting the unbanked into the global digital service marketplace.

I've got to hand it to them, it does look very professional....

Anytask.com

Anytask.com is electroneum's main app - it is the hub which connects (apparently) 15 000 online professionals with 500 000 users.

It's also easy to search and find several tasks, and the mobile app works very nicely too, and looks great!

As you might expect you'll mainly find digital services advertised here - digital design and SEO backlinks, plenty of people offering that sort of thing.

But no plumbers! I guess they're earning OK the in regular fiat!

But if you do want digital services, your search return will give you listings with prices and user star ratings, just like with any regular online marketplace.

Except here you can pay them in electroneum!

Spending Electroneum

You can use the 'etn anywhere service' to find merchants to spend ETN - there are currently over 2000 merchants listed which accept the token, including some firms which allow you top up your mobile phone with the coin.

Some of the firms actually offer really useful services like fuel and gas, electricity and mobile top ups in several countries around the world - Nigeria has over 200 listings and apparently I can even pay for mobile top ups here in Portugal.

However, having clicked through the app I can't seem to find any way to buy anything in electroneum from any of these companies via the app, it seems to function more like a directory atm.

A permisioned blockchain

It wasn't this way initially, but now electroneum is a permissioned blockchain, so you need a personal-in from the current team to be able to mine and be part of the consensus and governance mechanisms.

They bang on a lot about this being better for security as it makes a 51% attack very unlikely, but mention nothing about how this = centralised control!

The inflation rate

There are currently 10BN ETN in circulation, with a maximum supply of 21 BN. Inflation is set at less than 2% until the max supply is reached.

Of course there's nothing you can do about the inflation rate as that's controlled by those who have been permissioned!

ETN - worth more than Hive?

The professional look of the main app - anytask.com is certainly something Hive Dapp developers could learn from, and especially the app, that is a cool looking thing and very useable.

If you're a fan of 'working with the systems' blockchains then this might be one for you, given that it's a centralised permissioned network that requires KYC and AAML compliance for you to join.

And it has a strong central focus on linking service providers with customers and linking that with ways to spend your ETN. I guess this comes from the centralisation - they control the functionality and users are mere users, having no control over anything other than their own wallets really.

In terms of an investment I can't see why one would want to buy and hold ETN given that it is a permissioned network. I cannot see anything that is going to drive its price up.

There's no mention of staking or burning or any type of use value besides 'spending and earning' the token?

And ATM there is a more 'promised functionality' than actual functionality. I can't seem to access a way to spend ETN on anything, for example.

And despite ALL the talk of empowering people, this chain really doesn't, it's centrally controlled at the end of the day and is merely a platform like Amazon.

The decentralised nature of Hive and the fact that anyone with the skill is free to develop anything they want on it, and the fact that anyone can vie for a consensus position and anyone with the money can influence consensus, damn, COME ON, Hive is worth SO MUCH MORE!

ETN, a big fat NO as an investment from me!