Loki

The necessity to verify identification across practically all of the major exchanges globally has all but negated the anonymity side of transacting in bitcoin and while it’s still theoretically possible through offline wallets and peer to peer transactions, it’s inconvenient at best. In line with this, a wave of cryptocurrencies has popped up promising to overcome the privacy issues associated with bitcoin and, in turn, to offer users a way to transact anonymously and securely once again – be that across an underground marketplace or otherwise. Of this wave of alternatives, one stands head and shoulders above the rest – Monero (XMR). This kind of cryptocurrencies are in demand, however their complete anonymity makes them vulnerable to possible regulations.

The Github of the project was created in November 2013, but the activity started around April 2014. Loki draws heavily on the Monero source code. Loki integrates a Service Node system similar to the masternode system used by DASH. This means that a percentage of the block reward goes to a network of nodes, economically incentivising them to operate. These Service Nodes have two key functions: they provide greater network resilience, and also act as a secondary network that can perform various functions. Loki uses ring signatures in the same way that Monero does. Loki will enable a system similar to the Dash implementation of masternodes. However, it will slightly differ from the Dash system; Loki proposes to introduce a dynamically adjusting Service Node collateral requirement. The minimum amount of Loki required to run a node will decrease over time, ensuring that as time passes and adoption increases, the financial barrier to running a Service Node is reduced, facilitating the creation of a large network of Service Nodes. Then, Loki aims to build Service Node Applications (SNApps) on top of these SN and use their services to reliably store and serve private messages. The first SNApp to be developed on the Loki network will be a decentralised, end-to-end encrypted private messaging service called Loki Messenger. Loki Messenger is not yet ready and the MVP conditions are not clear.

Loki’s core objective is privacy. It is built off Monero, a cryptocurrency that has established itself as one of the most secure and private transaction networks to date. Loki does not aim to compete with Monero. Rather, it utilises proven Monero privacy features as the foundation for a network of Service Nodes that enable a second layer of services. These Service Nodes use an architecture similar to other private internet protocols like Tor and I2P to enable private communications on the Loki network.

Distributions of founders and consultants follow a 12-month blocking schedule: 20% is issued at the time of the launch of Loki tokens, the remaining 80% will be issued quartely, 20% for each quarter. It is not clear how the funds will be spent, this information is not provided by the team. Post-money valuation corresponds to the median value of comparable companies and will be around 15M USD.

The Loki development team is made up of seven individuals who have an ample amount of experience with blockchain development, cryptography and in dealing with cryptocurrencies. The developers have previously worked on other blockchain based projects as well, several team members have had experience working with Monero so they have a solid understanding of how this network works. However, the amount of experience is not that vast. Tom Wignet was one of the core developers of Monero and wrote 120K+ lines of code in it. One of the engineers does not mention Loki on his social network pages. The project has quite strong advisory board, some of them advised successful projects, such as Request Network, before. CEO of the project does not have strong technical background and is majored in Music. CTO of the project is still studying his Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science. There are no team members with significant token sale structure and token economics expertise.