Origin Protocol ICO review and rating from ICOscoring

Token description

ICO date

TBA

Token price

N/A

Platform

N/A

Blockchain

Ethereum

Token distribution date

N/A

Consensus method

Proof-of-Work

Escrow

N/A

ICO currencies

ETH

Bounty camping

N/A

Markets

N/A

Token functions

Utility Token: The Origin token serves three key functions on the platform: 1) ensuring platform security and health by creating both positive and negative incentives, 2) enabling network governance, and 3) facilitating buyer/seller transactions as a transfer of value.

Risks

MARKET

There are several Blockchain projects that do not have the same features as Origin Protocol but aim to create similar products and already gained public attention and raised money, such as District0x and Openbazar. District0x, which creates a network of decentralized markets and communities, has already raised 10M USD during ICO last August. The market of protocols seems to be heavily dependent on the "first-mover advantage", as the protocols will grow faster if they are unified and comply with the current solutions on the market.

PRODUCT

The team aims to create a complex product which requires vast amount of resources. That is why the feasibility of all the proposed features is unclear. Origin Protocol will have to compete with large, established marketplaces across different industries. It is unclear if the team will be able to scale the project so that it will be possible to compete with companies like Airbnb, Fiverr or Uber. Origin aims to expand its services globally but does not focus on any particular markets. As the prices will be shown in fiat currencies but will be paid in crypto, which is way more volatile than the former one, it may lead to price differences. This can harm the customer experience. The given roadmap is not enough detailed and only highlights some of the product development stages.

BUSINESS MODEL

As the platform will require participants to deposit small amounts of token before creating a new listing or user profile, it might lower the attractiveness of the platform for the early users. As the users might be penalized if they falsely challenge legitimate listings or accounts, it may also decrease the attractiveness of the platform. There is no information on how Origin Protocol will earn its money, so the commercial viability of the platform is not clear.

FINANCES

TEAM

The team is spread between Colorado and California.

Full analysis

Market

Origin Protocol aims to create a protocol that will allow to unify marketplaces of different nature in one place. That is why, it is not possible to emphasize one single market where the company would like to operate. There are several Blockchain projects that do not have the same features as Origin Protocol but aim to create similar products and already gained public attention and raised money, such as District0x and Openbazar. District0x, which creates a network of decentralized markets and communities, has already raised 10M USD during ICO last August. OpenBazar, which is mainly focused on the protocol for e-commerce, raised 4.2M USD since 2014. The market of protocols seems to be heavily dependent on the "first-mover advantage", as the protocols popularity would grow faster if they were unified and comply with the current solutions on the market.

Product

As of 05.02.2018, the alfa-version of the platform is available on the company's website. Origin Protocol aims to build a platform that replicates the functionality of 3rd party intermediaries (Airbnb, Uber, Fiverr, etc) on the Blockchain and other distributed systems. The platform will launch with three major components: 1) Origin decentralized app 2) Origin shared data layer and standards 3) Origin Community Fund 1) Origin decentralized app is a consumer marketplace product that allows buyers and sellers on the network to do business. 2) Origin shared data layer will be based on the Ethereum Blockchain and will be designed to be accessible by all. 3) Origin Community Fund will focus on bootstrapping the network with buyers and sellers and providing the requisite insurance systems to build buyer and seller trust. It is supposed to become a non-profit foundation.

Business model

Origin Network aims to facilitate transactions currently available on various marketplaces in one place. The team states that they will not charge fees for the platform usage. They will only cover the costs of doing business, i.e. payments for the Ethereum network gas fee and nominal insurance fees that will be allocated to an insurance and arbitration pool (to provide funds in the case of damages to supplier property and/or disputes). The team will allow charging transaction fees for 3rd party Dapp developers. That is why the commercial viability of the platform is not clear.

Finances

As of 05.02.2018 information about the financials has not yet been announced.

Team

The core team of Origin Protocol has strong track-record in launching and scaling technology companies. Moreover, both of the co-founders have tech background and also, according to their previous experience, have good business development skills. Also, both of the co-founders became involved in Blockchain it its early stages. The rest of the team also has strong experience in different tech areas, such as computer vision. The team is spread between Colorado and California.