ICO Review: AnkR Network | Distributed Cloud Computing - Article

Hey guys! I recently did my first ICO review video on youtube. I know that not everyone has the time or interest in watching videos, so I decided to share my write up as well. All the links for my social media/website etc. are at the bottom of the article. Please subscribe/follow me if you haven't!

Let’s get into it! What is Ankr?

Before I go into the technology of the project I’d like to give a brief definition. Ankr is a decentralized distributed cloud computing platform. Their goal is to incentivize people to contribute their computing resources to help decrease the cost and increase the efficiency of cloud computing. They are looking to replace service like microsoft azure and amazon web services.

ICO

AnkR is running their ICO on the ethereum network, making their token an ERC-20 token. The ICO funding goal is 16 million is USD. And they’re allotting 30% of the tokens for the token sale. Next obvious question, When is their crowdsale!? The team states the crowdsale and whitelist details will be released once they close out their presale. Keep an eye on their announcements channel on telegram.

Technology

Ankr Network proposes utilizing blockchain as a solution to help address the current barriers that are preventing mass business from adopting this kind of technology. They promise a more efficient consensus protocol called Proof of Useful Work (PoUW), a scalable blockchain framework through plasma side chains and sharding. They also plan to offer native oracle services connecting real-world data of existing Internet solutions to on-chain entities.

What is proof of useful work?

The Proof of Useful Work (PoUW) consensus enables a self-sustainable blockchain framework. Instead of wasting electricity and computing power on hashes like Bitcoin does, PoUW uses these resources towards useful work tasks provided by enterprises and consumers.

The protocol runs on SGX-enabled CPUs - they state theses CPUs help to ensure security and confidentiality. I googled what these CPUs are and what I gathered, and I may be incorrect, but that they’re basically a piece of hardware that is for application developers who are seeking to protect selected code and data from being revealed or modified. The SGX enabled CPUs make this kind of protection possible through the use of enclaves, which are protected areas of memory. This can be useful for implementing secure remote computations, secure web browsing, and digital rights management

The use of PoUW enables the massive potential of idle computing power around the world by providing user incentives which include every computation contributor getting compensated, and some will get the extra rewards for generating the blocks.

Ankr network consists of a tree structure of blockchains where various application chains or “child chains” are connected to a single root or “main chain”. Ankr’s main chain is the backbone of the entire system. Each child chain is tailored to the need of a specific application

Before we move on I want to define what an oracle is as it relates to blockchain tech because I didn’t know myself up until about two weeks ago, and it's an important part of this project. Blockchains cannot access data outside their network. An oracle is a data feed – provided by third party service – designed for use as data provider on the blockchain.

Oracles provide external data and trigger smart contract executions when pre-defined conditions are met. These conditions could be any data like weather temperature, successful payment, price fluctuations, etc. Blockchains on their own cannot access outside information. They’re like their own little floating islands. Oracles help to provide data and information that can be used on the blockchain.

Main Chain

The main chain will also provide a source of authenticated data that can be used by each child chain. Meaning the main chain will act as an oracle. Currently, existing oracle solutions exist separately from the blockchain and sometimes capability can be an issue. AnkR wants to solve this problem by creating a user-friendly universal API for each child chain to connect to off-chain entities. Existing business can build decentralized autonomous applications on the child chain with powerful computing power and utilize the built in oracle service.

Child Chains

Each child chain can be tailored to serve different purposes based on technical need. Application-specific smart contracts will be stored on the child chain, and the main chain will be used for consensus and distributed computation. Because the main chain can tap into the distributed global computing power, transactions on the child-chain will be calculated at a speed much faster than transactions on a traditional one-chain structure.

Multi-chain Structure utilizing plasma: The Multi-chain Plasma implementation allows different applications to handle application-specific smart contracts on individual side chains, preventing transactions from overloading the PoUW-based main chain.

The Ankr's permissionless blockchain framework can support an ecosystem of decentralized autonomous applications. They envision that these applications will include a global peer to peer payment system, personal credit systems, and most importantly, tokenization of real-world assets that normally cannot easily be sold or exchanged for cash without a substantial loss in value.

Use Cases

Imagine the oracle services being utilized for use with something like the MLS which is giant source of real estate data. The API support would allow the data of recent sales, public and private schools, demographics, home values and market trends to be easily accessible on the blockchain.

Potential fiat currency transactions on blockchain: AnkR should be able to provide a bank-intermediated ledger through commercial banks’ by way of API. By design, it should present transfers and making purchases of smart assets with fiat a possibility.

Potential modern application interfaces - such as being able to connect the blockchain with applications such as Facebook messenger and Wechat to unlock massive marketing potential.

Token System

Ankr tokens serve as the store of value and as a means to transfer value. Ankr token can be used to incentivize the engagement with Ankr network and can be transferred across child chains. The tokens can be used to pay the computation fees across all child chains, and all users of Ankr blockchain can earn tokens by contributing their computing power. Ankr tokens can be mined by contributing idle computing power for useful work computation. The team states the decentralized computer aspect of AnkR will be much cheaper than centralized solutions such as Amazon cloud or Google cloud, because the decentralized cloud will utilize otherwise wasted computing power and wouldn’t charge high markup like the internet giants.

Let's talk about the team

Chandler Song is the co-founder & product manager he has a bachelors of science from the electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California Berkeley. He’s a self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur who's worked at Amazon, Didi and the software development company SAP

Next we have the cofounder and CTO Stanley Wu who has a masters of science from the Rochester University of Computer Science and a bachelors of science from Shanghai University. He was a tech Lead at Amazon and states he’s got 10+ years of industry experiences in large-scale cloud services.

And Lastly we’ve got Ryan Fang the Co-founder & COO, he has a bachelors of science from the University of California Berkeley. He too is a self proclaimed serial entrepreneur who’s worked at Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, China Renaissance and State Street.

Obviously theres other members of the team but these are the major guys.

• Their research Partners are: Blockchain at Berkeley, Dora Hacks, and CPC.
• Their strategic Investors are: Neo Global Capital (NGC), GBIC, KOSMOS, and OK Blockchain Capital.
• A major adviser is Christel Quek - she is the Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer of BOLT, the world's first open entertainment economy powered by Zilliqa. She is an adviser to Zilliqa, as well as the Switcheo Network, which is the first decentralised exchange built on NEO.

Upcoming

Their roadmap states that their whitepaper release is planned for this month, June of 2018. And their first prototype release is planned for July of 2018.

Final thoughts

Decentralized cloud computing seems to be the next popular platform blockchain tech is trying to disrupt. I believe this project has great potential and can be lucrative if they’re successful in creating what they promise. The team seems to be experienced and they have a pretty good amount of people on board considering it’s just in ICO stages. Overall I think it’s a project to keep your eye on. I am interested to see what the general consensus is of the community once their white paper is released.

Here's my review I did on youtube for it as well:

Ankr Links
Website: http://ankr.network/
Telegram: https://t.me/ankrnetwork

Sources
https://icodrops.com/ankr-network/
http://ankr.network/
https://software.intel.com/en-us/sgx/details
https://coindrift.io/ankr-network-ico-review/

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