ArcBlock (ABT) ICO Analysis: Blockchain Ecosystem for Building and Deploying DApps

Executive Summary

Project Description

The blockchain is a revolutionary tech with the potential to effect massive changes. However, the current version is not end user-friendly and it performs inconsistently. Additionally, it is expensive to maintain and there is no interoperability between different kinds of platform on the blockchain. The problems outlined above are what the ArcBlock platform seeks to address.

ArcBlock wants to remove the barriers that currently makes the blockchain hard to adopt for the general public. In doing so, they want to significantly boost adoption of the tech while creating a fresh platform for developers and their applications.

ArcBlock is a 3rd generation blockchain tech and it offers developers the frameworks and tools to aid them in the creation and development of their own ecosystem and decentralized applications (DApps), allowing over 100,000 transactions per second. ArcBlock’s technological milestone is an Open Chain Access Protocol as well as the Blocklet, meaning devs can combine multiple blockchain solutions in their applications. Going further than other similar platforms, ArcBlock also supports cloud computing. As a result, a node can be run both on a “logical computer” as well as a group of cloud services.

Furthermore, unlike most other competing platforms where end users pay the transaction fees, the same is not the case on ArcBlock. Rather, the platform pays its users, further improving end user experience. This overall cost is borne by developers and every month, they pay ArcBlock in ABT, the governing token on the platform.

ArcBlock’s token, ABT maps to ERC20 tokens 1:1, simplifying the exchange process and making it possible for the developers to benefit from the existing Ethereum ecosystem.

Hard Cap and Valuation

There will be a total of 186 million ABT tokens, and 45% of this total is to be put up for sale. The remaining 55% is shared thus: 15% goes to the team, 32% is reserved for miners and the ArcBlock community, and the final 8% is earmarked for marketing and for their partners.

The hard cap for ABT private sale is pegged at 25,000 ETH, and for the public sale, there is a cap of 12,500 ETH + 6,000,000 CMT (CyberMilesToken). In total — and depending on the values of ETH and CMT going forward — ArcBlock aim to raise ~$45 million for the 45% token share being put up for sale.

Price Per Token

During the private sale, 1 ABT = 0.0004873 ETH. In comparison, the public sale rate is expected to be in the region of 1 ABT = 0.0005263 ETH. The CMT/ABT rate will be announced shortly before the public sale starts.

Important Dates

ArcBlock’s private sale is currently ongoing, and registration for that sale has closed. However, there will be a public sale and it is slated to start by 7 p.m. (CST) on the 3rd of February, 2018.

Marketing Power

As at the time this post was published, ArcBlock had over over 43,000 Telegram users, nearly 15,000 followers on Twitter, 6,000+ Facebook subscribers, over 950 Reddit readers, and 390+ followers on Medium.

Prominent Advisors

Ding Lei

• CEO at NetEase, one of China’s leading internet companies for almost 13 years (till present).

Lawrence Lerner

• Chief Growth Officer at RChain Holdings.

Violin Wang

• Operations Leader at CyberMiles.

Howey’s Test

According to Howey’s Test conducted by our analysts, it is unlikely that ABT will be considered a security.

Team Members’ Areas of Expertise

Business experts

Robert Mao, Founder and Chief Architect

• Co-founder, and CEO of PixoMobile, a start-up that creates iOS-based photo processing applications, for almost 5 years.
• Co-founder, Director, and Board Chairman at Seattle Entrepreneurship Club for 3 years.
• Worked as Research Software Development Engineer at Microsoft for 3 years.

Target market experts

No team member with notable target market expertise.

Marketing experts

Jean Chen, VP Marketing and Public Relationship

• PR Director at iDriver Media for almost 5 years.
• Deputy VP at Cyzone for one year.

Legal experts

Joe Wallin, Legal Counsel

• Principal at Carney Badley Spellman P.S., a medium-sized private law firm for over 2 years.
• Independent Director at the W Fund, an organization that invests in technology startups for almost 3 years
• Partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, a law firm, for almost 8 years.

Software engineering experts

Robert Mao, Founder and Chief Architect

• Worked at Microsoft for 3 years as Research Software Development Engineer.

Flavien Charlon, Chief Scientist

• CTO at Trezeo, a freelancer payment platform, for almost 2 years.
• Worked at Microsoft for 4 years as Software Development Engineer.

Blockchain development experts

Flavien Charlon, Chief Scientist

• Founder, and CEO of Coinprism, the first colored coins web-wallet, for over 3 years (ongoing).
• Founder, and CEO of Predictious, a Bitcoin prediction market, for almost 5 years (ongoing).

Token economics

No team member with notable expertise in token economics. However, Flavien Charlon has been working on blockchain-related technologies/projects since 2013, hence, it can be assumed that he knows one or two things about token economics.

Token sale structure

Same as above.

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Disclaimers:

• Nothing written in this article is a legal or an investment advice.
• Information is provided on a best-effort basis and is subject to change without prior notice. Be sure to verify everything you read with a project team.

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This analysis was produced by Research Center team members: Alexander Bugaj, Mark Jedd, Eugene Tartakovsky.

We are constantly working on improving our work and welcome all constructive feedback. Let us know what you think.

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