Finally after a long Bear period, we saw some positivity in the market last week. The green days were back and we saw some massive spikes in the cryptocurrency prices. Although it is difficult to predict whether this growth will sustain in the coming days or will it just turn out to be another Bull trap, but what is more important is to look for the fundamentals behind the technology and how it can disrupt various industries in future. Markets will always have good and bad times, but the projects with good fundamentals and real world use cases will stand the test of the time.

One such interesting project which looks promising to me and is highly under the radar at the moment is Cortex AI. So, what is Cortex AI and why I am so bullish on them? Read on my review to find the answer.

Quick Facts

Name: Cortex
Symbol: CTXC
Token Type: ERC20
Total Supply: 299,792,458
Circulating Supply: 104,792,458
ICO Price: 1 ETH = 1500 CTXC
Current Price: 1 ETH = 600 CTXC (approx)
Exchanges: Huobi

What is Cortex?

Cortex is a decentralized AI platform looking to provide the state-of-the-art machine-learning models on the blockchain in which users can infer using smart contracts on the Cortex blockchain. The main aim of Cortex is to implement a machine-learning platform that allows users to post tasks on the platform, submit AI DApps etc.

Why Cortex?

The existing blockchain contracts can only handle simple smart contract computations, while the application of real world AI is not satisfied by these blockchain contracts.

The decentralized cluster architecture of most of the existing blockchains is not suitable for machine learning training as the training itself has natural central tendency and therefore a central cluster will have unparalleled advantage over a decentralized cluster. Cortex plans to build a cluster off the chain for training and thus optimizing the on-chain model.

What does Cortex offer?

• Cortex Intelligent Inference Framework

Cortex Intelligent Inference framework encourages machine learning researchers around the world to upload well trained data models to the storage layer. Users can utilize these models and pay their providers.

• Model Submission Framework

Cortex provides a submission interface for training off-chain, including submissions for virtual machines that interpret instructions for models. This creates a bridge between computing power providers and algorithm providers, allowing for trading and collaboration between participants in the Cortex ecosystem.

• Smart AI Contracts

Cortex allows users to write machine learning programs on the blockchain, and submit some interactions that depends on other contracts.

• Cortex Virtual Machine

Cortex Virtual Machine instruction set is fully Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible and supports inference instructions.

Token Usage

The platform will have two tokens, Endorphins and Cortex Coins (CTXC). Endorphin is the pricing unit for transactions on Cortex. A user will be required to pay in "Endorphin" tokens every time he initiates a transaction on the Cortex, opens a smart contract, or performs an intelligence inference. Users can earn Endorphins by sharing and optimizing Artificial Intelligence models. Also, miners will be paid in Endorphin for mining the block, much like how gas is used in Ethereum network.

Roadmap

Cortex roadmap as described in their whitepaper is precise and only lists major quarterly milestones the company is expecting to achieve:

2018 Q1: Issue ERC20 token
2018 Q1: Listed on multiple mainstream exchanges
2018 Q3: Testnet for mining, namely Bernard
2019 Q1: Testnet for smart AI contracts, namely Dolores
2019 Q2: Mainchain, namely Arnold genesis block. Burn ERC20 Coin to start mining the Cortex Coin, convertible on a 1:1 ratio

Positives

• Incentivized ecosystem

Unlike other projects, Cortex will be incentivizing researchers from around the world to share and optimize data models on their platform. This can encourage global effort to progress with machine-learning and AI systems and can help reaching mass adoption.

• Strong Investors

Cortex was able to attract various big investors during their private sale. Bitmain, FBG Capital, Huobi Capital, OK Blockchain capital, ZhenFund are some of the investors who invested in Cortex. In fact, the response during private sale round was so overwhelming that they did not even had a main sale and collected all their required funds in the private sale itself.

• Academic Partnerships

Both blockchain and AI are evolving technologies and therefore academic partnerships are of huge importance as it will help innovate and tackle various hurdles which can come down the lane. Cortex is partnered with several big universities such as Tsinghua University, the University of California Berkeley, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Negatives

• Competitive Market

The use of AI on blockchain isn't a new or unique idea, many companies have already entered this space and the market is becoming more and more competitive. Several big players operating in the same niche includes SingularityNet, DeepBrain Chain, Effect.ai, Matrix AI Network, Bottos etc.

• Long Roadmap

The mainchain release for Cortex is planned for Q2, 2019 which is more than an year from now. Most of their competitors will already have their mainnet running by that time. Although, we need to understand that building superior platform and tech does take time and therefore, it is worth the wait if they are able to succeed in building a world class platform.

Conclusion

Cortex is a unique project in a much crowded AI niche which is thinking ahead of its time. By building their own blockchain and using capabilities of their own virtual machine can help Cortex’s platform to become a breeding ground for breakthroughs in AI technology. The ability to run algorithms off chain is unique and will definitely allow Cortex to edge ahead of its competition. Investments from big firms is a clear indicator of the potential of the project. The project just got added to Coinmarketcap and therefore I believe the hype will start picking up as more and more people discover the project.

Quick Links

Website
Whitepaper
Github
Telegram
Twitter

Image and Video Credits: Cortex

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Disclaimer: This is not a financial advice. I am giving my personal opinion, do your own research before making any investment decision. Do not invest more than you can afford to lose.

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