aelf — A Decentralized Platform for Cloud Computing
aelf has been going strong since being introduced into the crypto world in the second half of 2017. Over the last three months this project has undergone some astounding growth, major updates, partnerships and a strong following spreading across multiple social media platforms. As such, it is high time for a review overview. This is aelf — Year in review.
Project Summary — What is aelf?
Before I go any further, let me give a brief introduction to the aelf project. aelf, for all intents and purposes, is creating a new blockchain which will resolve 3 main blockchain problems which has been restricting this technology from being adopted in more mainstream uses. These problems are limited performance, lack of resource segregation, and a properly working governance model. By resolving these issues, aelf will be bringing blockchain technology into business scenarios with full force.
In response to this, they have created a blockchain which can be integrated to side chain specific business scenarios. The aelf blockchain and sidechains will possess the following qualities:
- High efficiency and scalability to handle transactions/applications at a commercial scale
- High flexibility to customize Smart Contracts to meet the needs of different industries
- High adaptability to new technology in the future
- High compatibility to allow communication across public and private Chains and existing Blockchains
Rebrand — Out with the Old, In with the New
aelf was originally launched as Grid, however due to confusion with a similar project called Grid+, it was rebranded as aelf late November 2017. Another confusion which was cleared up early in aelf’s life was the complete separation from the Polkadot project.
From Presentations to Investors
Throughout the Christmas and New Year season, Co-Founder and COO, Zhuling Chen led the worldwide charge of aelf presentations at multiple conferences. One of the first of these was the presentation at Consensus Invest 2017. aelf’s vision presented by Zhuling was to establish a ‘Central Business District’ where different industry applications have dedicated chains to serve their needs. Thanks to these impressive presentations; aelf’s private sale, to a focused investor group, oversubscribed by more than 6 times their cap within 2 weeks. These investors included 1kx Capital, Alphabit, BlockTower, FBG Capital, Galaxy Partners, Hashed, Hyperchain, LinkVC, and Signam Capital. aelf has attracted investors from all around the world which indicates that it’s looking to branch it’s operations and outreach globally instead of focusing on one region.
Candy, Candy for Everyone!
An exceptional marketing scheme developed by the aelf team was the Candy Airdrop Program. This airdrop project rewards users for completing simple tasks like re-tweeting an aelf tweet or logging onto the Candy dashboard daily. As of March 4th 2018, the Candy system’s success is demonstrated below:
- Registered users: 370,904
- Page views: 2,557,441
- Country spread: 204
- City spread: 11,915
Partnerships — They all want to be One
Another example of the combined marketing success and clear real world application for the aelf project is the continuous partnership announcements. aelf is targeting existing companies that are looking for Blockchain solutions. Companies that already have a customer base which will help increase awareness among customers that are not yet familiar with Blockchain. Over the last two months, partnerships and agreements have come from Decent, Youlive, Merry Merkle Tree, Wachsman, Theta, U Network, DATx and CNN.
Social Media — An Army has been Raised
Similarly to the business partnerships, the social media and community component to this project has not been overlooked either. Within a few months:
- aelf Telegram chat has been increasing to over 50,000 members
- WeChat is increasing by the 10s of thousands
- Twitter followers are sitting over 70,000
- Single tweet interaction has surpassed 140,000 interactions
Behind the scenes — What Keeps this Machine Running
Such huge efforts on the frontline at aelf is just an indication to the work ethic of the whole team. Behind the front lines, the development team have been working tirelessly to improve and refine the overall aelf system. This includes things like SDK encapsulation and test work for asset management in relation to the Asset Chain, Smart Contract invoking tests and Chain initialization tests.
One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind
2018 is proving to be a busy year for the aelf team. Not only are they ramping up their marketing and online presence, they are also aiming to release minor/major upgrades every few months. By the start of 2019, aelf plans on officially launching their main product into multiple business scenarios.
I’m hooked, how do I get involved?
If you would like to hear the aelf team present, their next calendar event will be on Friday 23rd of March in Berlin, Germany. aelf will be presenting at ZK0x01 — The Zero Knowledge Summit at 9:30am. Alternatively, if you would like to invest in aelf, the tokens are currently listed on multiple exchanges including Huobi, Binance, OKEx, Bibox, Bancor Network, Kucoin and Gate.io. You can also get involved by following aelf on twitter and facebook, and joining the Telegram and WeChat groups.
Mappo has been investing and trading in fiat currencies since 2013. He has recently moved into the crypto world spreading his portfolio over long term coin investments, ICOs and day trading.
