This piece will be an overview of Mithril, a new cryptocurrency project that’s making headlines after some impressively high volume on top tier exchanges Bithumb and OKEx over the past few weeks.
Usually I talk about upcoming ICO projects with big potential for growth, as I have in the past for projects like Zebi, Matrix AI Network, and CPChain… so why would I be talking about a project that had no public ICO? It’s largely because Mithril’s utility token $MITH has increased from a price of $0.08 USD to $1.35 today… pretty impressive, over 15x
So what is so special about Mithril? It’s being dubbed the Future of Social Networks in the whitepaper, with a plan to decentralize social media and reward all types of content creators.
For me, one of the most important aspects of this project is that it is being lead by Founder Jeffrey Huang, an entertainer with a history of success in the social media space and the head of 17 Media (I will discuss more about Jeffrey later).
What is Mithril?
Mithril is a decentralized social media platform, currently built on the Ethereum blockchain. Simply put, the plan is for Mithril to integrate into new and existing social media networks and to reward content creators for contributions to the social network — this is called Social Mining.
The $MITH token will launch as a utility token on a new social media platform called Lit, which is something like a decentralized Instagram or Snapchat.
Users can share their life through Lit Stories, post photos or videos, apply filters and effects, chat with friends, and be rewarded with $MITH tokens based on the impact and influence their content has across the network.
So at the core of this project is the Lit app, which is essentially a combination of both Snapchat and Instagram, boasting all of the usual features. What is different is of course the integration of the $MITH token on the profile page, but also this new concept of Social Mining… so let’s get into that
Social Mining
This is Mithril’s USP, a completely new concept of earning tokens through the Lit app. As you as a user produce valuable, user-generated content on the network, you will be able to earn tokens through this concept of social mining.
The $MITH tokens you accrue will be based on the level of engagement with your content on the network… views, likes, watch time etc.
This means the rewards are linked directly to your influence and “success” on the network.
A big 35% of the token distribution is allocated to this Social Mining, with a supply of 1BB this means there are 350MM tokens to be socially mined.
Social mining rewards decrease exponentially which means you would be benefited by getting involved and being an early adopter, sooner rather than later…
Mithril Vault
Another aspect of the ecosystem is the Mithril Vault, which will be an “easy-to-use transaction system”, for each user and partner platform to manage, secure, and spend their $MITH.
Mithril Merchant Network
In addition to having apps and services accept MITH as payment, the team is also looking toward physical brick-and-mortar retail store acceptance of the MITH tokens.
Lit — Mine Your Mithril
Now, I want to talk more about the Lit app itself, because it is basically the core of this project and has been coined, “The Launchpad for Decentralized Social Networks”…
Lit is a app that can now be downloaded for both iOS and Android devices. It allows you to create and add stories to your public profile, and other users can look at what you’re doing, heart it, watch it, etc… you as a user can be rewarded for the impact and influence you’ve had across the social network via Social Mining.
Normal stuff applies, you can take photos, record videos, add filters, effects, retouch photos, stories will be up for 24hr and then deleted, and you can select who can view them…
There is also a feature called Lit Discover where you can connect with more people, groups, and communities that share similar interests to you.
Now this is something that is very popular and important because we know that Instagram grew rapidly after they added the story feature to their platform…
There is also a chatroom feature on the app where you can have private conversations, just like a normal messaging app. You can setup and customize your profile, and even see how much your $MITH balance is.
Overall the app is pretty cool and intuitive, easy to use (as promised),the UI is nice and makes sense, and it doesn’t take too long to figure how it works… I’ve only played around with it for a few minutes and I got the hang of it.
“The Launchpad for Decentralized Social Networks”
Roadmap
Founder — Jeffrey Huang
I want to finish this piece talking about the Founder of this project, Jeffrey Huang. I want to emphasize primarily his success in the social media space already, and also his influence and celebrity figure status in Asia. I believe that Jeffrey’s past and connections are a really crucial part of the success of this project.
Let’s go through Jeffrey’s history and highlight some important points…
He is a Taiwanese-American rapper/entertainer, and early adopter of new technologies. His career began as a rapper in the group LA Boyz with his brother and cousin, from 1991–1997. He is currently listed as a member of another hip-hop group called Machi, beginning in 2003.
More recently, Jeffrey created 17 Media, the number 1 live-streaming app in developed Asia (similar again to Instagram, and also Periscope), boasting over 60MM downloads to date. The mobile app quickly became the most popular app in Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia…
Jeffrey has said candidly that there are plans to IPO this year, which is big considering the launch of Mithril also in 2018.
The idea that lead Jeffrey into this project is due to his past in entertainment. He wants to allow everyday people to be rewarded for their content and for adding value to the social platform… because if there is one type of content that is not rewarded, it’s personal content — being photos, videos, anything…
This content is essentially just given away, used, posted etc. and the platform (e.g. Facebook) make money from it without sharing any revenue… aiming to change that with Mithril.
I will finish with this tweet showing Jeffrey with Vitalik from Ethereum.
Jeffrey is well-connected, with an already massive 17 Media platform (being one of the largest social-streaming platforms in the world)… this could be a hugely successful project in a short amount of time, which has already been seen on the charts…
