ICO Review — Pillar Project
Summary
Symbol PLR
Crowdsale opening date 15 July 2017
Crowdsale closing date 17 July 2017
Country of origin Switzerland
Platform for the ICO Ethereum
My View
This project has a big vision to address issue like data security, privacy, seamless integration of various service and actions using Blockchain and Smart contracts. But this project does not reflect to be an original idea but rather an amalgamation of various ideas. The idea tries to put into action the ideas that were envisioned by David Siegel in his book Pull. While the vision is from 2000 and the book was published in 2009 but implementation using smart contracts and blockchain is something which I feel many projects & ICOs are implementing in different capacity.
My biggest concern is that PLR or pillar token which is a ERC20 token based on Ethereum platform is pinned as the underlying token for paying or accessing services in the Pillar ecosystem but ERC20 has a major issue of getting trapped in smart contract addresses where it is not intended to go because of which ERC23 token has been mooted. Also, Ethereum platform is itself facing scalability issues with so many ICO projects making as its basic platform of transaction. Now given the kind of scalability that Pillar wants to bring, would not it have been prudent to create an entirely a new ecosystem as Tezos or even peg their platform on ETC platform that Corion does.
Another major issue is the vagueness in the way they want to build the team, the kind of value proposition they are providing to the token investors. While there are talks of building a community, the only social interaction that they have during the token-sale is a Telegram channel, Facebook page, twitter handle and many Youtube videos and pages which is their major medium of outreach. Today one of the key mediums for any standard ICO is to either have a Slack channel or Telegram Group chat through which they can help clarify all their issues and points.
Much of their ideas rests on the Pillar wallet which seems more like a clone of Lykke wallet and from their public commit also it seems the pillar github account just started from April and some of the github repos like 2020 ICO makes me wonder if the focus was more to develop an ICO for Twenty Thirty rather than pillar platform.
Again, these are my personal observations and may not mean anything if their product development is in progress in backdrop.
Who should Invest?
As the key value proposition of this token is as the transaction token for pillar platform, hence currently the only value of this token is for speculative trading or for those investors who buy into the idea of Pillar platform.
Key Highlights
Problem
Our data is getting more and more concentrated in the hands of a few large institutions. Many of the Big Internet companies use the user data to monetize huge gains.
Following are some key issues with the current landscape related to User Data management & privacy:
- Users do not have control over their own data and protect privacy.
- Current internet companies do not provide diversity, pluralism and a right to choose.
- There is concentration of data in a few proprietary platforms.
Vision
The Pillar Project wants to solver the above problems give people a better, safer digital experience:
They have two main objectives:
- Replace accounts with atomic ownership
- Replace apps with services
By launching a meta-token, they are telling consumers they will have a single interface into their digital lives.
Overview
The Pillar project is the brainchild of David Siegel, whose 2010 book, “Pull”, described a future with no apps and with the personal data locker at the center of your life. Twenty Thirty, a Swiss blockchain company, is behind this project to create a next-generation wallet known as “THE PERSONAL DATA LOCKER” which is designed to converge Wallets, browsers, and exchanges into a single platform designed to hold all your assets and become your personal digital assistant powering all the devices.
Platform
Personal data locker
Personal data locker puts your assets on the blockchain and the private key is in your control so you do not have to rely on third party or worry about data theft. Personal data locker does not consist of apps but it provides information and services for all aspects of your life.
- Atomic ownership of private keys means that personal data, currencies, and assets are not held or controlled by any third party. Only you have the keys to this data. If you lose your keys, your data or value is lost (there are several ways to help consumers manage their keys safely).
- Accounts involve logging in and creating an account with a company you must trust to back up and safeguard your data, including credit-card info, passwords, etc.. If your account is compromised, you lose your data, identity, or value.
Pillar Multi-chain Wallet
Pillar is a next generation wallet can store all important data, information of users at one spot. All the different things a person may need for his day to day life will come at his finger tips and on a digital dashboard in the pillar wallet. Pillar wallet commands requests from the web via smart contracts on the blockchain so giving you an ease of no more logins or remembering several passwords or downloading several different apps.
Pillar Multichain Wallet has the following features:
- Multi-chain: able to see hundreds of kinds of tokens and coins.
- Open source.
- Not tied to any one browser.
- Not tied to any one exchange — you can choose your exchange.
- Easy for software companies to incorporate into their systems.
- Both on desktop and mobile.
- Stand-alone and OEM.
They will upgrade the multi chain Pillar wallet to an exchange platform, escrow messaging, browser etc. In future Pillar wallet, will expose APIs using which users can put buy-sell order and exchanges will compete to provide the best rate. And also, they want to make Pillar wallet smart contract aware in which one can search new smart contracts and using smart contracts and blockchain one can perform many actions of their life seamlessly.
Pillar Token
The native utility token for Pillar ecosystem is the Pillar Token which is a ERC20 token based on Ethereum Blockchain. Users will pay for the various services with pillar tokens (PLRs) as they use them. Also in future, they want to integrate with Brave Browser and exchanges and pay for using pillar tokens.
Key Focus
The focus is to create a stack that has many usable layers that can complete the vision of pillar project to create a complete ecosystem by integrating around the pillar wallet.
Tokensale
The Token Sale will take place over 60 hours, on July 15, 2017.
(a) US IP addresses are blocked from the ICO sale.
(b) There will be 800 mil tokens issued and 70% will be for sale to the public (560 mil).
The minimum raise will be around $8 million, set ahead of the sale and priced in ether (approximately 80 million tokens).
The target is $30 million at the sale-time price.
The cap will be 528 million tokens.
Allocation
24 million (3%) will be used to pay people who helped with the sale and will be locked up for 9 months in a smart contract.
80 million (10%) will go to Twenty Thirty AG and will be locked up for 9 months in a smart contract.
120 million (15%) will be reserved for liquidity, later sale, giving to entrepreneurs to build on the system, contests, or transfer to a consortium.
More details in https://pillarproject.io/terms/
Benefits to Token Holders
The pillar token along with Pillar wallet can be used to access various services of the Pillar platform and ecosystem.
Roadmap
Execution
The following are key aspects of their execution plan:
- Team Building — An open initiative without focus on resumes but as a community building exercise with focus on generalists.
- Architecture — They want to keep a fluid and flexible architecture
Foundation: Collaboration — They plan to collaborate with various projects and groups to collaborate in cryptocurrency space. - Data Conversion — Develop a flexible API & a semantic intuitive integration platform which helps external applications integrate into pillar platform.
- Data Security — Create a access platform using Pillar wallet for external application based on the concept of least privilege.
Budget Projections
Approximate Budget Projections:
Team
David Siegel, founder (Switzerland)
Vitor Py, founder (Brazil)
Tomer Sofinzon, founder (Israel)
Yogesh Gaikwad, founder (India)
The team will be based in London to start and project will have its own P&L which will be available on the project’s web site and updated monthly.
Conclusion
This project has a great potential to impact e-Government services, identity, defense and security, wealth management, employment etc and other high valued verticals. But it remains to be seen how much of the pillar platform reaches some of its big goals that it has setup given that the vesting for the founding team is only 9 months and there is not much clarity on the creation of the team to build the actual product.
But again, the best thing about this project is its vision and the way the focus on agility and community participation to build the pillar ecosystem. That is one of the key reasons I am sure many will be part of this ICO. The ICO is realistic about their future roadmap that while they have big goals to achieve, being agile is the key and given there are rapid changes in the Blockchain ecosystem to give an inflexible plan will not be correct. Also by promising to help to setup a Blockchain hub in London they are adding a great value to one of the most important financial centers of the world and I am sure Pillar project will help bring some of the best future innovations by building upon existing platforms if executed properly.
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