ICO Review: Bankera

Summary: A Blockchain based Banking Solution

• ICO Platform: SpectroCoin
• Industry: Banking Services
• Price: €0.021 (Feb. 13, 2018)
• Bonus: N/A
• Soft Cap: Varies
• Hard Cap: €177 million
• Number of Tokens: 10 billion BNK
• Website: https://bankera.com/

The Problem

There are hundreds of cryptocurrency companies looking to incorporate blockchain technology into the current banking system in a bid to make it more flexible, more decentralised and more “cryptocurrency-like”. The problem with this is: the world government, regulatory bodies, and majority of the world population are comfortable with the current banking system. They are used to the idea of having a centralised banking system, and many distrust the platforms that these cryptocurrency companies are offering.

Therefore, while these crypto companies are developing technologies that are superior to the ones traditional banks use, they struggle to pull customers from the banks. A majority of the world population still prefer traditional banks — with their slow transaction time, expensive fees, and inflexibility — to cryptocurrency companies offering better services.

The Solution

Bankera want to break the cryptocurrency status quo. Rather than build a decentralised banking network, they want to build a centralised and blockchain-based cryptocurrency bank. Put simply, they want to build a digital bank that combines the advantages of the blockchain (low fees, speedy transactions, no red tape) with the advantages of having a traditional and centralised bank (no regulatory issues and improved adoption rates).

With Bankera, people will be able to transfer money globally using both cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies without the involvement of third parties. Furthermore, Bankera plans to provide its customers with a bank account and a Bankera card. People who save their money on Bankera will also benefit from having their investments increase with increasing inflation.

Additionally, Bankera plan to distribute 20% of transaction fees on the platform amongst users who hold Bankers (BNK), Bankera’s tokens.

The Team

The Bankera team is under the leadership of Vytautas Karalevičius (CEO), Mantas Mockevičius (CCO), Justas Dobiliauskas (CTO), and Craig Grant (VP for Business Development).

Vytautas is the Co-Founder and CEO of Spectro Finance, a role he has held for over 5 years. Before Spectro, he worked as an analyst for Civitta; he also interned at Bloomberg for 4 months. Vytautas is well-educated, he has a Masters’ degree from Cambridge and he is currently in the process of obtaining a doctorate degree in Cryptocurrencies from the University of Leuven, Belgium.

While the CEO and the rest of the leadership team are well-educated, they do not seem to have any prior leadership experience from notable companies (asides Spectro). As a result, it can be said that they do not have the relevant experience to take this company to the top of its market segment. However, they have done a good job so far, and Bankera had one of the most successful pre-ICO returns of all time.

The Market

Bankera’s target market includes the millions — if not billions — of people who want to benefit from the advantages of the blockchain but are reluctant to put their money on a decentralised platform. There are also millions of crypto enthusiasts who are not very comfortable with the way the cryptocurrency sector is going and would willingly move to the more stable business environment that Bankera is offering.

Furthermore, Bankera has a mouth-watering offer for businesses: they plan to use cash flow history and expected payments to give out loans to businesses on their platform. This is sure to attract a number of business owners.

Roadmap

Bankera concluded their pre-ICO in September 2017. Two billion BNK tokens were sold and a record €25 million (over $29 million) was raised. The ICO proper started on the 27th of November 2017 and is billed to end February 28, 2018.

Bankera plan to launch a live version of their online exchange — which will support all major cryptocurrencies, ERC20 tokens, and NEM Mosaic tokens — in the first half of 2018, and by 2019, they aim to have obtained a banking license.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• Flexibility; Bankera has many use cases
• Very strong pre-ICO and ICO performance
• Notable and well-connected advisors
• Well-educated team

Weaknesses

• They do not have any banking licenses till date, not even one; this may be seen as a sign of regulatory hiccups.
• Proposed product is not new; they have a number of stiff competitors.
• Lack of significant leadership experience in the team.

Opportunities

• Bankera plan to establish a network of agents in South America and other developing countries that lack adequate infrastructure to send and receive payments.
• Due to the benefits they are offering, they are well positioned to attract small and medium-scale businesses to their platform.

Threats

• When their ICO started, Bankera’s token was sold for $0.02 per. That is quite high and it leaves little room for growth, making a drop in price likely.
• If they do not get their banking licenses in 2019 as it says in their Whitepaper, things may get messy very quickly.
• Residents of the United States are banned from using Bankera; that is a chunk of their target market gone.

In conclusion, Bankera have a lot going well for them. At the same time, the project seems like it is one or two major problems away from a crisis. If you are excited by what Bankera is offering, as with all crypto projects: tread carefully, invest judiciously and stay abreast of developments that concern the company.

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Disclaimer: The information contained herein is not intended to be a source of advice and the information and/or documents contained in this website do not constitute investment advice.