Mobius ICO Report
Project Summary:
Mobius is a project aiming to connect apps, devices and data streams onto “the blockchain ecosystem.” To do so, the project is aiming to build a decentralized Dapp — Decentralized App — store, along with a more complex system of incentives and rewards to create a data commoditization ecosystem. The project wants to promote mass adoption of Dapps through incentives to create them, along with a platform on which transactions will be quick and inexpensive. Mobius also aims to simplify the Dapp creation process, and decentralize it completely so that inefficiencies that are present in Google Play or the Apple App Store, will disappear. Additionally, Mobius will like to create a smart market in which data oracles allow for the commoditization of information on a blockchain and the refinement of standards to get better data quality for smart contracts.
ICO Date: November 22nd, 2017, 8:00 pm PST.
ICO Schedule and Bonuses:
The bonus is independent from the sliding exchange rate tiers, but they are reserved for bigger contributors. Contributions of up to $20,000 USD will have no bonuses. A contribution ranging from $20,000 to $250,000 USD, will get a bonus of 5%. From $250,000 to $500,000 there is a 10% bonus. The next bonus level is 14% for contributions between $500,00 and $750,000. Contributions between $750,000 and $1,000,000 will enjoy a 16% bonus rate. Any contribution above $1,000,000 USD will enjoy an 18% bonus but will be subject to a negotiable lock-up.
Total Supply: 888,000,000 MOBI
Pre-ICO: 5% of total token supply will be sold. The pre-sale is live now and is subject to special bonuses. Anyone interested should get white-listed — registration with name and some personal data is required.
ICO: 30% of the token supply will be on sale. There is a sliding exchange scale with 5 tiers. Each tier has a token limit. When the scale hits that limit, the exchange rate increases by $0.01 USD. The first tier ends when Mobius sells 30 million tokens — MOBI. Prices start at $0.12 USD per MOBI, then go up to $0.13 USD per MOBI for the next 35 million tokens. Next tier ends after an additional 45 million MOBI are sold. The tier after that goes up to 60 million more MOBI and then the last tier goes until the ICO sells 96.4 million additional MOBI. The last tier will have an exchange rate of $0.16 per MOBI. Mobius is looking for a raise of $39 million USD.
Distribution: The distribution of MOBI tokens is quite evenly spread. Apart from the 35% of the tokens that will be sold during the pre-ICO and the ICO, Mobius is reserving 32.5% for the community, which means network growth and reward contributions — initial incentives for oracles and Dapp creators. The project will keep 32.5% of the tokens created for growth and R&D.
Quick Math: Mobius is pretty straight forward with its calculations, but the total project valuation side of those calculations, is not disclosed voluntarily. If Mobius is selling 35% of its tokens during its pre-ICO and ICO phases, and it is looking to raise $39 million from that sale, then the total project valuation should be around the $111 million USD. That would put the project in the upper echelon of ICO-funded projects.
Project Overview:
Basically, Mobius wants to become the “Stripe” of the blockchain industry. This basically makes it easier for developers to transact with any token, with lower transaction fees. This is especially beneficial to developers who would like to have tokens that are indigenous to their Dapps. A good example would be in-game credits. Mobius believes that with the creation of its platform and its Dapp store for Dapps that receive payments in MOBI, the project will incentivize greater creation and adoption of Dapps because it will create a network effect. Additionally, Mobius will allow for the commoditization of data with a smart market by creating oracle reward mechanisms. This will help in the creation of dynamic smart contracts that will be able to execute according to high quality data inputs.
The project’s roadmap includes the development and deployment of various aspects of the project, starting from August 1st, 2017, and culminating the deployment of a Universal Proof of Stake Oracle Protocol, a Blockchain Smart Markets Protocol, enterprise test pilots and Dapp store hackathons up until the end of 2018. It is important to note that the first version of the Mobius Blockchain Payment Protocol is now in its beta stage. Additionally, the Mobius team has developed other aspects of this ecosystem up until now.
There is a variety of use-cases for MOBI tokens. MOBI tokens will be used as a medium of exchange on the decentralized Dapp store. They will also be used to incentivize oracles and Dapp developers. MOBI tokens will probably be used in other capacities for the implementation of smart contracts and the acquisition of data on the smart markets. Holders of the token may not be able to profit from the token itself in the secondary market. The project is at least one year away from completing its proposed development stages and deploying a full array of functions. That would in theory make this token a less desirable token on the secondary market. The limited supply of the tokens, should create the environment necessary for some degree of scarcity. The big question will then be the demand.
Team:
David S. Gobaud — CEO & Co-Founder.
Cyrus S. Khajvandi — COO &Co-Founder.
Monis Rahman — Head Research Scientist.
Jed McCaleb — Advisor, Co-Founder of Stellar and Ripple.
Jackson Palmer — Advisor, Creator of Dogecoin.
Daniel Cawrey — Advisor, Co-Founder of Pactum Capital.
Opportunities:
Mobius seems to offer great opportunities for Dapp developers, smart contract developers and others who understand thoroughly how to take advantage of the commoditization of data. As for the consumers of these smart contracts, Dapps and oracle-cured information, besides developers, the market is quite limited right now. It might develop fully a few years down the road, but that is unlikely to happen within the next year or two. Mobius seems to be positioning itself for a world in which there will be further IoT and blockchain tech integration.
Challenges / Concerns:
Although the Mobius team is highly skilled and has the acumen necessary to develop and deploy this project as planned, the main challenge is to create a market for the Dapps, smart markets, smart contract creation and commoditized data. The conceptual advantages of having these tools readily available, is clear. But practically speaking, Mobius will be competing with an app ecosystem controlled by Google and Apple that is already working for hundreds of millions of people, and is less esoteric for them.
As such, creating demand for these tools and creating a network effect around Mobius, will be extremely challenging. The Mobius white paper has identified a referral program similar to the one that PayPal used, to promote their Dapp store. Although in theory it should work, in practice it is unlikely to because it will be based on the MOBI token. PayPal did it with $20 USD rewards, which gave them the advantage of giving people the most widely accepted currency at the time. A similar reward system with MOBI tokens involved will not be nearly as popular.
As for the oracles, smart markets and commoditization of data, it is hard to see people accepting this new system unless the system that is now in place, fails miserably. These tools definitely look like niche tools that will make thousands of people happy, but not millions, especially considering the fact that smart contracts can be deployed on more popular blockchains like Ethereum. Mobius also took a leap of faith and went with the Stellar network to create its platform, while most ICOs are going the ERC20 token route. This adds to the niche feeling of the project.
Furthermore, governance might be an issue. The Mobius white paper suggests that the promotion of the Dapp store and the hackathons to produce Dapps, should incentivize developers through the distribution of rewards. The community will decide who the winner is with a voting mechanism that depends on the proportion of MOBI the voters have. This creates a system in which “richer” people have more votes.
Conclusion:
This is a project that is hard to assess. It is complex; its scope is wider than that of the average ICO. The business case is hard to make in the short-term, and for a project valued at around $111 million USD, that is a hindrance. This has nothing to do with the legitimacy of its team or the sound conceptual work they put forward on their white paper. With backing from prominent advisors and the expertise of the team, it is difficult to doubt their capability to deliver on what they promised. The problem is that what they promised might be too niche to appeal to the masses.
Certainly, many people would also find it difficult to contribute given the fact that they have to sign up and get white listed. This harms the principle of anonymity that is so important to many in the space. For those reasons, Mobius is a sell for us in the short-term.
In the long-term, the situation might change. Dapps might become more popular and the whole system of having oracles and commoditized data for smart markets and smart contracts, might appeal to many more people than we initially think could be interested. Nevertheless, that is a risk. The MOBI token shouldn’t be expected to be the darling of the secondary market in any case, so those who want to contribute should think hard whether they like the long-term prospects or not. This project is a cautious buy as long as the contributor is willing to take a risk and wait a few years until the platform is completely functional.
Disclaimer
The above report on MobiusICO is written by icochaser for informational purposes and not investment advice. we (at icochaser.com) are not paid or sponsored by anyone for this report.
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