Substratum (SUB) ICO Review

The movement towards a decentralized web is gaining some serious momentum. With the launch of xDAC Platform and the Substratum Network, anyone can rent their computer as a hosting server and reap the benefits of more privacy, less government, and increased reliability. The powers of an open-source decentralized web are instrumental in solving the following problems:

• Serving Up Decentralized Content

• Incentivizing Users to Serve the Content

• Privacy / Security / Encryption

• Storage and Serving of Content

• DNS (Domain Name System)

• Development Tools for the Decentralized Web

• Net Neutrality

• International Digital Barriers

• High Hosting Costs

“The Decentralized Web envisions a future world where services such as communication, currency, publishing, social networking, search, archiving etc. are provided not by centralized services owned by single organizations, but by technologies which are powered by the people: Their own community. Their users,” Matthew Hodgson of TechCrunch said in a recent article. “The core idea of decentralization is that the operation of a service is not blindly trusted to any single omnipotent company. Instead, responsibility for the service is shared: perhaps by running across multiple federated servers, or perhaps running across client-side apps in an entirely “distributed” peer-to-peer model.”

The Substratum Differentiator

So, how does the SubstratumNetwork differentiate itself as a decentralized network? For one, Substratum will be running on its own Blockchain developed specifically for the Decentralized Web. Secondly, the Substrate — the coin running the network — is a ERC20-compliant token based on the Ethereum Blockchain. Companies are able to set up the platform seamlessly with no special software and manage the platform using Safari, Chrome, FireFox, IE, etc. The only requirement: clients need a Substrate Wallet address (Ethereum address) to run a SubstratumNode. In other words, no Substrate Tokens are needed to operate the platform.

Here is a list of all the available programming when hosing on SubstratumHost:

• HTML/CSS
• JavaScript (jQuery, Bootstrap, etc.)
• PHP/MySQL (WordPress, Magento, Joomla)
• ASP. Net
• Python (Django)

Substratum’s User-Friendly Experience

SubstratumNetwork comes with an intuitive control panel allowing users to seamlessly navigate content as a Web Host. Unlike most Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), Substratum allows users to keep their existing domain and deliver content to both the centralized and decentralized network. The best part: users take full advantage of a deregulated system with no geographical restrictions.

“Today, the World Wide Web has become a system that is often subject to control by governments and corporations. Countries like China can block certain web pages from their citizens, and cloud services like Amazon Web Services hold powerful sway,” Quentin Hardy stated in a recent New York Times article. “So, what might happen, the computer scientists posited, if they could harness newer technologies — like the software used for digital currencies, or the technology of peer-to-peer music sharing — to create a more decentralized web with more privacy, less government and corporate control, and a level of permanence and reliability?”

Here are some of the key features and benefits of the SubstratumNetwork, according to the company’s White Paper:

Serving Up of Decentralized Content: Substratum provides a method for serving Decentralized Content through a Mac, Windows, and Linux application / service that is easy to install and run (requires no technical expertise) and serves up decentralized content using the toolkit that we have developed. Incentivizing Users to

Serve the Content: In order to incentivize users to run the Substratum Network client on their machine we will be providing Substratum Coin to them for doing so. The coin is issued to the serving machine through a micro-transaction from the hosting site to the serving computer. By breaking fees down to a micro-transaction level this will greatly reduce the overall cost to companies and entities that want to host sites and applications on the internet solving yet another problem with the web as it stands today.

Privacy / Security / Encryption: By allowing millions of Substratum Network users to serve content the biggest concern becomes privacy and security. Substratum solves these issues through advanced cryptography algorithms rooted in Artificial Intelligence that ensures all data remains secure. Following the lead of BitCoin this is the strength of cryptocurrency and the crypto movement.

Storage and Serving of Content: In order to serve millions of sites, databases, and applications the Substratum Network employs custom developed advanced compression algorithms and machine learning to geolocate the right Substratum Network machine to serve up the content to the appropriate user based on geolocation, this will ensure the fastest load time with the lowest amount of latency and strain on the Substratum Network and both the serving and receiving machine.

DNS (Domain Name System): DNS or the Domain Name System is the system that currently tells your browser where to go when you type in a domain name. For instance, when you go to Chrome and type in apple.com a DNS lookup is performed to check where to send that request, the DNS system comes back with an IP address and your request is routed there. In the first version of SubstratumDNS will be a complex, AI enabled DNS server that will receive DNS requests along with the geolocation of the requestor and find based off of that information the closest available SubstratumNode that is able to fulfill the request.

Development Tools for the Decentralized Web: The Substratum Network will provide an API and SDK for developing tools on the Substratum Platform. This will bring in strong developer support and will accelerate the growth of the decentralized web on the Substratum Network. Net Neutrality: with the Substratum Network ALL web-sites and applications will have EQUAL ability to be broadcast in an equal and fair manner. International

Digital Barriers: Currently countries like China have strict regulations on what their 1.379 billion citizens are able to interact with on the internet. Substratum will break down these barriers through a network of decentralized computers running the Substratum Network Software. Where other solutions that are currently used by residents in these countries require special software to be installed, like TOR, Substratum will take a reverse approach and require no special software for the average user.

High Hosting Costs: Currently businesses must pay high hosting fees to get their web-sites on the internet. Amazon Web Services launched a 3.5BIL USD per year business by attempting to solve this problem. They allow you to pay for how many minutes you run a web / database server. Substratum completely solves this problem through the power of cryptocurrency by only charging for each request that is processed.

The Technology Costs

Similar to other blockchain applications, Substratum developed an open-source network, a decentralized web, with free and unrestricted access to the Internet. One would assume this would be a pricy option for users, but that is not the case. Unlike other hosts who charge whether or not your content is active, Substratum users only pay for each request through the amount of CPU Power, Network Bandwidth, and the amount of data.

According to the company’s White Paper, “once a threshold of 1ATOM is reached, a micro-transaction will take place between the HOST and the NODE and Substrate will be transferred.” Simply put, you only pay for what you use.

The Substrate Token Explained

Running the Substratum software will result in SUB coins. The network runs on Substrate and Atoms. The currency uses whole numbers with two decimal points, just like FIAT currency. The way it works is simple: the more SubstratumNodes, the faster content is delivered. Built-in AI quickly determines what node serves which content, with real-time decision-making. Compression algorithms help keep latency and load times low, making this a more attractive platform for global operations.

SubstratumNetwork runs on a secure protocol and with plans down the pipeline to release CryptoPay, an easy-to-use API that any website can embed, the Substrate will proliferate as a cryptocurrency. In the CryptoPay transaction, any currency converts into Substrate (SUB), which is then converted to the merchant’s preferred currency.

With both businesses and individuals in mind, Substratum software runs using minimal system power. After you sign off, your computer kicks SubstratumNode into full gear. Every request your node serves gives you a microtransaction SUB payment from the host. Businesses can host sites, databases, applications, and other hosting features, on the network using SUB coins. The possibilities are endless especially with Version 2.0 of the platform scheduled for an early 2018 release. Here are some of the details:

Next Up for Substratum

CryptoPay (Early 2018) will bring in CryptoPay which allows all sites and applications that run on the SubstratumNetwork to process cryptocurrency transactions using any publicly traded coin. SubstratumCoin (Substrate) will be the bridge currency which will bring immense value to the coin — see our Roadmap for more detail.

Payment Gateway (SubstratumPay) to the Substratum Network (Early to Mid 2018). This will enable not only Credit Card transactions but CryptoCurrency transactions for all Web-Sites and Applications on the Substratum Network. SubstratumBridge will provide the crux of the SubstratumPay network by using SubstratumCoin as a bridge coin for all transactions that happen on our Payment Gateway network. For example, if a user wants to pay with LiteCoin we will execute a micro-transaction that will convert BitCoin into SubstratumCoin which will then pay the vendor in Fiat. This conversion will happen seamlessly in the background and will further provide value to the SubstratumCoin.

The Substratum Team

Substratum’s team includes solutions architect Justin Tabb, who founded OverridePro prior to joining Substratum. Abram Cookson, the lead software developer, also stands in as CTO. Jason Wollam, senior software engineer, is a full-stack developer. Another senior software engineer, Kevin Marois, has experience with enterprise-level client server applications and retail and government/military-use applications. Christian Pope, chief marketing officer, is well-versed in marketing from experience in Fortune 1,000, B2B, and B2C clients.

Advisor Michael Stockwell is a tech entrepreneur, while advisor Luke Bixler consulted Substratum on the Whitepaper.

You can find the company’s Whitepaper here.