Tough competition with similar blockchain projects Lack of significant competitive edge Lack of detailed competition analysis
Developments cannot be traced via Github Demo version demonstrates poor range of functions
Possible obstacles of accepting tokens by large merchants
Overestimated Hardcap and Softcap – 25M and 20M USD 60% of tokens were purchased on private sale with 20% bonus that increases the risk of mass sell-off when entering exchanges
Team poor experience in development before entering RateX Lack legal and relevant blockchain specialists
The product is a settlement system for online purchases generally. This industry is one of the most popular among blockchain projects so the competition here is tough. Rate3’s edge on competitors is Stellar blockchain applied and scoring system. Competitors are Mobius, Havven, Utrust, Ink Protocol and etc. By the way the product is relevant to market trends of bank settlement vanishing, but vast competition and poor product advantages make Rate3 prospering a bit uncertain. Also, the team does not provide deep enough competitors analysis.
The product is a payments system (browser extension and mobile app) for merchants and their customers based on Stellar. Transaction history is saved on blockchain that helps to identify good borrowers. The current stage of available product is demo – a user artificially buys an Amazon product and the transaction happened is saved in the Testnet on Stellar. The team has already developed the product RateX finding the most attractive currency rates when buying something on Amazon, TaoBao, Uniqlo, Singapore Airlines, Rakuten and others (these partners will be also available for Rate3, as the team contends). RateX website states that this product has already saved up about 280K USD for users. Roadmap is fast enough – a dashboard for merchants will be available in June and 3Q and 4Q will meet the working settlement system and testing scoring system.
Payments is the one of the most relevant industries for blockchain projects so in case of Rate3 blockchain and ICO are relevant and have rational grounds. Stellar is applied for higher transaction speed. Token is used in payments but the price in fiat is also indicated. Smart contracts are used for fair cashback. Transaction history is stored on blockchain for further credit scoring.
Hardcap is 25K ETH and softcap is 20K ETH. For current stage of development these needs are overestimated. Having 40% of tokens for tokensale it results in 60K ETH of token pool capitalization. Current stage is presale with the cap of 5K ETH. First-come-first-serve principle is applied and the bonus is 20%. It must be noted that there are no investors with less than 20% bonus, so it means that the bonus must be ignored here. Maximum bonus has been given to strategic partners that has already purchased 60% of tokens. Half of the bonus is vested for 6 months.
The team is based in Singapore and includes 18 members. The company has been operating for 2 years and RateX (including mobile version – RateS) is its core product. CEO does not have significant experience and was in management team in PlayDate (raised 500K USD on Indiegogo). CTO has 3 years’ development experience and 1 year as a mobile app developer. Other developers have less experience before entering RateX. Marketing director has 3 years of relevant experience.