With all the ICOs that have occurred this year, I'm starting to get more and more sceptical about the actual value behind a lot of these "products" and what the actual state of play is for their technology. Mysterium is launching its ICO tomorrow.
I've bought into a couple of select ICOs this year, but I can't help but feel that my money would have performed better if I just left it in ETH. Mysterium is looking to capitalise on both the VPN and ICO craze by launching a decentralised VPN service (similar to TOR) that rewards nodes with MYST tokens. They aim to provide fast speeds through volunteer nodes and cheap prices as nodes compete against each other.
My issues with the service are that VPNs are actually quite fast and cheap and easy to sign use and understand. There doesn't seem to be any added security with Mysterium and perhaps even less security as the exit node could be targeted similar to TOR. Speeds are also heavily dependant on the nodes (which are just everyday users).
In addition, they are yet to outline how the token will add value to the holder. There was also a "pre-sale" prior to this ICO which raised 500K in December 2016.
In summary, my assessment is that this non-English speaking group are trying to cash in on the ICO craze to raise money for a product that is ok, but not great. I don't see a value in the service and I definitely don't see a mass adoption which is crucial in the success of the decentralised VPN.
Token Value is hard to understand, what will I receive for buying tokens?
I have issues about the security of the nodes and the data moving through them.
Speed of the network will be an enduring issue as well, as everyday users share their bandwidth. A centralised VPN that keeps no logs and has a dedicated fast server seems as if it will perform far better. The prices on these services are not that expensive either.
Let me know if I'm completely wrong though... I'm always open to criticism and I don't want to miss "the next big thing!".
I wonder if the distributing of the VPN service across nodes would make it harder to detect that you are using a VPN -- something that is good for people like myself not in the US trying to use a USA-based subscription service, like Netflix USA, or Amazon Video USA. They have gotten more sophisticated at detecting VPNs, even ones that you pay for to get better service.
You are right about questioning the speed issue, but I imagine they would plan for that, somehow distributing your connection across several connections, so that like when you load a file via a torrent network, you get incredible speeds sometimes and huge files travel really fast.
I like the idea behind it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
I think they have to follow regulations - so provide open access to VPN database to authorities - so probably it will not be harder to detect you are using a VPN for governamental istitutions. By private neither - because blockchain technology let you discover the IP of the nodes - so I could virtually know the node of your VPN - check the blockchain and find if there's any match..
Good points...
Good points, I don't think that it will distribute the load like torrents do to increase speed. I think it will act more like TOR to sequentially tunnel? I may be wrong. It's an interesting concept, but as I said before I dont know if it's enough for me and the masses to switch from out paid VPN services that are easy to use....
Also I remain heavily sceptical of their choice to have an ICO... If the goal is to keep costs down, then what incentives are there for token holders and how do the tokens gain value?
I don't agree with Mysterium network rent ing concept - but I think it will have still have success - and not little.
Yeah I think you could be right. If it does well, it will be because Mysterium will be advantaged by being the first mover in this market.