I just took a look at the value proposition of the Populous platform and their ongoing ICO.
First off, labeling the first part of their ICO as a "Pre-ICO" is a pretty unique twist and quite smart marketing.
This way they can already raise funds while getting the word out before creating urgency with the "launch" and impending deadline of the ICO. When the "real" ICO comes up they will have a significant part of their cap already filled.
Taking a look at their smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain explorer we can see that at the time of this writing they have already raised about $9 million USD.
Sidenote: I checked the numbers last evening. Currently their Pre-ICO page shows a 404 error:
Not exactly confidence inspiring. The links "Career", "Introducers", "Developers", "Case Studies" and "Frequently Asked Questions" are also dead.
How serious can one take an technology company that cannot even build a proper website?
The Populous Platform - All Fluff No Substance?
Populous throws around big numbers mentioning a $3 trillion USD worldwide invoice financing market.
The magic ingredient of their platform is EXTENSIBLE BUSINESS REPORTING LANGUAGE (XBRL) which is simply a reporting standard used in the UK since 2011.
But what about the rest of the world?
Can you see the addressable market size shrink in front of your eyes?
The content on the website and in the whitepaper is of little substance, missing detailed explanations but full of empty sound bytes like "Smart Contracts, Stable pegged tokens and more".
Why wouldn't any big factoring company in the UK not already be using the XBRL format and apply algorithms to model risk?
I see absolutely nothing new here.
They are claiming their system will increase efficiency but they don't write a single word about specific numbers.
There is also absolutely zero information for investors regarding the projected returns, default risk etc.
One would think a simple example of what an investor can expect would be a good idea to attract an investor base.
No such thing.
Major Red Flag: Compensation
Populous is aiming to raise a total of 58,577 ETH or $19.3 million USD at the current exchange rate.
They are allocating 13,200 ETH, a whopping 22.53% of the raised funds for the team!
The equivalent of $4.35 million USD.
Now let's take a closer look at the Populous Team...
Steve Nico Williams, founder of Tramp Magazine is the Founder & CEO. I guess with the launch of the Populous ICO he aims to join the "Top 100 Jet Set Socialites" or "The Top 50 City Big Wigs" lists.
Little is know about Zvezdomir Zlatinov, their Solidity developer as he either couldn't be bothered with creating a Linkedin profile or their webmaster is unable to place the proper hyperlink.
John Morton describes himself as an "Interim CTO" on his Linkedin profile. In other words a part-time gun for hire.
It is doubtful that he has a significant stake in this operation if he will soon abandon the project and move on to greener pastures. One would assume that if he really believed in the project he would join the team permanently on a fulltime basis.
Jasun Tuang is a young accountant with little experience that is currently still attending business school.
Furthermore we have an external risk consultant and a blockchain advisor from Trivandrum, India.
Triv...where?
A credible team looks different.
It looks like the only person with real skin in the game is Steve Nico Williams.
The bottom line
It looks like the Populous ICO is little more than a vehicle to line the pockets of Steve Nico Williams.
If the platform will ever attract a significant investor base and will deliver any real value whatsoever is highly doubtful.
Especially compared to the numerous existing invoice financing solutions that are readily available in the marketplace.
This looks like nothing more than factoring wrapped in blockchain with a cherry on top in order to make a quick buck.
My recommendation is to look elsewhere for solid investments in the crypto space.
However, I'm sure glad their website is available in Igbo and Yoruba so investors in Nigera will be able to participate
Clif High gave this ICO a thumbs up in his Crypto Research and Analysis report. He has been on fire lately with accurately predicting trends in the crypto space.
All of the points you brought up are valid and I was kind of annoyed at the website functionality as well.
I guess we will see, as the Pre-ICO which was supposed to end July 8th just ended last night.
It's obviously a winner already. The Populous token will trade at 1:1 to USD so it's a triple out of the gate.
His long term track record remains to be seen. I prefer to do my own research and this project doesn't look good. Doesn't mean you can't make money on a short term trade though. In the long run this will most likely go to zero...
Most crypto's will which is why building up my Bitcoin by buying and selling ICO tokens is my strategy right now. Cash in on the mania and move to something safe.
"His long term track record remains to be seen" What kind of nonsense statement is that? People doing a non biased review don't generally use these types of statements.....makes one wonder.
Please list the reasons as to WHY you think "in the long run this will most likely go to zero"?
And please give the link for your readers regarding them raising. $19.3 million dollars in their pre-ICO, that will be interesting to read.
You are wrong on all accounts! You obviously don't know anything about Clif High's work, and didn't bother to do real due diligence on Populous. I bought in to Populous, and sorry I didn't get more PPT. This project is a game changer. I'm shocked that you couldn't pick that up if you really did readmthe white paper. Or perhaps you just didn't have the mental capacity to understand it!!
Hi GV,
We had uncapped contracts and felt bringing the page down will create a immediate halt.
Zvez is probably the best or if not one of the best smart contract developers around. https://www.linkedin.com/in/zvezdomir-zlatinov-6a021161/
Yes it is funny why no other company is using XBRL, What your also forgetting is that I developed the software to extract XBRL data and it is also used in targeting potential invoices sellers.
XBRL is used in 17 countries including the US. Take a look. https://www.sec.gov/xbrl/site/xbrl.shtml
Show me one ICO that as potential with a real business use case. Furthermore I offer you an open invitation from today to come and look at our source code.
I'm pretty sure you will become an instant investor also. If you accept join me on a Skype call.
Send me your Skype ID today. Seeing is believing, correct? We are 90% complete and this is not just a mere idea like other projects.
Lastly, what does a credible them look like Mr Expert? A bunch of computer geeks who suddenly acquire over $100 million worth of ETH and cash out. Grow up.
BR,
Steve
Well Stated Populous!
The AGI token looks like it has a real business case. I think we can all agree it is very hard to sieve through the legit crypto and scams. As there is no regulation what so ever - due diligence and in-depth research is need for long term investments. Hope everyone with the balls to be in crypto arena gets the life style we are all striving for.
Absolutely first class debunking info! I'm so glad I found you. It makes my Steemit membership worthwhile. Please, please continue your investigative Cryptocurrency ICO work!
You see those PPT charts? Lol not one single drop against the macro support. Not one. I hope you bought. Im sitting on 5k PPT atm more than 300k In my home country of Canada.
Anyone with half a brain can read the whitepaper and see that POPULOUS is an absolute WINNER. In my research, not only does Populous have what it takes to be one of the top market cap tokens for 2018, it will also be a top company. Unlike most of the companies that are in development stages for 2 years after offering their ICO's, Populous, the PPT token and the invoice platform are ready now, with $100,000,000 worth of invoices lined up for the first year. I'm not quite sure what the writers angle is here but it's obvious it wasn't to give an educated, informed review!!! Anyone looking at Populous needs to research and in doing so you'll find, as I did, that the person who wrote this review is just plain ol' wrong. Oh, wait, did I mention that investors get a percentage of the fees? Yeah, we've not seen a company like Populous thus far. Keep an eye on this one!
Still going up... Currently at $50. I wouldn't be surprised if we break $1,000 before the end of 2018.
Now it’s 25
If you listened to this guy you missed out on an investment that has already gone up 20x in two days WHILE a $20billion crypto correction is going on. Nice work vangaurd. Glad you really did your research on this one.
I invested $4000 USD in populous. I took out $20,000 USD when it was up 2500% and paid for my sons private school. As of today, I'm hold onto 10,000 PPT token worth around $35,000 USD as we speak and I'm not selling anymore for a long, long time.
Maybe populous won't work out but you can't deny the potential of the invoice financing market which is worth Trillions of dollars.
Either way, I've already taken out 5x times my investment and if populous goes to where I think it's going to go, I'll never need to work again.
"Players gonna play, play, play and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate..."
I hope you held that 10k PPT brotha!
Good luck also working is good unless you want to sit on your arse in a pub. Bad example for your kid in expensive school.
PPT is soaring in the marketplace!