RE: Civic as an investment.. Worth it?

Thanks for the kind words @joewilder.

I've only briefly researched Rialto and Mysterium.

In one sentence of a quick analysis, my opinion on PreSearch is while the platform they are aiming to build is an excellent concept, competing in an environment where the saturation is so high by very few "big players" and all of which provide zero-cost-to-end-user products they will only ever achieve a very small market share.

A few critical aspects are:

phones/tablets default search - even if users want to use PreSearch, these devices force certain behavior which cannot be changed - just worked around.
existing platforms/services are heavily catered/invested in appealing to these big players - they will not dedicate resources unless they see direct return - which is all tiered on exposure.

Touching on Mysterium, this is exactly the reason why their platform can thrive. It is already established that the general population are not only aware of, but also willing to pay for, protecting privacy online. With ever increasing "big-brother" scepticism I think people will embrace it and participate.

I have mixed thoughts on Rialto, they use the Ripple network which goes against the grain of what a lot of technology enthusiasts are hoping most of blockchain initiatives stand for (decentralized but concensus). Ripple is built-for the financial institutions, which typically have a history of take first, give later (they have no incentive to share the success/wealth and use their weight to protect a shared best interest).

What Rialto are building though is going to provide users with a solid risk mitigation of funds invested that the general holder/investor will not be able to achieve by themselves, while maximising smaller portfolios. There are always going to be chances for their platform to capitalise, especially when regulation starts having a closer eye on exchanges.