Elph ICO Review: The Netscape of Crypto

As of writing, State of the DApps, a site that lists Ethereum-based decentralized applications (DApps), lists 1,715 different DApps. That's quite a high number but actually there are more Ethereum-based DApps out there, as State of the DApps' list is curated and only has DApps that State of the DApps has decided to list.

As it stands, there is no directory or search engine similar to Apple's App Store or Google for finding DApps. Interacting with DApps is also difficult because existing "browsers" require downloading confusing browser extensions or desktop apps that sync Ethereum nodes (eat up processing power and storage) and are otherwise difficult to use. Developers also face challenges since DApp development requires a lot of things to be built from square one.

In an effort to make finding, using, and developing DApps easier, the team behind Elph is building a portal for Ethereum-based DApps that also gives developers tools to make DApp development easier. In the team's words, Elph can be thought of as a combination between a web browser like Google Chrome and an app store like Apple's App Store with digital identity powered by Facebook Auth.

Elph will be available for both Mac and Windows.

(The beta actually works!)

Features include the following:

Discovery of new DApps - with Elph's DApp store, users will be able to find DApps in the same way that they can find apps in Apple's App Store. Users will be able to filter DApps by category, browse DApp lists, and search for DApps.
Use DApps from within Elph - Elph will make DApps, such as decentralized exchanges, feeless marketplaces, games, and digital collectible platforms, easy to use by making them accessible from within Elph.
Built-in wallet - Elph will offer users a built-in wallet for storing their Ethereum-based assets like ERC20 tokens and ERC721 collectibles. Users will be able to easily access and use their wallet's Ethereum-based assets with DApps that they interact with. Elph will also back up a client-side encrypted (not visible by Elph or anyone else) private key to their secure cloud to make users' Elph wallet assets easily accessible on any device instead of users having to worry about writing down their seed phrases to access their wallets on different devices.
Developer tools - Elph is aiming to make Web3 (the decentralized Internet) easy the same way that Stripe made online credit card processing easy. The Elph SDK will allow DApp developers to provide their userbase with a fully-contained native Web3 proxy in Javascript without users having to download extra software or browser extensions to run DApps.

Token

The ELPH token is an ERC20 token that will be used to power the curation or selection process of DApps for Elph's DApp store.

Here are the planned uses of ELPH:

Submit DApps - to submit DApps to the DApp store, developers have to stake ELPH tokens. DApp curators can stake their own ELPH to challenge developer submissions, which are either approved or rejected based on a universal ELPH token holder vote.
DApp ranking algorithm - curators can upvote or downvote DApps in the DApp store. Curators that stake more ELPH receive more voting weight, and DApps are sorted based on overall voting data.
Curation awards - curators who properly curate DApps for Elph are rewarded with additional tokens.

Team

The Elph team brings a lot of top-notch, relevant experience to the Elph project with team members having backgrounds from top organizations and institutions like Coinbase, Google, Y Combinator, Stanford, and UC Berkeley.

Co-Founder and CEO Ritik Malhotra - Malhotra has great startup experience with his startup Streem, a media cloud storage company, where he was Co-Founder and CEO. Streem was acquired by cloud storage company Box in 2014. He also is Founding Partner of S2 Capital, a venture capital fund focused on seed round investments. Over the past few years, S2 Capital's portfolio companies, including the likes of Coin, Final, and Rappi, have increased in value by over $5 billion as a whole.

Aside from founding successful tech companies and investing, Malhotra is also a Y Combinator alumni (by way of Streem - part of Y Combinator's Summer 2012 class) and Thiel Fellow (also by way of Streem). Y Combinator is a world-renowned startup accelerator that has worked with companies like Airbnb, Dropbox, Coinbase, Reddit, Stripe, Twitch, and more. The Thiel Fellowship, started by business magnate Peter Thiel, Co-Founder and former CEO of Paypal and Facebook's first outside investor, is awarded to young people who skip or drop out of college for 2 years to work on innovative projects. Another notable Thiel Fellow is Vitalik Buterin, Co-Founder of Ethereum.

Malhotra graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and worked at companies like Intel Corporation and Twitter during his time at Berkeley.

Co-Founder and CTO Tanooj Luthra - Luthra was also Co-Founder and CTO of Streem and worked at Coinbase as a Senior Crypto Engineer, helping Coinbase launch both Bitcoin Cash and SegWit support. Luthra also graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and spent a summer working as a Software Engineer at Microsoft while attending school.

Co-Founder Vamsi Chitters - Chitters is an ex-Google software engineer who worked on Google's search infrastructure and like Malhotra and Luthra, is a UC Berkeley graduate with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He also has a Master's of Science from Stanford University in Computer Science.

Co-Founder Sarat Ravi - Ravi was part of the Streem team that got acquired by Box as a Senior Software Engineer and also graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Advisors

Elph lists Dr. Dawn Song as an advisor to the project. Dr. Song is a professor at UC Berkeley who researches blockchain, decentralization, and computer security. She also is the Co-Director of the Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Contracts (IC3), an initiative involving faculty members from top educational institutions like Cornell, UC Berkeley, and University College London that promotes the progress of blockchain technology.

Investors

The project has already raised nearly a million dollars in pre-seed funding from the likes of Coinbase and The House Fund (a venture capital fund that invests in Berkeley student, faculty, and alumni startups).

Positives

Elph has a downloadable beta (accessible if you provide your email address on the homepage) that actually works! (+2)
All-star team that has a lot of experience working together on successful projects (e.g. Streem) as well as experience working on significant crypto-based projects (e.g. bringing Bitcoin Cash to Coinbase) (+2)
Steadily growing community (e.g. Telegram - search for Elph) (+1)
Backed by Coinbase (+0.5)

Negatives

Token metrics and token sale details not yet released - both could be potential deal breakers if done incorrectly (-1)

Conclusion

Although token metrics and token sale details have yet to be released, Elph is a must watch ICO due to its working product, strong team, growing community, and backing from crypto heavyweights, such as Coinbase.

Elph receives a * 4.5/5 *.