Month: November 2019

Crypto Fund Management

Cryptocurrency is a new asset class derived from nascent blockchain technology. Its phenomenal growth in recent years has attracted many investors who used to invest in traditional financial products to start investing in crypto assets. Reports have shown that there is a significant amount of capital flowing into the crypto market. This capital flow has created an increasing demand for new financial products that cater to the needs of the crypto market.

Indeed, cryptocurrencies are rapidly gaining traction with the general public. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap for all cryptocurrencies reached an amazing $739 billion in January 2018. Though the market cap dropped to a low $113 billion in December 2018 due to the bear market, it rebounded strongly in 2019 to a figure between $250 billion to $350 billion. Though much of this value has been generated by individual traders, it is also largely the result of large investment funds. These crypto fund management companies, which hold crypto assets worth as much as $1 billion or more, are the whales of the cryptocurrency community.

Generally, the trading of crypto assets is performed on exchanges. Most crypto investors keep and manage their crypto assets on exchanges, cold storage, mobile wallets, desktop wallets, hardware wallets, and more. The aforementioned complex management process that requires sophisticated skills makes it extremely difficult for individuals to manage a diverse crypto portfolio.

Fortunately, a dozen crypto fund management companies have emerged with products and services that could help ease the tedious investment process in crypto investment. One of the most popular ones is the use of index funds to automate the process of investing in crypto assets for individuals, using AI algorithms. Another crypto financial product on the rise is the crypto hedge fund which caters only to high net worth individuals.

Indeed, crypto investment tools and products such as crypto index funds, automated trading with rebalancing, and tracking are becoming ubiquitous. Crypto index funds provide an opportunity for investors to build their own portfolio or track an index and reap profits from this new and volatile asset class.

Despite the potential issues, it’s encouraging that crypto hedge funds seem to have performed reasonably well even during bear markets. And with the majority of crypto funds in the index now employing external auditors, custodian services and fund administrators, the industry is becoming less risky. Although the crypto fund industry is still very much in a nascent stage, crypto funds could present institutions and individuals with an attractive way to invest in this sector.

Let’s examine some index funds in the crypto market.

Bitwise 10 Private Index Fund

The Bitwise 10 Private Index Fund is the world’s first crypto asset index fund. It seeks to track the Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index (“Bitwise 10 Index”), which selects the 10 largest crypto assets based on criteria including 5-year diluted market capitalization, trade volume minimums, concentration limits, and compliance. The portfolio is rebalanced monthly. Assets are held in 100% cold storage, audited annually, and purchased across several liquidity providers to seek best execution. Bitwise actively evaluates network opportunities including hard forks, airdrops, emissions, staking rewards, super- and master-node rewards, and captures available benefits for fund investors where appropriate.

Bitwise is a crypto asset manager founded in 2017. The firm has a large software team, with backgrounds across Google, Facebook, Wealthfront, and military software security, which we believe is essential for navigating the space. Bitwise has been covered by CNBC, Forbes, Bloomberg, Barron’s, WSJ, Coindesk, and others, and is active in the crypto asset community

BITWISE 10 INDEX COMPONENTS

Bitcoin BTC77.8%
Ethereum ETH8.5% 
Ripple XRP6.0%
Bitcoin Cash BCH 2.4%
Stellar Lumens XLM0.6% 
Litecoin LTC 1.9%
EOS EOS1.4% 
Monero  XMR0.5%
Cardano ADA0.4%
DASH DASH 0.4%

Crypto20

Crypto20 claims to be the first tokenized index crypto index fund in the world. Their motto is autonomous ‘token-as-a-fund’.

In 2017, their team successfully pioneered the first tokenized crypto-only index fund, which used the seed funding to buy the underlying crypto assets. There are no broker fees, no exit fees, no minimum investment and full control over your assets. 

Crypto20 provides a way to track the performance of the crypto markets as a whole by holding a single crypto asset. They claimed that their index funds have consistently beaten the average managed fund since their inception. 

Learn more about Crypto20 from their whitepaper.

Alternatively, you can look into more accessible funds that don’t require heavy investment. Let’s take a look at the following funds:

Coinbase

The Coinbase Bundle offers a one-click purchase for the first five cryptocurrencies that were listed on Coinbase, which are weighted by market cap at the time of purchase.

  • Bitcoin — 76.59%
  • Ethereum — 15.84%
  • Litecoin — 3.94%
  • Bitcoin Cash — 3.11%
  • Ethereum Classic — 0.52%

This retail-aimed product allows users to invest as little as $25 in the basket of crypto assets.

Hodlbot

HodlBot is a customizable cryptocurrency trading bot that enables users to index the market, create custom portfolios, and automatically rebalance their cryptocurrency portfolios. 

HodlBot allows you to grow your portfolio like the world’s most sophisticated investors. They are making institutional portfolio management software available to everyone. Best of all, HodlBot is free forever for account values under $500. Otherwise, it’s $10/month with a 7-day free trial.

In short, crypto index funds are a fast-growing alternative financial product that is currently outperforming the stock markets and other traditional financial products. Though it is still riskier than traditional investments, it is worth venturing into this market to grow your capital. 

References

Blockchain-based Event Management and Ticketing Platform

The event management and ticketing industry is a huge market, particularly the event management software market. Markets Insider reported that the Event Management Software Market is projected to grow from USD 5.7 billion in 2019 to USD 11.4 billion by 2024, at a CAGR of 15% from 2019 to 2024.

However, despite the great potential of the event and ticketing industry, there are numerous problems and issues plaguing the current centralized event ticketing industry. The main issues include ticket counterfeiting, ticket scalpers, instant sell-outs and overpriced resale tickets on secondary markets (EventChain, 2017).

The good news is that the blockchain could fix the aforementioned issues.  A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that can be used to record transactions and other data across a decentralized peer-to-peer network made up of a cluster of computing devices.

Using blockchain technology, every ticket sales can be publicly verified, and thus the authenticity of the ticket can be guaranteed. It is also able to prevent fraudulent sales and counterfeiting. It sets rules (using smart contracts) preventing secondary ticket websites from hoarding tickets and charging inflated prices for premium events. If the rules are broken, the fraudulent accounts are frozen and the tickets are made invalid.

In a nutshell, a blockchain-based event and ticketing system has the following benefits:

  • Elimination of ticket duplication and counterfeit tickets
  • Elimination of scalpers
  • Elimination of ticket touts and purchasing bots
  • Fully transparent ticketing aftermarket
  • Automatic refund at the time of cancelation

Use Cases

BitTicket

The Edinburgh-based Citizen Ticket is an event ticketing platform backed by blockchain technology that uses the cryptocurrency Ethereum Classic. In May 2017, they deployed the blockchain-based ticketing system BitTicket and delivered the first live event using blockchain technology.

BitTicket is a ticket delivery service that event organisers, venues, and artists can use to secure their tickets with blockchain technology. BitTicket provides users with one wallet QR code that holds all their BitTickets securely, no matter which ticketing provider they bought them from. They simply present it along with proof of ID to gain entry. Due to the security of BitTicket identity, ticket transfer to friends and family can be done easily and with assurance. BitTickets are immutable, transferable, and verifiable.

BitTicket guarantees the following:

  • Your purchased ticket is genuine
  • Inherent protection against industrial-scale ticket touts and ticket purchasing bots
  • Transfer your tickets securely and with ease between friends & family
  • Provides one wallet for all your tickets – no more individual tickets

GUTS

GUTS uses blockchain technology to create a transparent ticketing ecosystem where inflated secondary market prices and ticket fraud are eliminated. Their motto is simple, transparent and secure.

GUTS brings numerous benefits for different stakeholders:

  • Artist and Managers
    • A fair chance for all the fans to attend the show
    • Expand the fan base with exact data
    • Direct communication with your fans. Send them a message right before the show starts.
  • The Venue, Festival and Theatre Operators
    • No ticket fraud: fewer complaints and a stronger image
    • You know exactly who is present at any time (and who isn’t)
    • Automatic refund procedure at the time of cancelation or resale
    • Identification via mobile phones means shorter queues
  • Ticket Providers
    • Complete control of the tickets in both the primary and secondary market
    • Easy to integrate with existing ticketing solutions

LAVA

LAVA is a blockchain-based ticketing system that guarantees fair and secure smart tickets for music lovers. The system prevents ticket touting and fraud ruining festivals for music lovers.

The LAVA ecosystem has the following features:

  • 100% Safe
    • Using latest blockchain technology to eliminate ticket fraud
  • Smart Tickets
    • Smart tickets to stop the exploitation of festival tickets using a unique digital footprint
  • Lava Wallet – Eliminate printing completely by generating the ticket digitally and sending the digital ticket to the Lava wallet directly
  • No booking fee

PouchNATION

PouchNATION is an event management software system that uses the blockchain technology to good effect. PouchNATION is the first platform to implement blockchain and new digital currency across all verticals in event management. Its components comprise guest registration, cashless payment, access control, activity tracking, social engagement and detailed analytics reporting.

This innovative platform could overcome issues that the ticket industry is currently facing with managing events, attendance tracking apps, eliminating duplicate tickets, and validating registration at the door.

They have executed over 100 events including cashless events in Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar.

EventChain

EventChain is a global Smart Ticketing blockchain project that will allow events worldwide to sell SmartTickets through a peer-to-peer network, solving the issues of the centralized event ticketing industry.

It implements the EventChain token network for event management to ensure faster transactions, indisputable ticket vouchers, transparency from event hosts and fully flexible and programmable SmartTickets. With the use of the EVC token, smart contract code, and the Ethereum blockchain, EventChain’s transaction network brings increased accountability, transparency, and security to event ticketing.

To fix the excessive ticket fees, EventChain is distributing EVC tokens, a digital ERC20 token created for buying, selling, and programming SmartTickets on the Ethereum distributed network. EventChain claims that their transaction fees are much lower and the transaction confirmation speed is near seconds.

Event Management and Ticketing Platform-A Conceptual Model

After examining the above use cases, I propose a conceptual model that utilises a similar concept to develop a blockchain-based event management and ticketing platform. Below is a simple conceptual model of the Event Management and Ticketing Platform:

The platform allows an event organizer to create an event and broadcast it to the website as well as a mobile wallet. The event should comprise details such as event title, date, time, venue, and a ticketing ordering button. The participant can then order tickets by paying  Token X. Once the organizer receives Token X, the e-ticket shall be automatically delivered to the participant’s mobile wallet. To enter the event venue, the organizer just needs to scan the e-ticket of the participant.

To build the platform, we need to build a smart contract layer on top of blockchain network to automate the buying and selling of event tickets. We shall use Solidity to write the contracts. There shall be at least three smart contracts -the ERC20 token contract(to generate Token X),  the event contract, and the ERC721 ticket contract. The event contract will need to link to the ticket contract as it needs to use the data in the ticket contract. The keyword to access the data in another contract is import. For example, we can create an event contract event.sol that imports the ticket contract ticket.sol, using the syntax as follows:

Pragma Solidity ^0.5.0
import "./ticket.sol";

The event.sol file shall create an event contract that specifies event details such as total tickets, collected funds, start time, etc. The code could be as follows:

Contract Event { 
 struct EventDetails {  
 uint256 ticketAmount; 
 uint256 SoldticketAmount; 
 uint256 CollectedFunds; 
 uint256 StartTime; 
  }

The event contract shall also include a create event function, as follows:

function CreateEvent{
 uint256 _ticketAmount; 
 uint256 _Startime 
}

There are many more functions to be included in the smart contracts but I will not dwell further as this is not a technical paper.

References


Event Management and Ticketing Platform

The event management and ticketing industry is a huge market, particularly the event management software market. Markets Insider reported that the Event Management Software Market is projected to grow from USD 5.7 billion in 2019 to USD 11.4 billion by 2024, at a CAGR of 15% from 2019 to 2024.

However, despite the great potential of the event and ticketing industry, there are numerous problems and issues plaguing the current centralized event ticketing industry. The main issues include ticket counterfeiting, ticket scalpers, instant sell-outs and overpriced resale tickets on secondary markets (EventChain, 2017).

The good news is that the blockchain could fix the aforementioned issues.  A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that can be used to record transactions and other data across a decentralized peer-to-peer network made up of a cluster of computing devices.

Using blockchain technology, every ticket sales can be publicly verified, and thus the authenticity of the ticket can be guaranteed. It is also able to prevent fraudulent sales and counterfeiting. It sets rules (using smart contracts) preventing secondary ticket websites from hoarding tickets and charging inflated prices for premium events. If the rules are broken, the fraudulent accounts are frozen and the tickets are made invalid.

In a nutshell, blockchain-based event and ticketing system has the following benefits:

  • Elimination of ticket duplication and counterfeit tickets
  • Elimination of scalpers
  • Elimination of ticket touts and purchasing bots
  • Fully transparent ticketing aftermarket
  • Automatic refund at the time of cancelation

Use Cases

BitTicket

The Edinburgh-based Citizen Ticket is an event ticketing platform backed by blockchain technology that uses the cryptocurrency Ethereum Classic. In May 2017, they deployed the blockchain-based ticketing system BitTicket and delivered the first live event using blockchain technology.

BitTicket is a ticket delivery service that event organisers, venues, and artists can use to secure their tickets with blockchain technology. BitTicket provides users with one wallet QR code that holds all their BitTickets securely, no matter which ticketing provider they bought them from. They simply present it along with proof of ID to gain entry. Due to the security of BitTicket identity, ticket transfer to friends and family can be done easily and with assurance. BitTickets are immutable, transferable, and verifiable.

BitTicket guarantees the following:

  • Your purchased ticket is genuine
  • Inherent protection against industrial-scale ticket touts and ticket purchasing bots
  • Transfer your tickets securely and with ease between friends & family
  • Provides one wallet for all your tickets – no more individual tickets

GUTS

GUTS uses blockchain technology to create a transparent ticketing ecosystem where inflated secondary market prices and ticket fraud are eliminated. Their motto is simple, transparent and secure.

GUTS brings numerous benefits for different stakeholders:

  • Artist and Managers
    • A fair chance for all the fans to attend the show
    • Expand the fan base with exact data
    • Direct communication with your fans. Send them a message right before the show starts.
  • The venue, Festival and Theatre Operators
    • No ticket fraud: fewer complaints and a stronger image
    • You know exactly who is present, anytime (and who isn’t)
    • Automatic refund procedure at the time of cancelation or resale
    • Identification via mobile phones means a shorter queue
  • Ticket Providers
    • Complete control on the tickets at both the primary and secondary market
    • Easy to integrate with existing ticketing solutions

LAVA

LAVA is a blockchain-based ticketing system that guarantees fair and secure smart tickets for music lovers. The system could prevent ticket touting and fraud ruining festivals for music lovers.

The LAVA ecosystem has the following features:

  • 100% Safe
    • Using latest blockchain technology to eliminate ticket fraud
  • Smart Tickets
    • Smart tickets to stop the exploitation of festival tickets using a unique digital footprint
  • Lava Wallet-Eliminate printing completely by generating the ticket digitally and sending the digital ticket to the Lava wallet directly.
  • No booking fee

PouchNATION

PouchNATION is an event management software system that uses the blockchain technology to good effect. PouchNATION is the first platform to implement blockchain and new digital currency across all verticals in event management. Its components comprise guest registration, cashless payment, access control, activity tracking, social engagement and detailed analytics reporting.

This innovative platform could overcome issues that the ticket industry is currently facing with managing events, attendance tracking apps, eliminating duplicate tickets, and validating registration at the door.

They have executed over 100 events including cashless events in Indonesia events in Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar.

EventChain

EventChain is a global Smart Ticketing blockchain project that will allow events worldwide to sell SmartTickets through a peer-to-peer network, solving the issues of the centralized event ticketing industry.

It implements the EventChain token network for event management presents to ensure faster transactions, indisputable ticket vouchers, transparency from event hosts and fully flexible and programmable SmartTickets. With the use of the EVC token, smart contract code, and the Ethereum blockchain, EventChain’s transaction network brings increased accountability, transparency, and security to event ticketing.

To fix the excessive ticket fees, EventChain is distributing EVC tokens, a digital ERC20 token created for buying, selling, and programming SmartTickets on the Ethereum distributed network. EventChain claims that their transaction fees are much lower and the transaction confirmation speed is near seconds.

A Conceptualised Event Management and Ticketing Platform

After examining the above use cases, I propose that we can use a similar concept to develop blockchain-based event management and ticketing system for a decentralized platform. Below is a simple conceptual model of Event Management and Ticketing platform:

The platform allows an event organizer to create an event and broadcast it to the website as well as the Token X wallet. The event should comprise details such as event title, date, time, venue, and a ticketing ordering button. The participant can then order tickets by paying Token X. Once the organizer receives Token X, the e-ticket shall be automatically delivered to the participant’s mobile wallet. To enter the event venue, the organizer just needs to scan the e-ticket of the participant.

To build the platform, we need to build a smart contract layer on top of the platform to automate the buying and selling of event tickets. We shall use Solidity to write the contracts. There shall be at least two smart contracts – the event contract, and the ticket contract. The event contract will need to link to the ticket contract as it needs to use the data in the ticket contract. The keyword to access the data in another contract is import. For example, we can create an event contract event.sol that imports the ticket contract ticket.sol, using the syntax as follows:

Pragma Solidity ^0.5.0
import "./ticket.sol";

The event.sol file shall create an event contract that specifies event details such as total tickets, collected funds, start time, etc. The code could be as follows:

Contract Event { 
struct EventDetails { 
uint256 ticketAmount;
uint256 SoldticketAmount;
uint256 CollectedFunds;
uint256 StartTime;
 }

The event contract shall also include a create event function, as follows:

function CreateEvent{
uint256 _ticketAmount;
uint256 _Startime
}

There are many more functions to be included in the smart contracts but I will not dwell further as this is not a technical paper.

References