Hadron ICO Overview
The Hadron ICO is raising funds to launch a decentralized, open marketplace for distributed machine learning. Through the marketplace, the unutilized computing power of any devices can be put to work in exchange for tokenized rewards. Enterprises or other customers that require resources for training AI models can access a potentially limitless pool of compute power through the decentralized network of users.
Hadron ICO Value Proposition
The Hadron AI Marketplace provides an means to conduct both machine-powered and human AI training. Users who wish to passively earn rewards for unused compute power download the Hadron Workforce App to their devices and connect to the marketplace. Active earning is also enabled through completion of human intelligence tasks for AI training through a game-like interface. Monetized datasets will also be available on the platform which can be bought or rented to train AI models.
The platform is built atop the Hadron Workforce Chain, maximized for unlimited scalability of user load and tasks. Scalability is achieved through the Unbounded Payments Protocol, enabling millions of tasks per second to be performed on the platform. Payments, disputes, staking and reputation are recorded on an open modular chain while work tasks are dedicated their own stateless, trustless ledger.
The Unbounded Payments Protocol is designed to accommodate the continual increase of tasks and payments without slowing down the blockchain and scales with the number of users.
Hadron tokens are used both for staking and value transaction. Workers are rewarded for their compute contribution, while customers will pay for services and datasets using the token. The token is also utilized for the governance of the network.
The Hadron blockchain employs a provably secure Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) model for governance-based modular evolution of the blockchain, allowing for modification of all network parameters as threats arise or adaptation of the system is required. The Hadron token will initially be released as an ERC20 token.
Hadron ICO Team
Cliff Szu: Cliff has achieved success in leading companies to scale from the bottom up. He is the former CEO and Co-founder of Loanback, a p2p lending service. Prior to Loanback, he was CEO/Co-founder of Fanpop, a fan club networking site that receives millions of visits per month.
Darick Tong- Darick was previously a Principal Engineer at Google, where he played an instrumental role developing Gmail and has been building large-scale distributed systems since 2003. He is a recipient of the Google Founders Award for his contribution to the development of Gmail. Darick is a graduate of Stanford University.
David Papandrew: David has 20 years of product management experience. He is also a Co-founder of Fanpop, where he served as CPO. He holds a graduate degree from Harvard.
Michael Chu: Prior to Hadron, Michael served as COO at both Fanpop and Loanback. Michael has 7 years of experience as an engineer at Intel, where he helped develop Intel Centrino. He holds a BSc in Computer Science from UC Berkeley
Evan Szu: Evan has 10 years of experience with tech product development in Silicon Valley. He is also an experienced developer and holds a PhD from Stanford.
Simon Ilra Wei: Simon is an accomplished designer both in visual arts and UI/UX design. Through his previous experience as a Visual Designer at 3Q Digital, he worked on products for major tech companies like Facebook and Instagram.
Among notable advisors to the Hadron ICO are Chief Engineer at Hyperloop One, Rob Ferber, and VP of Business Development for Mastercard, David Galvan.
More information on the team and advisors is available here.
Hadron ICO Strengths and Opportunities
The alpha version of the Hadron AI Marketplace dashboard is currently live, and has so far received 300k signups to test the distributed computation system for rewards. Over 800 million images have been processed by test miners running the module.
With a working alpha and user base to test the mining, Hadron have produced a core component of their product that serves the dual function of demonstrating product viability and building an initial user base.
For more information on how to sign up as a test miner, please visit the Hadron Telegram channel.
The team’s previous success with Fanpop not only lends credence to their ability to build and scale a product; their work on producing a native AI module for image classification laid the groundwork for the development of Hadron.
After finding other AI-based photo recognition services were too expensive, the team built their own, using Fanpop as a sandbox for development. With their own AI product in hand, the team have exploited image recognition as a strategic starting point for testing Hadron Workforce.
Hadron ICO Weaknesses and Threats
In the realm of competition, Hadron are up against the likes of Clarifai and Amazon, among other established industry players. Hadron propose their platform offers several competitive advantages to these giants, which the team aims to leverage in their bid to onboard customers.
Firstly, Hadron estimate the cost of training AI on the platform to be 10x less expensive than competitors. By utilizing user devices for compute power, there is no need to recoup the costs associated with maintaining data centers and hardware upkeep that enterprises must factor into their pricing.
Secondly, Hadron aim to outcompete centralized cloud service providers through the very scale of the user base itself. Because the actual computation happens on worker devices, their decentralized framework has the potential to create a massive pool of computing power that surpasses existing providers.
While these prospects are tantalizing, they are of course no guarantee for success. The prospect of drastically cheaper compute power at a massive level is contingent on the technical viability of the platform and the strategies Hadron choose to scale.
Scaling usage of the AI Marketplace cannot happen without strong enterprise partnerships. With an actual alpha product to show to potential enterprise customers, Hadron are well poised to attract the interest of those seeking an alternative to the current AI training services available on the market at present.
While we have received information efforts are underway at securing enterprise partnerships, Hadron have yet to make any official announcements on this front.
The Verdict on Hadron ICO
The Hadron ICO offers one of the most exciting projects targeting the AI market in the blockchain space. The team’s ample experience scaling mass consumer products and building distributed systems fits the bill for such an ambitious project.
With the release of the alpha AI Marketplace, the project has not only reached an important technical milestone but managed to garner interest from a significant number of prospective users. We will be watching the Hadron ICO closely, particularly for any news on noteworthy partnerships, which would further increase our confidence in the project.
Additional Information
We have been in discussions with the Hadron ICO team and our ratings are based on conversations and information that they have asked us to keep confidential. While it may seem premature to rate their ICO highly, we have been made privy to insights that suggest a strong project, and we will update this review when the Hadron ICO team is ready to share further data.