The problem:
The landscape of payment technology is changing and growing at a rapid rate. With a global mobile payments projected to exceed $1 trillion by the year 2019, as well as an e-commerce market that is expected to reach $4.5 trillion by 2021, cash is quickly becoming an object of the past.
Credit cards have created an easy pathway for digital payments over recent times, however even these are being replaced by more secure and efficient payment methods such as paypal, apple pay and Samsung pay. Using these current methods usually results in a transaction fee of 1.5%-3.5% depending on multiple factors, but ultimately, it forces the business to either pass on the fee to customers or take the loss. There are also many blockchain solutions which have been proposed but currently they are either, non-scalable, not secure or a combination of the two. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are victim of extreme volatility in both price and fees and this is not a sustainable model. In order to aid in mass adoption, a new system must be developed which eliminates all these problems. Enter Modern finance chain.
What is it?
Modern finance chain is a cryptocurrency payment ecosystem utilising smart contracts for consumers and merchants to efficiently and securely exchange goods and services. The ICO is being held on the Ethereum blockchain however the team are developing their own blockchain. The MF Mainnet is their blockchain that uses a dBFT/POS consensus model as well as a masternode incentivization protocol. The MFX token is the ERC-20 token which is being distributed during the ico however once the mainnet launches, the MFF token will take the place of the MFX token within the rewards programs, allowing merchants and consumers to receive transaction fuel for the network. When the mainnet launches, the first cryptocurrencies which can be used on the platform will be Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and the MFX toke. In addition, the MF Mainnet will allow for the development of enterprise level private Blockchains (Multi language with SC library), atomic swap cross-chain transactions, multi-blockchain integration, and a verified digital identity system.
The MF Mainnet can be full integrated with different Blockchains on as well as being able to be verified through a sequence of digital identification process that also work in conjunction with government regulations when necessary, as well as user controlled privacy features. One of the handy features being implemented within this platform is the ability to run multi-currency ICO’s. So Instead of just using ETH tokens like on the ICO for this project, one will be able to contribute a range of cryptocurrencies which will make the barrier to entry much lower for many people.
MF Chain Mobile POS Client App
Merchants will be able to download a free mobile app from both the apple and android app store in order to transform any mobile device to a fully functional Point of Sale system with all MF Chain features. After being authorised, the app can accept cryptocurrency to the merchant’s wallets that are configured in their accounts. Using a tablet with the app is recommended however it will work just fine on a smartphone. The ability to have this as merely an app creates a huge advantage against other payment platforms such as the Pundi X project where they sell their own hardware.
The team:
The team behind modern finance chain is currently a small one at around 14 people. This team is under the lead of Viacheslav Shybaiev. An experience software developer who has worked previously for companies such as opera software and the blockchain platform Status. The rest of the team comprises of people from a range of backgrounds and expertise, with some of them being quite highly regarded in their respective fields. The Team are backed by a team of advisors who seem to have much experience with advising blockchain start-ups, however I did not recognise any of them at first glance, with the majority of them being small projects. It would be nice to see some more successful blockchain experience across the board, but nonetheless I believe this team will drive this project in the right direction.
Ico/Token metrics:
The ICO will run from June 25th 2018 To July 25th 2018.
Soft cap: 2500 ETH
Hard cap: 33000 ETH ($17M)
ICO Token Price: 1 Ether = 8,500 MFX Tokens
Future development and marketing tokens will be locked according to the following schedule:
50% unlocked on random date: Q2 2019
50% unlocked on random date: Q2 2020
Initial Circulating Supply (max): 306,000,000
Max Supply: 521,000,000
Developer and Advisor tokens will be unlocked on a slow rolling quarterly release ending in Q2 2019.
Roadmap:
On the whitepaper, the team give a very detailed whitepaper which is an extremely positive sign to see and shows their ability to plan properly. Below I have created a succinct version of this roadmap with some of the important points on the list.
June 2018 - ICO
Aug 2018
• Live on exchange
Q3 2018
• Plugins for multiple merchant utilities e.g. WordPress
Q4 2018
• MFC standalone POS hardware release
Q1 2019
• Global payment system roll out
• MFM Testnet deployed
Q2 2019
• MF Mainnet deployed
• MFM coin swap (MFX token is swapped for MFM coin at 1:1 ratio)
Conclusion:
All in all, this is quite a solid project with very ambitious goals. They are aiming to solve a big problem which is acting as one of the major roadblocks to blockchain adoption and if they are successful, early adopters will benefit greatly. I believe the hard cap is an adequate size for the ICO and should not have many problems with missing the hard cap. The team, whilst not extraordinary in terms of credentials, has created clear and concise business plans with a very detailed roadmap. This will keep them accountable and gives investors greater confidence in what they are doing. My overall rating would be a 3.5-4/5 for this ICO, but remember, I am not a financial advisor and this is purely for educational purposes. At the end of the day you need to construct your own perspective and I suggest using multiple sources to create this.
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