While the main cryptocurrencies are seeing a slight resurgence, their values are still down from last year’s record numbers. That hasn’t stopped the influx of investment in blockchain projects, however. But one thing remains a thorn in the side of the distributed ledger and cryptocurrency world.
According to Satis Group, 78 percent of ICOs are scams. So how do we sort the crypto-wheat from the chaff?
Earlier this year, former LinkedIn cofounder and CTO Eric Ly launched Hub, Human Trust Protocol, a blockchain-based system that helps strangers safely interact on the internet and build digital reputations. Hub then launched ICOHub in April 2018 to track the reputations of ICOs.
Today Hub has announced a partnership with Crunchbase to take that platform further.
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Crunchbase is a source of data for investors and interested parties that details well over 100,000 startups, founders, company records, funding rounds, growth statistics, and industry trends. This data will be used by ICOHub’s project reputation algorithm, and in return, Hub will share that data and the associated scores with Crunchbase.
“Crunchbase’s well-curated data will supplement online ICO projects’ reputations,” Ly told me. “A comprehensive profile on Crunchbase, replete with early-stage investment rounds, team member reputations, and company data, will provide additional transparency and confidence to ICO investors.”
By consolidating resources, both organizations hope to offer investors the information they need to complete their due diligence, increasing their chance of choosing a blockchain project that is real and not about to run away with their funds.
“Providing the most up-to-date and accurate data is a key component of the ICOHub platform,” Ly said. “Combined with the collective intelligence emerging from users voting and identifying scams, we hope to provide a novel and effective barometer for each ICO project’s trustworthiness through an ICO ‘trust score’.”
Hub isn’t the first solution to attempt to assist with ICO due diligence, and it is fair to say that the internet is awash with data that can help a budding investor make the right decisions. So why are we still being duped by bad actors?
“Limitless data doesn’t mean high-quality data,” Ly said. “As an analogy with AI, tons of data is available, but how to turn it into accurate and verified knowledge on which important actions should be taken remains a challenging problem. Despite the amount of data on the internet, the sources or ‘custody chain’ of the data remain still unclear, leading to fake content being shared and reported.”
What’s next for Hub and its ICOHub platform?
“The team will continue to refine the reputation system of ICOHub to provide higher quality assessments of ICO projects,” Ly said. “In addition to partnering with Crunchbase, Hub is working closely with Blockchain Terminal (BCT), a crypto-trading platform enabling real-time monitoring of the crypto market from over 80 exchanges.”
That’s not the only partnership on the roadmap, either.
“We’re partnering with Civic, a leading identity verification service provider on the blockchain, and other companies,” Ly said. “Given Hub’s strong partners in the U.S., Greater China, and Eastern Europe, the project is looking forward to creating impact globally and emerging as the leader in online trust.”
