Privatix (PRIX) - Fully autonomous P2P VPN Network

Currently I've been conducting fundamental research on certain projects but have been doing this alone. I've recently decided to share some of my fundamental research to help others understand projects better and to also receive feedback on areas I've overseen, like red flags I may have missed. The purpose of these articles is not to "shill" a coin but to lay out facts from my research and have them challenged from a different point of view to benefit you and myself.

I do encourage you to leave a comment on your perspective, as I find best research is taken from different viewpoints. Please also leave comments for areas of improvement in my structure.

Disclaimer: I'm not a financial adviser, the below is just my research. I can not guarantee the accuracy of the information below.

Privatix (PRIX) -

Privatix is a fully autonomous P2P VPN Network on blockchain with advanced Internet bandwidth marketplace powered by its own crypto-economy.

The Problem -

Problems facing the Internet

1. Censorship - Governments are slowly tightening regulations and censorship. The most common example is the Great Firewall of China, where the Chinese Government has full censorship of the internet traffic. Popular sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are blocked.

2. Privacy - as it becomes more apparent, the internet is not private. Your online identity is tracked, what websites you visit, your online purchases, your browsing habits. All this information can be tracked, the example being Google and Facebook ads, your browsing history is used for targeted advertising.

3. Security - if people can track your online identity they can also steal or compromise your data.

4. Speed - For many countries local traffic and certain international traffic can be accessed at decent speeds, however international bandwidth is limited. This is common in China, every thing within China is fast but international traffic is limited.

All the above culminates into the most recent example to take news headlines, the net neutrality saga in the US. The FCC want to reverse net neutrality, which gives the centralised control to the "freedom of communication". Without net neutrality laws, the internet providers have the ability (does not necessarily mean they will) to choose what you can browse (censorship), monitor usage (privacy), store information (security) and can limit speeds to re-distribute bandwidth (speed).

The Solution -

How do we solve this? Well there is already a solution... A Virtual Private Network (VPN). VPN act as an exit point for traffic so all your traffic looks like it's going to one place, hence it becomes increasingly hard to find the final target.

Currently VPNs are centralised where incidents have included breaches of privacy and security. Examples include false statements about log-keeping policies, data selling, overcharging, unclear billing policies, and the incredible margins that are siphoned off into marketing, advertising, etc.

You've probably now realised Privatix, a block chain solution is perfect for addressing the above problems.

How does it work? (from Privitax whitepaper)

You sell your bandwidth acting as an exit node/VPN for PRIX (token)

The main economic agents inside the crypto-economy of the Privatix Network are:

• Users who want to sell their internet bandwidth (Agents)
• Users who want to buy internet bandwidth from Agents (Clients)
  

A use case example (from Privitax whitepaper)

• Hans, a regular internet user from Germany, has a 100 Mbps channel and he does not use it completely, especially at night.
• He has already paid his ISP so no additional costs are required.
• Hans installs the Privatix Network software and thereby becomes an Agent.
• On the other side of the world is a Chinese internet user, Lee.
• Lee does not have access to many internet sites because internet censorship in China is very strict.
• Lee installs a VPN program based on the Privatix Network and through it buys broadband from Hans. Now he can surf the internet via the encrypted German VPN and get access to all internet sites.
• Hans receives payment in PRIX as Lee uses his free bandwidth.

Privatix Network (from Privitax whitepaper)

I won't go into further details how their network operates or how they plan to deal with illegal activities or attacks etc. However their whitepaper has detailed explanations on scenarios I've tried to poke holes at including:

• Illegal activities
• Subscription and Un-subscription
• Tracking of IP address
• Quality of Service
  

How big it the VPN market? - (from Privitax whitepaper)

According to latest reports, the Virtual Private Network (VPN) market is expected to reach USD 106 billion by 2022 at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 13%. Yes there is room to grow, especially with disruptive technology

The Team -

The team is the strong attribute for this project. From what I can tell, this project is an extension from Privtix VPN, which is a registered company with a working freemium VPN. They currently have 750,000 users using their services daily.

The team are already VPN experts given their experience in the VPN field. I recommend trying their freemium VPN out to test their level of competence.

Token (PRIX) value -

PRIX is required to purchase bandwidth from Agents, also Agents are paid in PRIX. There are limited tokens in circulation, as more users want to use Privatix app the demand for PRIX will increase.

Total circulation - 1,182,668
Total supply - 1,275,455
Current Price (02/01/2018) - $5.80 USD or 0.0077 ETH
Current mcap (02/01/2018) - $6,853,796 USD

The current price is approximately ICO price.
Their ICO didn't go very well, hence the final token distribution differs to the whitepaper distribution

Privatix Token (PRIX) final distribution details:

• 100% Total supply: 1,275,455
• 83% Token Sale and Pre-sale: 1,058,627
• 7% Founders (locked for 12months): 89,281
• 7% Future and current team: 89,281
• 3% Advisors, bounty, and cost covering: 38,263

Total circulation supply: 1,058,627 (7% of locked 12months tokens excluded)
Total contributors: 1,435

The Competition -

Are there other block chain VPN services on the market? The one's to my knowledge are Mysterium and Substratum.

What makes them stand above?

• The existing VPN experience.
• They already have an operating VPN product under a registered business.
• Market cap is a fraction of the others

The Cons

• The team are still planning and creating specs for the Blockchain service for community review before they start coding. Their progression can back tracked here blog. Also note their competitors are also only in the concept stage.
• The name of the ticker is pronounced pricks.
• The number of tokens in circulation is low, they should have considered increased the denomination by 1000 so it could equate to 1 PRIX = 100 mb, due to circulation size decimals will be required.
• The community is small.
• First product launch in Q3-Q4 2018 according to roadmap

Rating

High risk, high reward investment. Any investment is banking the experience of the team is capable of finishing the promised product.

Please leave comments on your opinions below and I will do my best to answer all relevant comments. Also leave any suggestions for other projects you would like fundamental reviews on.