STORIQA ICO ANALYSIS

Hello Everyone

Crypto world is making new millionaires everyday and the best way to get in is through an ICO. However its easy said than done as there are too many ICO out there out of which the true long term gem need to found.
Below i have done a personal review on the STORIQA ICO to decide whether it could be worth investing. I have mentioned my honest opinion and thought of sharing with all. I could easily participate in ICO's bounty programs and make free coins like most others out there however i believe in being different if its the right awa

ICO Analysis

Personal View not a financial advise.....

1. Token or Security
   Token which can be used to purchase goods online

2. Use of the coin/ Problem being solved
   Targeting the ever-growing Ecommerce sector which is dominated by players like Amazon, Ebay etc.

3. New Technology or on existing Block chain
   Using existing block chain for an Ecommerce ecosystem built on Ether ERC20 tokens. Other competitor are BEZOP (recommended by John Mccaffee), Connectius etc

4. Is a new token required?
   Doesn’t need a new token is built on an existing platform and use of any stable priced token would work.

5. Does the company have an established business
   No

6. Vision of the company
   Storiqa is a marketplace platform designed to allow anyone to create an online store that will make good use of the most advanced technologies in the e-commerce field, including the option to pay for goods with cryptocurrencies and STQ tokens. Aim is to connect producers all over the world and supply business with the necessary tools for launching of one-of-a-kind merchandise to the global market with minimal transaction fees and without any financial borders, intermediaries or annoying bureaucratic routine

7. Regulatory Risk/Licensing Requirement
   Regular Business License

8. Supply
   Not mentioned clearly in the white paper however it is not minable. The total supply depends on token sale and they will create tokens based on the ICO demand. Max
   hard cap (25 000 000 $) is reached, ~14,000,000,000 STQ (+ bonuses) will be issued.
   soft cap (5 000 000$) is reached, ~2,800,000,000 STQ (+ bonuses) will be issued

9. Future Road Map
   2018
   1st and 2nd Quarter: Cryptocurrency payment and smart contract implementation
   3rd and 4th Quarter: Promotion and Integration

1. Team & Related Experience
   • RUSLAN TUGUSHEV CEO: Started Boomstarter as successful crowdfinding platform for new ventures, but experience not at all related to the field of e commerce. Only seems good when it comes to attracting funding. Couldnt find much on LinkedIn
   • EVGENY GAVRILIN CO FOUNDER: Again part of Boomstarter. Couldnt find much on LinkedIn
   • MAYNARD WEBB and BRADLEY STROCK ADVISOR: Strong related Experience like COO of EBAY and CIO of PAYPAL, however being on the advisory board is not appealing.

2. Sector trying to disrupt (Banking/Advertising/Real Estate etc)
   Ecommerce

3. Competition and Uniqueness compared to other coins out there
   NA

4. Hype Created (Target: Raised/Registered Users/Facebook or Twitter Followers)
   No as pre ico came as early as 11th October and still not even 16 million funding is being touched.

5. Current Investors/Clients (Venture Capitalist etc)
   Couldn’t find any Venture Capital or HNI invested

6. ICO Rating by others
   ICO rating 3.3 on ICO Bench also sounds too optimistic to me.

7. Summary
   Positives:
   • By having payment options in cryptocurrencies and STQ token it will avoid conversion charges, transaction fees and taxes making the trasactions cheaper atleast by 10% (logically derived figure)
   • Using STQ token will encounter further discount and offers
   • 24/7 customer support
   • The smart contract initially blocks the money and only transfers the money to the seller’s account when the item has reached its destination. So the customer pays only after receiving the product, which increases his or her confidence in the service and makes online shopping more attractive. This avoids hassle of going through the refund process as people have to do now with Amazon (Personal Experience)
   • Safe purchase system: any customer can get a refund for a low-quality item at their sole discretion within 14 days* of purchase. This condition is included in each smart contract, and the money for the purchase will be refunded in crypto currency using the current exchange rate
   • Low entry barriers for sellers to register unlike the traditional sites like Amazon etc where they have to bear huge cost and documentation.
   • Storiqa brings sellers and reviewers together. Reviewers can choose any item available through Storiqa and receive it for free in return for a review – in this way, things you sell will be deeply integrated into the reviewer’s content and way of presentation, increasing your revenue tenfold compared to conventional advertising
   • If an item is damaged during shipping, the buyer can request arbitration through Storiqa and request a full or partial refund (using the current exchange rate for cryptocurrency-paid orders) after a review. If the refunded order was paid with STQ tokens, you will be refunded the exact amount of tokens regardless of the current exchange rate
   • Will introduce mobile apps for Android and iOS for quick and easy shopping, a multi-currency wallet with the option to pay with cryptocurrency which will make it unnecessary to follow the fiat money rate. It will be possible to make a one-click purchase from any part of the world without any middleman involved
   • STQ tokens will have good demand and liquidity as even if other payment modes are used, they will be converted to STQ tokens by the system

Negatives:
• Involving Crypto currencies as a payment mode may not be lucrative if the currency is highly volatile, not sure how the company will figure out the rate at which a product will be charged unless its based in Fiat currency and accordingly converted.
• The company would also need a Trust or Bank which is ready to open an account with them for the conversion of Fiat to cryto and vice versa
• As opening an online store can be very easy, how would the company verify the authenticity of the seller as there could be possibilities of scam
• If a new start up can think of an ides like this, giants like Amazon, IBM are already working on their own crypto currencies and blockchain which will be a threat once they in the field.
• They claim to supply all services necessary for expansion including sales, marketing, communication like 24/7 support, IT support for just 18,000 STQ per year. Its hard to believe how the cost is going to be beared by the company
• Upon receiving the order the seller supplies the item in question to the special Storiqa warehouse, the Quality Assurance Department, where the item is checked for apparent defects, gets repacked and/or branded if necessary; there we also take pictures of the item. If the item does not possess the stated features or does not meet the quality requirements, it is returned to the seller. In the above case the cost of transportation, warehousing, transporatation damage coverage is going to be enormous, not sure how that will be covered

Personal Overview:

The concept is amazing but i found more loopholes then potentials. Firstly the cost incurred for transporting each item to warehouse and then sending to buyer after verifying seems to hard to digest as even Amazon cant afford that. Secondly there is no clarity on the coins in circulation and most of the people are just jumping in thinking it would be the next 1 to 5 dollar coin as price is so low. Thirdly the road map is vague, there is no clarity as how it will be achieved and nothing mentioned after 2018 unless they plan to become Amazon in just one year LOL. Also the team has no experience in ecommerce whatsoever expect for the advisors which are like sleeping partners just for the name sake.
Lastly check the below link which shares views of it being bogus
http://thehackingteam.com/storiqa-ico-fraud-storiqa-token-sale-scam-storiqa-com%E2%80%8E/

Having said that there is a possibility of the crypto market going bonkers with this as the market is highly unpredictable and speculative, so anyone who wish to take the risk can gamble for short term gains. But long term looks shady unless something drastically changes in the future.