BMJ Score: 3.2
Market
Transparency
Team
Token
Adoption
Quick Summary
148 crypto investors read thisCommentary
Imagine you are buying a new Chanel bag from eBay; the listings are assured to be authentic, but how do you know as a buyer that you are really purchasing an authentic bag? Counterfeiting affects more than handbags; it affects multiple products, which can have dramatic implications on end users. Bonafi strives to protect consumers, retailers, and brands by providing insight on who the manufacturer is, who is authorized to sell the product, when it was produced, and authenticity status. Given that imported counterfeit goods brings in over half a trillion dollars annually, we like that Bonafi aims to solve a serious pain point in the market. While this is a highly competitive space, Bonafi separates itself from competitors like VeChain, WaBi, and BlockVerify through its patent pending cryptography NFC tag. The team has several experienced members in the industry, as well as many advisors, but could improve on expanding their strategic partnerships. While there is no working MVP at this time, Bonafi offers a functional mobile app and hopes to release its platform by the end of this year. Our main concern for Bonafi centers on its lack of a tangible prototype. While its strength is its pending crypto tag patent, without a working platform, it will be tough to gain market share in this competitive space.
Investment Information:
- How to invest: Bonafi fails to provide a clear avenue to purchasing tokens.
- Discount: Bonus of 12.5%
- Eligibility: Restricted countries include the Republic of China; U.S investors must be accredited.
- Jurisdiction: United States
- Minimum investment: $100
- Payment Accepted: ETH, BTC, and USD fiat
Market: 3.5
- Problem addressed/solved: Counterfeit goods make up about 2.5 percent of global imports according to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PwC has estimated in its 2017 report that the surging cost of global counterfeiting has been 563 billion Euros in 2000s and 1.594 trillion Euros in 2010s (strategyand.pwc.com). This does not include collateral damage caused by counterfeit goods, such as: legal battles between brands and consumers, additional cost to repair or replace counterfeit goods, medical problems caused by inferior materials used in counterfeit goods, and even death.
- Target customers/customer/ segments/verticals: Everyone along the supply chain can find use for Bonafi. The targets for Bonafi consist of manufacturers, retailers, and consumers.
- Value creation: The platform is designed to permit users, from a manufacturer to a retailer to a consumer, to verify genuine goods throughout the supply chain using Bonafi’s mobile application (the “App”) powered by BONA Tokens. By integrating the Crypto-Tag and Mobile Application with Blockchain technology, Bonafi is empowering brands, retailers, and consumers to fight against counterfeit products.
- Competition: The application for blockchain as a tracking/verification tool is widely recognized as one of its most prominent use cases. Many other projects like Vanig (focuses more on the retail side of things) already exist and have further developed their products. Bonafi will definitely hit competition in a familiar form, namely, other blockchain projects.
- Market size/potential: The evolution of the internet has opened plenty of pathways for makers of counterfeit goods to sell their products to unknowing consumers/retailers. In 2013, the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) estimated the value of imported fake goods worldwide was at $461 Billion. According to PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), the total counterfeit market in 2013 generated $1.9 Trillion USD in revenue.
- Regulatory risks: Distribution of tokens will be performed by a third-party entity, given the fact that the tokens are security tokens and have to abide by SEC regulations.
Transparency: 2
- Investor value: The BONA tokens are required for unlocking the content that confirms authenticity of the item. Bonafi hopes that this required use case for their tokens will be the primary driver in the overall value of the token.
- Disclosures: Bonafi has a disappointing whitepaper, to say the least. It’s only 21 pages long, and a huge chunk of that content is just team bios and associated pictures. Their roadmap is equally sad, as it has so little information. Bonafi desperately needs to revamp their documents and disclosures so that people can trust the project. There’s currently a massive void that they must fill with details about the project and company.
- Token distribution: Bonafi does not provide token distribution details.
- Use of proceeds: Bonafi does not provide fund allocation details. Having neither the token distribution nor fund allocation breakdown does NOT bode well for their overall transparency. This could possibly be the first time BMJ has reviewed a pre-ICO where neither of those breakdowns were published in the whitepaper.
- Caps: Soft cap: $1 million USD; Hard cap: $15 million USD
Team: 3.5
- Track record: Bonafi has a tightknit team of seven core members and four additional advisors. The CEO, Steve Kuh, certainly has extensive experience in his field of choice, information technology. With over 20 years of experience as founder and CEO of an IT firm, his specialty includes communications systems engineering, creation, and production of digital IT products. The Bonafi team’s most noteworthy attribute has to be the experience across all their careers. Each member has at least 7+ years in their associated field. The CTO, Dr. Byong Min Lee, brings to Bonafi his 20+ years supply chain experience in the automotive and electronics industry in Korea.
- Integrity: The vast majority of the Bonafi team and advisors have excellent professional accolades that stretch back decades into the past. It’s always a good sign when you find a team with the level of professionalism that Bonafi represents. That being said, their lack of disclosures and transparency makes you rethink their dedication to the project. Hopefully, the team will release more information about the project in the near future.
- Steve Kuh, CEO and Founder (LinkedIn)
- Dr. Byong Min Lee, CTO (LinkedIn)
- Abraham Kim, CMO (LinkedIn)
- Jai Jung Lee, Director of Apps/Dev (LinkedIn)
Team Members
Token Mechanics: 4
- MVP: Bonafi plans to make the app compatible with the latest iOS and Android devices and expects to release a beta version of the Platform in Q1/2019. They have a prototype with a demonstration video on YouTube.
- Token use case: The BONA Tokens would give users of the platform the ability to use the app to verify the authenticity of a product. If the product scanned is authentic, the BONA Token(s) used to activate the app would be spent and burned. If the product scanned is not authentic, then the user would retain the BONA Tokens.
- Value-added: As discussed above, BONA Tokens would be required to use the app to receive authentication, meaning they’re necessary for the base functions of the platform. They essentially act as keys to the blockchain that determines the authenticity of the item/product in question.
- Decentralization: There is no indication of a decentralized platform, but rather the blockchain will be used more as a dedicated tracking/proof of authentication system.
- Token Supply: Max supply of 1 billion BONA.
User Adoption: 2.5
- Technical difficulty/investment expertise needed: Bonafi’s mission statement holds steady on the front page of their site. They clearly want to use blockchain to eradicate the issue of counterfeit goods primarily sold over the internet. The overarching idea is clear, but the specifics can get pretty technical.
- Halo effect: Bonafi lacks the big name partners that could catch the eye of investors, but they do have a solid partnership with NetObjex. NetObjex provides Bonafi with a comprehensive Hyperledger blockchain experience, providing customers with excellent service and an opportunity to partner with clients to develop industry-leading solutions.
- Buzz: Bonafi has a sad social media following with less than 500 followers between their Facebook and Twitter accounts combined. Having said that, they have a reputable Telegram account that has just under 20,000 members. Typically, we view Telegram as the more prominent ICO social media account as it is more investor/crypto heavy.
