BMJ Score: 3
Market
Transparency
Team
Token
Adoption
Quick Summary
95 crypto investors read thisCommentary
With the declining crypto market, investors are questioning whether holding cryptocurrency is the most profitable thing to do. Lucre’s algorithm was built on the philosophy that trading is the best way to generate revenue, regardless of the market’s performance. Even when the market is down, Lucre promises to generate revenue by shorting the market. The platform itself will be based on a trading algorithm that tries to outperform cryptocurrency holds.Some of the advantages of having a “smart” trading system include the ability to minimize emotional trades, backtest trading ideas, achieve consistency, improve order entry speed, and monitor the market 24/7. While we see the benefit of leveraging blockchain for trading platforms, this is an extremely saturated market that also happens to be entirely dependent on the adoption of cryptocurrency. Lucre does not address its competition in its whitepaper, and from our perspective, does not do much to differentiate. First, the team does not provide much information on its background other than that the team has eight years of trading experience. The project does list some advisors, but does not have any partnerships, ultimately landing somewhere around the average of most ICO teams we’ve reviewed. Furthermore, there is no MVP and the beta release is at least one year away. Finally, the token is pure utility, and there is not a substantial amount of buzz generated around the project. In our research, we found that there is another ICO called Lucre that has a different project but leverages the same name. This is confusing for mass adoption, and while we see the value in having a computerized trading platform, we worry about the success of this project due to its lack of differentiation.
Investment Information:
- How to invest: You can purchase LCR on the dashboard after registering at the following link. You will need to provide first your Ethereum wallet from which you will send ETH ( NOT an exchange address). Once you send Ethereum to the Crowdsale Contract address, you will receive LUCRE tokens in your wallet.
- Discount: 30% discount throughout presale
- Eligibility: You are not eligible to purchase any LCR in the LUCRE token sale if you are a citizen, resident (tax or otherwise) of Canada, the U.S., or Nevis.
- Token Price: 1 LCR = $0.77 USD (discount included in price)
- Jurisdiction: Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Minimum Token Sale Contribution: 0.1ETH
Market: 3.5
- Problem addressed/solved: “Hodling” was a term coined within the crypto community. It describes the process of acquiring cryptocurrency and then holding onto it for the long term with no intention to trade until the value increases. Lucre believes hodling is outdated, especially considering the overall performance of the crypto market in 2018. Lucre claims that its trading algorithm will allow its users to beat market returns with active trading, whether that be betting a coin long or shorting the said coin.
- Target customers/customer/ segments/verticals: Lucre is geared toward active crypto investors, particularly those who have followed the hodl method in 2018 and seen an absolute crash in the value of their digital assets. Lucre also hopes to entice non-investors to enter the market using its active trading algorithm.
- Value creation: Lucre is an automated trading system and signal service for cryptocurrencies, created to outperform the strategy of just holding and hoping. Lucre wants to create tangible value for investors by giving them another avenue to earn profit with cryptocurrency investments. Rather than hodl, users who have access to the Lucre platform will be able to utilize its unique algorithm that will trade automatically in the crypto market in the hopes of returning steady profits. In theory, the algorithm would be able to generate profits regardless of market conditions.
- Competition: Lucre will face plenty of competition from other blockchain projects as many claim that they can “guarantee profits” with active trading algorithms. Lucre has to differentiate itself by somehow proving the legitimacy of its algorithm; otherwise, most investors will assume this project is some sort of scam.
- Regulatory risks: This is a heavily regulated space because its success is entirely dependent on the crypto market. If cryptocurrency is banned in certain jurisdictions or regulations are put in place to limit presence, it will impact Lucre’s ability to function and profit. Lucre will have to also show that its algorithm does not violate any insider trading laws.
Transparency: 3
- Investor value: Investors in LUCRE could expect growth in the value of their tokens from two main areas: initial participants interested in holding the tokens to receive money-back from the Trading Pool, and an increased demand in new participants obligated to purchase the tokens to access the platform.
- Disclosures: Lucre does an excellent job breaking down its project, token generation event, and future business proceedings (roadmap) in its whitepaper. The project also goes beyond the call of duty by providing the code for its smart contracts on Github, adding an FAQ section, and publishing an “Intro to Lucre” video for less-technical investors. Lucre takes a hard hit to its transparency score since it has yet to release an MVP and the beta version will not be available until late 2019.
- Token distribution: 80% of the tokens allocated to the participants, 14% for developers and company reserve, 3% for rewarding advisors, and 3% is used on Bounty program and marketing.
- Use of proceeds: 40% R&D, 40% trading pool, 15% Capex, 3% marketing, and 2% legal.
- Caps: Soft cap: $1.6 million USD; Hard cap: $7 million USD
Team: 3
- Track record: Lucre definitely comes off as a legitimate project with strong values and a clear mission, but its use of buzzwords and essential guarantee of profits via an algorithm turn some investors away from the project. The CEO, Ganesh Puri, has a Master’s from the University of London. He’s spent considerable time in a variety of roles, but his most recent was a venture he co-founded that revolved around FX trading strategies and operations. Harjit Singh and Emerson Cruz appear to be the masterminds behind this golden algorithm. Singh is a former solutions architect that has consulted for top banks including TD Bank, RBC, Lloyds Banking Group, and Deutsche Bank. Cruz has similar experiences but worked with smaller companies as a software engineer and web developer.
- Integrity: It’s important to do your due diligence when investing in any company. As for Lucre, it appears like one of those startups that’s just too good to be true. The team has top notch talent and claim an algorithm will automatically trade and earn profits on behalf of its users. The only information available on the team comes from LinkedIn, but further research into the day-to-day might be helpful. Contacting the team via email or the website chat never hurt anybody.
- Ganesh Puri, CEO/Founder (LinkedIn)
- Aksana Papovich, CMO (LinkedIn)
- Harjit Singh, CTO (LinkedIn)
Team Members
Token Mechanics: 3
- MVP: Lucre does not have an operational MVP nor does it have plans to release one anytime soon. The “Autotrading Service” beta version is expected to launch in Q4 of 2019, and the final version of the platform will be released in Q1 of 2020.
- Token use case: LCR is a utility token that will provide premium membership and limited access passes. Once you have these tokens, you are able to earn money combining several options. According to the whitepaper, LCR acts as a gatekeeper and is the key that opens the door to the Lucre platform, which gives investors access to the algorithms that actively trade to beat the market.
- Value-added: Operating with a token on the blockchain allows for global accessibility, 24/7 trading, transparency, and public verification of LUCRE’s trading performance. These benefits would not be possible using traditional currency on a non-blockchain platform.
- Decentralization: The Lucre platform will operate on the decentralized Ethereum blockchain, providing trust, security, transparency, and fast execution to all stakeholders.
- Token Supply: Max supply of 12.5 million LCR.
User Adoption: 2
- Technical difficulty/investment expertise needed: Lucre wants to ditch the mindset of hodling. Lucre’s one-minute explanatory video breaks down the project and the crucial algorithm it uses to actively trade and make profit (even in a down market).
- Halo effect: Lucre has not listed any partners on the site or within the whitepaper.
- Buzz: Lucre has around 1,100 followers on each of its Facebook and Twitter accounts. Many of the posts receive a fair amount of attention, with most averaging around 150 shares and 100 likes. The Telegram account doesn’t fair too badly either, with nearly 4,000 active members. Lucre doesn’t have astronomical numbers when it comes to its social media accounts, but the engagement it gets on posts shows that the project actively seek interested parties and posts content that its followers enjoy, adding to its commitment to honesty when many other projects simply purchase followers.
