Trends Project

TRND
Pre-ICO Start: 7/1/18 Pre-ICO End: 7/31/18

BMJ Score: 2.9

Market

Transparency

Team

Token

Adoption

Quick Summary

74 crypto investors read this
Trends is a training platform for inexperienced cryptocurrency traders. It lets people learn by showing them pros to watch and mimic. Trends has no MVP, however. Its team is largely unverified. Even if this idea works, too many flags tell us Trends may be a premature play.

Commentary

Trends’ thesis is that there are lots of people who want to start trading crypto but don’t know how. But are there that many -- yet? Enough to sustain an entire platform? We’ve also seen its approach before -- connect users to trading pros on a platform that also helps them avoid buy, sell, and timing mistakes. What’s more, the beta isn’t due to launch until November. That alone makes us question whether Trends is ready for the $5m to $20m it’s seeking from investors.

Investment Information:

  • How to invest: Trends Project will be accepting ETH during the pre-ICO. Register for the whitelist on the Trends Project website.
  • Discount: Round 1: 07/01/2018-07/15/2018 (30% bonus on all purchases done in this period) Round 2: 07/16/2018-07/31/2018 (20% bonus on all purchases done in this period).
  • Eligibility: Citizens of U.S are not eligible for token purchase.
  • Minimum investment amount: 0.1ETH
  • Jurisdiction: Hong Kong (PDPA)

Market: 3.5

  • Problem addressed/solved: New traders lose a lot of money by not knowing much about the crypto market, and they make bad trades because of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt), the effects of social media, and pump and dump scams. Discouraged, new traders leave the market, causing slow adoption for cryptocurrency and lengthening the time it will take to integrate crypto into mainstream trading.
  • Target customers/customer/ segments/verticals: Trends Project is targeting a new market of crypto investors who are uneducated about trading crypto. The crypto trading market is already over $20 billion USD in daily trading volume. It’s expected to grow exponentially over the next few years as it becomes more and more mainstream.
  • Value creation: Trends Project creates value for its users by providing calculated trading positions to maximize profit chances while also educating users on the basics of trading in the realm of cryptocurrency. Technical analysts provide value via trading advice, and the platform includes educative tools to help new traders. Features include alerts, hold time projections, analyst training, and an affordable entry point of just $5.
  • Competition: Trends Project will undoubtedly face other blockchain competitors in this space. Since the crypto investment market is so new and untapped, projects similar to Trends are scrambling to become the foremost authority on educational trading platforms. A direct competitor would be Tradelize, a platform where both Pro traders and new investors work together.
  • Market size/potential: Trends Project has a small target market as it stands, but the potential for the crypto trading industry is through the roof. As crypto/blockchain gains mass adoption, it will continue to produce more coins and exchanges, resulting in more traders in the market. The biggest challenge here will be to differentiate from the competition.
  • Regulatory risks: The risks here are very high; the platform is based on the success of the crypto industry as a whole. At this point, regulations have not been established and may vary by geodemographic.

Transparency: 2.5

  • Investor Value: Investors will see the value of the TRND token increase as more users join the platform and purchase more tokens to be a “top tier” trader. That said, there is currently no usable platform and beta does not even begin until November 2018. Assuming the platform works as described, users will be placed in tiers depending on the number of tokens they own; as trading skills advance, users can purchase more tokens and get access to more advanced trading guides. The tier system may bring stability to the market. The ERC20 token can be used as a payment method on the platform to subscribe to certain analysts.
  • Disclosures: Trends Project has a month-to-month roadmap that’s very informative about their processes. They also plan to release an updated whitepaper and roadmap in December of 2018, which makes sense considering the current whitepaper is a measly 17 pages that lacks in details and ICO information. Their topnotch website, “short paper”, and FAQ section makes up for the light whitepaper by containing just as much, if not more, information about the project.
  • Token distribution: 75% will be used for ICO, 7.5% will be put into a reserve for partnerships and exchanges, 5% for early angel investors, 5% is set aside as a founders share, 5% will be used for pre-ICO, 2.5% will be put into a reserve for airdrops, bounties, and faucets.
  • Use of proceeds: 30% development, 20% marketing, 20% exchange and partnerships, 15% TA analysis, 10% legal, 2.5% general reserve, 2.5% funding workspace.
  • Caps: Soft cap $5M USD; Hard cap $20M USD

Team: 2

  • Track record: It’s difficult to score the Trends Project team as the website has no bio for any employees, nor do they provide such information in the whitepaper. This is a red flag. The CEO, Olgun Aktepe, has less than 110 connections on LinkedIn and, according to his profile, no prior work experience other than “Experienced Cryptocurrency Trader.” The team also lacks in blockchain expertise other than two advisors who appear to have excellent backgrounds for blockchain advisement. The project is also lacking in big partnerships, which also gives us pause.
  • Integrity: Trends Project disappoints when it comes to validating their team and giving investors a reason to trust the project. Many of their team members are unverified on LinkedIn and there are only 13 of them, which seems too small. They need to provide bios or some other contribution so that investors don’t flee due to lack of team information.
  • Team Members

  • Olgun Aktepe, CEO – CFO (LinkedIn)
  • Jordan Kerr, Chief Operating Officer (LinkedIn)
  • Nikolaus Heger, Chief Technology Officer (LinkedIn)
  • Jake Burrows, Chief Marketing Officer (LinkedIn)

Token Mechanics: 3.5

  • MVP: Trends Project has not released an MVP. They plan to release the beta version in November of 2018.
  • Token use case: The token will allow users to be placed into tiers depending on the number of tokens they hold. Your tier determines your access to trading tools, guides, analysts, and more. Trend Project tokens can also be used as a payment method on the platform to subscribe to specific analysts. This system will act as an incentive to analysts to provide consistent and calculated trading positions to maximize profit chances.
  • Value-added: The Trends Project token, TRN, provides a unique value to the platform in that the more you hold, the better your experience on the platform. Users' tier depends on how many tokens they hold. The tiers are as follows: Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. It adds significant value to the project because a) it’s used as the sole form of payment and b) it’s the determinant for how many services the user can access.
  • Decentralization: Trends Project offers a Decentralized Trading Analysis Platform.
  • Token Supply: 100 Million TRND

User Adoption: 3

  • Technical difficulty/investment expertise needed: Trends Project seeks to make the world of cryptocurrency trading comprehensible for anyone who wants to take part. Therefore, they’ve created a platform where a person with no investment knowledge can learn from and trade like the pros. The platform is both easy to understand and use.
  • Halo effect: Trends Project has not listed any business partners to date, but they claim to have partnered with some of the world’s top crypto analysts for their platform.
  • Buzz: Trends Project has less than 800 followers on all their social media accounts other than Telegram (2,300). Their roadmap indicates that they started a “mass marketing campaign to raise awareness” in June of 2018, so their low buzz does not come as a surprise, but it is still a reason for concern.

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