ICO Review: Photochain
Rewriting the Rules for Monetizing Your Images
Overview:
It’s estimated that every year more than 1200 billion photos are taken, with only a small percentage of these being made available for licensing. Simply put, a license is a contract in which the artist grants specific rights to the client who wants to use their image/digital work. Currently the market is monopolized by 3 centralized companies: Getty Images, Shutterstock and Adobe. The artist must navigate confusing contracts, structured to award these companies the majority share of revenue, while on average the artist receives a mere 25%. It’s not possible for the artist to set his/her own prices. So in reality there is no real, direct licensing, just licensing thanks to an intermediary.
Photochain aims to right the current wrongs and gives artists what they’re entitled to — the majority share of revenue from their work. Photochain is a peer to peer platform, releasing new concepts for a next generation stock photography platform. Photochain will be a vehicle for fair trading of digital works between artists and buyers. Using Ethereum blockchain Smart Contracts, people are able to make digital agreements circumventing the need for a third party. Both parties must comply with the conditions of the contract which can be easily verified on the blockchain. Being decentralized, tampering is prevented.
The terms of use ensure a secure, easy to use, and fair trading process for both parties. Artists will receive up to 95% of the final selling price of their digital works and can set their own prices for their artwork.
How it works:
Photochain is built as a native blockchain decentralized app (dApp) on the Ethereum network. Additionally, Photochain uses computer vision (machine learning) to fulfill the specific technological requirements of stock photography.
The dApp utilises Inter Planetary File System (IPFS) to secure data across the network. The entire system is decentralized, meaning there is no single point or database holding the digital property. This enhances security by making the database less susceptible to attacks being successful.
The platform is created around 4 key pillars:
P2P Marketplace
Buyers and sellers determine their own terms of sale, allowing them to trade directly with one another. Using blockchain to remove the need for costly processing, guaranteeing photographers to receive 95% of the earnings from their works. The marketplace utilises a ranking and reward system to serve as motivation ensuring the maintenance of the Photochain community through fair rewards. Sellers receive points for selling works, for example, and moderators get points for solving disputes. Each point is equivalent to 0.1 PHT. Once you hit 100 points, you can get a payout in PHT transferred to your wallet address.
Easy Onboarding
A simple identity verification for all photographers. Unlike with traditional photostocks which require lots of prerequisites, a user can be actively selling work in minutes. The removal of prerequisites further allows the platform to be fully accessible and profitable to hobby, amateur and professional photographers alike.
Digital Copyright Chain
One of the core benefits of Photochain is its copywriting system. They call it Photochain Digital Copyright Chain, or DCC. Artists can link their works to their name, then secure that connection using the blockchain. The Ethereum blockchain secures the transaction, making it visible to users at all times. Anyone can check the Ethereum blockchain to verify that content is copyrighted by a particular person.
This link cannot be changed, removed or manipulated in any way. Further uploaded images are also hashed and compared to the existing DCC for copyright fraud. Additionally, due to the permanent link, any misuse of the image outside of paid licenses is easily detectable.
Crypto Economy
Aiming to help build a crypto economy, where contributors have more control over their data. A fairer economy where you are rewarded for your work. Photochain believes photographers deserve fair compensation for their efforts and creativity.
Photochain ecosystem, source, Photochain whitepaper.
Team:
Co Founder, CEO
- 3 years experience as information technology expert, German Retail Bank
- 2+ years experience as IT Consultant / IT Security Consultant, B-PI. B-PI provides IT service providers with consulting services, project management services and training in internationally accepted best practice frameworks.
- Strong experience in process management, consulting and implementation.
Jakub Stefański
CTO
- Currently lead blockchain developer at Pragmatic Coders, Krakow. Specialising in Designing architecture and developing blockchain-based systems, analyzing blockchain implementation possibilities in various projects.
- Extensive background in Fintech
- Previous positions held include software engineer, software developer.
Arthur Ishmetev
Blockchain Developer
- Holds a master degree in computer science, physics, ITMO University, St. Petersburg.
- Extensive experience as software/senior software engineer, including 2+ years at Sun Microsystems, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of Oracle corporation, St. Petersburg.
- 2+ years experience as software developer at Quickoffice, St.Petersburg. Quickoffice allows users to onboard and edit Microsoft office on their mobile devices. Currently installed on 300+ million devices in 180 countries.
Advisors:
Dylan Sharkey
- 6+ years at LinkedIn holding numerous senior positions including Territory Head, Territory Manager, Head of Sales Solutions, Dubai.
- Previous experience in creating and running companies from start up.
- Experienced in executing deals whilst abiding by different country rules and regulations.
Alexander Sverdlov
- Cyber Security advisor.
- Worked for Microsoft for over 12 months as a security consultant, Dubai.
- Former IT security officer, ProCredit Bank, Bulgaria.
Token Metrics:
Photochain hasn’t set a hard cap in terms of USD, rather they’ve set a hard cap on the amount of tokens to be sold, with the maximum being 180,000,000 (79% of total token supply). Only sold and allocated tokens will be minted, thus there will be no need to ‘burn’ unsold tokens.
Token: PHOTON (PHT)
Token Type: ERC20
Price per Token: $0.12 USD (cryptocurrency equivalent at real-time exchange rates at time of transfer, time based discounts apply)
Total Token Supply: 230,000,000 PHT (100%)
Total Tokens Sold During both Pre/Main sale: 180,000,000 (79%)
Total Tokens Sold During Presale: 10,000,000 PHT (4%)
Presale Discount: 50%
Total Tokens sold During Main sale: 170,000,000 (75%)
Main sale Discount: 30% — 5% (Depending on time of purchase)
Token Reserved for Company -: 50,000,000 (21%) — Team (14%), Advisors (4%), Bounty (3%)
The Token Generation Event will take place right after the end of the Main Sale Event. It may take up to 60 days to distribute the PHOTON tokens to contributors.
Use of funds:
Photochain financing break down, source, Photochain whitepaper.
Project Concerns:
- Huge competition from centralised stock photograph companies i.e Adobe, Getty Images, Shutterstock.
- Volatility of the PHT token could be a problem for both buyers and sellers.
- No real use case for the PHOTON coin.
- Projected yearly revenue seems optimistic.
Areas for Improvement:
- Give the token real use cases, for example:
- Seller needs to hold X amount of PHOTON to sell X amount of images per month. This would ensure a percentage of tokens being held and not traded, thus decreasing circulating supply which in turn will increase token value.
- Allow buyers to use their PHOTON tokens for discounts on purchases, the tokens would be split between the seller (who requires additional PHOTON to increase the amount of images he/she is entitled to sell each month) and a community fund used to reward moderators/community.
- Onboard a shape shift function allowing the seller to lock in their desired price and remove volatility. Accompany this with a fiat gateway would increase the rate of adoption.
Our Opinion:
Photochain aims to revolutionize the stock photography market by utilising blockchain technology. The platform allows artists to rightfully receive 95% of the sale price for their work and creativity. With today’s companies passing on a measly 25% of the sale price, it’s easy to see how Photochain will be able to attract photographers and artists to their platform.
As artists receive the majority share from their work, it will allow them to sell their images cheaper than currently offered, consequently the market becomes more affordable for customers. This type of market not only benefits the users but also benefits the industry, as the likelihood of increased revenue for contributors will lead to better performance.
Stock images will always be required. So why not fairly reward contributors for their creativity by taking advantage of blockchain technology that allows us to deal directly with the people behind the images all the while saving us money at the same time?
Our Grades:
- Long Term 8/10
- Flipping 3/10 *
* Current market condition does not bode well for ico flipping.
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Written By Michael Gibb, Telegram @gibboh.
