Name: Mattereum
Token Symbol: unknown
Web: https://www.mattereum.com/
GitHub: https://github.com/mattereum
Documentation: Working Paper (there is no White paper), Презентация
ICO status : private sale will be held until the end of 2018
The company was established in 2017 and registered in the UK. The project is going to issue tokens, which are based on the Ethereum format ERC‐20. The exact dates of the token sale, the trading Ticker and the price of the token, the limits for the purchase are still unknown.
Project Summary
The project creates a platform for managing Internet agreements, where users can enter into contracts for the purchase of any goods or services around the world. For example, you can buy a house or rent a car in any country through the Metterum platform. If you are from Russia and want to rent a car during vacation in Spain, and conclude the lease contract on the platform Mattereum, you will be able to apply to the Spanish court and show them a contract in a textual form in case of problems.
This is possible thanks to the so‐called Ricardian contracts — the method of digital recording of the document as a legal contract with reference to the accounting systems in which it will have a legal force. Such a contract is a digitally signed document, which is verified by cryptographic methods, confirming the conclusion of an agreement between the parties.
In fact, we are talking about a system of digitization documents with the ability to read them in electronic and text form and without the possibility of retroactive changes. Thanks to this, the contracts concluded on the platform can have a legal force, as well as any contract concluded with a notary. So far, the legal field for the using of Ricardian contracts has not been fully developed in court, but in the future, in case of disputes, a smart contract will be able to delegate its decision to two systems: a smart contract for online transactions and an arbitration court for offline transactions.
The global mission of the project is to create a new Internet of contracts: digital documents that have legal force and connection with the real world. Besides the contracts for the sale and lease, Mattereum will allow to enter into contracts for licensing of intellectual property and the provision of professional services.
The idea of automating any operations on a decentralized platform through the smart contracts has already been implemented on the Ethereum platform. The founders of Matereum went further: in fact, they plan to change the world practice of commercial transactions, transferring the entire document flow and registration of ownership on the blockchain. The idea of the project looks grandiose and seems to be very popular in the future of the next 5 – 10 years.
Project Team and Advisors
For projects that declare such the global goals, it is very important who will be responsible for their implementation. There are 6 people on the site; titles of positions are not indicated, but their area of responsibility is described.
Vinay Gupta — in Metareum he is responsible for corporate strategy, vision, relationships with partners, external communications and reputation. He is known for his work on the Ethereum blockchain, he was also an architect at the Consensus System. The information is confirmed. He has pumped profiles on Twitter and on the Medium, he presented as the speaker on the Blockchain ExpoGlobal — 2019. There are some publications in Forbes about him. He also conducts charity work on the Hexayurt project.
Rob Knight is an entrepreneur, software engineer, architect, and chief technical director, responsible for the overall management of the Mattereum. He was a technology project Manager at Royal Mail, Post Office and ITV, developing software for BBC Worldwide. There’s not much information in the Internet, but it’s confirmed.
Ian Grieg — chief scientific officer Mattereum. A well‐known cryptographer who has been working in this field since 1995. Ian invented Ricardian contracts, that can bind legal contracts to a digital asset, which are the basis of the Mattereum. He worked with Dan Larimer on the EOS. Ian is the author of a famous example of a triple entry bookkeeping, which was published in 2005. It is believed that this example could be used by Satoshi Nakamoto in the development of the concept of the first decentralized cryptocurrency — bitcoin.
The team is small, but it seems very strong. The company has partners: Ocean Protocol, Sweetbridge and others.
Friendliness to the Investors
The project website is available in English. There is also a Twitter account and a channel on the Medium, the main chat in Telegrams (about 6000 subscribers), as well as a very small official group, but the administrators in the Telegram appear rarely. In general, the friendliness to investors is low. At the time of publication, it was not possible to get answers either in chat or in private messages.
Positive Indicators
- There is a promising idea
— The project has worked since 2017 year
— The strong team
— The reasonable using of blockchain
Negative Indicators
- There is no information about tokens, their role in the project, cost, details of the token sale in Working Paper (for some reason it is called White Paper). The business model is also not described deep enough.
— Doubtful friendliness to investors
— The project is long‐term; prospects for short‐term investors are unclear.
Summing Up
We put 9 of 10
The project has made a good impression thanks to a very promising idea and a strong team; only a lack of information spoils the picture. The project has been developing since 2017 at its own expense; most likely, the team recently decided to attract additional funding for the ICO, so there is nothing about the token sale on the website and in the documents. Long‐term investors should take a closer look at the Mattereum; for short‐term investors, the prospects are not yet clear, because the project could be delayed in several years. It is hoped, that the team will soon clarify all the unclear points.
No Comment