On 20 Jun, 2018Welcome to the Waltonchain Cryptocurrency Review. Interested in investing in cryptocurrency? Be sure to access our other cryptocurrency reviews!
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How Is Waltonchain Using Blockchain?
Waltonchain is developing a decentralized means of connecting the internet of things to their blockchain network via RFID chips. They will provide supply chain management and product management services using blockchain technology. This will take place in the following 4 steps:
- They will create Walton project specific RFID tags.
- A RFID beacon chip will be mass-produced and will be able to be used on clothing and other types of merchandise.
- These RFID tags will be used in manufacturing processes allowing producers to track production from start to finish.
- Consumers and stakeholders will begin using the data generated from the RFID chips to analyze and create new solutions and learn more about the products they are buying/creating.
The Waltonchain blockchain consists of a parent chain and sub chains (or side chains). The sub chains can have their own native tokens and can elect to use another consensus algorithm different from the parent chain. This allows the network to be more adaptable to use needs.
Incentive is created through the WTC byte fee that must be paid to use the network. Two accounting nodes will be established. One will set the minimum cost and another will determine the maximum cost of the byte fee. Once this criteria has been met the transaction can take place and is registered on the blockchain.
Let’s take a real world example that can demonstrate the power of the Waltonchain project. WTC will allow clothing stores to start printing RFID chips on tags and they will be attached to products. When a clerk scans the product a summary of data relevant to this product will be produced.
It might tell how the product ranks against some industry standard, where the product was developed, or how long the product has been at the location (or all of these). This type of information will empower consumers and allow producers to become more efficient in fulfilling customer needs.
Who Is Managing The Project?
Development Team
The project was co-founded by Do Sanghyuk and Xu Fangcheng. They are from South Korea and China respectfully.
Do Sanghuk is currently one of the Directors of the Korean Standardization Association. The KSA is a professional association dedicated to the implementation of quality control as it concerns industrial and consumer products. Through this effort the organization hopes to improve the economic condition of the country.
He also acts as Chairman of Korea NC Technology Co., Ltd. which is an IT Consulting firm that consults on electronic device implementation, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and Internet commerce. The company was founded in 1972 and is privately held.
Xu Fangcheng has a good deal of experience in the supply chain management space acting as the Director of Supply Chain Management at Septwolves. This company is a large tobacco and clothing merchandise producer in China.
He currently serves as the Board Chairman of Quanzhou Silicon which is a subsidiary of Silicon Group. National Silicon Industry Group manufactures semiconductor materials and equipment. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in China. Through it’s subsidiaries it continues to research and develop other relevant technologies and has strong ties to the Waltonchain project.
Kim Sukki is a lead team member and is leading the Internet of Things team at Waltonchain. He is a Doctor of Engineering Science and a former professor at the Korean University. A former Vice President at Samsung Electronics, Dr. Sukki has a wide range of experience in the field of electrical engineering and semi-conductor development.
Lastly, we have Zhu Yanping who is the Blockchain Lead for the project. Having graduated from National Cheng Kung University with a doctorate in engineering, Zhu has spent a large amount of time in the space. He currently serves as the Director of Information at National Chung Hsing University.
Partnerships and Other Influences
Waltonchain has been aggressive in establishing partnerships with existing businesses. This is very important as it allows their blockchain solution to become more widely adopted as compared to their competitors. Below is a list of the major partnerships they have established so far:
- Alibaba Cloud
- China Mobile IoT Alliance
- Xiamen Branch of China Telecom Corporation Limited
- Zhangzhou Branch of China Telecom Corporation Limited
- “Smart Oceans” blockchain R&D project with Fujian Provincial Government
- Air purification and smart monitoring project with Jinhu Provincial Government
- Taiwan Cloud and Fujian Provincial Government
- NIDS Sensor Technology
- Korea University engineering department
Will Waltonchain Find Success?
Competitors
As mentioned in the Wabi review, a blockchain supply chain management system is not a unique concept. There are a variety of projects that are in competition with Waltonchain. The following are major competitors:
- Vechain
- Ambrosus
- NEO
- Wabi
Competitive Advantages
- Walton differentiaites itself from its competition due to the manner in which the blockchain network will be implemented. Walton has patents on their specific RFID chips, which allows the blockchain to be implemented in the “foundational level”. They make their own chips and are very knowledgeable in that area.
- Competitors such as VeChain do not make their own chips. They outsource the hardware they use and ensure it is compatible with their blockchain via their application programming interface. In essence their blockchain is implemented several layers up in the application layer. This makes VeChain less decentralized and less secure.
- Waltonchain possess multiple government contracts to use their technology. They will help build smart cities, smart oceans, and smart air purification solutions if all goes to plan.
- The team has won multiple awards from the National Government of China for innovation. WTC has also received government subsidies for mass production of their RFID tags.
Risks
- Convincing more businesses to adapt WTC’s technology will be an issue in the future, particularly because RFID chips have been around for a long period of time. What is going to convince companies to start using WTC’s blockchain technology instead of just keeping their information on their local systems?
- Many businesses are wary of adopting new technologies due to the costs of implementation and the headaches that can come along with it. Many businesses subscribe to the theory of “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it”, meaning that if a business already has a solution in place that is working, why would they want to switch over
- Another concern is actually connecting with potential customers in other areas outside of Asia. Waltonchain already has a market presence which is very encouraging since it is one of the largest markets in the world. However, the WTC team must prove it can expand beyond its local presence before it can be considered a major player in this space.
- Waltonchain marketing team can be considered bit of a liability at this point. As part of a Valentines’ Day campaign, Waltonchain was giving away 2.14 WTC to 100 random winners. One of the lucky winners happened to be a Waltonchain employee. This wouldn’t have been an issue had the staffer not tweeted from the official Waltonchain Twitter account.
What Are the Network and User Trends Looking Like?
Keep in mind that some data may be difficult to acquire for cryptocurrencies that utilize blockchain networks that are less mature. If data is incomplete or assumptions are being made it will be clearly stated in this section.
Transactions
There has been a total 94,262 executed transactions since inception. The token was made available for trading on Binance at the end of August. That means that there has been roughly 5 months of activity. This comes out to be about 19,000 transactions per month.
We expect this amount to increase at WTC gets more exposure. It needs to be understood that once WTC’s main network is launched users of the network will be transacting in the token more frequently. This is when we will see the limits of the WTC blockchain network.
New User Adoption
Currently there are about 20,500 unique wallet addresses that are holding WTC. As the project gains more of a following this will be an important number to look at. If the amount of unique wallet addresses is increasing at a steady pace it means more investors are looking at the project.
Community Growth
The brand is becoming more well known but the marketing efforts are lacking compared to other tokens. The team rebranded earlier this year but is still falling behind when it comes to international brand recognition.
For example, WTC has roughly 40% of the Reddit subscribers as its main competitor Vechain. The same goes for Twitter. These platforms are big in the crypto arena. Potential investors come to these places to learn more about the project and understand if it is a good investment opportunity. Waltonchain needs to do a better job of marketing itself and growing its community.
What’s The Verdict?
Waltonchain’s purpose is to provide supply chain management and product management services through their blockchain technology and patented RFID chips.
This is not an entirely unique idea as we can see by the number of competitors in the blockchain space that are working on similar solutions. So does this mean that WTC is destined to fail? Not quite!
It is our opinion that WTC has a solid development team and has established a number of great partnerships in Asia. Their blockchain solution and hardware is also slightly different from their competitions which gives them a “leg up”. Although there are some risks associated with the project and reasons to be concerned, it is evident that Waltonchain has a promising future in this space.
We are looking for the project to market itself more aggressively and this includes reinventing its website and hiring a more serious marketing team. As long as the team can iron out some issues that are associated with these areas Waltonchain can establish themselves as a major force in the international blockchain space in 2018.
