CryptoCurve

This episode of ICO101 was a paid ICO preview conducted by host Aaron Paul. The following blog is the accompanying write up by CRYPTO101 writer Ryan LaMonica and reflects his own assessment of the project in question.

“Blockchain carries the potential to shape industry, privacy, security, and the global economy, but it currently lacks an easy entry point, which has delayed adoption.”

-Commercial paper for CryptoCurve’s Curve Wallet-

Ahead of their ICO at the end of this month, it’s a great time to share some quick thoughts on the team over at CryptoCurve and their work to build a complete blockchain ecosystem for investors, developers, and businesses. Aiming to spread the benefits of the technology through wider adoption that is driven by a seamless customer experience, the CryptoCurve team is focused on three core products: Curve Wallet, Curve SDK, and Curve Labs. Let’s take a closer look!
 

Curve Wallet

I feel inclined to reference this part of Curve’s product trifecta as the flagship offering, but maybe it’s just a gateway service to the ambitiously envisioned ‘better tomorrow’ that they’re marketing? The Curve Wallet will be a multi-chain platform that facilitates cross-chain transactions and smart contract functionality. Similar to other wallets applications, the Curve Wallet will afford both seasoned and newb investors alike an opportunity to purchase, track, trade, and sell compatible cryptocurrencies.
 

Will we be able to connect our Curve Wallets to our bank accounts or credit cards? Yes, and quite easily with their fiat gateways. Will the Curve track our portfolio transactions and produce an accurate, user-friendly record for tax purposes? Yes.

Sounds good, but these features match up well with other wallet options – where is the Curve Wallet trying to differentiate itself?

• Security
  • Key Storage Flexibility – let CryptoCurve store it or design your own custom options for keystore files
  • Beneficiaries – think of this as a self-curated contact list with privatized trust scores and blacklisting notification for fraudulent accounts
  • Multi-Sig Capability – users who share approval rights for single accounts can now enjoy a trustless, smart contract experience
  • Mobile OTP – a ‘pushed’ authorization request for MFA that is alleged to be less cumbersome than more traditional 2FA methods
  • Biometric Data – fingerprints, face recognition, voice recognition, and vocal seed phrases
• Investing
  • ICO Hosting – investors can access ICO’s and…ICO’s can access investors
  • KYC/AML – you know that annoying ICO registration process? These third-party compliance partnerships will mean you only have to go through it once 
  • Staking – by staking or locking away their CURV tokens, participants will earn coins from ICO’s launched on the platform in proportion to their staked amount
  • Pooling – with a 10,000 CURV investment (approximately $2,000 USD), a participant can create a custom ICO pool and invite other platform users to join, pledge, and participate 
• Trading
  • Decentralized Exchange – the Curve will integrate with the 0x protocol, implementing an off-chain order relay with on-chain settlement
  • Exchange integration – users will be able to add their current supported exchanges
  • Instant and Low-Fee Transactions 
  • Nuke Button – market too volatile? This feature will allow users to instantly convert any/all holdings into BTC, ETH, or a stable coin
• Accounting
  • No fees for sending coins/tokens within platform

Nuke Button? (image via Japan Times) 

Some of these features are not unique to the Curve Wallet, but CryptoCurve’s goal of full functionality with cross-chain compatibility is commendable. The potential for connecting investors who (can easily) participate in staking and pooling with new projects and their ICO’s is tantalizing but this will require a healthy churn of new clients. CryptoCurve is wise to place a top priority on security and could benefit greatly if their end-to-end approach is successfully implemented at all levels (communication, processing, and storage).
 

Curve SDK

Here is where the broader vision of CryptoCurve gets interesting and expands beyond their first customer demographic (investors). With Curve SDK (software developer’s kit), the company hopes to cultivate a blockchain melting pot that they see as a critical step in the wider adoption of the technology as a whole.  Think of the Curve SDK as an agent or broker for dApp developers. The service would be a business partner who will worry about finding the latest technologies, options, or methods for the developer to use in their individual pursuits. This would be a remarkable service in its own right, but CryptoCurve takes it a step further – they want to relieve the developer of their burden to account for disparate domain requirements in their designs. And they plan to do so by making the CryptoCurve API technology agnostic with a standardized infrastructure that can integrate any product (or future product!) through modularization. 

I would encourage you to review CryptoCurve’s white paper and follow their carefully drawn diagrams (with fundamental, play-by-play explanations) as they walk you through the problem(s) they are trying to solve and their proposed solutions. State-driven blockchain? Cluster pools? It’s all there, in its full glory – ready for your enjoyment (depending on your appetite for such things). Generally speaking, CryptoCurve seeks to keep their partners’ dApp design options in a perfectly agile state by allowing for the insertion of domain-specific architecture modules into CryptoCurve’s standard, plug-and-play API.

Behold, a cluster pool! (image via CryptoCurve White Paper 1.0) 

Curve Labs

Continuing in their projected role as an industry power broker, the Curve Labs service will serve as a one-stop shop to connect clients with existing CryptoCurve partners. These will include experienced blockchain startup accelerators who can help fresh projects “reach their potential” with support in the following critical areas:

• Technical support
• Funding
• Legal guidance
• Business development
• Marketing
• Public relations

Summary

CryptoCurve’s product and services offering is ambitious, plain and simple. They are aiming for the moon, which is not a bad thing. We’ve all been hoping to go anyways, and their drive is fueled by a desire to help us get there by addressing some fundamental challenges in the crypto/blockchain community:

• Security
• Cost
• Establishing best practices
• Access
• Reliability
• Cross-chain compatibility
• Standardization
• User experience
• Speed
• Scalability
• Technology agnostic
• Community networking

Questions will persist as the team navigates their ICO on 10/30 and dashes toward the next milestone on their timeline. With three product lines to nurture, resource allocation may become a challenge as customers’ needs fluctuate with market conditions. Are wallet-users interested in investment opportunities? Are cross-chain transactions in high demand? Will fresh projects view Curve Wallet users as a desirable, organic audience? Some of these issues present a significant ‘chicken-and-egg’ conundrum, so it will be interesting to see how they play out. 

Dynamic times for any initiative requires strong leadership. CryptoCurve seems to have a seasoned executive team that boasts rich experience across multiple industries – government, military, tech, and retail to name a few. This diversity is unique and is evident in the team’s inclusion of best practices and standards as a part of their vision. The use of best practices is, well…a best practice in most established industries and market places. Just the type of thing that an immature industry like crypto needs to succeed! It drives forward progress and creates an environment of mutual success without sacrificing the benefits of competition. Standardization can strengthen consumer confidence while also facilitating the type of interchangeability (modularization!) that CryptoCurve’s platform and underlying infrastructure model will depend on. It’s a win-win. 

Finally, the high priority being placed on security is a critical aspect of their wallet deployment, and any resulting boost in user adoption will only have positive ramifications for developers and entrepreneurs who have also engaged with Curve. Will they find themselves one step closer to their end-users? It makes sense, and that is just what the CryptoCurve team is trying to achieve: “…an integration point between users, third-party technologies, and foundational technology so as to democratize financial fairness, promote financial freedom, and drive global adoption of blockchain technology.”  
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About the author: Ryan LaMonica is a management consultant and blockchain enthusiast with a background in engineering, energy, marketing, and risk management. The views reflected in this article are his own and do not reflect those of his employer. He currently resides outside of Atlanta, Georgia where he and his wife manage the energy and risk of their four amazing children.

You can follow Ryan on Twitter, @ryanlamonica.