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Stratis Update & Clarifications









In retrospect, considering the nature of my Stratis report (and the prospect that it might ruffle some feathers), I should have more carefully edited the earlier piece. I allowed my tight weekend schedule, ‘wanting to get it out’, and not appreciating the level of scrutiny it would receive affect both my structural crafting and attention to detail. I will endeavor to not make that same mistake again.









While I stand by the report, for those interested there are a few points which I would like to clarify and address before I (for real!) move on from the topic of this coin.





1) I was guilty of 3 misspellings of Stratis





For those who don’t know, stratus with a u is the name of a cloud type (which is in my MS-word dictionary ). It didn’t get picked up on the spell-check nor did I notice it when I proofread. My bad. Dumb mistake which certainly doesn’t help build credibility.





That being said, as someone interested in facts and ideas, to dismiss someone’s arguments based on typos being present (without regard for the content) is not something I would personally do. In general, I think that both my grammar and sentence structure are of a sufficient grade that you can ‘cut me some slack’. If you’re of a different mind, that’s entirely your call.





2) I focused on the whitepaper and website, rather than exploring the slack/developer community





This is absolutely true, and was done purposefully.





modestly informed investment decision. In my experience, whitepapers are not meant to be marketing pieces attempting to baffle an uninformed reader with nonsensical but professional-sounding jargon and name/term-dropping. Unfortunately, I see the whitepaper and website as little more than a smoke and mirrors pitch attempting to build confidence in the ‘value of the coin’. The fact that the website is itself a massive sales-pitch for people to buy the coin (rather than for anyone to seriously consider adopting a technology) in my mind puts the onus on the site itself to offer sufficient information to make even ainformed investment decision. In my experience, whitepapers aremeant to be marketing pieces attempting to baffle an uninformed reader with nonsensical but professional-sounding jargon and name/term-dropping. Unfortunately, I see the whitepaper and website as little more than a smoke and mirrors pitch attempting to buildfidence in the ‘value of the coin’.





I do not deny that there may be very intelligent people working on the technical aspects of the Stratis blockchain. But this alone is insufficient to warrant people investing in it – especially when no one seems able to articulate why there is or may be value.





To see this, you need look no further than the ‘interview’ with the CEO.









He claims It has ‘technical value’ – a term which seems to mean nothing other than there are smart people involved. He claims It has ‘technical value’ – a term which seems to mean nothing other than there are smart people involved.





He claims It has value because it’s gone up in price. Presented without comment. He claims It has valuePresented without comment.





He says Stratis is taking ‘first movers advantage’ – of which I see no evidence whatsoever. If there is a function that Stratis has that other coins don’t already have (and that are further along in development) I would like to know. If Stratis is a ‘first mover’ in getting commercial adoption (with apparently no customers and a commercial salesforce consisting of an email submission form) then I would like to know. He says Stratis is taking ‘first movers advantage’ – of which I see no evidence whatsoever. If there is a function that Stratis has that other coins don’t already have (and that are further along in development) I would like to know. If Stratis is a ‘first mover’ in getting commercial adoption (with apparently no customers and a commercial salesforce consisting of an email submission form) then I would like to know.





He said it has an important value propositions to clients. Much like the whitepaper and everywhere else, he offers zero in the way of support or example. He said it has an important value propositions to clients. Much like the whitepaper and everywhere else, he offers zero in the way of support or example.





3) On shorting/trading/exchanges





My carelessness was perhaps most obvious here, as I did a poor job of expressing myself.





As I’ve mentioned before, I personally like to ask ‘cui bono’? or latin for ‘who benefits?’ when analyzing a fact pattern. I stated that I had not shorted the coin to try and demonstrate that I did not (and do not) have any motivation to opine on Stratis and try to ‘push it down’. I’m not sure the same can be said for those who reacted so vociferously.(While I have a reasonably thick skin, I take no pleasure in receiving angry and epithet laden messages.)





can keep a lid on pump and dump scams as they (at the very least) make it a more capital intensive and riskier exercise to ‘paint the tape’. As far as I know, there is no ability to short (bet-against) Stratis on the exchanges. Given how thin and volatile crypto-markets can be, I don’t know that I would recommend doing so even if there was. That being said, I find it curious that for a coin with a ‘market cap’ in the hundreds of millions, no holder has invited the exchange to allow them to earn more on their holdings by lending the coins out. Of the top 10 coins by market cap, I count only 2 that are not shortable – Stratis being one. While short-sellers often get a bad rap, theykeep a lid on pump and dump scams as they (at the very least) make it a more capital intensive and riskier exercise to ‘paint the tape’.





I also basically ignored the obvious action someone might take if they were a Stratis holder and agreed with my viewpoint - and that is to sell their coins. I am reluctant to tell anyone to sell (or buy) anything – not only because I’m not interested in that role but because I felt badly that someone would be ‘on the other side’ of the trade. I see now that my trepidation to address this caused unnecessary confusion.





There is apparently an investor base eager to willingly and knowingly assume ownership of Stratis coins despite the arguments I (and others) have made. To them I wish good luck. Whether Stratis ultimately goes up or down, they will have earned their returns.





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Finally, I’m very grateful to the many appreciate and supportive messages I received. If you're

researching Stratis more, I suggest you check out some of the very thoughtful responses and posts

people on Reddit shared.





To people who weren’t so friendly, I ask that we please try and keep it civil. I have no interest in

censoring anyone over anything, and haven't touched any of the comments. At least for me though,

when profanity and even racial epithets are used, it’s difficult to focus on any of the qualitative

aspects to the message.





I'm looking forward to now getting into the nitty-gritty of my next report which will be a valuation for a coin - about which many people have asked me.





Best Regards,

Izzy













