Other models such as Proof-of-Stake (PoS) are being developed. Take ETH as an example, where the shift to PoS is about to be implemented, as its founders have already spotted the weakness of PoW. We can’t expect this model to be sustainable in its current form in the coming years.

Large mining farms have taken the lead, and the average Joe left with his small mining rigs has to switch to other cryptocurrencies.

The shift is about to happen.

Sooner or later, we will get to the point where not just the average Joes but also larger farms will seek an alternative use for their hardware.

iExec introduces us to a system called Proof of Contribution, which creates a perfect opportunity for people to monetise their infrastructure.

The Proof of Contribution is something that particularly draws our attention. After all, this will be the shield protecting the users, just like a bulletproof vest.

Just like a vest made of hard Kevlar consists of many different layers, the Proof of Contribution is a complex composition of different protocols and mechanisms from all over the cryptospace. Any malicious attempt at faking a contribution in order to claim illegitimate rewards would not come to fruition, thanks to Proof-of-Stake protocol (used by Peercoin), a 14-day backward mutability window (used by Gridcoin), spotchecking and a reputation mechanism.

There is no mining involved because the RLC (iExec’s tokens) are already minted. Simply by renting computing power, the machine owners are being paid in RLC by those who need that extra power.

The infrastructure for iExec is already out there and the shift is about to happen.

As investors, we are being given a fantastic opportunity to buy these utility tokens dirt cheap and watch how their value grows as the demand for iExec service increases.

The Beauty of iExec

It was 9 March 2016. Two man sat in front of each other with a board game in between them. Hundreds of thousands people were staring at the TV screens. Not a single word was spoken either by them or the audience.

It was a match between world champion Lee Sedol and computer program AlphaGo in a board game of Go.

(Left: AlphaGo Team Member who placed the stones the AI proposed. Right: Lee Sedol, considered the top Go player of the past decade.)

This tournament was a breakthrough in AI science, as AlphaGo’s win surprised everyone, including Elon Musk and scientists who thought that AI beating a professional Go player was still 10 years away.

AlphaGo’s victory was an eye-opening moment for many companies all over the world, proving that the future is here. Today, if you look up the projects in the crypto space, you see many of them covering AI in their pitch.

However, AI requires heavy computing power.

AlphaGo, in order to calculate the best possible moves during one game, required as much as 1202 CPUs and 176 GPUs. That is a ton of infrastructure and is not cheap.

AI companies, especially in the crypto space, will wonder whether to buy this type of hardware on their own, putting a lot of money into it and therefore probably losing their decentralisation status, or simply rent the computing power on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Companies like these can focus on developing and polishing their AI algorithms while not having to worry about their growing need for infrastructure.

For us, the road to choose is simple. And it will be for those companies as well.

Discovering the French Team

We couldn’t be more excited to tell you about this brilliant crew behind iExec. Unlike any other, it has 6 PhDs on the board with similar backgrounds in distributed systems and cloud computing.

One of our most important findings were the publications of the CEO, Gilles Fedak, in which he describes global computing models and using unused computing resources back in the year 2000. That’s some real Nostradamus-level prediction skills!

The fact that 18 years later he keeps working on the same concept makes us confident that we are investing in the right people who are dedicating their lives to their visions.

Together with Haiwu Hu, who is a professor at the Computer Network Information Center at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing with more than 30 scientific papers published, we believe these two are the perfect fit to lead a project such as iExec.

With their reputation and expertise, the iExec team is one of the most solid teams in the crypto space.

Their goal is to create a working product first and then present it to the world, not the other way around. We could not be happier with this plan for two reasons: the first is that they clearly show us that they are not yet another greedy project in the crypto space. Secondly, we have time to accumulate more as the token is still traded under the radar.

Supercomputer

Two hundred and fifty million dollars.

That’s a lot of money.

That’s what a supercomputer can cost.

And that’s without mentioning the six to seven million dollars in annual maintenance costs.

What if we told you that you could save almost all of that money and put it to better use?

iExec is essentially going to save that sum multiple times over.

Imagine how big of an impact this will have, on both the crypto space and on all the science and research that requires insane amounts of computing power to simulate complex processes, from nuclear fusion to the detection of tsunamis to the anticipation of upcoming hurricanes.

There are a lot of scientists wanting to use a supercomputer for their research. For example, every six months Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory gets around 20 to 25 proposals from different national laboratories and accepts only about 10 of them.

Humanity could really use some additional computing power for the greater good of saving lives. For instance, this could be achieved through better mechanisms of early warning before an incoming tsunami or a hurricane. This and many other use cases will be possible with iExec. Investing in a project that potentially can save millions of lives? It doesn’t get much better than that!

How iExec Will Conquer the Market

Step 1: Community Edition

Currently, the first version of iExec is already in use, as DApps can access off-chain computing resources. There are already 15 DApps in their DAppStore and 15 more are upcoming after being granted part of the $150,000 prize from iExec to teams with the most potential. In February, a challenge took place where anyone could pitch their DApp idea to iExec. Out of 37 participants, 15 were granted up to $20,000 to reach their milestones. An additional $10,000 is still to be granted for one or two DApps to implement the ideas that the iExec team has in mind.

The team announced that this was the first edition of the iExec DApp Challenge. This implies more upcoming editions, with every edition getting more attention than the one before. Every new project and every new DApp will not only increase awareness around the project, but also the price of the RLC tokens, since the utilisation of iExec’s environment obviously involves spending them.

That’s what we call encouragement to help build a diverse and complementary ecosystem. This proves that the team has their marketing on the right track, and also ensures that such challenges will make iExec noticeable among other projects.

According to their roadmap, the iExec team plans to release their V2 in the second quarter of this year.. As our reader, you’ve got an amazing opportunity to stock up before this project gathers more attention in the anticipation of the launch.

The market network is about to be released. It will utilise the Proof-of-Contribution algorithm to enable the first users to connect their hardware to the first decentralised cloud and earn RLC tokens.

Within V2, a Pay-per-Task scheme is being introduced. In this step, the creators can monetise their work.

Think of Adobe Photoshop. Not long ago, in order to get an original copy of Photoshop, you had to buy it in a physical store, in a plastic box with a handful of CDs inside.

Thankfully, these days are gone. Not only do we not have to make in-store purchases, but we can also get access to the program using the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model.

Now imagine that you could pay for Photoshop only when you needed it.

This model would surely have a large pool of adopters who will utilise these resources, but the upcoming years will verify whether SaaS and PpT can coexist with each other or whether SaaS will be replaced with PpT.

iExec will be the precursor to the new Pay-per-Task model.

We strongly believe the PpT will bring traction to the iExec marketplace and stimulate the value of the RLC token.

Step 2: Enterprise Edition

This edition consists of three versions and its aim is to establish a full market network that is profitable for a wide range of businesses.

V2

Application and server providers are the first group that will be addressed and able to profit from the launch of the marketplace in the V2. Users will be able to launch the classic open source applications that require a ton of computing power.

Think about 3D rendering software, biomedical research, mathematics and finance as the typical industries for the applications that could run on the market network.

As far as small cloud and home server providers are concerned, they will be able to rent their servers and mining rigs and create an additional revenue stream for their business. This stage is the beginning phase of making it possible for the iExec early adopters to monetise their resources.

The V2 release is planned for 31st May 2018, and we see this date as a breakthrough in the crypto timeline.

The question is, are you going to be on board before that?

So far, the iExec team has stuck to their roadmap by delivering their promises on time. We strongly believe that they will not face any major obstacles and V2 will be released in a timely manner.

V3

In V3, data providers will join the iExec marketplace. What’s more, businesses will now receive full control over the private employment of their computing resources. As a consequence, this version will bring new DApps to the market network, which require a higher level of trust. This will result in strengthening the revenue stream for iExec.

V4

V4 opens its doors to miners who would like to become part of the market network and offer true supercomputing power, which we already mentioned. Currently, the mining farms rely on monetising their GPU resources with a computing blockchain consensus. By joining the iExec marketplace, they will be able to access a new market of blockchain-based High Performance Computing applications. Consequently, they will be better able to utilise their resources and increase their revenue by reaching new customers.

Step 3: Research Edition

As you probably have already realised, use cases for the technology that iExec brings into the world go far beyond DApps. They are just the beginning, a springboard if you will.

It’s true that many existing problems can be tackled with this innovative approach, but just think about all the problems that we haven’t yet faced. All the technologies that we didn’t think were possible until now. With inventions like virtual reality, the Internet of Things and smart cities becoming popular, the demand for higher computation power will rise significantly in the coming years.

Luckily for us, we will have already invested in the most popular tool used for cloud computing 3 years ahead of time, since the deadline for this final step is set for mid-summer of 2021. By that time, if you stay patient and smart, you just might find yourself sipping a delicious cocktail, laying under a palm tree, and listening to the calm and steady sound of the waves. And you can be even more sure of it by investing in iExec today.