Astronaut Capital takes exposure in the SelfKey token sale as its third ICO investment.

On the 08th of January, Astronaut Capital (ASTRO) released a report stating that they have become an investor in SelfKey (KEY). You can view the full report by clicking here.

Summary

SelfKey is a Hong Kong based company that has created an integrated platform for the management and use of personal identification. The platform utilizes the blockchain to store necessary information which can then be used for an array of different interconnected services such as Citizenship, financial services transactions and much more.

Company Overview

SelfKey has been in the ideation phase of the venture dating back to 2013 when the team began to create various solutions for identity verification and management. Since this time, SelfKey has released multiple consumer and B2B offerings in a bid to create an integrated identity system which can also act as a marketplace.

The team at SelfKey term the protocol developed as ‘Self-Sovereign Identity ‘ (SSID).

The launch of the SelfKey token sale comes at a time when secure and seamless identity management is in extremely high demand.

Commercial & Technical Strategy

SelfKey seeks to implement a significant amount of functionality by Q4 2018. We anticipate that some of the most disruptive aspects of the venture include those which are linked to applications of government issued services such as passports, residency services and more.

Referring to the information found in the whitepaper, there are multiple releases of each functionality from Alpha to Beta and finally commercial.

2018 Q1

SelfKey Desktop Alpha

Token Sale and Crypto marketplace

KEY used for notarization

2018 Q2

Support for cyrptocurrency transactions

Integration with crypto asset providers

Fully Electronic claims

2018 Q3

SelfKey Alpha launch

Government and Utility partnerships

Integration with Trusts Foundations, Residences and Passports

2018 Q4

SelfKey SDK

Fiat alternative for services

Roadmap

The roadmap is quite extensive and includes a high-level overview of the implementation strategy for 2019.

In brief, it consists of integration with a number of verticals such as precious metals purchase, digital wallets and other money transmission verticals.

The full roadmap can be viewed by clicking here.

Token Sale

Under the code KEY, SelfKey will be issuing ~6,000,000,000 tokens in total.

Crowd — Exactly 33% of tokens are offered through the crowd sale between three stages: Private, Presale and Public. Various bonus amounts are offered at these stages.

KEY Team — A total of 16.5% of tokens are allocated to the founding team. The whitepaper and documentation indicate that these tokens are vested for 1 year.

Reserve/long term expenses — A further 16.5% of tokens are said to be held as ‘reserve for long-term expenses.’ Discussions with management indicate that this amount works as a ‘buffer’ for longer term global market penetration.

Token Use

The KEY tokens that are issued have several use cases within the SelfKey ecosystem.

the token can be used for the application of services such as citizenship and residency

KEY can be utilized for company incorporation and business services

the tokens are also used for the verification of new services and KYC application for new token sales

Use of Proceeds

The use of proceeds indicates that the majority of funding will be utilized for ‘Growth Grants.’ Our interpretation of this is that this allocation refers to development costs, operational expenses and business development.

Team

The website and marketing material indicate that there are over 45 team members split across operations, legal and R&D.

Edmund Lowell (CEO): Edmund has been in the technology investment sphere since 2014 where he advised and invested in several tech startups. Since 2013, he has been the Founder and CEO of KYC-Chain, a blockchain startup focused on B2B KYC offerings.

Edmund To (Dev): Full stack software engineer specializing in blockchain solutions and smart contract development.

Advisors

There are a total of 26 advisors listed on SelfKeys material. We find that there are several quality names listed, however we would also say that the vast number can sometimes dilute the messaging and positioning of the venture.

Lester Lim: Blockchain investor and digital marketing strategist

Alexey Troshichev: Founder of Distributed Ledgers

Tim Frost: Founder of Taurus.vision

Strengths

SelfKey comes at a time where security and safe-management of personal data are of the utmost concern. Blockchain backed solutions that can safely store and manage personal information are in high demand.

The team has a long track-record of commercialization with the establishment of KYC-Chain, a B2B focused KYC service offering.

The functionality listed on the roadmap is extensive. Between token sale application, government document and residency application, and fiat money transfers, there is a large list of verticals that are accessible to the SelfKey marketplace.

The deal structure is favorable for token sale participants, particularly those contributing in the earlier stages. Community support and progress indicates a relatively fair max cap.

The team and advisory board seem to have adequate experience to successfully commercialize the product from both a technical and sales perspective.

We are impressed with the community support to date and the success of the private/presale of the KEY token sale.

Weaknesses

The vesting period for the management team of one year may be deemed as being ‘short’ in comparison to some other token sales. As a matter of preference, management tokens should be vested over a 2–4 year basis.

There is an allocation of 16.5% of tokens for future growth, operational costs etc. We are advised that this is a ‘buffer’ in the event that more capital is needed. In any event, this is a substantial amount of tokens to be kept in reserve when taking into consideration the amount being raised for OPEX.

Astronaut Investment Decision

Astronaut is attracted to SelfKey and their aspirations to become a leader in the identification sector.

For the reasons listed below, Astronaut has taken exposure to the SelfKey ICO:

A long history of commercialization and proven technology

Fast implementation of new functionality (Q1-Q4 2018)

Strong token sale support and a sufficient max-cap to achieve success

Astronaut acknowledges the presence of competitors in the industry that are seeking to develop somewhat similar solutions to SelfKey. The likes of Civic (CVC) have had enormous success with community support, market pricing and technical progress.

In Astronauts view, we believe that SelfKey presents a superior opportunity that has not been subject to the same level of PR and community exposure due to market timing.

With an experienced team, an extensive roadmap that is nearing commercialization and a favorable deal structure for participants, the Astronaut Investment Committee (IC) anticipate significant price appreciation and has chosen to invest in SelfKey (KEY) based on a medium/long-term outlook.