On 29 July 2019, Picolo Research released an independent review report on WINk(WIN). View the full report here.

A Premier Blockchain Gaming Platform with 3k+ Daily Users and $7.5m Daily Volume

WINk is creating a premier gaming platform facilitated by TRON’s blockchain for users to game, gamble and socialize. Through its innovative token design and incentive mechanisms, developers will be able to focus on creating their dApps without worrying about operations, maintenance and user adoption. Rebranded from TRONbet, WINk is a live platform with thousands of daily active users (DAUs), ranking them one of the top dApps in the market.

Company Overview

Incorporated in 2018, TRONbet was the first dApp to be launched on TRON. Given its growth in the past year, the project took a strategic move to rebrand TRONbet as WINk. Leveraging TRON network, WINk will be able to provide scalability, minimal transaction costs, liquidity and adoption, all across a truly decentralized nature.

Here are several issues the project seeks to resolve:

Inefficiencies with centralized gaming platforms, such as trust, transparency and custody of funds

Gaming platform with integration across multiple blockchain ecosystems

Insufficient development tools for the creation of gaming dApps

Limited content discovery of individual gaming dApps

Regulatory compliance

User adoption and community growth of dApps

Commercial & Technical Strategy

WINk seeks to provide a premium gaming experience for both developers and users. In comparison to a traditional gaming platform, WINk utilises blockchain technology to create a trustless environment, with an aim to be a leader in the blockchain gaming sector. Tapping on both TRON and TRONbet communities, the project also has access to existing players and new users, which will enable WINk to drive adoption of their platform.

Several core features of the platform include:

Platform is Live and rank top among gambling dApps with 3,600+ daily active users (past 90d) and USD 7.5m in volume (past 90d)

Auditable smart contracts to ensure fairness and transparency of game outcomes

Self-custody of funds as compared to depositing into centralised platforms

A sense of ownership as users will earn rewards in tokens for playing

Wide variety of games across their applications

— DICE (Dice, Moon, Ring, Duel)

— LIVE (Slots, Table Games)

— RAKE (Poker)

— Sportsbook (coming soon)

A suite of tools for developers including the platform, system maintenance, users, mining systems, social features, identity management, wallets, and dApp store

Availability of payment rails for in-app purchase using iOS and Andriod

Fully regulated with Curacao and Costa Rica gaming licenses

WINk Ecosystem

Moon Game on WINk

Roadmap

WINk has a simple roadmap with minimal mention on past developments. Unlike protocol projects, it is heavily skewed towards adoption and growth, as the platform is currently live.

Team

The project has kept the team information private, with details only provided by Binance Research. Overall, the team comprises of 19 employees with the following roles:

2 Head of Product, 1 Product Manager

1 Head of Operation and BD, 1 Planning Supervisor, 2 Operations

1 Head of Technical, 1 Technical Supervisor, 2 Technical Developers

5 Back-end / Front-end developers

1 UI & Visual Designer

1 Testing Engineer

1 Smart Contract Developer

Token Sale

WINk raised a total of $10m in a seed round for 15% of the tokens. Total token supply is fixed with 20% allocated to all funding rounds.

The main token functionalities of WIN are of 6 folds:

Staking — Users will be able to earn rewards when holding WIN tokens

Currency/ payment transaction — WINs circulated on the network will be used as a unit of exchange

Airdrops — Access to airdrops on the WINk platform

Governance — Tokens can be used to participate in the governance of the platform

Discounts & Benefits — Tokens holders have access to direct discounts and better payouts

Exclusive opportunities — WIN token holders will get a chance to participate in special events or promotions

Partnerships

WINk has several existing partnerships that range from desktop and mobile wallets, exchanges and dApp information platforms, which are mainly blockchain or TRON related. In the beginning, the team seeks to work closely with TRON to leverage its network to grow the ecosystem, which includes:

User acquisition channels — With TRON existing and upcoming partnerships, WINk will be exposed to a pool of over 300m users worldwide

Decentralized financial products — Integration of stablecoins, microloans, payment on-ramps, and an easy on-boarding process will generate value for the platform

Decentralised development infrastructure — Affiliation to decentralised products such as BitTorrent File System (BTFS) and SUN network provides new development possibilities for the adoption of WINk’s games

Nevertheless, there are currently limited mentions on industry-specific partnerships such as gaming-related companies, casino or sports betting partners, IP holders, publishers, and dApp Developers. Albeit that, 9% of tokens have been allocated for partnerships with the project currently in talks with several potential partners.

Community Engagement / Social Media

Unlike most other projects, WINk has an established community base from its TRONbet platform before the rebranding. In order to incentivise their existing community, the team will take a two-prong approach:

Airdrops will be conducted monthly across a 3 year period to TRX, BTT, ANTE (previous TRONbet token), and dApp token holders.

A RainDrop mechanism will be implemented daily where TRX is distributed proportionally to users who stake WIN tokens.

In terms of social media usage, most communications by the project are done over two main media platforms, namely Telegram and Twitter. There are no official blogs or medium articles to address the project’s technical and business development progress.

Here are the project social media statistics as per the report date:

Telegram (English) — 8,000+ members

Twitter — 10,800+ followers

Reddit — 153 Members

Medium — NA

Facebook — NA

Youtube — NA

Competitor Analysis

dApp ranking comparison

Relative to gambling dApps, WINk is currently ranked number 1 in both daily active users (DAU) and transaction volumes (USD), across a 90d period. The platform has seen a steady growth of users YTD from 2,000+ (Q1 2019) to 3,000+ (Q2 2019).

Secondary Market Analysis

Strengths

Platform is Live and ranks no. 1 amongst gambling dApps, with 2.5x higher DAU and 24x higher daily volumes as compared to 2nd place project, across a 90d period

Existing community base signifies real-use case and adoption

Gaming license obtained from Curacao and Costa Rica

Ability to leverage on TRON’s relationships, network, userbase and partnerships

Strong short-term potential and hype generate from Binance Launchpad listing

Weaknesses

Unable to verify team information on public career profile pages, with the exception of names and titles provided by Binance

Product easily replicable with a low barrier of entry for newcomers

Incompleteness in several segments of the Whitepaper

Limited information on investors from prior rounds

Inadequate gaming and gambling-related partnerships

Initial market cap higher than peers with the project having the highest valuation ($120m on a diluted basis) in contrast to all launchpad projects to date

Opportunities

Blockchain Gambling versus Traditional Gambling Platforms — There are several issues with traditional gambling platforms such as hidden data on winnings and payouts, centralized storage of funds, restricted accessibility and exposure to frauds. The introduction of blockchain not only provides solutions to these issues but also generates additional benefits for the entire industry.

Increased transparency as records will be stored on a blockchain ledger

Increased accessibility through decentralization

Reduce the risk of centralized fund storage as funds are stored in users own wallet

Fraud reduction with the implementation of smart contracts

Paying with cryptocurrency reduces operational costs and eliminate intermediaries

Anonymity using blockchain technology as users do not have to share personal information]

Threats

Low barrier of entry allows traditional online gambling platforms to enter the market, cannibalising WINk’s market share

High dependency on TRON increase interdependency and could affect WINk’s token price and project developments

Conclusion

In conclusion, Picolo Research presents an ‘Avoid’ and 2.5 stars rating on WINk. Despite having a live platform, the project does not offer a significant differentiating factor against its competitors. Numerous information and data regarding the project have also been kept private with several segments of the whitepaper incomplete, of which appears to be released in a rushed manner.

Overall, for the reasons listed, Picolo highlights several reasons that affirm our rating:

Low barrier of entry with little differentiation factor allows traditional competitors to enter the market easily

No public information on the team, with the exception of short-form names provided by Binance Research

Limited information on prior round investors coupled with inadequate gaming partners

Highest valuation ($120m) project as compared to previous launchpad listings

Not withstanding the above, Picolo acknowledges several strengths of WINk. The platform is currently ranked 1st among gambling dApps, boasting an existing user base with real-use case and adoption. The project will be able to utilize TRON relationships, communities and partners to provide multiple channels for network growth. Furthermore, the project has been vetted by Binance, which adds to its credibility.

Overall, in light of the preceding, Picolo Research affirms an ‘Avoid’ rating on WINk in the long-term, as we believe there are several risks associated with the project.