Ticker: RVN
Current supply: 3.08 billion
Maximum supply: 21 billion
Current price: $0.025
Recommended exchange: Binance or Bittrex
As you all know, most of my focus has been on pure cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, nano, vertcoin and decred.
One area I’ve been keeping a close eye on, however, is digital asset creation and transfer (let’s call it “asset digitization” for short).
I’m particularly interested in the digitization of real-world assets, specifically securities like stocks. Many of us believe this type of asset digitization could be the “killer application” that catapults crypto into the mainstream.
Blockchain-based platforms have the potential to disrupt traditional asset exchange platforms (stock exchanges, custodians and brokers). They are immutable (records cannot be tampered with). Blockchain-based platforms make dividends and other payments simple and fast. Complex and expensive processes can be automated with smart contracts. And importantly, they don’t require a third party (middleman).
Ethereum is primarily used for creating other cryptocurrencies and tokens. But it is also the leader in asset digitization.
Ethereum has shown how lucrative this market can be for platforms that gain serious traction. So naturally, many of us are always watching for new entrants into the space.
Polymath is one I’ve examined. But it had a large initial coin offering (ICO), so there are a lot of people looking to cash out. For this and other reasons, I avoided it.
I believe our newest recommendation, Ravencoin, is the best of breed in the asset digitization space (by a wide margin). Here are a few reasons I believe Ravencoin has a bright future:
- Backed by Medici Ventures (Overstock’s crypto fund)
- Strong price performance since its launch in January 2018
- Prominent bitcoin leaders, like Bruce Fenton, are heavily involved
- Already handling real-world “security token” issuance
- No ICO, no premine, no developer rewards
- A truly decentralized and open-source project
- Strongly ASIC-resistant mining (more decentralized than ASIC-minable coins)
- Improved energy efficiency and scalability compared with bitcoin.
We’ll hit on each of these topics in greater depth below.
Ravencoin (RVN)
Ravencoin’s developers use bitcoin’s rock-solid architecture as its foundation. But it’s heavily modified to suit the project’s needs. This platform is designed to do one thing very well: facilitate the creation and transfer of digital assets.
Stocks, bonds, ownership titles, other cryptocurrencies, new forms of money and even virtual items from video games are all examples of assets that can be digitized.
Ravencoin is a relatively new project. Ravencoin’s blockchain launched in January 2018. However, it’s one of the few digitization platforms with real traction. In December, Medici Ventures used Ravencoin to invest in a company called Chainstone Labs. Here’s an excerpt from Forbes:
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Medici Ventures purchased a 29% stake in Chainstone Labs for $3.6 million. The digital security was issued by Chainstone Labs using the Ravencoin blockchain, an open-source, public blockchain built specifically to help users create and manage tokens and digital assets such as securities.
“Ravencoin is an ideal protocol and chain to use for this security token. The aim of Ravencoin is to do one thing and do it well: help users issue tokens and digital assets securely. Tokens, particularly securities tokens, are a promising area for blockchain technology,” Fenton noted. While the equity token is not offered to the public, the transaction, which was broadcast in real time, shows the simplicity of transferring equity using tokens as digital securities. This is also revolutionary, as the Chainstone digital security token is one of the first equity tokens issued using a public blockchain, which is also believed to be the first major security token issued on the Ravencoin network. |
Medici isn’t alone in choosing Ravencoin. TokenizEU, a platform that helps companies issue security tokens in Europe, has also chosen to use Ravencoin. Here is coverage of the announcement via The Tokenist:
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The TokenizEU platform will now issue security tokens on Ravencoin. The announcement comes as a surprise to some, since the majority of security token issuance occurs on the Ethereum blockchain. Ravencoin, however, is a code fork of bitcoin with a relatively short timeline.
Ravencoin’s asset layer – which allows for the creation and issuance of tokenized assets – just recently launched in November 2018. Since then, the decentralized project has seen notable activity from Assure Services, who announced plans to launch tokenized funds on Ravencoin just seven days after its asset layer activation. |
I strongly recommend reading the rest of this piece, which outlines exactly why TokenizEU chose Ravencoin. The project has made impressive progress since it launched the ability to create assets in November.
RVN, the token we are recommending, is required for the creation of new assets on the Ravencoin platform. It serves a similar purpose to Ether (ETH) on the Ethereum network. It currently costs 500 RVN to create a new asset.
Ravencoin is mined in a process that is similar to bitcoin. However, there are important differences. Ravencoin is designed to be “ASIC-resistant.” ASIC stands for “application-specific integrated circuit.” In the crypto world, an ASIC mining chip is one designed to mine only one specific cryptocurrency. Because ASICs specialize in mining just one coin, they are more efficient and powerful than a general purpose chip (such as a video card).
ASIC chips have been developed for bitcoin and many other large cryptocurrencies. The problem with ASIC chips is that they tend to centralize mining power among a few powerful companies. For example, at one point, Bitmain had direct control of more than 50% of all bitcoin mining power through its ASIC miners. This can be a problem for any cryptocurrency that wants to remain decentralized.
Ravencoin built its system to resist ASIC miners from the very start. The mining algorithm changes constantly, making it hard to develop an ASIC. Anyone can mine ravencoin from their home computer. This improves the decentralization of the project.
And because of this, Ravencoin has a large and active mining community spread around the world. And it will be much harder to censor or block the Ravencoin network from operating.
ASIC-resistant coins are also more community-friendly. Because anyone can mine it, people are more likely to get involved and contribute to the project. You don’t need a big corporate operation to mine ravencoin. And I believe this choice will pay dividends in the years to come.
Someone may eventually develop an ASIC chip to mine ravencoin, but this could be addressed with future updates.
Ravencoin had no ICO, so there are no huge whales on the sidelines waiting to sell and no potential problems with the SEC down the road. Ravencoin is truly an open-source and decentralized project. It is clearly inspired by bitcoin and the pure manner in which it operates.
Backed by Big Names
One of Ravencoin’s biggest advocates is Medici Ventures – one of the true thought leaders in the crypto space. Medici is also the parent company of tZERO, a blockchain-based competitor to stock exchanges that raised $124 million from institutional investors last year.
Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock, is a big fan of Ravencoin. He has invested millions of dollars into the project. And his expert team of blockchain engineers at Medici contributes to Ravencoin regularly. In an interview with Business Insider last year, Patrick talked up the project. Here’s a transcript (edited for clarity):
| Well I’m not really interested in cryptocurrencies per se. Although, I guess there’s nothing wrong with me saying there is an open-source project. I’m really letting something big out of the bag here, I’ll tell you. But there’s an open-source project called Ravencoin, which Overstock has put millions of dollars into. We have people contributing to this open-source project. We think this coin actually has quite a future. It’s about – it’s bitcoin, but a thousand times more energy-efficient. And there’s other real interesting virtues to it – so Ravencoin. But other than that, I stay out of the cryptocurrency game. I’m building the – we’re focusing on applications of this technology and not just betting on coins themselves. |
Another big fan of Ravencoin is Bruce Fenton. Bruce is the founder of the Satoshi Roundtable, an influential group of bitcoin enthusiasts that gathers to discuss the future of the project.
Summary
As a reminder, here’s why we like Ravencoin:
- No ICO
- No premine
- No insider sales
- Security token trend is just getting started
- Medici-backed
- Strongly ASIC-resistant.
Ravencoin is one of the few coins that has maintained strong momentum in the middle of a bear market. Medici Ventures and other crypto thought leaders support it as well.
I’ve been searching long and hard for a coin that offers an excellent risk-reward profile in the midst of this bear market, and I believe we’ve found it with Ravencoin.
The future of tokenized securities and other assets is bright, and Ravencoin has a shot at becoming the platform that owns this space.
I love the fact that there are no ICO investors just waiting to cash out and that everyone who’s involved in the project is doing so out of pure motives.
I believe that as more institutional investors move into crypto, many will be attracted to Ravencoin. It’s a natural fit for their interests.
How to Invest
I recommend buying ravencoin on either Bittrex or Binance. The instructions I’m including are for buying on Bittrex, but Binance is an excellent choice as well.
If you don’t have an account yet, sign up for one here.
If you don’t have any bitcoin in your Bittrex account, you’ll need to send some from wherever you have it. If you don’t have any bitcoin, you can buy some on Coinbase and send it to your Bittrex address.
Once you have your Bittrex account open and funded, click on the “markets” link in the upper right-hand corner. Under “bitcoin markets,” search for the ticker symbol RVN. Click on the BTC-RVN link (this is the trading pair of bitcoin and ravencoin), and it will bring you to the buy page.
If you scroll down past the charts, in the middle of the page you will see the buy/sell trading box. Each RVN trades for around $0.025 today, so keep that in mind when placing your order.
Under “bid price,” select “ask” to automatically target the lowest price currently offered. You can enter a limit order if you are familiar with them.
Enter your buy. Bittrex may ask you to confirm the trade with a new two-factor authentication code (Google Authenticator or text message).
How to Store RVN
Please visit Ravencoin’s wallet section and choose the option that works best for you. There are wallets for Android and iOS phones, as well as for Mac, PC and Linux computers. A number of third-party wallets support Ravencoin, but you will need to do your own research there.
Be sure you make backups of your keys or recovery seeds, and store them in a very safe place.
Resources
- Ravencoin (official site)
- Ravencoin wallet download (Mac, PC, Android, iPhone)
- How to mine Ravencoin
- Ravencoin ELI5 (Explain Like I’m Five) by Bruce Fenton
- Reddit.com/r/Ravencoin
- Ravencoin explained with Bruce Fenton and Tron Black (YouTube)
- Good explainer
Good investing,
Adam