Phore Blockchain?

By APathNotTaken

What is Phore Blockchain?

Phore Blockchain is a private, community-based cryptocurrency and blockchain platform. Phore Blockchain protocol is a Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain which rewards Phore (PHR) holders with Phore coins (relative to their stake) for validating and facilitating Phore transactions.

Phore Blockchain is a fork of the PIVX blockchain (which itself was a fork of DASH). The objective is to upgrade the blockchain to incorporate the unique features which distinguish Phore Blockchain from its peers.

Taken from the updated whitepaper, the Phore Blockchain protocol will provide multiple features including:

• Fast, scalable, secure and reliable transactions

• Atomic swaps and side-chains

• Options for both private and transparent transactions

• Rewards for participation in the Phore network

• Decentralized marketplace

• Advanced and flexible smart contract platform for building decentralised applications that can be used in conjunction with private transactions

• Initial coin offerings on the Phore Blockchain platform

• Crowdfunding fundraisers

• Custom blockchain creation services

• Continued expansion and improvement of the Phore protocol and blockchain

• Widespread accessibility and ease of use.

I will go into these features in more detail further down this document.

The Phore Blockchain Team 

The Phore Blockchain team has expanded rapidly during the last few months and will continue to do so during the first half of 2018. From my experience, the members I have communicated with over the last few months, Thomas Ambler (Co-CEO), Shant Kel Khatcherian (Chief Advisor), Moonshot (CTO), Shunsuke Kurita (Advisor), “Toby” (Advisor), Jennifer Berg (Head of Marketing and Pamela Paige (PR and Partnerships), are very driven by the vision of Phore and have been extremely helpful and informative whenever I have asked questions. Generally speaking, I find that the more willing a team are to be challenged with questions, the better the project. The Phore Blockchain team has never shied away from answering a question. The updated whitepaper provides you with a list of the team members. Some have their names and LinkedIn profiles available. Given this is a privacy coin, some members of the team prefer to remain anonymous.

Please refer to page 44 of the whitepaper for the full Team:

Full Whitepaper:

https://phore.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Phore_Blockchain_Whitepaper_v2.2.pdf

Remuneration and Rewards

My understanding is that most, if not all team members, are rewarded with Phore coins. The team has had to work extremely hard to build its community. They have done so via various social media channels (some are noted in the footer of each page of this document), through continued community interaction and, ultimately, by doing what they say they will do…” a thing that produces”. I believe that PoS blockchains will become more popular during 2018 as individuals start to balance their portfolio from purely speculative, to generating an income via masternode and staking rewards. Thus, what I find attractive in Phore Blockchain, aside from everything noted in this document, is that I am receiving daily rewards during the early development phase. At present 11,188.80 new Phore coins are released per day and those rewards are split:

• 4.2 Phore per block for Masternodes

• 2.8 Phore per block for stakers

Please note: that there are more stakers than masternode operators. So a larger pool of stakers are receiving a smaller proportion of the rewards. I believe that 3,000 Phore coins will generate approximately 2.8 Phore coin a day staking.

Development fund receives 1.0 Phore coins per block payable monthly. This totals around 43,200 a month, based on 60 blocks an hour, 24 hours a day for 30 days.

Note: This reward structure will be subject to change either by masternode/community voting and/or by pre-determined blocks in the future (detailed below).

Masternode

Phore blockchain utilises masternodes that provide the following services:

• Validating and processing transactions

• Processing zerocoin (zPHR) private transactions

• Handling the Phore budget governance process

Some additional services may be added in the future as Phore blockchain expands its features.

There are currently 533 masternodes running as of 19th February 2018. There is no hard cap for masternodes. If there were ever too many masternodes, staking would become more profitable In order to maintain a balance in the network, As detailed above, masternode operators receive 60% of the 11,188.80 Phore released per day.

Here is the current reward schedule, taken from the white paper:

Personally I shall receive 4.2 PHR every 7 hours or so. Depending on the timing of the first reward, masternode operators receive between 12.6 PHR and 16.8 PHR per day. On occasions, I have received an additional payout, albeit I am not sure why that is. In total, I receive about 100 PHR per week.

The Phore Blockchain team has provided one of the most useful Masternode setup guides. This was recently updated and further simplifies the process by doing most of the work for you. My initial masternode was more complicated to setup (without the recent upgrade) and I am ashamed to admit that I kept Liray-Unendlich on live chat for over two hours. For my second masternode, it took no time at all and I didnt require assistance from Phore Blockchain developers. My masternodes are run through https://www.vultr.com/ as suggested by the Phore Blockchain team. I pay $16 per month to run my nodes (inclusive of additional services). The team will be more than happy to assist community members in setting up their masternode via their discord media channel (link within the footer below).

The Phore Blockchain Roadmap 

Both the Roadmap and whitepaper are very detailed. The roadmap clearly illustrates the development of both the underlying technology but more so the products and/or services it will be offering. The Phore Blockchain team has set themselves very ambitious plans that will “transform Phore from an already fully featured privacy cryptocurrency into a powerful platform for developing and deploying private decentralised blockchain applications and solutions.” I will summarise some of the main features below.

Q1 2018 – Major Price Catalysts

The first quarter of 2018 is an extremely exciting time for Phore holders. The Masternode automation has already been achieved and I can confirm that it is extremely simple and effective. The Masternode Installation can be found from this link.

Web Wallet and Android Wallet Release – 75% Complete

The existing wallet is (only) desktop based, being used for holding Phore coins, sending and receiving Phore coins, staking and masternodes. The wallet also provides a number of functions such as wallet encryption, locking/unlocking your wallet, sending payments to multiple addresses, converting Phore coins to zPHR Privacy coins and masternode voting. There are other functions which I have not used. Phore Blockchain are close to releasing their new Android wallet and I think this will assist in expanding the Phore community. Given safety is paramount, the developers intend to incorporate two-factor (2FA) into the wallet to ensure each user has an additional layer of security. Phore also intends to incorporate updates that allow them to support future 3rd party wallet integrations.

Phore Blockchain Marketplace Launch – 85% Complete 

This is the most exciting near-term feature. The marketplace is currently in beta-testing. The main launch should be late Q1. The Phore Blockchain marketplace is a fork of OpenBazaar and allows the developers to upgrade the code to incorporate the Phore Blockchain’s unique features that differentiate itself from its peers. The marketplace will be a “completely decentralized and trustless system for exchanging goods” which is made possible by the fact all transactions will take place at protocol level. However, in order to find new stores on the Phore Blockchain marketplace, they will utilise centralised search engines, with the objective of running their own search engine in the future. My understanding is that Phore Blockchain has the ambition to be the eBay of a decentralised system. Each shop will have their “own unique address which identifies all of the data stored” and “allows users to store and access store data without the need for a centralised server.”

This product really excites me as it will have a real-world use that simultaneously creates demand for the Phore coin. Going forward, the Phore team plan to incorporate atomic swaps, allowing users to quickly exchange alternative currencies into Phore coins.

Towards the end of 2018, Phore Blockchain also intend to partner with “offline” vendors that allow physical collection of goods bought through their marketplace.

While this is an exciting phase of the Phore Blockchain project, the team have consistently remained humble and temper speculative buying of Phore coins by explaining that adoption will be gradual and progressive. This is an endearing quality the team possesses, especially as I know from personal experience just how excited the team are. Selfishly, I would like a bit more speculation in the Phore price, however, I didn’t buy Phore for a “quick buck”, I bought it for a return on my investment through rewards from my Masternodes and to be a part of a really exciting project with a near-term use.

Feel free to look at the marketplace site using this link

Decentralised Crowdfunding – 45% Complete

The Phore Blockchain crowdfunding will be completely decentralised and integrated directly into the Phore Blockchain Marketplace. The privacy of Phore cryptocurrency will underpin both the marketplace and the crowdfunding platform. Projects can seek funding via the platform and utilise the Marketplace to publish information on their projects and provide multiple funding options. Since there is no centralised platform or company involved, there will significantly lower fees using the Phore Blockchain Crowdfunding campaign. This is an interesting additional feature which adds another dimension to the marketplace. There will be greater demand for the Phore cryptocurrency while encouraging users to utilise the Phore Blockchain marketplace to sell the products.

Q2 2018 – Major Price Catalysts

Segregated Witness (Activation) – 20% Complete

We hear about SegWit quite regularly. Ultimately the signature data is separated from the transaction data. Signature data represents 65% of the data size per transaction, so by separating it, you have more capacity within each block thus allowing a greater number of transactions per block. This will provide the following benefits:

• Simplifies wallet code

• Spending outputs from unconfirmed transactions become more reliable

• Increased transaction throughput and scaling

• Solving the transaction malleability problem makes it easier to ad sidechains

• Smart contracts become easier to design, review, and monitor.

For the full Phore description, see page 34 of the whitepaper https://phore.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Phore_Blockchain_Whitepaper_v2.2.pdf

IOS Mobile Wallet / App – 30% Complete

This will assist in building the Phore Blockchain community as mainstream interest continues to build. Given a large number of people, particularly millennials, use their smartphone for most of their internet needs, the IOS wallet will allow those users to access the Phore Blockchain Marketplace with greater ease. By adding an IOS wallet alongside the Android wallet, Phore Blockchain is capturing a large proportion of the potential market.

Q3 2018 – Major Price Catalysts

Privacy Smart Contracts

The addition of privacy smart contract excites me the most. Phore Blockchain takes a giant leap forward in capability from the cryptocurren marketplace to be able to “write, compile, and execute complex decentralised applications (dApps) that will run entirely on the blockchain and be fully integrated with the Phore blockchain.” The addition of smart contracts will also benefit the Phore marketplace by allowing it to support much more flexible terms for things like:

• Escrow with other terms surrounding purchases

• Making the Phore marketplace secure

• Reduce the possibility of someone not fulfilling their side of the transaction

• Could reduce the number of, or make obsolete, the role of an arbitrator

The smart contract could also benefit the crowdfunding platform by controlling the collection and escrow of funds and distributing those funds in accordance with the terms of the contract.

Phore Blockchain believes that the capabilities of their smart contracts extend much further than just the benefits to Phore Blockchain’s own projects. Initially, the smart contract will be upgraded to support sidechains. Sidechains effectively move specific transactions (data) away from the mainchain via Phore Blockchain Smart Contracts sidechain. Each sidechain can be built to optimise specific functions, thereby alleviating the mainchain of that function. This assists in reducing traffic to the mainchain which prevents it from slowing down, like witnessed recently on the Ethereum blockchain in 2017.

In addition to the above, Phore Blockchain Smart Contracts will also “allow Phore Blockchain users to write smart contracts that include programming functions, state variables, and even external data as part of a complex transaction.”

I could write a separate document on the Phore Blockchain Smart Contracts but in summary, they represent a game-changing feature for privacy blockchain and I believe, should the Phore Blockchain team succeed, this will represent the biggest price catalyst during 2018.

For the full description of the Phore Blockchain Smart Contracts, refer to page 36 of the Phore Blockchain whitepaper.

https://phore.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Phore_Blockchain_Whitepaper_v2.2.pdf

VR/AR Marketplace Enhancement

There isn’t much information on this feature, however, I understand that it will provide a virtual buying and selling experience for users with or without VR/AR headsets.

Other significant features in Q1 2018

• Wallet and Core Upgrades

• Masternode Setup Automation

• Phore Blockchain Budget Governance Website

• Phore Blockchain Developer Team Expansion

Q2 2018

• Creation of The Phore Blockchain Foundation

Q3 2018

• Atomic Swap Implementation

• Click and Collect Marketplace Vendor Polite Programme

Q4 2018

• Mobile App Development

• Click and Collect Incorporation into Marketplace

• Phore Labs Investment

Phore comparison to its peers

The Phore Blockchain team is gradually developing their own blockchain whilst incorporating some unique features that separate it from other Privacy cryptocurrencies and blockchains. The Phore Blockchain is a multifaceted project with each part intrinsically linked to the other thereby creating demand for not only the Phore cryptocurrency but the separate functions as well. While Phore Blockchain hasn’t experienced the same level of attention as some of its peers, I believe that it is only a matter of time before its value starts to rise. To highlight how undervalued I believe Phore Blockchain is, the following table highlights the difference in market cap for each privacy coin noted above.

Note: These values are taken from coinmarketcap as at 19th February 2018, which may not be fully up to date.

***This is provided by the Phore Blockchain team. Coinmarketcap doesn’t include those held by masternode because they deem them out of circulation.

Where you to Buy:

Cryptopia

Cryptobridge

Coinswitch

Conclusion

The Phore Blockchain team have a very ambitious project roadmap. The team is very focused on achieving their objectives. They continue to communicate and interact with their community and are dedicated to delivering on promises. The release of both the Android and IOS wallets will give more people access to the Phore cryptocurrency. The marketplace is very close to being released and I expect to see a gradual rise in activity as the brand market their product(s) more aggressively. Now that the rebrand has been completed, I anticipate more energy being spent on applying to new exchanges. The nearer we are to seeing the Marketplace going live, the more likely we are to being listed on some of the more globally recognised exchanges, which in itself is a price catalyst.

The implementation of Phore Blockchain Programable smart contracts could catapult Phore into the list of top privacy cryptocurrencies because I believe this feature will represent a game changer in the privacy blockchain space. Phore Blockchain remains the most exciting project I have invested in, and I believe that 2018 will see Phore Blockchain develop from “another altcoin” into a leader in the privacy coin market. In the meantime, I will continue to earn a good return on Investment from my masternodes.

The document shows my rationalized opinion, I believe we will see returns of multiples.

Thanks for reading,

APathNotTaken

(Researched by, APathNotTaken and verified by the Phore Project. The author was not remunerated or incentivized to produce this document. )