Auctus Labs — Empowering The Community Through Decentralization

After a few extremely busy days, I’m glad to be back sharing new stuff. Auctus has already featured in my “Real World Applications of Cryptocurrencies” series, which you can find here and in this blog post I will be taking a closer look at Auctus Labs — an initiative launched by the Auctus team just before their Initial Coin Offering (ICO) on the 27th of March.

In this post, I will be talking about Auctus Labs — a new initiative by the Auctus team which empowers and brings together the community with their expert resources (developers, DevOps, UX/UI designers, etc.) as well as representatives from other projects. Auctus Labs is being pro-active and aims to replace centralized components in the Auctus Platform with decentralized ones (which I will be discussing below). Their vision is “to create a platform that is run, as much as possible, by the community, for the community”.

Some drawbacks with the centralized components that would be required for the Auctus Platform to function, include:

• Centralized exchanges would require each and every user of the platform to register and verify their accounts. This process takes time, and adds friction to the work flow.
• A centralized database system like SQL Server or MongoDB is less secure, less reliable and less accessible than decentralized counterparts.
• A centralized organization is less transparent than a decentralized one, where everything is recorded on a blockchain. Additionally, the community is less invested in a centralized organization where decisions are taken by a central authority.
• Centralized payment systems (like PayPal or Stripe) are more expensive, less secure and are well within their rights (as per their terms & conditions) to sell your habits and data.

The initial (decentralized) projects that will be integrated into the Auctus Platform as part of the Auctus Labs initiative, are:

Amadeus & Ethfinex — Trading & LiquidityAmadeus is the answer for dApps looking for liquidity to exchange ERC20 tokens.Ethfinex is a community hub for developers, enthusiasts and traders to share, discuss and crowdsource information from across the decentralized ecosystem. The platform allows for trading and discussion of ERC20 compatible tokens and ethereum-based crowdsales.0x is an open, permissionless protocol allowing for ERC20 tokens to be traded on the Ethereum blockchain.

Amadeus and Ethfinex are Decentralized Exchanges (DEX) that utilize the 0x protocol to provide “off-chain order relay with on-chain settlement” (more info on this in 0x’s whitepaper).

How does Amadeus and Ethfinex tie in with the Auctus Platform and Auctus Labs? The first iteration of the Auctus platform will accept deposits in Ethereum (ETH) or ERC20 Tokens via smart contracts. After deposit collection, the Auctus Platform will trade on the clients’ behalf (on Amadeus and Ethfinex) for tokenized assets that compose the pension fund portfolio.

Aragon (ANT) — OrganizationAragon was born to bring transparency and independent governance to the forefront of managing an organization. We want to give the users the freedom they deserve to run their lives.

Aragon is building a platform where anyone can launch a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). In short, in a DAO everything is recorded on the blockchain. This includes, the structure of the company, voting rights, roles, accounting and more — this makes the organization fully transparent. Additionally, decision making is recorded and financial reports are immutable.

Auctus aims to become a DAO by leveraging Aragon. This will “protect Auctus and its community from any intermediary trying to abuse its power”. It will allow Auctus to give power back to the community, which will drive the organization going forward. To find out more, you can check Auctus’ blog post about becoming a decentralized organization, here.

Data Storage — Bluzelle (BLZ)The next-gen database protocol for the decentralized internet. Bluzelle combines the sharing economy with the token economy — renting individuals’ computer storage space to earn tokens while dApp developers use tokens to have their dApp’s data stored and managed.

While there are a few projects out there tackling decentralized storage (Sia, Storj, etc.), Bluzelle is specifically targeting the decentralized database space. This will provide Ethereum dApps (and more) with a decentralized, secure, cheap and easily accessible way of storing and retrieving data.

The benefit of Auctus integrating with Bluzelle? Very simply — security, accessibility, reliability and cost effectiveness.

Asset Management — Melon (MLN)Melon can be thought of as a system of tools that enables participants to set up, manage and invest in digital assets and have management strategies that exist within a customizable, predefined ruleset. The system itself is decentralized, and minimizes the requirement for trust. You can imagine it as a toolbox for anyone who has access to digital assets that require management.

As mentioned in the Trading & Liquidity section, the Auctus Platform will need to be able to invest in tokenized assets that make up a specific portfolio. Since Melon provides all necessary tools, this will allow for easy asset management but also provides the ability to buy and sell assets beyond ETH and ERC-20 tokens (a current limitation of the 0x protocol).

Melon IntegrationPayments — Request.Network (REQ)Request is a decentralized network that allows anyone to request a payment (a Request Invoice) for which the recipient can pay in a secure way. All of the information is stored in a decentralized authentic ledger. This results in cheaper, easier, and more secure payments, and it allows for a wide range of automation possibilities.

The Request Network has already featured twice on my blog; once in my “Real World Applications of Cryptocurrencies” which you can find here, as well as, “3 Coins To Watch In 2018” which you can find here. I am thrilled that Auctus has teamed up with the Request Network for their payment system.

By teaming up with the Request Network, Auctus will be able to easily set-up recurring and continuous payments in order to facilitate Auctus’ clients to make monthly deposits on the platform.

Request Network IntegrationBorrowing & Lending — Ripio Credit Network (RCN)RCN is a peer-to-peer global credit network protocol based on cosigned smart contracts and blockchain technology. It offers a real global credit alternative, which overtakes most banking and peer-to-peer loan solutions. The RCN protocol connects lenders and borrowers all over the world in any currency through RCN tokens.

By bringing the Ripio Credit Network into the fold, the Auctus Platform will enable savers to borrow and lend their assets and in return earn interest. Additionally, the Ripio Credit Network has partnered with the Request Network which makes everything fall into place nicely for the Auctus Platform. You can find more information on this partnership here.

The (initial) Decentralized Components of the Auctus Platform

To conclude, what Auctus is trying to achieve here is quite commendable. They are aiming to completely decentralize and open-source their platform by launching Auctus Labs. By doing so, they are creating a community which is directly involved in the process and progress of the platform in a variety of areas.

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Auctus Labs — Empowering The Community Through Decentralization was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.