300cubits is an initiative hoping to relieve the pain points of the container shipping industry by creating a defacto shipping cryptocurrency called TEU.
SUMMARY.
- Project name: 300Cubit.
- Token symbol: TEU.
- Website: http://www.300cubits.tech/
- Whitepaper: https://300cubits.tech/pdf/whitepaper.pdf
- Pre-ICO Amount: 1588.36 ETH/14,000ETH.
- Pre-ICO amount: $476k.
- TEU Token for sale in Pre-ICO: 2%.
- Pre-ICO status: ended.
- ICO Contribution cap: $2.1M.
- TEU Token for sale in ICO: 18% of Total Supply.
- Allotment mechanism: Allotment of TEU pool of a period is based on the proportion of ETH contributed of a contributor among all ETH contributions of the same period.
- ICO ENS Address: TEUsale.eth
- Crowdsale date: Mid-November.
- Minimum amount:O.1ETH.
- ERC20 token: Yes.
- Role of Token: Utility token.
PROJECT OVERVIEW.
300cubits is a blockchain initiative hoping to relieve the pain points of the container shipping industry through creation of a de facto shipping crypto currency called TEU and migration of industry process onto Ethereum.
BACKGROUND.
Container shipping industry is a $150bn industry in constant distress since 2008. The industry lost money 7 out of the last 10 years. The problem is rooted in a flawed economic system that has sown deep distrust between shippers and carriers. Shippers in need of spot market shipments may book slots on several carriers to secure the lowest rate for their cargo. Meanwhile, carriers looking to fill up capacity per trip turn to the spot market and sometimes overbook in anticipation of shipper no-shows.
The behavior guarantees near-term success for shippers and carriers, but at the industry’s expense in the long-term. Broken contracts encourage an unhealthy competition, where carriers consistently undercut each other on the spot market for short-term gains. Companies sometimes try to enforce penalties for breaking a contract, but it isn’t done consistently and it hasn’t changed either side’s practices.
The solution lies in finding a way to enforce contracts between shippers. 300 cubits expects to do this by migrating some of critical business process onto Blockchain, which is immutable once agreement is made and hence trust free.
The 300cubits is a project initiated by ETH Smart Contract Tech Limited (ESCoT). ESCoT was founded in Hong Kong by Johnson Leung and Jonathan Lee, two university school friends who have teamed up in late 2016 to seek technological solutions for pain points experienced during their respective careers.
HOW IT WORKS.
On the Ethereum platform, carriers and shippers will negotiate contracts, determining the amount of cryptocurrency both sides will use for deposit. If either side breaks the contract, they forfeit the TEU deposit.
The carrier must guarantee that the cargo will arrive at its destination at the agreed time, and shippers guarantee that the contracted amount of cargo will dock-side by the appointed time. This allows the carrier to better plan vessel space and the shipper knows that their cargo will arrive at its destination on time.
Verified shippers and carriers will receive cryptocurrency and use contracting and booking modules on the site.
FEATURES.
- TEU tokens will be used as booking deposits for container shipping where value could be lost if a customer does not turn up with a cargo or a container liner does not load a cargo according to a confirmed booking. Blockchain is decentralized and 300 cubits will be open sourced. So anyone can run booking portals that use the TEU tokens.
- Un-used bookings can be traded for TEU tokens. TEU tokens could also be traded for $ or Ether.
- Positive credit agency. A rating system based on past booking performance where credit worth users stand out.
- Smart contract builder. Users without coding knowledge can build smart contracts.
INTENDED USE CASES.
Digital payments.
300 Cubits will implement TEU tokens as the crypto currency for container shipping. What the TEU token really replaces is part of what US dollar does. The TEU tokens will be given to the industry participants. The ownership; the need to fix industry problem; and potential of token value appreciation will hopefully be sufficient to motivate industry holders of TEU tokens to use them in business transactions e.g. bookings.
Deposit.
TEU tokens will be promoted as the deposit for the shipment booking process, which creates $23bn annual wastage today. When using dollars, the action and agreement are not automatically linked. So, we often hear of agreements not being adhered to. For example, volume or capacity commitments are not followed or customers refuse to pay no-show penalties.
TEU tokens and smart contracts are linked. Smart contracts can pick up third party’s such as terminals’ signals to decide whether a cargo has entered the gate before cut-off or whether the cargo has been loaded as per booking. If a customer books and then does not show up with the booking, his tokens would be lost. If a carrier confirms a booking but does not load the cargo, his tokens would be lost.
Hedging tool.
Additionally, the founders hope TEU tokens can provide better foresight and a hedging tool to tackle the volatility of the container shipping cycle. The founders expect TEU tokens to become the de facto crypto currency for the container shipping industry.
PROJECT ADVANCEMENTS.
- The first release of Booking Smart Contract is ready for the industry partners to run sand box trial. https://github.com/300cubits/ITS
The Booking Smart Contract would allow users to send in TEU tokens, which will be held in the Booking Smart Contract before signals (e.g. cargo receipt and cargo loading) are given for the release of the TEU tokens.
20-footeqvunit token.
TEU tokens are ERC-20 compliant tokens distributed on the Ethereum network. The TEU Tokens are not securities, commodities, swaps on either securities or commodities, or similar financial instruments or collective investment.
Token value.
The portion sold in ICO will assign value to the TEU tokens. Then a portion of TEU tokens will be given to the industry practitioners for use as booking deposit. The industry practitioners will be incentivized to use the TEU tokens because (1) the tokens are given to them for free, (2) they have this so called “Ghost Booking” issue to fix, and (3) their ownership in TEU tokens will appreciate if they use them. Their recognition and day-to-day use in TEU tokens is hoped to further enhance the value of the TEU tokens.
ICO.
There will only be 20 million TEU tokens in circulation amongst crypto currency investors after the ICO finishes in Nov (2 million from Pre-ICO finishing on Sep 20, and 18 million from the ICO we will run in November). The November ICO will be a traditional fixed price ICO, based partly on the valuation found in the Pre-ICO, and also factoring in an additional premium based on the actual achievements and milestones made in the preceding 2 months. Therefore, the valuation of TEU tokens during any ICO round will be lowest during the Pre-ICO which finishes on Sep 20.
How to participate in sale:
https://300cubits.tech/pdf/Contribute_in_ITS.pdf
https://300cubits.tech/pdf/Add_Token.pdf
https://300cubits.tech/pdf/Collect_Token.pdf
https://300cubits.tech/pdf/Check_Contribution.pdf
Distribution of Token.
- Pre-ICO/ITS: 2%.
- ICO/ITS: 18%.
- Second Token Sale: 20.00%.
- Free Distribution to Shipping Industry Adoption & Development: 54.00% (according to market share and selling restriction of at least 2 years).
- Founding Team: 6.00% (lock up for 2 years starting from 16-Aug-2017).
COMPETITORS.
- NYSHEX.
NYSHEX solves ghost booking by providing a new option: the forward contract.
Shippers and carriers contracting through NYSHEX put up collateral worth 35-40% of the contract (the percentage depends on trade and shipping direction) when agreeing to a forward contract. If either side breaks the contract, that side loses their deposit.
NYSHEX was formed in March, 2017, and is already working with multiple carriers and shippers.. Shippers using NYSHEX currently use the exchange for around 15% of their total volume. NYSHEX only deals with fiat.
- Other cryptocurrencies.
For digital payments.
3. Blockfreight.
Blockfreight is a new end-to-end blockchain system for the global cargo shipping industry. It is the product of an Australian-based research company, which has been tasked with the development of a solution to the primary pain points in the current system that requires manual matching up of bill of lading with letters of credit and other settlement mechanisms.
- Maersk and IBM.
The shipping company Maersk has announced that it has been working with IBM to use the blockchain to keep track of shipments as they’re hauled across the seas. IBM it’s built a tool based on blockchain that allows every participant in a supply chain to see the progress of a shipment, including where the container is and the status of its documents. The hope: shippers reduce the weight of paperwork that needs to be done, while customs officials and clients can see where goods are at all times.
- Oceanus Foundation.
Oceanus Foundation is a company dedicated to using blockchain technology. More than this, it is a company that is dedicated to offering the users a comprehensive approach to the industry. The company has developed the Oceanus Foundation for the purpose of creating and overseeing the practice of developing a community in the shipping industry.
The foundation aims to develop a decentralized platform in which people can make bookings. This will connect the ship owners with their potential customers easily. To trade on the platform the subscribers will use the OCEAN coin. This coin will not only be the basis of the transactions but also a platform for other innovations.
6. IMMLA.
IMMLA also offers a decentralized service that uses smart contracts based on blockchain technologies and solves the problems of international logistics in a much more scaled way. https://immla.io/
7. Slogn.
Super ambitious project to blockchain the whole logistics system. Even if so, it’s not the same area as TEU https://www.slogn.net/
How is different than other platforms in the space?
- Provision of APEs that are open to all platforms including the liner’s own portal or any common booking portal like NYSHEX or Inttra.
MARKET.
The annual revenue is $150B and weekly revenue is $3B.
