Up to about a decade ago, banking was pretty much a ‘walk-into-branch-wait-in- queue-fill-forms’ kind of affair. The whole thing had to be planned with military precision: Figure out what time would the bank be the least busy, elucidate how many tellers would likely be away or on sick leave at any one time, and can I really face having to make small talk again with the old lady who always seems to be before me in the queue?
There was a time when the local bank branch was indeed the focal point of social
activity in small town wherever. The hub where people met both to do their banking
business and to find out who had become pregnant last weekend, and by whom.
But not anymore. The yonder years of having to actually walk into a physical branch
are well and truly over. Technology, particularly the advent of the internet, has spawned a new breed of remote, online, digital banking business.
And now, blockchain technology has gone a step further and created the right conditions for a decentralized, digital banking environment.
Fast Invest is a new ICO that thrives in such environment, providing digital banking and a raft of financial products through the blockchain, including consumer-based loans and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) financial products.
https://youtu.be/JddIjST8Smc
This piece is an analysis of the facts available about the Fast Invest ICO. It should not be read as offering advice or a recommendation. While ICOs have quickly become a popular tool for funding projects and start-ups, they can also be very high-risk for token purchasers.
Additionally, ICOs currently have an unclear legal and financial status. Token buyers may find that their purchase does not offer them any security or equity because the ICO is closer to a crowdfunding initiative than a traditional IPO. As such, any investor who plans to buy tokens during any ICO needs to obtain all relevant independent advice and carry out their own appropriate due diligence.
Fast Invest: Decentralized investment banking & loans for the digital era
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YbapvnDpOE
According to the ICO’s marketing blurb, “The Fast Invest team is developing a platform, which incorporates P2P investment, an e-money wallet, and currency exchange.” Fast Invests aims to create a ‘crypto community’ where members can move currencies and carry out transactions at high speed and low cost.
The company leans heavily towards the investment market, enable P2P lending and a
number of other financial products.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqJaqT0lono
Fast Invest in figures & quick facts
- Token Name – FIT
- Total Tokens Produced – 777,000,000
- Token Value – 1 ETH = 1,000 FIT
- ICO Start Date – December 4, 2017
- ICO End Date – January 31, 2018
- Soft cap – 38,850,000 FIT
Note that only Ethereum will be accepted as payment method during the ICO.
The Fast Invest token
https://twitter.com/FASTINVEST_COM/status/947361680102645761
As with any other ICO, the company will issue its own currency, the Fast Invest token (FIT), which will be based on the ERC-20 standard.
https://twitter.com/FASTINVEST_COM/status/948630038831861764
Once created, the tokens will be distributed as follows:
- Fast Invest team – 20%
- Community & bounty – 15%
- Crowdsale – 50%
- Reserve – 15%
The Team
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGHcTcwmmYk
Fast Invest’s website presents a team of 28 people, which is quite large for an star-up ICO. The team includes the management team, marketing, customer support, finance etc. Most of the staff listed does not feature a link to any LinkedIn profile, so it’s hard to independently verify their backgrounds. Also, the site specified that they are currently seeking new staff to fill a number of positions.
Overall, the team appears comprehensive and dedicated. Such a large team denotes a
good budget underpinning it, which is a vote of confidence for this ICO.
You can learn more about Fast Invest’s team here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA-aMh8k3wI
Social Media presence and digital footprint
https://twitter.com/FASTINVEST_COM/status/948811234064789504
A strong presence on Social Media is usually a good indicator of a company’s popularity, though it is not the only factor that determines success.
Here’s the numbers for Fast Invest at the time of writing (early January 2018).
- Twitter – 1,619 followers
- Facebook – 3,104 followers
- YouTube – 228 followers
- LinkedIn – 39 followers
- Telegram – 2,008 followers
- Instagram – 154 followers
- Medium – 139 followers
Fast Invest’s presence on Social Media, while not exceptionally impressive, is respectable. Social Media support is crucial these days, so the more channels that an ICO can reach out through, the better chances it has to garner a solid, loyal, and steady following.
This ICO has sown the seeds to achieve this, it just needs to keep up the good work
and expand further.
Particular mention goes to the unusually high amount of YouTube videos released by
this ICO. There’s plenty tutorials, promo material, etc. This is not common among
ICOs, so it deserves praise.
Competition
https://twitter.com/FASTINVEST_COM/status/938841971157819392
Fast Invest is far from the only ICO offering banking and financial services. ICOBENCH lists at least 124 other ICOs offering platforms to invest, trade, send money, and a myriad of other financial services.
Competition in the field is fierce, so it remains to be seen how Fast Invest will play its cards to carve itself a niche in such a crowded place.
Website quality & layout
https://twitter.com/FASTINVEST_COM/status/948238084491153408
An ICO’s website is the first port of call for any potential investors, and if the site isn’t appealing enough, they will move on and forget about your proposition, no matter how good or viable it may be. It is therefore imperative to design a good website, to make a strong and lasting first impression.
Fast Invest’s website is well designed, free from grammar & spelling errors, and includes all the sections one would expect from and ICO (ICO, team, Whitepaper, FAQ, etc.) All links work & the site is secure.
Interestingly, the content of the website is offered in several languages, which may reach out to a much wider audience.
Whitepaper
A well laid out, informative, comprehensive Whitepaper is a must for any ICO, if they are to be taken seriously. Documentation is sometimes treated as an afterthought, leaving many companies open to some criticism.
Fast Invest’s Whitepaper is brief, clocking up at 32 pages, but all the information is there, presented well, and complete. It is also well written, free from grammatical issues that plague many other ICOs.
The paper presents all the investment options, information about the company, how to join, as well as the usual legal stuff, etc.
Overall, Fast Invest’s Whitepaper ranks as Good.
Conclusion
The investment banking industry is a crowded area at this point in time, and many ICOs involved in it will inevitably fail. Those that remain will need to offer a rather unique and appealing proposition if they are to survive in the long run.
Fast Invest does have a rather impressive team backing its concept, so there is a good starting point there. In the end, however, this ICO’s long-term sustainability will come down to how its investment portfolios are performing, and the level of confidence shown by investors.
We’ll revisit Fast Invest’s progress in the near future.
https://twitter.com/FASTINVEST_COM/status/938730138769948672
