The Top 5 Blockchain Startups to Watch in Q2 2018

After publishing my picks for the top blockchain startups in Q1 2018, readers have requested another installment for the upcoming quarter. The now quarterly piece will highlight companies that I have been introduced to through my own research or by word of mouth. Every month, we analyze hundreds of new companies in the blockchain industry, but a few tend to really stick.

From a wide variety of use cases and applications, these companies are trying to revolutionize industries from audio to lending and more. My screening process is straight-forward and consists of an evaluation of teams, advisors, technology, go-to-market strategy, traction, and overall need.

These five companies check all of the boxes and are positioned to have an extremely exciting and successful Q2 and year:

1. DAC
   DAC, short for “Decentralized Audio Content” is a decentralized audio content platform which is based on blockchain technology and uses an innovative token economy to better incentivize and reward all content creators and consumers. Besides rewarding content creators and supporters, the platform ensures all copyright protections for IP and user data.

For the first time, creators will be properly incentivized, helping create a new global community that is built off of a Proof of Recommendation (PoR) algorithm. The project successfully ended its raise in a private only token sale, but has successfully built out a community of over 100,000 supporters on Telegram and other social media channels. With a community this massive and a heavily experienced team, I am most excited to see this project go to market in Q2.

1. Verifier
   Verifier is an exciting new blockchain startup that resonates with me personally. As a writer and entrepreneur, I am often needing to deal with international clients and do not have either the access or time for tasks that require local support. Verifier solves this. Using blockchain technology, the company can verify any document, event, deal, or data by using local agents, or verifiers. The P2P and B2B solution will be mobile friendly, secure, and completely reliable.

The company is about to launch a global airdrop to attract new verifiers who download the application on Google Play or the App Store. As someone who supports the sharing economy, this seems like a great way to be part of a global ecosystem and help provide a more safe and trustworthy ecosystem to do business in.

1. Alchemy Coin
   Alchemy is building a blockchain-based peer-to-peer (P2P) lending marketplace. The platform is intending to enable for instant and direct lending between supply-side lenders and demand-side borrowers from all over the world. The company is one of the first security tokens in the world to tokenize financial derivatives, especially CDOs. That means token holders will get paid the dividend yield and interest rates from CDOs. This is the first platform of its kind, with more dynamic features than most P2P blockchain platforms currently on the market.

The company has hit the ground running by raising $30 million in capital from private investors and will have a fully compliant ICO for accredited investors in Q2.

1. Enkidu
   Enkidu has a straightforward yet highly ambitious mission: to revolutionize how the entire world creates and runs companies. The highly-experienced team wants to “merge the payment gateway, the cap table (revenue sharing table) and the log of business decisions taken by a team”. This will ultimately allow small businesses to properly decide what percentage of a business each person owns and make better business decisions as a result of the platform’s dynamic dashboard.

Setting up an Enkidu project is free. The company makes money by taking a 0.5% fee on every transaction and have partnered with Asia’s largest freelancing platform, Truelancer, who will backfill 400,000 users from their database right into Enkidu’s platform. With this momentum in place, the project should be on everyone’s radar moving into Q2.

1. Vibeo
   Vibeo is my top pick for the top blockchain-backed messaging app to watch, despite heavy competition in the market. The app is a decentralized web 3.0 take on WeChat: a complete instant messaging app powered by the Ethereum blockchain. Users of Vibeo will be able to send and receive tokens from any ERC-20 wallet, including popular options like MyEtherWallet and MyCrypto, all within the app.

Also, eventually merchants will be able to transact with customers directly on the app. As someone with a passion for e-commerce, it will be extremely useful to have an app that is geo-localized with the power to safely process transactions within the platform itself. The company is now conducting a token generation event that will begin in April.

Disclaimer: This article should not be used as investment advice. The companies mentioned are based on the author’s independent research as a blockchain journalist. Please consult your financial advisor before investing in any new opportunities.