With a Binance listing not too long ago and RAVING fans...people will appreciate this review.

We are not RAVING about it as much as others, but it seems interesting.

Today’s review is Ravencoin.

Let’s dig in…

Ravencoin (ticker: RVN)

Mid-Tier Shitcoin

Wtf is this shit?

Ravencoin is a blockchain project optimized for the transferring of assets. Now..with existing projects such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, you can transfer assets...but there are some limitations.

With Bitcoin, we have been able to transfer assets for a long time, using OmniLayer, Counterparty, RSK, or any other layers that may exist. The primary advantages to embedding assets in Bitcoin’s blockchain is that the network is super secure. Each block is secured by a massive amount of hashing power (work), making it infeasible for virtually anyone to tamper with the ledger.

BUT...the issue with Bitcoin-based layers like this is that the highly secure Bitcoin protocol rules still must be followed...this actually means that you must send a Bitcoin transaction, in addition to the asset. IN OTHER WORDS, you have to send Bitcoin, which costs money, just to satisfy the network, when in reality, you should be able to send just the asset, for free.

Also, when sending the asset and Bitcoin, it is tied with the same address...which means you cannot send just the asset to one place and just BTC to the other. So if you send the asset to an exchange accidentally, the asset will be lost. In Ravencoin’s whitepaper, they note that a possible solution could be to create different identifying addresses. (This gets a bit deeper, but you get the point)

Then there is Ethereum, which admittedly takes things to another level with the various token standards. There is ERC-20, ERC-721 (Cryptokitties uses this one), and others. One issue with ERC-20 tokens is that there can be multiple with the same name...the only factor making them distinct is the smart contract hash.

Now...Ravencoin wants to take advantage of Bitcoin’s security while offering a completely ‘asset aware’ platform. This means they want a wide, global, mining community and aspire to follow the same guidelines as Bitcoin (UTXO model, etc)...which should be unsurprising considering they are a fork of Bitcoin, with some amended/added changes for the strict use of asset transfer.

At the protocol level, four key features were changed when implementing the Bitcoin fork:

• The issuance (block rewards) schedule: 5,0000 RVN per block (instead of 50 BTC at first)
• Block time of 1 minute (instead of 10 minutes)
• Coin supply of 21 Billion (instead of 21 Million)
• Mining algorithm: X16R (instead of SHA-256)

Virtually any asset can be created and transferred with Ravencoin such as commodities (gold bars, silver coins, fiat money, energy credits), security tokens (representing ownership in a company), virtual goods (sports tickets, in-game items), or things representing credit (gift cards, airline miles, reward points, loyalty points, chuck-e-cheese points), etc.

To create an asset on Ravencoin, you are essentially creating and issuing tokens.

Tokens can be categorized primarily as:

• Rewards (you can choose to rewards holders of your token with RVN….the asset’s rewards can be tied with company profits, such as dividends, or other loyalty types of rewards).
• Unique tokens (similar to ERC-721) think Cryptokitties, artwork, and collectibles.
• Non-asset tokens...you can get creative here, but think of ‘votes’ as a non-asset token.
  
  

There also plan to implement a messaging system for token (asset) holders and potential buyers to communicate properly, without them being identified if they wish to stay private. This is one example of how they look beyond only fixing technical issues with these assets, but also understanding the operations/business behind it.

Welp, there ya go - it is a Bitcoin fork, that has a sole purpose of improved asset transfer over existing blockchain solutions.

Who tf is behind this shit?

While they have notable advisors...the team is rather anonymous. DAMN IT. The website has no bios or team page...they really should be transparent. This sucks...what professional project (open sourced or not) does this...WHY CRYPTO!? WHY!?!

All in all, mid-tier shitcoin, primarily due to community and market metrics. We believe that Ethereum can remedy whatever issues may exist with asset identification, which is a big risk for Raven’s future. Let’s see how they do.

Hope you learned some shit and make sure to follow us on Twitter.

Chat soon!

- Mike and Aaron