Summary
Metronome (MET) is the first crypto currency that is not tied to one blockchain and is focussed around such portability as well as self-governance and long-term reliability. MET is being launched in two phases of descending price auctions (reset daily). The Initial Supply Auction (ISA) was for the first 10,000,000 MET tokens, and was immediately followed by the Daily Supply Auction (DSA) with new tokens then added indefinitely at the greater rate of either 2,880 MET per day, or an annual rate of 2% of the outstanding supply each year (split pro-rata between operating chains). MET will first launch on Ethereum with Ethereum Classic, Rootstock (RSK - Bitcoin’s smart contract platform), and Qtum support to follow shortly. As the MET development community grows, compatibility with other blockchains will likely increase.
What sets them apart?
MET can act as a store of value, decentralised across different blockchains. This portability attribute (as demonstrated in the diagram), allows users to move their MET cross-chain for any reason (management, security, failure, upgrading, etc). Other crypto currencies simply can’t do this.
Additionally, Metronome enables automatic subscriptions, or recurring payments on the blockchain so that users can easily schedule repeat payments, something crypto currencies have previously struggled with.
To achieve this, Metronome is currently made up of the following fully-autonomous and co-operative smart contracts:
Metronome Ledger ERC-20 - The token’s smart contract ledger with custom functionality for token behaviour and enhanced decentralised transfer and security.
Auctions Contract - Interacts with the ledger contract and operates the descending price auctions.
Proceeds Contract (between MET and ETH) - The part of the Autonomous Proceeds Provider (APP) that supports supply by holding 100% of the DSL (Daily Supply Lots) and transferring 0.25% of the total accumulated balance to the Autonomous Converter Contract each day.
Autonomous Converter Contract (between MET and ETH) - The part of the Autonomous Proceeds Provider (APP) that allows users to sell their MET for ETH or ETH for MET. The price is determined by the contents of contract at time of sale.
Team
In contrast to many recent projects, the Metronome team is made up of people who already have proven expertise in the crypto currency space, as well as experienced advisors such as Vinny Lingham and Don Tapscott. They are headed up by co-founders Jeff Garzik and Matthew Roszak. Jeff has been involved with Bitcoin and the wider crypto space since 2010, both as a contributor to Bitcoin Core and co-founder and CEO at Bloq.
Matthew was also a co-founder at Bloq, as well as being founding partner at Tally Capital, a private equity firm with over 20 blockchain orientated investments.
What are they trying to accomplish?
The Metronome team argue that uncertain issuance, lack of effective governance and chain dependence of existing crypto systems provides an opportunity to solve a variety of use case problems as highlighted below, where reliability is also the priority for the user in selecting an appropriate crypto currency.
Their solution achieves this by providing suppiy predictability through immutable contracts, self-governance by design (fully controlled by the community), and the potential of portability therefore requiring no permanent chain commitment.
Does it solve a real problem?
Whilst the number of problem solving use cases is likely to increase over time, it is initially helping to resolve the following:
Providing decentralised store of value portability across multiple blockchains. Gold is still gold regardless of location. In the same way, MET is still MET regardless of chain. It releases participants from blockchain commitment negating the need to exit chains and therefore avoiding exchange rate navigation and exposure to volatility.
Mass payments (allowing users to send tokens to multiple addresses with one action), particularly useful for business/payroll transactions at a cheaper rate and faster settlement time compared to the Bitcoin equivalent, and a feature not even available on other platforms (e.g. Ethereum).
Recurring subscriptions between users and other parties via a unique feature of authorising that party to take a fixed amount of MET from a specific wallet on a periodic basis. This can then be used to effectively run standing orders on the blockchain with improved settlement time, useful for both businesses and consumers alike.
Machine to machine smart money - allowing for the automatic tracking of costs, orders and payment schedules and to program future payments. This would be invaluable in a number of industries as we move towards greater automation and look to provide frictionless services with little or no human intervention required (think autonomous cars initiating smart contracts and payments).
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
- No chain dependence, freeing MET from the fate of any one chain (though not having its own chain could also be seen as a weakness).
- Self-governance completely in the hands of the community and smart contracts straight from launch.
- Reliability of steady/predictable token supply from descending price auctions (though the inflationary property is also a potential threat as outlined below).
- Descending price auctions also help to protect against large players dominating purchases early, and allows purchases of MET at a price you deem fair, if available.
- It provides decentralised store of value portability across blockchains improving choice and longevity.
- 15 second settlement time is competitive in payments allowing for real world vendor use.
- Strong team including former Bitcoin and Ethereum core developers.
- 100% of auction proceeds beyond the founders one-off allocation go to the APP contract to provide long-term support for the community.
- The smart contract that collects ETH was audited by three independent consultants: Zeppelin Solutions, Coinspect, and Gustav Simonsson.
Opportunities
- Further portability across other blockchains.
- Jaxx wallet partnership.
- Future MET mobile wallet potential.
- Mass payments feature to multiple addresses with one action.
- Subscriptions feature allowing users to set up recurring payments.
- Machine to machine smart contracts and payments.
Weaknesses
- The Initial Supply Auction is a descending price auction that started at 2 ETH to attempt to deliver fairer access and distribution, however the process still confused some and they bought at the highest level.
- ISA/DSA purchases can only be made via ERC-20 compatible non-custodial wallets which is less convenient for some.
- MET is inflationary at 2,880 tokens or more per day and is therefore exposed to inflationary associated risk if not managed effectively.
- Its long-term store of value expectation is also impacted by its inflationary element.
- 20% founder retention from the Initial Supply Auction will still be seen as high by many, though only one quarter of this will initially be available and the remainder over three years.
- No mobile wallet available yet (desktop or other ERC-20 compatible wallet only).
Threats
- The inflationary nature of MET contrasts to one of Bitcoin’s core principles of a fixed supply and is more comparable to fiat currencies in that respect. That being said, BTC is also inflationary until all 21m BTC have been mined and the community could decide to install a cap longer-term. It has to therefore be carefully managed (controlled) in order to avoid the issues associated with inflationary currencies (namely hyperinflation).
- The code has been audited by independent consultants, however there may still be immutable bugs.
- Technical and economic contract attacks.
Community Activity
Whilst this is an early stage crypto currency, it has already developed a large community of investors and social media participants that bodes well for its future.
Conclusion
The ability to import and export MET to different chains is both architecturally impressive and intriguing. The Initial Supply Auction successfully sold out within 7 days and the community continues to grow. Price has suffered in recent months, but in relative harmony with the rest of the industry. The first cross-chain launch on ETC is expected within a matter of weeks, providing valuable insight into the potential success of its core portability attribute. Ultimately only time will tell if the market for convenient reliability and portability as a primary priority is big enough compared to holding different assets for different purposes. If so, it can then provide the foundation of support required for this project to grow out development of its further use cases.
Disclaimer: Investing or trading in crypto currencies involves significant risk. It is important to research and carefully assess any such investments. All the information presented in this article does not constitute financial advice or recommendations of any kind.
By James Hunt (@humanjets)
