Meson ICO on Coinlist: A Comprehensive Review

On January 24, Coinlist announced its 4th ICO for 2024. The Meson token sale is scheduled for February 8 at 18:00 UTC, with registration open until Feb. 5. 

Key Details of the Token Sale:

• Token Supply for ICO: 2,500,000 MSN (2.5% of the total supply);
• Price: $1.75;
• Token Distribution Plan: ⅙ of the MSN tokens will be unlocked around March 15, 2024, with the remainder to be released linearly over the following six months;
• Purchase Limits and Methods: $50-$3,000, USDT or USDC.

The project team reserves the right to allocate an additional 2,500,000 MSN during the ICO. Participants who invest the maximum amount of $3,000 in MSN will be eligible for an extra allocation ranging from $100 to $6,000, determined randomly.

Participants need to have the equivalent amount in USDT or USDC on their balance in advance to partake in the ICO. 

What is Meson Network?

Meson Network is a decentralized network of physical infrastructure (DePIN) for cloud data storage, catering to AI, social media, e-commerce, and more. It leverages over 100,000 nodes from 150 countries, providing a 20 Tbps bandwidth.

Distribution of Meson Network Nodes Across Continents. Source: explorer.meson.network

Meson Network nodes can be run on a variety of hardware, such as:

• Personal laptops;
• IoT devices;
• Servers.

With innovative solutions like Gateway X, Gaganode, and IPCola, Meson Network aims to broaden the usability of IPFS (InterPlanetary File System), while ensuring the privacy and anti-censorship of stored data. 

Meson Network positions itself alongside other players in this niche, including Filecoin, Render Network, Theta Network, and Arweave.

Tokenomics

MSN serves as the native token for the Meson Network project. As of now, it's operational on Ethereum's test network (Goerli) but is set to be available on the mainnet following the ICO. The total token supply is capped at 100 million, with its Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV) standing at $175 million.

Token functions include:

• Service Payments: Users leverage MSN to gain access to the platform's computational capabilities, enhancing the delivery of online content like web pages, videos, and files.
• Miner Rewards: Contributors who offer their computing resources are remunerated with MSN.
• Staking: For miners to achieve peak operational efficiency, they must stake a specified amount of MSN.
• Governance: Holders of MSN have voting rights on Meson Network's developmental directions.

Much like ETH, the Meson Network's native token is designed with a deflationary approach in mind. This indicates a gradual decrease rather than an increase in MSN's inflation rate. In the initial year post-TGE (Token Generation Event), the inflation rate is set at 5%, which is then slated to reduce by 0.5% each year through a process of token burning.

MSN Inflation Rate Over 9 Years After TGE. Source: meson.network

MSN distribution is segmented as follows:

• Early Investors: 226% allocation with a linear monthly distribution over 12–36 months post-TGE, acknowledging the likelihood of varied distribution periods across multiple funding rounds.
• ICO Participants: 5%, distributed monthly in a linear fashion over 6 months post-TGE.
• Ecosystem Development: 27%, dispersed monthly over 8 years post-TGE.
• Reserved Funds: 20%, allocated monthly over 8 years post-TGE.
• Team: 15%, released monthly over 8 years, commencing 6 months post-TGE.
• Partners: 6%, allocated over 6 years post-TGE with monthly distributions.
• Test Network: 1%, completely distributed post-TGE.

Given this distribution model and the total supply, it’s feasible to approximate the volume of MSN available at TGE. 

The project could earmark between 2.5% to 5% of the tokens for the ICO. Assuming an optimistic scenario of 5%, and taking into account the staggered distribution (12–36 months) for early investors, a median timeframe of 24 months is assumed for calculations.

Meson Network Tokenomics. Source: coinlist.co

An estimated 3,489,582 MSN tokens, equating to 3.48% of the total supply, will be in circulation at TGE. 

The primary sellers of MSN are anticipated to be early investors, ICO participants, and partners. Their combined token share at TGE is estimated at 57.2%, with early investors and partners accounting for 33.4%, and token sale participants for 23.8%.

If these groups initiate large-scale selling of MSN, it could significantly impact the token's market value. Counterbalancing this potential decline would require a substantial number of purchase orders. However, it remains to be seen if the market will have participants ready to buy significant amounts of MSN post-ICO.

Meson Analysis: Investors, Social Networks, and Team 

Meson Network completed three rounds of funding in February, June, and December 2021. As a result, it attracted $9.4 million from notable investors like HashKey Capital, Mask Network, Libertus Capital, among others, with one investor categorized as Tier 1.

Investor List from Meson Network's Second Funding Round. Source: cryptorank.io

A common industry belief is that a company's maximum valuation should be ten times its total funding. The Meson Network team aims for total investments in their project to reach $18.15 million. This leads to an FDV of $175 million, roughly ten times the amount of funding, suggesting the project's fair market value.

This also allows for an estimated calculation of the price at which early investors bought MSN. By multiplying the total investment ($9.4 million) by 10 and dividing by the total token supply (100 million), we arrive at $0.94 per MSN.

Meson Network's X account boasts 220,000 followers. However, audience engagement varies significantly, with some posts receiving only about 10 likes/comments and others exceeding a thousand. The TwitterScore analytical service rated the project's profile at 24 out of 1000 points.

Meson Network's Account Evaluation on X. Source: twitterscore.io

The Meson website showcases social media profiles of its top management, including the CEO, CTO, Core Engineer, and Head of Marketing. Intriguingly, the LinkedIn profile of the project's CEO lacks details on past work experiences and educational background, and several links in other team members' profiles are inactive.

Final Words

The prospective return on investment in Meson Network's ICO remains ambiguous. While the project fosters widespread cryptocurrency adoption by integrating blockchain with conventional technologies, it also presents a scenario where about 57.2% of all TGE tokens are in the hands of MSN holders likely to sell.

The project's main competitors include Filecoin, Render Network, Theta Network, and Arweave. However, deriving MSN's potential value based on these competitors' market capitalizations is unreliable, as success in a shared domain doesn't guarantee identical outcomes.

Investors should be mindful of risks and thoroughly research before committing to investment opportunities!