Digital Blockchain Foundation s CONNECT A Decentralized People and Innovation Network DBF Digital Blockchain Foundation GmbH 05/18 Version 1.8.1
OUR MOTIVATION The amount of information exchanged between people has grown exponentially in the last decade. With many tools that enable new ways of interaction and collaboration among people, technology has profoundly changed the landscape. There are several entities in different industries that have developed solutions used for communication. The majority of these platforms have a clearly defined feature set and are controlled by a handful of people, providing limited usecases for users to explore. However, people are inherently creative and entrepreneurial and the current platforms do not fully allow utilization and expression of those qualities. We see a need in offering an environment that organizes and incentivizes creativity and entrepreneurship, fueling innovation and enabling people to realize their vision. Problems in the current innovation landscape Naturally, systems tend to develop in decentralized ways, from human societal structures and social networks, to tree root systems and fractals. It s pretty safe to say that it is the most natural state in which complex systems and living things in our universe arrange themselves. By contrast, in today s business environment, we still use centralized network solutions to get the job done. Furthermore the current innovation landscape is skewed. While we talk a lot and dream of meritocracy, we live in a world where location, pedigree and network continue to influence which ideas have the opportunity to become products. Needless to say that a small, often non-representative group of people decide what problems are going to be solved via allocation of capital. The Internet has connected all stakeholders of the innovation process, Startups, Independent Talent, Communities, Academia, Investors and Corporates, however it is highly debatable whether the equal opportunities for an individual to succeed have been created. Additionally, there are apparent limitations with the current systems that are significantly affecting the current technology and innovation landscape. Additionally, there are apparent limitations with the current systems that are significantly affecting the current technology and innovation landscape. 2
OUR MOTIVATION 2/2 Security concerns are more important than ever, and as we have been witnessing many major data breaches and hacks, and centralized systems are especially at risk due to their one point of entry or target. Additionally, centralized systems are usually closed and lack transparency about following proper security procedures and compromised user data. Privacy and data ownership are areas receiving significant attention as well. As current systems collect a large amount of data from users, some of these do so without explicit permission. Sometimes these details are buried deep in Terms of Service, and sometimes users data is sold and used even when users are not using the service actively. Users rarely have granular options to choose which data to share, where, and who has access to it, and we have been witnessing many of the cases where private data was exposed to the public and caused significant harm to users. Privacy and data ownership has be under a lot of attention with the recent findings about personal data being accessed to influence major political events and target users that are unsure about their views or to spark controversial debates. Although the companies which enabled the access and the tools have stated that all was done after explicitly asking users for permission, users in the majority of the cases were unclear what it meant and who in the end will be using their data For example, social media is a two sided blade, and more work needs to be done to make sure users who are using a personality quiz, do not actually contribute to the data mining process of harvesting over 50 million users that was used with questionable goals. Usability is another concern in a business environment. We are using multiple tools to communicate with coworkers and partners, like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and email, and there are solutions that offer integration between some of those tools, like Slack and Trello. Even when these tools can communicate through API s, most of those have vastly different technological stacks, that need to be updated to support specific features and do not provide a seamless user experience. Additionally, data and information is stored in those services and business customers rarely have any control of how and where is data stored and who has access to it. Finally, by having limited use cases, these platforms are limiting innovation and not enabling users to create new ways of interacting among themselves and doing novel things. With open platforms, users creativity can flourish and create things that were not even imaginable by the original creators of the platform. Minecraft is a good example, a sandbox game where users can use blocks to build almost anything. Some users have built 1:1 replicas of Star Trek Voyager, others a working microprocessor, all inside the game, and this is just one demonstration of users being extremely creative and smart when given the right tools. 3
WHAT CAN BE DONE The systems that have a massive user adoption with hundreds of millions of users are hard to change and replace, and it will take a lot of resources and time to do that. Many conventional companies have tried and failed, however blockchain gives a new chance to change the landscape. By starting with a specific set of use cases, and being clear about what is done with users data, powered by blockchain, a dream of having a secure and widely adopted platform is possible. In the current world a product is never for free, the user pays it at least with data. When Microsoft purchased LinkedIn for more than 26 billion USD, and with roughly 400 million users at that time, each user (or more accurate, their data) was worth more than 60 USD. This explains the rather high price to pay for a platform which is essentially free for anyone. The blockchain technology provides us with the tools to bring the human societal structure into the Internet. Therefore, we would like to introduce a platform that facilitates interactions needed to fuel such innovation and a Token designed as a means of connecting different layers of DBF, as well as incentivizing activities in the network, where users own their data and are rewarded for their activities. The DBF Connect Platform is built on blockchain protocol ensuring transparency, collaboration and involvement of all stakeholders in the innovation process. The DBF Connect Platform is architected in layers and modules, enabling strong foundation for common feature set, as well as providing ability to build on top of the foundations and expand functionality. The DBF Connect Platform is bridging real world to the Blockchain to support a borderless, innovation revolution. 4
TABLE OF CONTENTS Our Motivation 2 Problems in the current innovation landscape 2 What can be done 4 Table of Contents 5 1.0 Introduction 6 1.1 Challenges of current non-decentralized platforms 6 1.2 Supporting communities 6 2.0 DBF Connect Platform 7 2.1 Identity services 8 2.2 Technology behind the DBF Connect Platform 9 2.3 Blockchain protocol 9 2.4 Relationship between the DBF Token and integrations 10 2.5 Blockchain protocol limitations 11 2.6 Platform economy and prospective use cases 12 2.6.1 People network 12 2.6.2 Community management 13 2.6.3 Portfolio and deal flow management 13 2.6.4 Open innovation and collaboration 13 2.7 DBF Rewards Engine 14 2.8 Ecosystem Development Kit 14 2.9 Roadmap 15 3.0 The DBF Token 16 3.1 Purpose and functions 16 3.2 Implementation: Ethereum ERC20 token 16 4.0 DBF Token Sale Events 17 4.1 Terms and Funding Targets of Token Sale events 18 4.2 Details of the Token Sale events 19 4.3 Use of Proceeds 20 5.0 People behind DBF 21 5.1 Team 21 5.2 Advisors 24 6.0 Conclusions 26 5
1.0 INTRODUCTION DBF s CONNECT (DBF or DBF Connect) is determined to support various international ecosystems by delivering the blockchainbased technology for innovation. 1.1 Challenges of current nondecentralized platforms Since our society is built upon human connections and personal relationships, we decided to put people first with DBF Connect - the world s first decentralized people and innovation network. We are creating a distributed application that will provide a platform for the future of online communication and relationship building. With this, we hope to bring together the communities and interests that we share to form an innovative, protocol-layer solution that lays the foundation for our groundbreaking reinvention of online interactions. We believe that you should be rewarded for the things you do online every day; whether it is building your personal community, growing your company, networking with colleagues, enjoying your hobbies or communicating with friends. We know that your time has value, ergo with DBF Connect s revolutionary rewards system, you will be incentivized to take action online every day: from participating in collaborative projects and writing smart contracts, to introducing new people and companies to one another and dealmaking. You have a different set of data for different parts of your life. Your work life and your personal life are separate, and so should the online space for each. personal connection. We believe in a future where your data belongs to you, not to a corporation - and with that in mind, DBF Connect is building a holistic platform that combines the convenience of a centralized system with the security of a decentralized one. By using blockchain technology and IPFS transfer protocols, we ll ensure that your data stays safely in your hands where it belongs, not sold to advertisers or the highest bidder. But we aren t only design a platform to create personal connection. We believe that the best ideas are conceived through the freedom to explore new ground, and therefore, our Ecosystem Development Kit will allow for our users to develop and customize our platform to create incredible projects of their own. We are giving our users the tools to build and grow anything that they want within DBF Connect. 1.2 Supporting communities The DBF team has an extensive experience of working and supporting stakeholders of the innovation and startup ecosystem. Along with that work and support, the DBF team has built or served quality communities around the world such as CUBE, the World Economic Forum, J.E.D.I, and advised Governments in Germany, India, Portugal and few European Union initiatives. DBF believes in borderless exchange and conservation of value to establish communities that can consistently drive societal growth in the positive direction. 6
2.0 DBF CONNECT PLATFORM DBF Connect Platform provides a way to manage your identity, wallet, login and serve as an entryway to a peer-to-peer network. It represents a decentralized people and innovation network that models people networks as an asset on the market and facilitates the tackling of today s challenges in a globalized world. It will be the preferred venue for people to connect. In order to embrace the vision of creating a decentralized people ecosystem, DBF Connect Platform has a layered structure and it will be supported and tightly integrated with the DBF Token. DBF Connect Platform is architected in two layers and the main module: LAYER A CONNECT Engages all the six key stakeholders of innovation ecosystem to exchange value LAYER B SYSTEM Open source tools for all the stakeholders to optimise workflows to exchange value, also enabling a modular structure LAYER C MODULE supported through the systems layer, enable key use cases and features on the platform. The set of modules will be developed by DBF Team 7
2.1 Identity services In the world of crypto, there is a growing need to properly manage identities and privacy requirements. Additionally, there needs for a certain trust level and seamless management of the identity across different platforms. Users need to be able to use different digital services in an easy way by having a consistent identity across them. The DBF Connect Platform will allow users to have a single, robust and secure identity service with access to all of the relevant management features (e.g., wallet, reputation, verification, personal data, etc.). DBF will perform iterative work on providing an easy-to-use and secure identity platform, with interfaces for other platforms and integrations. Some examples of potential integrations could be with OneName, uport, Blockstack ID or CIVIC. 2.2 Technology behind the DBF Connect Platform DBF is building a user-friendly application with blockchain technology providing the secure infrastructure. Long-term, as the decentralised apps landscape becomes more mature, the DBF Connect Platform will transition to a fully-decentralised model where the platform becomes a part of the community. For the initial implementation, DBF is building a modern and a scalable platform built on top of a containerized microservice architecture. The DBF Team has experience in building and managing applications in many languages, from PHP and Python, through JavaScript on both server and client side. With the microservice architecture, the platform will be programming language agnostic, and different teams and community can build modules in environment that they find most productive and which best integrates with existing solutions. For initial products, the DBF Team will be using Python for back-end, and depending on developer preference, one of the major single-page application JavaScript frameworks for the UI. 8
2.3 Blockchain protocol At the time of the writing of this paper, there are several possible approaches to building decentralized applications. All of them rely on blockchain as a technology, however they differ in some key ways, for example which consensus algorithm is used, how fast are transactions processed, etc. We have analyzed all of the major blockchain platforms, Ethereum, Stellar and Ripple, as well as some newer ones like IOTA Tangle, NEM, Waves, Cardano and Lisk, and picked one, Ethereum. Following is a summary of what we have taken into consideration when making Ethereum the our choice at this time for the DBF Connect Platform. First, the developer community and the direction of the protocol, a very important consideration for building large-scale applications, such as the DBF Connect Platform. Ethereum has the largest pool of developers working and improving on the protocol, and there is a clear roadmap for it. One example of a novel Ethereum use is a µraiden solution for off-chain microtransactions, that is significantly more scalable and opens the window to completely new use cases, some of which will be used by the DBF Connect Platform. Third, transaction fees that incur every time there is an exchange of the information on the network. With recent developments to the Ethereum blockchain, like µraiden for off-chain transactions, transaction fees can be eliminated in many cases while allowing the transaction volume to exponentially grow for novel use cases. For example, users could issue a microtransaction for any type of interaction on the platform (e.g., view, share, comment, etc.), that would not constrain the DBF Connect s design and vision. Finally, smart contract support is native to Ethereum blockchain and although there is room for improvement, the current implementation enables novel approaches for new decentralized usages. These are a few key requirements that were taken into consideration. The DBF Team is also actively following the developments and features of other major blockchains to see what are the best solutions for implementing our vision. 2.4 Relationship between the DBF Token and integrations The DBF Token and the DBF Connect Platform will be used together to build a decentralized people s network. Both the token and the platform have specific characteristics and are summarized below. 9
DBF CONNECT PLATFORM: provides wallet, identity services and the DBF Token ensures ownership and security of personal and business critical data enables connections, collaboration, and cooperation among people by incentivizing such activities Ecosystem Development Kit (EDK), enabling interoperability with other platforms and development of new features/modules but without any DBF Token involved enables use cases such as people network, community, portfolio management and dealflow management running on the blockchain network, making the foundation of the platform transparent, open, secure, and scalable features such as smart-contracts enable automation of many manual tasks, i.e. rewarding people for making introductions through DBF Token ONLY provided by DBF Platform NOTE: Users cannot exchange DBF Tokens between each other or use them for any services on the DBF Platform 10
2.5 Blockchain protocol limitations One of the novel approaches that blockchain enables things is through distributed applications or DAPPS. Initially, the DBF Connect Platform will not be fully decentralized, and as stated in the previously, will be an application running on DBF servers enabling user-friendly access to platform functionality through the power of the blockchain. The long-term goal is to make the complete DBF Connect Platform fully decentralized. That means the platform will completely run on a peer-to-peer ecosystem. Initially, this hybrid solution creates a semi-centralized system in which end users can enjoy an intuitive and seamless user experience insulated from the complexity of blockchain systems. This approach is similar to many previous breakthrough technologies in the past. For example, email gained widespread adoption when the first web clients started appearing in late 90s, like Hotmail and Yahoo mail. The underlying protocol was available for decades, but only when easy to use and accessible solutions were available to users, the mass usage commenced. The smartphone revolution is a more recent example. Many of the components have been available for decades until a form factor, user experience and service support were combined to make an ubiquitous device we use daily. Blockchain technology is following a similar pattern. The foundation and the whole concept has been present for roughly a decade now, and we are now on the verge of creating applications that will fully utilize the technology and provide users with a tool that will enable new ways of communication and interaction with others. With this in mind, the DBF Connect Platform will migrate towards a more decentralized solution as the technology matures. The DBF Foundation will transfer all of the transactional infrastructure to the blockchain protocol, while keeping the usability at the highest levels and making the transition for the users seamless. By providing transparency and an open-source approach to all of the DBF projects, the traditional drawbacks that centralized solutions have will be mitigated. For example, although user data will be stored on DBF servers, the users will be the owners of their identity and detailed privacy issues will dictate who can access what while guaranteeing user privacy. The current state of the blockchain technology is still not ready for a fully decentralized DBF Connect Platform, and significant advances will need to be achieved in the blockchain landscape to enable a highly-scalable, low-latency and cost-effective decentralized system. Recently there has been promising progress happening on the Ethereum Foundation s Casper project, the Raiden Network, as well as on projects like Bancor, Cardano, IOTA and Lisk. All of this research is bringing us closer to increasing throughput, scalability, efficient payment channels, and decentralized governance protocols as well as introducing novel mechanisms, like sharding. The DBF Team is especially focusing on working with the blockchain technology community to accelerate research, needed improvements and the testing of them in production by integrating them into the DBF Connect Platform. This involves a lot of partners who are available through the CUBE Ecosystem, and an extensive advisor and founders network. This work will greatly increase the interoperability of the DBF Token with other tokens and blockchain protocols. 11
The design of the DBF Connect Platform and DBF Token is inspired by a few concepts from other projects that are working on achieving long-term interoperability and building foundations for next generation of blockchain applications. One such project, Cardano, is structured in layers as well and has a settlement layer that separates value from business logic. Another project, Plasma from Ethereum, is bringing us closer to off-chain transaction settlement, and only solving disputes on the main chain, thus greatly increasing the capacity of the network. Lastly, the Bancor protocol has one token that can be traded and converted to and from any token in the network. The DBF Connect Platform and the DBF Token have similar advantages and build on the benefits of these approaches and make the goal of having a fungible token powering activities on the platform achievable. 2.6 Platform economy and prospective use cases With the introduction of the DBF Connect Platform, DBF will also introduce a set of use cases that will encourage a variety of parties to use the platform and exchange information. Those include individual talent, startups, communities, investors, as well as corporates and academia. Through experimentation and continuous iteration based on the feedback, DBF will create a unique bilateral marketplace for all Platform users through DBF Token ONLY provided by DBF Platform. The featureset outlined below represents the foundation of the DBF Connect Platform, and all of the components will work together in one large ecosystem, fueled by the DBF Token ONLY provided by DBF Platform that will be a common denominator between the different use cases. Important to note is that these are the initial features that DBF would like to implement, however the ecosystem will mature as time progress and provide far more features in the future. This will be especially emphasized after the release of the APIs and Ecosystem Development Kits, which will enable the community to contribute and expand the functionality of the Platform. 2.6.1 People network The main feature of the DBF Connect Platform, will be accessible for everyone that is in the People Network. The People Network will enable easy connection and communication of internal and external entities from businesses and startups with people. Target audiences could include people from all backgrounds: entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, business angel, intrapreneurs, mentors, job seekers, freelancer, executives, artists, specialists and others. Users will be able to manage their relationships with all key information with control of their personal data and will have models to monetize their activities, through DBF Token ONLY provided by DBF Platform. For example, by utilizing the Platform and the DBF Token, users could make recommendations and introductions between different parties. Only the DBF Platform will reward a user if their targets engage in conversation or a business partnership. By using smart contracts, this process can be automated and ensured to happen. 12
This will simplify the process used in traditional networking, where users have to follow up to check and in many cases, it is very inconvenient for them to ask for something in return. This return will be provided through DBF Token ONLY provided by DBF Platform Users will have an intuitive way to create a request for a recommendation using the platform, which would act as a bounty mechanism, awarding a person who fulfills it. All parties would benefit from this: the initial user will get in contact with the target one, and DBF Connect will reward the mediator with the bounty amount and transfer the tokens. Additionally, the DBF Rewards Engine will avoid spam, as well as greatly incentivize meaningful recommendations and introductions, which are more likely to result in mutual benefit for all parties involved. 2.6.2 Community management Another feature that can have a huge importance is community management. With many benefits, users are able to promote and distribute information they want, and engage with the community in different ways. Messaging, task management, social collaboration, event management and scheduling are just some of the activities that could be supported and users could greatly benefit by engaging with the community and team members over relevant topics. Users can be members of different communities, groups by companies, similar interests, locations, language or other criteria. The decentralized nature of the platform should in the long run fuel the creation of interesting communities. 2.6.3 Portfolio and deal flow management Management of the deal flow and portfolios is another area where the DBF Connect Platform could provide significant improvements compared to the other solutions on the market. Managing applications, scheduling, document sharing and circulation, and deal closing are all features that can be incorporated and which, when automated and transparent, would provide a huge incentive to keep the whole lifecycle of the deals on the platform. Advanced reporting solutions, aligned with key compliance and investment statistics, as well as deal sourcing analytics and portfolio management are just some of the essential tools that could revolutionize the market and provide a strong incentive for businesses to use the platform.. 2.6.4 Open innovation and collaboration Fostering of collaboration across all stakeholders is another benefit of the platform. By having activities and challengers that enhance collaboration and innovation, the platform will organically grow and result in a positive outcome for all involved entities. The DBF Connect platform enables companies to engage with Startups, Accelerators, Incubators, Universities and Independent innovators/ Freelancers, who could all work together as a large decentralized workforce empowering innovation. Further use cases include internal participation and innovation by employees of an organization which can be managed and rewarded using the DBF Token. 13
2.7 DBF Rewards Engine,, In the future, more and more things we do (passive or active) are going to get compensated by a token of some sort. In the same way today governments are issuing money, in the future companies will be issuing tokens to marry that value to a function that they have, or a product of their specific offering. - William Mougayar at Ethereal Summit 2017,, The DBF Token was created with the goal to help fuel the global innovation ecosystem, by giving power to people and giving value to their relationships. With this, the DBF Token makes all individuals collaborators in the ecosystem. And, in order to best reach this goal, DBF has formalized the Rewards Engine, as the primary mechanism for the release of tokens. DBF will oversee the total reserve of the pre-circulation DBF Tokens to promote the adoption and growth of the DBF Ecosystem as a whole. The DBF Rewards Engine represents a mechanism by which the total supply of the DBF Tokens will be gradually distributed to the community. Fifty percent of the total supply of DBF Tokens will be secured in a smart contract to be allocated by the DBF Rewards Engine, and a portion of the tokens will be released into circulation as a periodic reward. Those rewards will be allocated to individuals and ecosystem partners as well as to the DBF GmbH. Some of the earliest DBF Tokens will be released through our Airdrop as a showcase to users supporting the project and spreading awareness among their networks. The DBF Rewards Engine will work in a simple way: 20% of the remaining supply of tokens will be released every year. The amount of this reward will be proportional to the measure of the utilization of the DBF in the ecosystem. The calculation of the amount of the DBF Tokens awarded from the engine will be assessed through a defined process that will ensure the amount is distributed fairly, using an objective and performance-based methodology. The whole process will be transparent, auditable and secure. A portion of the DBF Tokens from the DBF Rewards Engine shall not exceeding 5% of all tokens and may be used by the DBF GmbH for operations and marketing purposes in order to help ecosystem partners acquire users and bring more partners in. As the blockchain technology evolves, the DBF Rewards Engine might even develop and become an autonomous and a trustless system. 2.8 Ecosystem Development Kit The Ecosystem Development Kit (EDK) represents the last phase of the current DBF roadmap, a culmination of the previous work and a foundation for a decentralized platform that is built for the community, by the community. The EDK will ensure interoperability in a distributed network, and will provide the community with a way to expand the functionality of the DBF Connect Platform, and at the same time still be in the DBF Ecosystem and support the exchange of value and information through the DBF Tokens. 14
The development of such a kit is a monumental task, and it will be performed alongside the development of the DBF Connect Platform. The use cases mentioned previously and the components that will enable those features will be built by DBF GmbH using the EDK, paving the road for community involvement and showcasing the potential of the EDK. Other digital service providers will be able to provide extensions and allow users to create more value and foster the innovation process. The EDK will create incentives for the adoption of the DBF Token and will attract other partners to the ecosystem. The ecosystem created by DBF will not impose and set unnecessary restrictions or tolls on monetization strategies, it will be up to the community to decide, however the common ethics and legality requirements of content and transactions will be ensured. All of the work that leads towards the EDK will invite more partners to join, and with the network effect of the DBF Ecosystem will grow. This will in turn build and increase the value of the whole ecosystem, inviting even greater adoption. Conceptually, the EDK is built on top of the Exchange layer of the DBF Connect Platform, therefore enabling all stakeholders to trade multiple assets. Initially, the DBF Token will be used to power all activities on the network, however as the network evolves and the blockchain technology matures, the EDK could allow different tokens to be used alongside the main DBF Token. This might include sub-tokens, which will be specific and limited in functionality, but serve a specific purpose defined by the stakeholders involved in using and trading it. Non-fungible tokens will also be possible due to the Ethereum network and will introduce another layer of utility for tokens that cannot be traded, but still serve a purpose and can be used to fuel and reward activities within the ecosystem. These are just some of the capabilities that the EDK will enable on the DBF Connect Platform. 2.9 Roadmap The DBF Connect Platform is laid through the development phases in which DBF will be progressing in the next several years. These phases are: A New Hope, The Awakening, Rogue One, and Our Destiny. This will help outline what can be expected from DBF in near future. The initial roadmap is present below, with the key deliverables to be completed before the transition to the next phase. 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2019 Q2 2019 Q4 Phase I: A New Hope Phase II: The Awakening Phase III: Rogue One Phase IV: Our Destiny DBF Token (Pre)-Public Sale DBF Connect Platform (Beta) DBF Connect Platform (Alpha) DBF EDK DBF Token Block Explorer DBF Token Distribution with API Event 15
3.0 THE DBF TOKEN The DBF Token serves as a utility token and will be set up as an ERC20 compatible token. DBF Token gives access to features on the platform rewards connections, collaboration, and cooperation among people by incentivizing such activities through DBF Rewards Engine Please Note: People are NOT using their DBF tokens for these activities can be earned through activities on the platform fuels the Rewards Engine enables the community to take part in new features/modules of the platform through DBF Token ONLY provided by DBF Platform NOTE: Users cannot exchange DBF Tokens between each other or use them for any services on the DBF Platform 3.1 Purpose and functions The DBF Token will be used alongside the DBF Connect Platform and will allow access, management and usage in various ways on the platform and in the ecosystem. It will enable use cases like making recommendations and rewarding users for their activities through DBF Token ONLY provided by DBF Platform. Therefore, the token represents far more than just an access to the platform and its usability will extend as far as the ecosystem s imagination reaches. DBF will provide a foundation for the usage of the token, manage and distribute it through sale events, The DBF Connect Platform will have guidelines, and use cases and will be extended as the platform grows. 3.2 Implementation: Ethereum ERC20 token The DBF Token will be implemented on the Ethereum network, as an ERC20 compatible token. Aligned with the best practices in the community, the DBF Token will be published on github in a smart contract and will have a subset of its main functionality implemented. The DBF Rewards Engine is an important part in the whole economy of the ecosystem, and portions of it will be implemented through the smart contracts, in cases where network is applicable of releasing the DBF Token into supply. The DBF Tokens, being ERC20 compatible, can be managed through any wallet that supports the standard, as well as through the DBF Token website, which will be used to manage the Token balance prior to the smart contract and Airdrop phases of the project. 16
4.0 DBF TOKEN SALE EVENTS The DBF Digital Blockchain Foundation GmbH will organize the DBF Token sale in three stages: private, pre-public and public. In the private stage, the DBF Foundation will offer 0.5% of all DBF tokens to be created for purchase at a private sale to early backers and supporters. Following, a pre-public token sale will offer 3.5% of the total tokens, and, finally, the public token sale will offer 20% of the total DBF Tokens for purchase. In total, during the sale events, 24% of all tokens created will be offered for purchase. The DBF Tokens, being ERC20 compatible, can be managed through any wallet that supports the standard, as well as through the DBF Token website, which will be used to manage the Token balance prior to the smart contract and Airdrop phases of the project. Regarding the remaining 76% of tokens, they will be distributed in the following way: Regarding the time of issuing of the tokens, the DBF Tokens are planned to be issued to all contributors no later than 6 weeks after the final sale event, Public Sale, closes. This timeline is subject to further adjustments in the event of unforeseen development, legal, certification or regulatory compliance roadblocks. 50% Rewards Engine: will be used in order to be able to support long term growth, Community Development and Partnerships in a sustainable way, rewards to early users of the DBF platform in the first 5 years. 11% Long Term DBF Budget: retained by DBF GmbH in order to support future growth and the directions of the project, ensuring that the interests of the DBF Connect Platform and the DBF Token are aligned with the ecosystem in the long-term, and 15% Team: will be allocated to founders, advisors, supporters and to the development team of DBF Connect in exchange for their efforts and resources contributed to the work on the platform. 17
4.1 Terms and Funding Targets of Token Sale events Table 3. below lists the key information for the remaining two sale events: target amounts, funding caps and amounts of tokens being offered in each sale. Funding Target Funding Cap Tokens Offered Pre Public Token Sale 500,000 5,000,000 3,500,000,000 Public Token Sale 1,500,000 30,000,000 20,000,000,000 Table 3. Funding targets, caps and amount of coins offered in Sale Events. The overall token sale (all three token sales summed) will distribute 24% of all to be created DBF Tokens with a unit prices per token at a fixed value of 0,002. The rate in Euros will be converted to the supported cryptocurrencies, and the exchange rate between DBF Tokens and those cryptocurrencies will be fixed for the Pre-Public and Public Sale event and set to the value according to the market 24 hours before the sale event starts. Total number of tokens to be issued is 100,000,000,000. Summary of all this information is present in Table 4. In the unlikely event that the Pre-Public Token Sale Funding Target of 500,000 isn t met, up to 80% of all contributions in the Sale will be refunded based on the available balance and sent back to the contributors. The remaining 20% will be used to cover the costs associated with the organizing of the Pre-Public Token Sale. If the Public Token Sale Funding Target of 1,500,000 is not achieved, all contributions in the Sale will be sent back to the contributors. Should the Team behind DBF decide not to proceed further, in this case of Public Token Sale not meeting goals, contributors of the Pre-Public Token Sale will refunded based on the available balance. Any unsold tokens from Pre-Public and Public Token Sale will be locked for 12 months, and afterwards be used for future development, marketing and partnerships by the DBF Foundation. Name of the Token Symbol DBF Connect DBF DBF Token price 0,002 Total Amount of Tokens 100,000,000,000 Table 4. Summary of key DBF Token information. Discounts will be available in each stage of the Pre-Public and the Public Token Sale. 18
4.2 Details of the Token Sale events The following are the summaries of the two sale events, listing relevant dates, discount amounts, funding targets and caps, and accepted cryptocurrencies. Unsold DBF Tokens will be locked for 12 months, and afterwards added to the long-term DBF GmbH budget. Pre-Public Token Sale Start Date 01.06.2018 End Date 22.06.2018 Discount 30% Discount 27% Discount 25% Amount of Tokens Funding Target Funding Cap Accepted cryptocurrencies for the Pre Public Token Sale Cap 01.06.2018 02.06. - 08.06.18 09.06. - 22.06.18 3,500,000,000 500,000 5,000,000 ETH Table 5. Summary of Pre-Public Token Sale information. Unsold DBF Tokens will be locked for 12 months, and afterwards added to the long-term DBF GmbH budget. Discounts will be available in each stage of the Pre-Public and the Public Token Sale. Pre-Public Token Sale Start Date 15.10.2018 End Date 05.11.2018 Discount 20% Discount 10% Amount of Tokens Funding Target Funding Cap Accepted cryptocurrencies for the Pre Public Token Sale Cap 15.10.2018 16.10. - 05.11.18 20,000,000,000 1,500,000 30,000,000 ETH Table 6. Summary of Public Token Sale information. The DBF Tokens will be distributed to contributors of the Pre-Public and Public Sales approximately 6 weeks after the close of the Public Token Sale. Unsold DBF Tokens will be locked for 12 months, and afterwards added to the long-term DBF GmbH budget. 19
4.3 Use of Proceeds Private Token Sale > > > > > > > > The majority of proceeds shall go towards onboard key talent (25%) for platform development and engineering, setup operations (30%), marketing (25%) and to cover all legal and regulatory matters (20%). The DBF Team has a strong commitment towards all future backers and wants to send a strong signal to the community, which is reasoning behind setting up a German GmbH (DBF Digital Blockchain Foundation GmbH) as the governing body. Pre-Public Token Sale The majority of proceeds shall go towards platform development and engineering (35%), operations (15%), community development (30%), legal and regulatory matters (15%) and partner engagement (5%) Public Token Sale After the successful Public Token Sale the majority of proceeds (50%) shall go towards platform development and engineering. Other expenses covered by the raised amounts will be used to cover all legal and regulatory matters (12%) in order to maintain the integrity of the DBF Connect Platform. Further expenses will be used to enable partner engagement (15%) and marketing (10%) as well as operational and administrative costs (10%). 20
5.0 PEOPLE BEHIND DBF We are a team of tech company builders, startup community developers, corporate innovation specialists and blockchain technologists, who strongly believe in the adoption of deep tech creating change and disruption. 5.1 Team Insight into the working group. Christian Tegge MBA - CEO Nothing makes you more successful than helping others become successful. Christian has a passion for entrepreneurship and innovation, the business model development process and the entrepreneurial learning mechanism. He started his career in the military before studying Business Administration & Entrepreneurship. During his studies he became involved with the Berlin and German Startup Ecosystem. He was also a university teacher and has already started and sold his own company. Christian worked as Head of Operations at the German Startups Association and in 2016 he joined CUBE - the global innovation ecosystem - as COO and brought their Vision to life. Christian holds an MBA from IMB Berlin, is a Digital Leader of the World Economic Forum and believes that having an entrepreneurial spirit is a key driving force of economic growth and success. linkedin.com/in/christiantegge Hannes Schulz CTO Hannes career has focused on software engineering over the past 15+ years. The core of his work experience has been on developing web applications. Hannes has worked with small to large-sized companies such as PayPal, Axel Springer, and TUI. Along with this experience, he is an evangelist of Agility, leadership, and team development. His last role was being the CTO of Cubits, one of the largest Bitcoin marketplaces in Europe. linkedin.com/in/schulz-h 21
Roman Smigiel MBA - CPO Be the change that you wish to see in the world. - Mahatma Gandhi Roman started his journey 20+ years ago with an initial focus on Finance. This quickly changed to a fascination with Product Management, Project Management, Business Analysis, & QA. Over the years, Roman has developed skills in leadership, coaching, & advising while building product, teams, & companies. He has worked with a variety of companies that have ranged from startups to large-sized companies such as OptioPay, PayPal, Blackboard, Merrill Lynch, & Reuters. linkedin.com/in/romansmigiel Ahmet Novalic Head of Engineering Ahmet is a passionate software engineer and a blockchain enthusiast. During his undergraduate studies, he worked on projects with startups from all over the world, and worked in different industries creating solutions to optimize business processes and connect different services. He got involved with blockchain during his graduate studies, where he was researching a novel blockchain approach for autonomous route planning. He also loves open-source, startup ecosystems and joined CUBE in 2017. Ahmet holds an MSc degree with distinction in Computer Science from University of Southampton, where he was a Chevening scholar. linkedin.com/in/ahmet-novalic-08018618 22
Santosh Yellajosula VP Marketing & Blockchain Catalyst Santosh has experience working with all the major stakeholders of a startup ecosystem. In his previous role leading growth at f6s.com, he has worked with accelerators, incubators, VCs, and corporations around the world to enable startup deal flow. Santosh has led Kairos society in India from inception and scaled the organization as the launch partner of Startup India (one of the largest government startup programs in the world). Through this, he had an opportunity to involve both in policy as well as the execution of government to startup interactions. Santosh has previously built and sold tech startups right from university level as a student entrepreneur. He holds MSc degree from Bits Pilani university and is very excited about the future of innovation ecosystems. linkedin.com/in/santoshyellajosula Maren Lesche - Director Communications Maren Lesche is a Startup Expert based in Berlin. After studying Applied Media Science at the Technical University in Ilmenau and in New York, she worked for and with tech companies like T-Systems and Microsoft. In 2012, Maren started at EIT Digital supporting its Pan-European startup activities like EIT Digital Idea Challenge. Maren joined the etventure group in February 2016 where she has been involved in the IoT European Platforms Initiative as well as Startup Europe projects. She is a startup enthusiast and mentors at TechStars, Startupbootcamp, SAP IoT Accelerator as well as ZNationLab in India. Maren focusses on IoT, Digital Health and FinTech. She is also advisor at the SXSW Accelerator for Wearables and Healthcare, Ambassador of FTR4H (Future4Health, an international innovation community), the German-Israeli-Startup Exchange Programme as well as the German-Indian-Startup-Exchange Programme. linkedin.com/in/marenlesche 23
Abhishek Sistla - Product Abhishek is the techie among biz guys & the biz guy among techies. A huge fan of the potential of students, has worked extensively in the Ed-Tech space, contributing in both Business Process Optimization & Technology (Product and Information Systems) Development. Previously, was the Strategist and headed Technology for Whacked Out Media, a digital media organization. Derived and developed the right processes and tools which helped the organization scale from a monthly audience of 100 Million to an audience of over 2 Billion per month (1B people reached on Facebook and 1B views on YouTube). Abhishek has been in the Blockchain ecosystem for quite a while now and has handled product development and marketing, working on token design, consensus models, audience development and community management for ICOs and no-ico blockchain projects. He is excited about DAI- COs & the potential of DBF s stakeholders where he looks to partner with high impact projects to enhance the DBF Innovation ecosystem. A hacker at heart & a hustler at thought! linkedin.com/in/svabhishek 24
6.0 CONCLUSIONS The DBF Connect Platform represents a breakthrough for a truly decentralized people and innovation network that will enables people to grow connections, gain and spread their influence as well as create new value and support the global community. The first Blockchain Solution for the mass market. This paper has outlined some of the problems current systems have, including centralization and limited innovation, and proposes blockchain as a technology for building a solution to the problem. With the team behind the DBF Digital Blockchain Foundation GmbH, the DBF Connect Platform and the DBF Token are envisioned in a way that will enable information and value exchange between many stakeholders and foster the innovation process. Several key design choices of the DBF Token provide a strong foundation for long-term growth and sustainability. First, limited token supply will incentivise early adoption of the platform and help with the initial growth of the platform. Second, by supporting the trading of the DBF Token on the markets, the ownership of the token will provide a value to users, as well as to the DBF foundation, whose development and operational costs will also be supported. Finally, with some of the key features outlined in the paper, the accessibility through DBF Connect platform will allow a People Network, Community Management and Portfolio and Dealflow Management through the DBF Token to provide utility to users. All of these steps will help reverse the centralization of the Internet and allow the creation of transparent, accessible, vibrant and fair communities that foster innovation. Long-term, this enables the network to organically grow and disrupt the market that is currently controlled by a couple of large corporate players. DBF Digital Blockchain Foundation GmbH Französische Str. 24, 10117 Berlin, Germany MADE IN GERMANY 25