Hmmmm.... now that I've written the title of this post, it is a bit off sounding. However, interestingly enough it isn't too far off the mark... or should that be disturbingly enough?

So, if you have been following my blog, you will know that Coinlist makes IEO launches with early crowdsales of vetted tokens before they hit the exchange listings. If you are lucky, you will get in early on some pretty decent projects like FLOW, Mina and Solana... albeit with usually hefty lock-up times to prevent grab and dump schemes. Plus, you will have to brave their famously borked queue system to hopefully get a purchase spot!

Still, I've found it worthwhile to make long and crazily risky bets here... so far! Plus, if you queue without expectation then it won't matter if you don't get a spot... and if you do, then it is like winning a lottery... where you have the privilege of throwing money on a risky venture! It is a bit of a pity that the SWARM crowdsale that I wrote about a few days ago is commencing this evening... at the same time that I'm due to go on stage for a concert. Probably bad form to try and queue and do an IEO purchase on the phone whilst playing in a concert!

Anyway, for this HUMAN (HMT) crowdsale... it is again at a very nice time of the day for Europeans... early evening, instead of the middle of the night! So, I'm not interrupting my sleep in the middle of the night to see if I managed to get a favourable queue position!

So, about the project... behind all the high-level "changing the world" marketing guff, it appears that HUMAN token is a way to throw little chunks of change to human slaves (sorry, global decentralised workers...) to complete tasks that AI or computers can handle. So, that would be CAPTCHAS? It really sounds like the decentralised and tokenised version of Amazon Turk, but without the third-party to petition and boycott for better worker conditions?

As you can see, I'm not really buying into this Empowering Workforce thing that they seem to be spinning, but perhaps I'm mistaken. The examples that they provide certain seem to suggest that humans would handle the "interesting" tasks, whilst machines would handle the boring repetition tasks... but I do wonder if that will be the end use case for it, or if it is a bit of an idealistic vision that might have unintended consequences?

Still, I guess there might be a chance that I'm wrong... and that this project will definitely empower humans by using computers and AI to free them of the mundane tasks and not the reverse.... Silicon Valley is definitely not a bubble where high flying ideals and visions have proven to have little connection with reality!

The usual rules for the borked queue system apply again... sign up, join the waiting room... and hope for a purchase spot, or laugh your head off when you get smashed by the click farms and multi account rings!

Round 1 offers a decent discount on the tokens in exchange for a hefty lock-up time, the unlocked tokens aren't that much more expensive in the second round. However, I would really advise against trying to pick and choose... there is no guarantee that you can get a purchase spot in either round, let alone being able to choose one!

I'm a little less confident about this particular offering, partly due to my thoughts on how it will eventually evolve.... but the fact that the first two sale rounds (2018 and 2020) are either fully or partially unlocked for dumping is also not a reassuring sign either! I think that if I win a purchase spot in this IEO, it is going to be a very hesitant amount that I allocate to this IEO! I could very well be wrong, but there is something a bit unsettling about all of this... from the purpose of the project, through to the already unlocked VC/seed fund tokens.

Handy Crypto Tools

Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
Kucoin: My second choice in exchanges, many tokens listed here that you can't get on Binance!
MXC: Listings of lots of interesting tokens that are usually only available on DEXs. Avoid high gas prices!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.