Ethereum Watch

ICO Alert: For those who are not familiar with Apollo18, can you explain what it is, and what the team aims to accomplish?

Apollo18 is a cryptocurrency mining operation based in Central Pennsylvania. Token holders are rewarded with Ethereum based on the profits generated by the mining farm.

Apollo18’s goal is to take cryptocurrency mining to the next level. Currently, it is a hobbyist activity where people are in their garage zip-tying computer parts to shoe racks. A mature, efficient data center is the next logical step for cryptocurrency and blockchain infrastructure. Apollo18 takes us there.

ICO Alert: How does the Apollo Token (A18) function within the platform and why is it needed?

The A18 token is an ERC20 token built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. We chose Ethereum due to its ability to utilize smart contracts. Additionally, Ethereum is one of the easiest on-ramps/off-ramps for crypto, so it lowers the barrier of entry to access Apollo18.

ICO Alert: How do you decide which coins to mine and how flexible are you with changing it up?

Apollo18 uses a proprietary methodology to mine the most efficient coins. A combination of code coupled with years of experience with the natural flow of the market, Apollo18 aims to mine coins that will maximize profitability.

At the end of the day, it all ends up as Ethereum to be disbursed to token holders.

ICO Alert: Your slogan is “The Most Efficient Mining Operation In the Galaxy.” Why?

Apollo18 is the most efficent mining operation in the galaxy for a number of reasons. A typical mining operation’s physical footprint is approximately 8 GPUs per square foot. Currently, Apollo18 is operating at 48 GPUs per square foot and soon will be operating at 160 GPUs per standard 42u rack.

At the end of the day, while they sound nice, mobile units, cold mountains, and solar panels are not feasible. Applying classic data center methodologies to our small physical footprint creates an efficiency that is unmatched.

ICO Alert: Why did you choose to set up operations in Altoona, PA, and what advantages does running your crypto mine there give you?

Altoona, PA is a little hidden gold mine in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Altoona was akin to Silicon Valley in the Railroad Era, and now there is a major movement to breathe life back into the area. One way of reigniting that flame is bringing Altoona into the 21st century with innovative technology.

The community support combined with cheap electricity rates create an unmatched force to truly innovate and build something awesome.

ICO Alert: How much hashing power do you have now? And how much do you plan to expand to once you’ve fully expanded the operation?

Currently, we have over 100 GPUs mining at over 50,000 sols/s while mining Equihash and 2.59 GH/s when mining ethhash. We are utilizing a small fraction of our 3,000 available square feet.

ICO Alert: What separates Apollo18 from other crypto mining ICOs?

Apollo18 is different from other mining ICOs for a variety of reasons. While doing an analysis on competitors, we’ve seen that most are not even mining yet and are selling an idea. Apollo18 is actually mining.

Additionally, in our experience with other ICOs, we’ve seen a lot of shady practices take place. Apollo18 is aiming to be as transparent and compliant as possible. There are no cloud contracts. There is no vesting period. You either own tokens and receive payouts or you don’t. We pride ourselves on being straightforward. We want to be a realistic on-ramp to crypto for mining enthusiasts and traditional investors alike.

ICO Alert: What does your roadmap look like the rest of 2018, and 2019?

The plan for 2018 is to scale. After the ICO, we will review the funds raised and determine a proper plan to scale the operation. Once the funds are raised, we anticipate being able to add at least 3 miners to the farm per day with the current workforce in place now.

Exchanges are a common question as well. We are in contact with various exchanges that are interested in listing A18 tokens (and will be able to receive payouts), however, we felt that partner sale funds were better used for growth than for exchange listings.

2019’s plan is to continue scaling, finalize exchange listings, and expand our offerings. Apollo18 performs R&D to increase efficiency. We are aiming to offer custom hardware for other miners and offer services in the artificial intelligence and neural network space.

ICO Alert: As a non-Apollo question, we like to ask for unique predictions for the ICO and cryptocurrency space in the future. Where do you see both in the next 3–5 years?

I think the markets will look very different than they do today.

I think a lot of the altcoins that are based on a whitepaper and a fantasy are going to fizzle out. The projects that have working tech and tangible assets will thrive.

Naturally, at some point, the government is going to dig their claws in and ruin a great thing. I am a believer in ICOs. They level the playing field and allow the “everyday person” to sit at the table with the powerful elite. There is a lot of growth and maturity that is needed before we get there though.

Cryptocurrency as a whole is here to stay. I do believe one day we will go to the grocery store and see Visa, Mastercard, Bitcoin as our payment options. We will see a world where lawyers and realtors are programmers writing smart contracts.

The world is getting smaller and more connected. We cannot afford to instill our trust in one central authority. It is critical to put the power back into the hands of people. It is critical to not trust, but verify.

ICO Information

The main ICO will begin on September 17, 2018 and will end on October 1, 2018. There are a total of 10,000,000 A18 Apollo18 tokens (A18) available during the main ICO, representing 85% of the total A18 supply. A hard cap of 10,750,000 A18 is set for this period.

$0.90 = 1 A18 token

Currently accepted currencies for Apollo18 include ETH, BTC, USD.

Apollo18 is an ERC20 token, so it’s important that contributors use ERC20 compatible wallets to send funds to the ICO smart contract and to receive the Apollo18 tokens.

Token Information

There are a total of 14,250,000 A18 tokens being created, with 10,000,000 A18 available during main ICO.

Contributors will have their tokens distributed shortly after the end of the ICO. Any tokens not purchased will be burned. Visit the Apollo18 website for more information and the contribution address.

Restrictions

• US citizens wishing to participate must be accredited investors
• Chinese citizens are prohibited from participating

Allocation

85% to token holders, 15% to marketing and growth.

View the Apollo18 website here.

View the only comprehensive list of active and upcoming Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) here.

References

1. Apollo18 Website, Apollo18 (2018)

https://apollo18.co.in

2. Apollo18 Whitepaper, Apollo18 (2018)