Accumulator Neuron SNS Due Diligence - (Querio)

I’d like to preface this by stating that this is in no means financial advice, nor is it meant to criticize the decentralized application in discussion. The following article is a collection of objective observations, in regards to the Accumulator Neurons SNS Voting Criteria, which can be found in the resources below. Unlike previous articles, this due diligence has not been formally reviewed by the foundation in discussion - as such, if any inaccuracies are presented, they are to be corrected upon notification.

Resources

Accumulator Neuron SNS Voting Criteria

SNS Proposal Discussion

Protocol Documentation Relevant to Analysis

Protocol Abstract

Querio aims to provide a multi-chain search engine, enabling the seamless discovery of dApp solutions.

Analysis

Main Net dApp

Is the dApp live and operational? Has the development team demonstrated technical competence specifically regarding the Internet Computer Protocol?

Yes the Querio dApp is live & operational and can be referenced below:

https://querio.io

As such, yes I believe it is reasonable to say that the team has demonstrated technical competency in relation to the Internet Computer.

With this being said, the Querio application does not currently fulfill its full scope, with the whitepaper listing the following plans:

-Extended Cross-Chain Support
-Content Mining
-dApp Promotion
-Promotion Auction Mechanism
-Querio AI
-Querio Drive
-NFT Browsing
-Querio Shopping (NFT Market)

Is the dApp fully on-chain, meaning both the front end and back end of the protocol are hosted in Canister smart contracts?

Yes, Querio is completely operational within Canister Smart Contracts on the Internet Computer.

The canisters to be decentralized can be found below;

Querio Frontend

krcmj-3iaaa-aaaan-qdpoq-cai

Querio Search Engine

qewgk-faaaa-aaaan-qenoa-cai

Does the dApp rely on third-party dependencies, such as off-chain providers, fee-gated APIs, or other mechanisms that rely on intermediaries? If so, is there a plan to transfer these dependencies to Canisters and the SNS? Additionally, is there a plan to fund these mechanisms independently, without solely relying on the SNS Treasury?

There seemingly are no disclosed third party dependencies within the Querio dApp.

Can the dApp, in its current form, be considered a complete product that fulfills its intended purpose? If the development team were to suddenly stop building, would the dApp still be able to function and achieve its objectives?

While Querio does not currently fulfill the entirety of its roadmap scope, yes, I believe it is reasonable to say that it fulfills its intended purpose & objective as a decentralized search engine.

Protocol Overview

Is the protocol open source?

Yes the Querio Protocol is open source, with the source code found below:

Has the team provided a clear white paper that details the protocol comprehensively? Additionally, is there technical documentation available that explains the underlying mechanisms, functionalities, and concepts of the protocol?

Yes, the team has provided a clear & concise whitepaper & roadmap depicting the future direction of the project, of which can be found below:

With this being said, the technical side of Querio’s documentation has room for improvement to ease the on-boarding of alternative contributors.

Is there an insightful overview of the tokenomics provided? Is token allocation responsible & proportionate?

Yes, detailed insight into tokenomics is provided within Querio’s Whitepaper.

The token allocation is layed out as follows:

Protocol: 53.8%

Treasury - 53.8%

Community: 31.2%

Decentralization Sale - 25%

Presale Participants - 4.1%

Airdrop - 2.1%

Insiders: 15%

Querio Dev Organization - 15%

As such, I can not agree that this is a fair token distribution, given the Querio Development Organization intends to reserve 48% of the supply in proportion to what is sold to the community.

Has the team articulated why the SNS is the ideal decentralization solution for their application at this time?

The Querio team has articulated their reasoning for pursuing an SNS Decentralization Sale;

“By embracing the SNS framework, Querio empowers users with complete control over the platform, enabling us to prioritize community-driven development.”

Although this does not depict sound reasoning regarding the necessity of an immediate Decentralization sale.

Is the team publicly known within the ecosystem? Do they have a visible presence in the crypto community or relevant industry events?

While the Querio Foundation is not publicly visible within the ecosystem, it is reasonable to say that Querio has established a presence for themselves within the Internet Computer Ecosystem, as depicted below:

https://x.com/querio_io?s=21&t=p9K9YrK2DF2OD_cPX2QYTA

Is the team’s dynamic transparent? Do team members openly communicate and collaborate with the community?

No, the inner workings of the teams dynamic are not transparent. It is unclear as to the overall size of the Querio Foundation, or which members fulfill which roles. With this being said, the Querio Twitter account has a history of engaging with the community.

What is the team’s track record and experience in the relevant field? Has the team made notable contributions to the ecosystem or relevant projects?

While it’s referenced that Querio was conceptualized at CrossChain Labs, it is unclear as to whether CrossChain actively pursued development as an entity. With this being said, of Querio’s Team, two founding members are publicly disclosed; Andreea & George, each bolstering impressive experiences within blockchain ecosystems.

Andreea Stefan

A seasoned architect and the co-founder of Crosschain Labs, Andreea has increased her blockchain experience by working with ConsenSys, NEAR Protocols and Filecoin among others. Now, she is taking the management responsibility to increase the CrossChain Labs contribution to the crypto world.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreea-stefan-66740b20/

George Robert

Flexible and open-minded, George is the co-founder of CrossChain Labs and an experienced fullstack developer with a tremendous history of coding. Previously at ConsenSys, George continuously follows his passions for new technologies and programming.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreea-stefan-66740b20/

The remainder of the Cross Chain labs team can be found below, although are not directly included due to uncertainty of affiliation.

Proof of Valuation

Has the team provided transparency regarding the valuation? Is the valuation method disclosed, and is the math behind it available for review?

No, the Querio foundation has not disclosed the valuation method of the dApp, as such, there is no available data to back the valuation.

Has the team shown comparable raises within the industry sector? Does the valuation accurately address the current and potential market shares?

No, the Querio Foundation has not shown comparable raises within the industry, therefor, it is not possible to gauge whether the valuation accurately addresses the current or potential market share of the application.

Security Audit

Is a security audit necessary for the application? Has the code received at least some degree of review? Is there transparency and disclosure regarding the security measures taken?

Based off public information, no, it does not appear as though Querio has undergone a formal security audit. However, given Querio currently only acts as an aggregator of information & websites, no, I do not think it is completely necessary they undergo a formal security audit before launching. With this being said, the Querio Foundation should be taking security steps & reviews to ensure they are not serving malicious websites, such as phishing links.

Neuron Fund Allocation

Is the Neuron Fund utilized? If so, what percentage of the sale is the Neuron Fund?

Yes, there is a requested allocation from the Neuron Fund, being 250,00 ICP, out of a maximum contribution of 1,000,000 ICP, representing 25% of the same under the new matched funding mechanism.

Conclusion

In summary, the due diligence analysis of Querio, aligning with the Accumulator Neuron SNS voting criteria, reveals the following:

Querio’s operational DApp demonstrates technical prowess in implementing the Internet Computer Protocol, operating fully on-chain for decentralized functionality. The open-source protocol and transparent tokenomics, detailed in the whitepaper, reflect a commitment to collaboration. Querio has also established a presence in the Internet Computer Ecosystem.

However, challenges arise as the current DApp falls short of the outlined roadmap, prompting concerns about feature completion timelines. Token allocation, especially the sizable reservation for the Querio Development Organization, may raise fairness questions. The rationale for an immediate SNS sale lacks clarity, and team dynamics, technical documentation, and valuation transparency require improvement. The absence of a formal security audit raises concerns about potential vulnerabilities.

In conclusion, Querio demonstrates positive attributes in terms of technical implementation, open source collaboration, and certain elements of transparency, alongside showcasing a brilliant use-case of the ICP blockchain. However, concerns exist regarding the completeness of the DApps roadmap, token allocation, and the necessity for an immediate SNS sale. Further, the team’s transparency, technical documentation, and security measures should have room for improvement. As a result, the Accumulator Neuron will vote to “reject to postpone”, while potential adjustments are made for a more robust and secure deployment.

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Thank you for publishing your due diligence in regards to the Accumulator Neurons SNS Voting Criteria.

"However, concerns exist regarding the completeness of the DApps roadmap, token allocation, and the
necessity for an immediate SNS sale. Further, the team’s transparency, technical documentation, and security measures should have room for improvement."

I’ll would like to clarify step by step some of the aspects you mentioned:

1. Roadmap: The list that you mentioned is actually our roadmap which is transparent and consistently on track.

"With this being said, the Querio application does not currently fulfill its full scope, with the whitepaper listing the following plans:

-Extended Cross-Chain Support
-Content Mining
-dApp Promotion
-Promotion Auction Mechanism
-Querio AI
-Querio Drive
-NFT Browsing
-Querio Shopping (NFT Market)"

The integration of various blockchains into Querio is an ongoing process and will not come to an abrupt halt at the end of Q1 2024. We simply opted not to reiterate this point in our Roadmap for each quarter.

Q3 2023

  • Add Ethereum support - this will facilitate the discovery of dApps built on Ethereum.

Q4 2023 - Q1 2024

  • Implement Querio’s decentralized network of content miners - this will empower content miners to provide verifiable content. Once validated the content will fuel the search engine of Querio. The validation process of decentralized content will be meticulously designed to be reliable and trusted.
  • Multi-chain support - continue integrating dApps built on other blockchains. This will facilitate the discovery of more dApps built on various blockchains such as: NEAR, Stellar, BNB, Polygon, Avalanche, Solana, Algorand, Cronos, Fantom, Hedera, Tezos, Cardano, Polkadot.
  • SNS launch
  • dApps explorer - view and explore all dApps from a selected blockchain.
  • Sort by - add the possibility to sort dApps by newest, most popular, recently updated for all the supported blockchains or a particular one.

Q2 2024

  • Decentralized network of content miners - continue developing the new decentralized architecture for Querio by leveraging a network of content miners. This network will supply Querio’s search engine with the latest dApp data, ensuring that search results remain up-to-date. This architecture comprises several components, including:
    1. Content miners
    2. Blockchain specific bots
    3. Content scrapers
    4. Content validator
  • The Querio content miner plays a crucial role in the decentralized network, ensuring seamless communication with the Blockchain Bots and Content Scraper instances.
    In this dynamic environment, the Blockchain Bots dispatch tasks to the Content Miner, specifying the content that requires scraping.
    Meanwhile, the Content Scraper instances actively request tasks from the Content Miner, ensuring a smooth and efficient workflow.
    Once the tasks are assigned by the Content Miner, the Content Scraper instances diligently process them and return the updated content to the Content Miner. The Content Miner then handles the content for each new or updated dApp, subsequently forwarding it to the validator canister for further validation and processing.

Q3 2024

  • Content miners reward system - establish a mechanism to incentivize miners to join the decentralized network of content miners.
  • Content miners onboarding process - create a platform that enables users to become miners. Becoming a content miner requires DAO approval.

Q4 2024

  • Implement dApps promoting - enables the possibility to promote dApps that closely match the queried keywords. Matching dApps will appear prominently among the top results. The promoted dApps will be tagged as “Featured”.
  • Auction mechanism - enable users to secure a spot for their dApp in the featured dApps section on the home page.

Q1 2025

  • Querio AI - bring the power of artificial intelligence into the Web3 world. Querio’s knowledge will feed the Querio AI module with data already collected from the multitude of blockchains it supports. During this time, the focus will be on creating the user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) for the new module. Alongside UX/UI creation, the Querio team will build the software architecture of Querio AI that aims to establish a robust and well-structured foundation for the AI module’s functionality and performance.

Road Ahead

  • Querio AI continuous implementation will involve 2 components:
    • Web3 AI component - This component of Querio AI focuses on providing answers to dApps related questions. It will use data provided by Querio to generate accurate responses.
    • Code AI component - This component of Querio AI is dedicated to providing answers to Web3 code-related questions. It will have the capability to generate new code or correct code sections provided by users. The training dataset that will feed the AI will be derived from the existing Web3 open-source code available on GitHub. The training dataset encompasses dApps’ open-source code from the multitude of blockchains supported by Querio.
  • Querio Drive - empowers users to easily store data on Internet Computer. Will compete with IPFS and Arweave.
  • Dedicated NFTs tab - for searching through NFTs on Internet Computer
  • Querio Shopping - the ultimate marketplace for buying and selling NFT items. Enables users to effortlessly engage in NFT transactions, discovering a world of endless creativity, art, collectibles, and digital assets.

2. Token Allocation: We had a successful Funded campaign in May, followed by a presale that attracted 134 participants, leading to the successful sale of 4 million QRO tokens. Additionally, there’s notable interest within our community to engage in the upcoming SNS sale. It’s important to highlight that the remaining treasury will be under community control. This means that while not all QRO tokens are currently distributed, all QRO holders possess the voting power to decide on their management and utilization.

3. Immediate SNS Sale Necessity: As mentioned on our post:

We want to dedicate ourselves to developing Querio as a long-term project with substantial scope, rather than a short-term project dependent on continuous fundraising. Securing sufficient funds now would allow us to focus fully on enhancing Querio’s capabilities.

We started this project with personal investments fueled by our passion and vision. However, substantial, sustained development to achieve our long-term goals for Querio need a more significant financial foundation.

4. Team Transparency: While me and George are at the forefront, we’re supported by a dedicated team. Catalin and Cristina have been instrumental in accelerating Querio’s development, with Catalin focusing on frontend development and Cristina on UI design. They have been great team members for over two years.

5. Technical Documentation and Security Measures: We acknowledge that our rapid development pace has overcome our ability to keep up with the creation of technical documentation. On the security front, we currently have measures to exclude certain dApps and are exploring options like Modclub for future moderation integration.

We appreciate your diligence and we’re committed to improving our technical documentation, as well as advancing our moderation capabilities through collaboration within the ICP ecosystem.

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