With the telecommunications industry in Singapore being a highly saturated space of ever-increasing mobile data and cheaper plans, Gorilla Mobile aims to stand out from the competition by integrating blockchain technology to meet the needs of local consumers.
Utilising the M1 network, this mobile virtual network operator is aiming at introducing their plans to PMETs and corporate entities. Ms Xanne Leo, the CEO of Gorilla Mobile, hopes to shake things up with their Service-On-Demand model and Switchback feature, a revolutionary blockchain tech that converts unused data into Gorilla Mobile’s own digital asset, GorillaGo Tokens.
As crypto enthusiasts we are excited to see how blockchain can be integrated to improve telecommunications services within Singapore But despite Gorilla Mobile’s noteworthy idea, we’ll be holding onto our Ethereum tokens for now instead of hopping on the banana bandwagon.
Our main concern is that despite including blockchain into the system, the Gorilla Mobile model behaves more like a loyalty system with a reward token system instead of the decentralised roadmap that we expect to see in new blockchains.
What are GorillaGo (GO) tokens?
According to the Whitepaper of GorillaGo who issues the tokens, they are “asset backed by real funds, digital assets and stable coins, thereby giving Gorilla GO tokens an intrinsic value. A stable ERC20 token, powered by blockchain technology, built on multiple trusted smart contracts and blockchain infrastructure.”
The GO tokens are utility token that can be used to offset bill costs, convert unused data for local or roaming plans, and be used for local call minutes, SMS, and IDD. It can also be shared with coworkers or team members which we assume is available under the corporate plan.
For newcomers to cryptocurrency, Ethereum (ETH) is the most popular decentralised platform in the crypto space. Being able to deploy smart contracts and applications without any central intermediaries, its currency is used both as a store of value and a mode of utility for running Ethereum apps on the network.
ERC-20 is the standard for all contracts deployed on the ETH network, and any crypto assets built upon it are known as ERC-20 tokens. The GO token minting process is also supposedly supported by well-known protocols such as MakerDAO, Kyber Network, The Graph, and Compound.
Since there is little information on how the protocols supports GO token minting, we decided to dig a little deeper by looking through their Ethereum addresses via Etherscan. Looking at the Contract Source Code, we noticed the terms ‘PooledCDAI’ and ‘PooledCDAIKyberExtension.sol’.
This refers to the cDAI tokens, which are generated when DAI stablecoins are deposited into the Compound protocol. According to The Graph Protocol, “Pooled cDAI is built on MakerDAO, Compound, Kyber Network, Blocknative and The Graph.” This explains how GO tokens are supported by these well-known protocols in their whitepaper.
The extension ‘PooledCDAIKyberExtension.sol’ refers to a code extension that allows the pooling of Ethererum tokens and over 70 other tokens accepted by the Kyber Network. This also explain the large number of cryptocurrencies available for payment when minting GO tokens. Interestingly, Bitcoin is not listed as a currency for payment.
To create tokens, a certain number of cDAI tokens would then have to be minted and burned. These tokens can then be used as collateral or transferred. This is the process which we assume GO tokens are being created.
The setup for the GO tokens seem well-supported, but here’s why we aren’t signing up for their services yet.
