On Friday, February 22, 0chain hosted a live AMA with CEO, Saswata Basu concerning obtainable blockchain storage. If you were unable to watch live, you can read the transcript below or check out the videos here: Part 1 and Part 2
Question: Will 0box accept fiat? If so, explain where the tokens will come from
Answer: Yes, 0box will accept fiat. Think of 0box like any other storage provider. They will accept fiat and will provide storage services based on the 0chain net. The net needs to be live and 0box will be live as part of that. It will accept fiat and manage tokens. We will pay the blobbers for storing the data.
Question: Road map to get users to use 0box?
Answer: Our road map is a strategy where we ask people to share links and we also have some vital strategies. We are sorting these strategies out and we will let the community know about the strategy. We hope you take part in that. A big part of the 0Chain network is the 0box app, which will run on our network. And to have a viral adoption, we need to have a strategy that will also contain sharing links to pictures/videos. We want to have people share these links with friends and tell people how this is a new way to have private storage of your data that will only be shared with people that you want to see your data.
Question: Does the new wallet and signature scheme lighten the load on the blockchain? The white paper states that aggregation reduces space and computation time.
Answer: The wallet doesn’t actually lighten the load, but it adds a few milliseconds and adds a little more computation time. It adds the high level of security that you desire. Currently wallets today, if you want to have a secure wallet, you use a hardware wallet which can be difficult to use. What we are suggesting is you have the seed phrase stored in a safe place and be able to transact with just your mobile phone + laptop. So that way, even if one of the devices is compromised, no one can take your crypto tokens away. This is built into our protocol, but you can select to not use the secure wallet if you want, that’s entirely up to you. You can choose to not use 2DA, which has its benefits over 2FA. The whitepaper (which has been accepted by IEEE dAppcon) shows a new way to save computation time and provide that level of security. By combining two split keys, from splitting the keys between two devices, these devices communicate and verify each other’s signature and verify the transaction to the blockchain. The blockchain aggregates the signatures and sends them to the verifier. This process allows us to reduce the signature-verification time using the BLS scheme. It is a little more expensive, but it is more secure.
Question: How does the storage value change as the value of ZCN increases?
Answer: So the storage per ZCN will be based on the market value. I think it will be the same pricing as the market holds today (think of AWS pricing, I think the pricing will be similar per GB of storage but converted to ZCN value). There will be fluctuations but we will basically let the market decide. This is key to building obtainable blockchain storage. A blobber today could charge 1 token per GB, and tomorrow the token price could go up or down tomorrow and they will set their prices.
Question: When will an enterprise be able to run a side chain?
Answer: They will able to run a side chain, and we will have the self-forking protocol sorted before we go live. So enterprises should be able to run a side-chain when the main net is live. We will probably publish the protocol in a few weeks.
Question: Why pivot away from enterprise?
Answer: We did not pivot away from enterprise. We looked for more entrepreneurial partnerships and partners that have more initiatives than the bigger companies whose initiatives lost momentum as the crypto market began to decline from when we began talking to them at the start of 2018. We pivoted to smaller companies that were more agile and would be a better partner for us. The sale cycle for the bigger companies is long and we needed a quicker sale cycle.
Question: Updates on hardware for miners, sharders, and blobbers?
Answer: The update for this will be available on Medium and the website next week, most likely. There are a few options:
A) Buy the rig from 0Chain to white glove it for you and collocate it
B) Assemble the rig and DIY, (for miners this will be less resource intensive than blobbers)
C) Use AWS and set it and forget it, but pay a little more
Question: What happens if a client doesn’t use all their data space?
Answer: It doesn’t affect the blobber or blockchain. The client today could subscribe for more data than needed, but it will not impact the network
Question: What part of 0Chain are you most excited about? What has been the hardest part?
Answer: I am most excited about is because finally, you have a cryptocurrency that has a value other than speculative value. It has a use-case instead of just a speculative value. We provide security through ZCN and we are doing a lot of firsts. We are doing 3 products, and most are doing one. We are making the fastest blockchain that is infinitely scalable creating obtainable blockchain storage; 0box is the storage app that allows a user to store data via blockchain through a device on the fastest storage protocol out there; finally, we’re doing the 2DA wallet that will be used on the 0box as a password-less login. We are very excited about this project for the crypto universe and hope it translates into the enterprise side. The most challenging is time because I don’t get to spend a lot of time with my family. I can count how many minutes each of my family members get with me each day (including my dog). The most fun is developing something so new like blockchain storage. Something we are able to innovate and we are so proud of them. We can’t wait for it to all come out in the open upon the mainnet being up and running. We have many academic papers that we will be publishing in the next weeks that have been submitted to conferences. We have worked with great professors, researchers, developers, ambassadors, and a great community. I think our community is very excited and knowledgeable about what is going on. We’re looking forward to expanding the community around the world to showcase the benefits and security aspects of blockchain.
Question: are you not afraid of failing in such a huge project (blockchain storage, blockchain, decentralized storage, wallet)?
Answer: I don’t think of that much. We are keeping our heads down focusing on product development and customer acquisition. I don’t spend a second worrying about that. When you take a big product, you go one step at a time. We kept the vision in mind so that we don’t have to reinvent/re-code every time. We’ve fine-tuned our code to match our developing protocols.
Question: Will team tokens are used to raise additional funds or how will they be used?
Answer: There are no plans for this so far. It’s a current discussion. Currently, they are for the team and preserving the security of the main net as our protocol is proof-of-stake. We want to ensure the safety of our network.
Question: Why don’t you think 0chain is getting more attention?
Answer: We are still a young company and there is a lot of noise out there. Current companies have been around for a while or have had their product out for a while.
Question: Will automatic backup be available for photos? Like Google Photos
Answer: Yes. Our first available product on the alpha net will not have an automatic sync. But yes, we will be doing an automatic sync for 0box.
Question: If a client cancels the contract, will the service provider still be compensated?
Answer: Yes
Question: What type of marketing will 0chain do?
Answer: We will do viral marketing on top of normal marketing. We will describe the viral marketing in the next few weeks
Question: Can you describe the self-forking chains?
Answer: The protocol is still being worked on. I will be in a better position to talk about it in the next AMA
Question: How many engineers are on the product?
Answer: We have 20 around the world. We have 14 here in San Jose that are working on the protocol. I would not be worried about the number of people because some of them work faster than others. It’s not a quantity thing, but more about quality.
Question: When Binance?
Answer: Ask Derick about exchange questions. We are partnering with a new exchange that will help us with the mainnet token swap.
Question: What other apps or developers do you see coming on the 0chain blockchain?
Answer: I see a lot coming onto the 0chain platform. We are fast and scalable with built-in security. There isn’t a reason people would not want to use our platform.
Question: How does 0chain aim to combat piracy or copy-written data? Can you explain that protocol?
Answer: As for this, we kind of leave it for the dApps to decide. This is currently out of scope for main net 1.0 but it is in the process and being researched. As a dApp, you can provide and enforce this. You can be the gatekeeper that chooses what will be allowed to be uploaded
Question: Updates on encryption protocol whitepaper? or other whitepapers
Answer: We have whitepapers written right now but we are submitting them to academic conferences. Once they are submitted, they will be available on the website. Stay tuned for them to come out. There is a proxy encryption paper that covers end-to-end encryption of data that will provide permissioning for users without the blobber being able to see the data. Another paper on consensus protocol and governance protocol. Also, two papers that cover token aspects and evaluation of our protocol will be released.
Question: Can a company pool tokens to store data for its clients? How would something like that work?
Answer: As a dApp, you could pool tokens and do this or replicate what 0box does.
Question: Does 0chain have a light roast or dark roast coffee in the break room?
Answer: We have both, we have heavy coffee drinkers here, including me
Question: Oracle update?
Answer: For AWS and Oracle, they are partnered with a lot of companies, ISVs. We’ll work with them and their partners. This is something that takes time and works with the ISVs to see if we can provide them services. We want our partners to bring products and services to the space. Oracle and AWS don’t care how they get their revenue as long as their partners are using their infrastructure.
Question: NEO update? They’ve recently had some investigations
Answer: No, I do not have any updates or comments. I saw some news but I cannot comment as I do not know anything about it.
Question: Mainnet is scheduled for May, do you think the team can meet this?
Answer: Yes, it is scheduled for May. While we want to have it sooner, we will see how it goes. Many people ask why it takes so long, but it’s important to remember that we are building obtainable blockchain storage from the ground up, with innovative protocols. If you look at the closest competitors, Dfinity and Filecoin, they have more money and resources, but they haven’t been able to deliver their products yet. We also have more products: secure wallet, 0box, and 0chain net blockchain platform. These will be out faster than our competitors even though they have more money and resources.
Question: Does the iOS app work with ERC-20 tokens?
Answer: The alpha net app is not on the live net. It is not using real tokens but tests out our storage protocol and transaction protocol. We’re not playing with real tokens until mainnet.
Question: specific plans to enter the Asian market?
Answer: Yes, we are looking for people who can help us, including ambassadors, to help push our message to the Asian market, specifically in the Chinese, Japanese and Korean markets. I am actively working with people to have an influence on the Asian market and I will keep you updated.
Question: Android version of 0box?
Answer: iOS for alpha net. But the android version will come by the mainnet launch, maybe beta net.
Question: What projects are you interested in onboarding? What type of projects?
Answer: The projects we would like to onboard are anonymous voting, reward points, banking solutions, IoT, lending solutions, supply chain, and cross-border payments. These are all applications that can use our platform. Our platform has data monetization built in so all these applications are easy to implement. AI and data privacy companies can use us to provide data/business analytics using permissioned data. Also things like social apps and video streaming services.
Question: Any plans for Canada? Short term plans?
Answer: Current plan is to work with software companies, entrepreneurs, ISVs, developers, and those who are seeking blockchain use around the world, not just in Canada. Right now we have a platform that hasn’t previously existed, and can provide enterprise solutions and can bring them to market.
Question: How will projects benefit from using 0chain over ETH?
Answer: First of all, one clear is data tracking via blockchain, data monetization, and data security. 0chain creates obtainable blockchain storage. These are three major categories in which 0chain trumps Ethereum. Our wallet also allows our users to be secure while using dApps. There are still some things in the works that will allow different services to use the 0Chain platform as a marketplace for their services. These services will provide end-to-end security, ensuring corporate-level security. The multi-sig wallet is built into the platform for exchanges and users will have 2DA secure wallet. Enterprises and individual users don’t have to be afraid of hacks. Security, data, and speed (fastest finality) are aspects that are selling points. Also, unlike ETH, the ability to earn tokens via locking/staking tokens allow you to have free services such as transactions, storage, or use on other dApps.
Question: Will monetization of data be paid via ZCN or fiat?
Answer: ZCN for now. We will have ZCN-to-fiat exchange in the future, ZCN to ETH, and so on. You can convert ZCN to any currency with our partner.
Question: Any plan for ZCN to host ICOs?
Answer: Yes, in the future. We have what you call a ZRC token. dApps can mint their own token. Basically, a smart-contract platform on top of what we already have to have different apps come on board.
Question: Does 0chain have plans to get large or strategic funds on board like Dfinity/blue chip? If so, when?
Answer: Yes, we have those plans. Part of the process to get blue-chip investors on board is the need to show something. I think with alpha and beta net we will have enough to showcase our technology to the world and show that we are the best blockchain out there. Once they see it and validate it, I think we will have investors knocking at our door, I don’t see why not. Investors will look at us and decide we are the best. They just haven’t done their due diligence. A lot of the people outside looking in do not know a lot yet. We are not a brand name yet, but once we deliver on our 3 products, there will be no reason why investors shouldn’t invest.
Saswata: “Thank you very much for all the wonderful questions. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to participate in the AMA, and being excited about 0chain. We have a lot of exciting announcements in the next few weeks. Obviously, the biggest one is we have the alpha net coming up followed by beta and the live version. Hoping we will get a lot of momentum going forward and this translates into a lot of excitement and usage of all three of our products. We are creating obtainable blockchain storage. I look forward to the next AMA. Thank you guys!”
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