Thread by @baconesq

Overview of @WithoutTheRope weekly AMA in the $STRONG Telegram ⬇️⬇️⬇️

$STRONG Q: what you think about sending rewards out with stable coins?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We’ve discussed a “basket” of different rewards. Stable coins might fit in. They will more likely be part of one of the pools.

$STRONG Q: Is it fair to say that much like the alchemical law of equivalent exchange; NUBI may not exceed the “market value” of a single full node on any given network?
If so, what does the process look like as far as finding and adjusting to that number?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We’re looking at dynamic rewards. The smart contract calculations to do so are more complicated, meaning more gas - whatever network they are on.

$STRONG Q: are fractional nodes still in discussion? I have several friends who of course didn’t listen then and want to invest now..

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Validator nodes - which can cost $100k to $1m+ - are already in the works for fractionalization. We’re also testing a new feature that would allow for adjustments of STRONG contribution, with proportionate rewards. (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope So, 1 STRONG contribution with 1/10th the rewards. Not sure if that will make it in for Q4 2021 yet. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: Will strongblock merch be nft merch ? having owners address and RFID CHIP. Do you think it will be a great idea

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope That’s a cool idea, but also a lot of work! First merch store will be fairly traditional. We’re looking at having that out in November.

$STRONG Q: Hi David thanks for your consistency and commitment to the StrongBlock community!

Any news you can share regarding the claim routing system in development?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope The claim routing feature will first be available with the Polygon pilot. Polygon nodes are in development - we’re syncing with the Polygon mainnnet and testing the nodes now. Hoping for early November release. $matic

$STRONG Q: are NFTs needed to create nodes in the future?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope They are for the new node pilots.

$STRONG Q: with the launching of $eth 2.0 what is the plan with current nodes? will they be upgraded or eventually become obsolete?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope ETH 2.0 will not be launched for a long time. When it does, the $ETH 1.0 nodes - Geth full nodes - will still be RPC access points to the ETH 2.0 chain. If there are changes beyond that, we will upgrade and adapt the nodes to support the ETH 2.0 chain.

$STRONG Q: Once you hit 100 nodes will you need to move your NFT(s) in order to participate in the lotteries for the new address.

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Eligibility for the Silver (and later Gold) lotteries is simple: create a node. It doesn’t matter what wallet you created the node in.

$STRONG Q: In terms of monetizing the fleet, is there any credit to the idea of companies or groups that want access to a chunk of private RPC Endpoints to avoid congestion having their own portal on the dApp where they're able to pay STRONG for access?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We are exploring that with several large companies now.

$STRONG Q: you hired new team members . Would you like to introduce them to us?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Here’s the thing: I spend a lot of time in “public”. It used to be at conferences and universities. Now it’s interviews and AMA’s. I like doing it. Most of the rest of the team likes Building. (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope So, I’m the community presence for the company. That frees up time for the rest of the team to BUIDL. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: The questions about Ponzi and Pyramid schemes keeps coming up in here. (especially asked by newcomers) Can you reassure the people who keep asking this once and for all?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope That’s sad that it keeps coming up. We’ve addressed it many times. That kind of FUD is aimed at nearly every project I know of. We are building technology infrastructure. We’re just getting started.

$STRONG Q: with the aforementioned confirmation of a early November launch 🚀 of $MATIC #Nodes,
would it be possible to announce to the #Node Army what the requirements will be for this exciting New protocol #Node as Halloween 🎃 is lurking

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Polygon will most likely launch in early November. The platform has to be ready. And the Polygon pilot is based on the new primary service contract (Service 2). So, lots of testing. It goes as fast as it goes. $MATIC

$STRONG Q: would love to know when we can make it possible to sell our nodes if need be? So if I have 10 nodes I will make income of course but then I can never sell those 10 nodes ever?

$STRONG A: We’ve talked about collateralization of nodes, and potentially a nodes marketplace. We’re looking at it from several perspectives: technical, legal, business. If it does clear those hurdles, it would be a Q1/Q2 2022 feature.

$STRONG Q: any ideas of what Q1 and Q2 would look like? As far as new protocols and such?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Okay I’ve been wanting to talk about our overall strategy.
Up until now, we’ve been in Phase 1: Building. That includes integrating different features that didn’t initially work with each other as well as the community would like. (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We’ve already re-architected the platform, and it’s in testing right now. The Polygon pilot will be based on it.

Phase 2: Community. We’re taking a lot of what has been contributed and putting it back into the community. (2/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope That includes the ETH 2.0 pool, as well as other short and medium-term pools. And keep in mind that, during Phase 1, 26,175 STRONG contributed by the community for NFT’s (100% of the STRONG contribution) has gone back to the community. (3/4)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Current value: $17.8m.

Phase 3: Expansion.

These phases overlap each other somewhat, but the #1 goal for everything we do is SUSTAINABILITY. (4/4)

$STRONG Q: *All StrongBlock Ethereum 1.0 nodes were resynced as of 10/11/2021. You may once again use your node’s RPC endpoint for your wallet and other node activities. Thanks for your patience.

What does it mean ?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope It’s fundamentally what this project is about. RPC endpoints are how you interact with a blockchain mainnet. When you use your wallet to interact with the StrongBlock protocol - let’s say it’s MM - (1/3)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope it defaults to the Infura RPC to interact with the Ethereum mainnet. Infura is highly centralized and goes down a lot. Instead, you can use the RPC endpoint from one of your nodes to interact with the Ethereum 1.0 mainnet. (2/3)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope It’s pretty easy to switch. It’s why you created a node. It’s what Vitalik envisioned everyone would do with Ethereum - have their own RPC endpoint. But creating one is non-trivial. (3/3)

$STRONG Q: True, but would a partnership with them that brings in revenue not be beneficial? (in regards to @infura_io)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Instead of partnering with @infura_io, we would be offering similar services. (Monetization of our $eth nodes!)

$STRONG Q: can you explain what kind of non blockchain companies would pay for our eth nodes (like @infura_io does) to explain how eth monetization would work and some examples of said companies?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We are talking with non-blockchain companies more than other blockchain companies about creating and providing nodes to make their networks more resilient.

$STRONG Q: Earlier you mentioned you are hoping for an early November release on Polygon nodes. Is there a timeframe for when we can expect a release for the Fantom nodes? $MATIC $FTM

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Also Q4 for Fantom. They will be following closely behind Polygon. $MATIC $FTM

$STRONG Q: can you comment on the success of the DVPN partnership? Furthermore are there any plans to make the $DVPN node available to more people in November?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope $DVPN does not yet provide native rewards. We’re waiting for that to happen before we go beyond the 1000 node pilot.

$STRONG Q: Have you looked into crypto gaming projects? Seems like their heavy transaction rate would be good prospects.

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We are in discussions with several gaming projects, none on Ethereum 1.0 (gas cost is prohibitive).

$STRONG Q: That’s an interesting path, seems like there’s lots of value in providing additional safeguards against data breach in many enterprises (non crypto companies)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Exactly.

$STRONG Q: David, any developments with new potential protocols or partnerships you are prepared to share this week? Any “added to the short list?”

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We’re always in discussions. We’re also looking at which protocols will be of most benefit to the community for sustainability. Hoping to announce at least one soon.

$STRONG Q: Also I think a lot of the $OHM questions are not actually providing nodes for them but using their model of bonding so StrongBlock has backing.

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope As I mentioned in an interview this week with @tacticalinvest_, were much more interested in their model. So, not sure if a partnership makes sense, but the model is exciting.

$STRONG Q: Just for clarity.. the nodes on polygon will be STRONG nodes on that network still needed the required amount just like on $ETH network or will it be POLYGON nodes.. a bit confused here

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Any nodes we launch - Eth 1.0, $DVPN, Polygon, Fantom, etc - are nodes on their respective networks. They are not “Strong” nodes. They are nodes launched by the StrongBlock platform that run on other networks. $matic $ftm

$STRONG Q: can you explain why nodes show up as different colors on the dashboard? (People get worried about this lol)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope There is no significance to the different colors.

$STRONG Q: Yeah but talking about a deal it has no details. I asked how much it can be worth when $matic fees are literally fractions of pennies. Is the economy of scale enough to support the current dividend model?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope StrongBlock is a validator on $DVPN. We will be a validator and/or run nodes on many other chains, including $ETH 2.0. Some have rewards, some have grants. Some are small, some are more substantial. That is all income to the protocol,(1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope and will be shared with the community in different ways: through pools, through fractional participation, etc. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: rather than enter into a lottery for new protocols could it be possible for nft holders to apply to be in any pilots?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope That would take more person-power than a lottery. But it’s a nice idea.

$STRONG Q: and i imagine they will! the tech can be used by any financial and non fintech institutions. This is going to blow up!! to the moon for sure 🚀🚀🚀

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Nodes-as-a-Service is a relatively new thing. As I’ve mentioned before, most groups we’re talking with about launching nodes are not blockchain companies; instead, they now realize that they need resilience endpoints (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope if they’re going to dip their toes into blockchain, and want to make sure they have adequate endpoints. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: $DVPN? Dynamic virtual private networks.?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Do you even know what Sentinel/$DVPN is? Or what a validator on a network does? Or how they are compensated? Validators / miners get paid; nodes rarely do, but are crucial to running a blockchain. (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Validator requirements are high technically and financially. We started off with nodes - typically uncompensated - and are expanding validation via fractional participation and pools. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: can we get a video tour of the data center in Singapore?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Actually, we’re in a number of different data centers.

$STRONG Q: Hey David, first of all thanks for all you do for us.
My question is, once there are Fantom and Polygon nodes, will the price be 10 Strong per node as with the nodes we have now and will the rewards be in native tokens or in Strong as well? $FTM $MATIC

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope The new service contract (Service 2) allows for contributions in STRONG and other tokens, as well as rewards in STRONG and other tokens. We’re going to try some different approaches with each pilot (starting with Polygon) (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope to see what the best mix is. One of the issues is that people want stability and sustainability in their rewards. Diversity in rewards can help if they are all in a bull market; it can be problematic in a bear market. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: This may be a question out of ignorance... in the @tacticalinvest_ interview you just did you said ideally STRONG has a very small circulating supply. Where do you see the biggest benefit in achieving that for STRONG/StrongBlock?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Strong already has a very small supply. In any protocol, you want to have as much of it locked up as possible. That’s TVL. It helps the protocol.

$STRONG Q: I am aware that the Strongblock team is working on a new contract to claim Strong and directly route it to stake pool or create node which is awesome. Also, have you considered Arbitrum as L2 solution as we get the same level of security and much more scalability?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Arbitrum, Polygon, Fantom, Avalanche -all have great lowcost gas solutions. However, its a forklift to move everything over, and then liquidity has to be moved as well. It’s complicated, so we are looking at working with one or more chains to lower fees

That's is from todays AMA - Thank you! @WithoutTheRope

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