Thread by @baconesq

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

$STRONG Q: Can you give us an idea on where the data centers are located?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Currently we have multiple data centers in multiple countries. The primary data centers are in Singapore. We are in the process of expanding that, for running nodes and validators. We use a combination of 3 different (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope major cloud providers, as well as bare metal. As we move towards more decentralization and automation. We chose Singapore as our primary due to its not participating in 5/9/14 eyes (although there are rumors that they do). (2/2)

$STRONG Q: Will fractional nodes be a one time occurrence in the sense it will happen once and never again or for eg. if STRONG goes to 10k per coin after the first implementation of fractional nodes, will you make another node fraction of just .1 so the barrier isn’t so high?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope With or without the surge in STRONG price, we have been working toward fractionalization and lower barriers to entry. (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We always want to make sure that there are many ways to participate, specifically by continually lowering the barrier for entry. Fractionalization is one way to get there; so are pools. Let’s focus on fractionalization for this answer… (2/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope The concept of fractionalization is for many wallets to each have a stake in the same node or validator. I’ve compared it to a theme park ride (Disneyland, 6 flags, Knotts, you choose), (3/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope where a train pulls up with 8 cars, each with 6 seats. Once all seats are filled, the ride takes off. (4/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope So, we’re working on fractionalization for nodes and validators. As we keep adding protocols, we will pilot different approaches. (5/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope For example, some nodes will have a lower contribution, with a lower proportional reward; no fractionalization would be required. For validators - for example, Avalanche, where a validator is 2000 AVAX - (6/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope we’re building out the theme park approach: each time enough wallets contribute, another Avalanche validator will launch. (7/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Imagine if we had our own chain and did that as well…😉 (8/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope This approach is similar to what Lido is doing. We’re big fans of the models Lido is using, and are incorporating some of their concepts into new pools and fractionalization - (9/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope although Lido is one of several very good examples of successful models that we are adapting - Olympus Pro with $Ohm is another. (10/10)

$STRONG Q: Will we be able to use existing nodes for fantom or polygon rewards or just $eth 2.0. If yes, will we be able to toggle between rewards at our leisure or for a locked period of time? $MATIC $FTM

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Although Fantom and Polygon nodes are EVM compatible, they are separate chains, requiring different implementations to launch their nodes. You can’t use an Ethereum 1.0 full node RPC endpoint to connect (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope to the Polygon or Fantom or other EVM-compabitle chains

Instead, we are building out automated launching mechanisms for each one. They share similar bases -again, they are EVM compatible - but dont have to be completely reinvented for each chain. (2/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope In traditional software porting from one platform to the next, the rule of thumb is that 80% of the code will be the same and be reusable, the other 20% will be unique to the platform. (3/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope That’s holding true with the 3 EVM compatible protocol node launchers we’re building out now; that’s why we built an EVM launching core that they share. (4/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope So, to answer your question, toggling between the nodes is not possible. With Ethereum 1.0 and 2.0, they both use geth. Whether the Ethereum 1.0 nodes will be able to act as RPC endpoints to the Ethereum 2.0 chain is yet to be determined. (5/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope If changes need to be made to the Ethereum 1.0 node code or configurations, we’ll be making them for those nodes when we have more clarity. (6/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope FYI, we heard from one of our advisors who attended LisCon in Portugal this week that, while the ETH 2.0 merge is on a test platform, it’s unlikely to go live prior to May 2022, with rewards following about 3 months after that. (7/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope This figures strongly (pardon the pun) into our $ETH 2.0 pool plans. (8/8)

$STRONG Q: Has there been any progress on the idea of protocol-owned liquidity? Using $ohm Pro, or just copying the model? When you compare our daily volume and daily reward payouts to our total liquidity, you see that it is shallow liquidity. What will the team do to fix this?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Liquidity and sustainability is the basis for everything we’re working on. That’s why I mentioned Olympus and Lido earlier. (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We are very interested in both Olympus Pro and Lido. We are working on similar concepts that also dovetail with our mission to support nodes and validators across many chains. So, copying the models is the primary way to provide liquidity. (2/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Happily, the Lido code is Open Source. (3/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Although what we will be doing is deploying capital to those and other protocols, and using the majority of the yields to support the StrongBlock community (with the rest for overhead and deploying more capital). (4/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Mission: Sustainably provide access to technical and non-technical StrongBlock community members to support blockchain infrastructure and be rewarded for doing so. (That phrase is evolving, but you get the idea.) (5/5)

$STRONG Q: When you sit down with a prospective partner & sell your vision, the competitors in the service space (Infura) must come up in conversation. How do you set StrongBlock apart in a meaningful way that really makes the light bulb illuminate on the other side of the table?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope It depends on whether it’s an industry player who needs private node access, or a more general consulting or service group who wants to bundle that service for their clients. (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Basically, what we are saying is:
Look: @infura_io is a great service. We use it ourselves, as well as StrongBlock generated nodes. Yet it is highly centralized, and there is no incentivization model to decentralize it. (2/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope By adding an incentivization model, StrongBlock makes decentralization easier to work towards. Plus, the StrongBlock community draws attention to the protocol and increases adoption. And that brings in technical and non-technical users. (3/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope If this only an Enterprise and whale game, then you won’t see mass adoption, like you’re seeing in the NFT space. (4/4)

$STRONG Q: We know that you can't disclose the rewards for Polygon nodes, but can you give us any ballpark on the ratio of native/non-native rewards? That is, are we looking closer to 50% $MATIC, 50% STRONG, or like 5% MATIC, 95% STRONG?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Not sure yet. Polygon has already agreed to a one-time grant that they re-confirmed this week. We’re looking at ways to invest that and supplement it. Polygon also confirmed with us this week that they do not have any open Validator slots $MATIC (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Barring any changes, what we are considering in cases like Polygon is to add $MATIC to our treasury, using the Lido and Olympus pro approaches. (2/3)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope FYI, we will be doing that with Sentinel/DVPN as well. We have been accumulating $DVPN rewards as a Sentinel Validator and will be making them available through an Olympus/Lido type pool. (3/3)

$STRONG Q: Why is it important that the nodes are run by the community? Wouldn't it be much cheaper for Strongblock to run the nodes themselves without needing to pay out rewards?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope I’ll answer this question with some questions of my own: What would be the fun in that? How would you get non-technical people involved in building out the future? (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Even simpler: Why would you have a party but not invite anyone? (Well, in the time of COVID, that happens all the time, but you still go on Zoom!)

Isn’t this more fun and rewarding? (2/2)

$STRONG Q: Are there still plans in place to release new NFTs? Possibly when $MATIC arrives?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope New NFT’s won’t be introduced until Q1 2022. We built a whole system for earning them, but there are too many higher priority items on the docket. Besides, there are still GOLD NFT’s for sale on the site, and the Silver lottery just got started (1/x)

$STRONG A @WithoutTheRope and the Gold lottery hasn’t started yet!
When we release the next NFT system where will also be components where some NFTs will have an expiration date- a short-term boost of perhaps 30 days- and will be earned via staking instead of being purchased(2/2)

$STRONG Q: What if we held OHM in its own treasury via Olympus Pro, staked that OHM and allowed STRONG node operators to put their STRONG into a node pool to get partially rewarded in OHM? With OHM APY and supply expansion, STRONG could easily cover the 60% of STRONG fees

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope This is a long question, with a short answer: This is exactly what we’ll be doing with different protocols - especially where we won’t launch nodes. We’re building the smart contracts for pools that will do as you described: (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope you stake STRONG, you get rewarded in the native token.

The first one to launch will be ETH 2.0, where the rewards from a cluster (not sure if that’s the proper collective noun) of $ETH 2.0 nodes will go to those who stake STRONG in the pool. (2/3)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope And then we take a small amount for overhead (running the nodes), and the rest gets plowed into creating more yield pools. A virtuous, sustainable cycle. (3/3)

$STRONG Q: Any update on the analytic webpage to show node stats, etc?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope In process. Not as high a priority as sustainability (which will always be the highest priority.)

$STRONG Q: Are there plans to move off chain such that owning Uni liquidity was be inconsequential?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We are strongly (again, pardon the pun) considering building our own community-run chain.

$STRONG Q: Any comment on possible @binance listing or running nodes for them?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope As I’ve mentioned before, we’ve built a cross-chain bridge that will include support for ERC-1155 tokens between Ethereum 1.0 and Fantom, Polygon and BSC. That’s in testing. (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope It actually got unveiled briefly last week (thanks to an alert user, who pointed it out this week), but we re-whitelisted it as it is still in testing. We can’t comment further.😉(2/x) @binance

$STRONG @WithoutTheRope We always have a LOT of different features/projects in process for which we do prototypes/pilot. Many them need to be released as a group some of them are dependent on when we launch a new protocol to support its nodes and validators. Always BUIDLing (3/3)

$STRONG Q: Can you tell us more about service 2 and its applicability? Will it cover the new protocol nodes, all nodes in a wallet with NFTs or just NFT staked nodes?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Service 2 is a term we’re using for the rewrite of the original service contract - which we’re calling Service 1. It will launch for the Polygon pilot. It has many features we can’t get into Service 1 due to its size. (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Once the pilot is successful, it will become the new primary service smart contract. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: For people who’s starting to get their first node, the concern might be the limitation on creating new nodes let’s say in a year time, is that something they/we should be concern about or we don’t know yet?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We will continue to add new protocols - nodes and validators - for quite some time. A year isn’t that far away, and blockchains certainly aren’t going to diminish - they’ll need even more nodes and validators.

$STRONG Q: Hey David, a guy name jags posted a pic of strong team making their own cross- bridge from Ethereum to polygon .. is it true?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope That was real. He was nice enough to contact us and let us know that it had been exposed. It is Ethereum to Polygon, Fantom and BSC. Shhh.... $MATIC $FTM $BSC

$STRONG Q: How long does a winner of the lottery have to claim that nft? Do they expire if they do not purchase the lotto’d nft?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope There is currently no expiration in the smart contract. We know that some of the winners will take a while to accumulate 7.5 STRONG to get their Silver.

$STRONG Q: Is there any planning's or news regarding of moving nodes to other wallets?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We had a non-UI tool we were testing for that. Unfortunately, it can be used by ANYONE who has control of your wallet. So we disabled it, and it will be reintroduced in Service 2.

$STRONG Q: If you were going to invest in 50 nodes right now, would you move forward with existing structure or wait for the new protocols? And why?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope I/we do not give investment advice. Me personally? I like diversification. And I don’t like waiting. I always look at short, medium and long-term.

$STRONG Q: Hey David will halving the rewards have any effect on making the project more sustainable in the long term?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Who said anything about halving? We will be trying out a new “decay” model with the Polygon nodes. We’ll see how well that works. $MATIC

$STRONG Q: What is it that drives you (david) to imagine everybody having the opportunity to get rewarded? Outside of the social and conservative stereotypes, what feeds the passion for inclusivity that you clearly envisage?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope I have kids. Kids help you see that you need to be aware of more than yourself. Not that I was a selfish person, but the perspective of making sure that everyone can participate, no matter what their capabilities are, is VERY important to me. (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope That’s extended into StrongBlock. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: @binance website map shows strong is about to get listed , i hope you can clear on those rumors .

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope I can neither confirm nor deny this

$STRONG Q: I see panther protocol release their token on the 23rd of November. Panther have stated they have no current news on their nodes. Will/have $strong thought about an approach

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We will be reaching out to them.

$STRONG Q: What are your thoughts on @chainlink NaaS?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope They limit it to one node per person. We are talking with Chainlink about offering more nodes through StrongBlock. $LINK

$STRONG Q: David I want to kiss your bald shiny head, thanks

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Consider it virtually kissed.

$STRONG Q: Are you confirming $AVAX as the next chain to go live?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope I can neither confirm nor deny this.

The next chain to go live will be Polygon/ $Matic.

That's it from this weeks AMA. One of the best detailed/hints dropped yet!

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