Thread by @baconesq

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

$STRONG @WithoutTheRope To start, here are some of the things the team is in process with:

- New node types: $FTM is in process, testing another…shhhh

- The prototype of a new chain - built for supporting the community, lowering gas, and driving value to STRONG holders (1/x)

$STRONG @WithoutTheRope
- Validator nodes with the same contribution method as regular nodes

- Democratized validators in the new chain - everyone gets to participate, not just oligarchs (2/x)

$STRONG @WithoutTheRope
- Lower entry point nodes - this is already possible with the Service 2 contract. Just need to get the actual engineering completed and tested for actual nodes 😎

- A play to earn system (that’s been in the works since last summer) (3/x)

$STRONG @WithoutTheRope
- Medium article discussing where we are and where we’re going, with information on how tapering works

- Supply sustainability (folds in with the new chain as well) (4/x)

$STRONG @WithoutTheRope
- Explainer videos and infographics about Blockchain nodes, how to create them, how to use their RPC endpoints for your wallet, and more.

- (The goal is to make the project even easier to understand and more accessible) (5/x)

$STRONG @WithoutTheRope
- Oh, and the community has already created over 3000 $MATIC nodes and counting (may be much higher, that was from 2 days ago).

- So, congrats on that - and to the success of Service 2, which lays a lot of foundation for 2022. (6/x)

$STRONG @WithoutTheRope
- We continue to add to our engineering, product and support teams, with employees and contractors. We are now looking for more full-stack engineers (node.js, typescript, api, solidity).

- (We have two great contract groups we work with) (7/x)

$STRONG @WithoutTheRope
- We don’t say these things to impress you. Instead, we do them to impress upon you the importance of the actual work of making blockchains stronger. (8/8)

$STRONG Q: Dear DAVID, as you are aware some of us are having technical issues when trying to pay node fee. If there is ever known issues like this that result in us losing nodes will be be compensated or node reinstated?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope I'm aware that some people are still having issues paying monthly node fees. I will check with Support and Engineering so we can address any remaining issues - most have been addressed. Please keep in mind that you have 30 days to pay, another (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope 30 days of grace period and, in most cases, another 10 days after that. That's a lot of time. If you are near the end of that 70 days, please bring that up in your Support ticket. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: when $Matic nodes become available to the public, will there be the option to pay gas in matic?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Currently, we only support paying gas in ETH. However, Service 2 provides the capability of using other tokens as payment. Overall, gas on the Ethereum mainnet is an ongoing issue affecting all of defi. That's why we're working on a chain solution (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We are also considering moving some functionality to another chain as well. We do a lot of prototyping. The goal is to make it faster, cheaper and more reliable. That's complicated. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: Is StrongBlock considering a $FTM validator pool when FTM nodes launch? I know a lot of people would be willing to support this if possible.

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We have been prototyping a $FTM validator. If we move forward, those rewards will be made available to the StrongBlock community in several possible different forms: a validator pool just for Fantom, a blended validator pool, or a validator (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope "node" offering where you can contribute STRONG and get native tokens, $ETH and/or stablecoin tokens. We now have the foundation to do all of that. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: This may seem down the road, but how do you envision a “treasury” working with the business model currently?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope As we've discussed before, the team is looking at a number of different approaches to use revenue from NFT's and other sources (validators, nodes, etc.) to enhance sustainability. The first example of that is the $ETH 2.0 pool, where we're getting (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope ready to launch up to 32 ETH 2.0 nodes, each needing 32 $ETH to participate. That's 1024 ETH - or about $4m (maths). We'll be doing similar big moves with other pools, validators and node types. Ultimately, we'll deploy - and continue to deploy (2/3)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope many more millions, all towards protocol sustainability.

Long term, that will likely lead to a DAO, where decisions can be made by the community for deploying revenue to increase sustainability. (3/3)

$STRONG Q: What has been considered to be the floor for rewards in the decay model? Any update when the medium article will be published with all this info?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope The delay on the Medium article is from me. We got so heads down in engineering and planning this week that I have not completed the article. Also its focus has shifted from simply explaining the tapering model, to a broader scope of talking about (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope where we are and where we are going. That's why I shared some of that at the start of the AMA. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: Is SB expanding their engineering/sales team at all? 190k nodes worth of monthly fees supports a lot of development, how is the company scaling, if at all? Certainly there is enough work to do, with Strongchain & more integrations and many chains to contact & sell to

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope And it's a good one: we run a very efficient ship, and set aside most of the monthly fees to deploy towards protocol sustainability. As I mentioned at the start of the AMA, we have expanded the internal and external teams, and are looking for (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope more able-bodied devs as well. However, simply throwing people at a problem can actually slow you down. So we bring new people and teams on carefully, and integrate them effectively, keeping in mind the "mythical man month" problem of adding (2/3)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope engineers to a team.

And we are looking for great - not just good - people for our team. 💪 (3/3)

$STRONG Q: There has been talk in the chat about the benefits of a tax on selling in an effort to combat the sell pressure. Has the team put any thought into this idea?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope That's the amazing thing about this community. There are so many good ideas that spring from the group. In many cases, we are already looking at them, but always appreciate the effort to create sustainability

We have several models we are looking (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope at that include some mandatory or optional means of redirecting rewards. We already redirect10% of every created node back to the community. We have looked at doing that on the claiming side as well. We have built simulators that we use to (2/3)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope accelerate time (1 minute = 1 day) so we can see the affect over time of new ideas

One of the most important things for sustainability is simple as an idea but difficult in practice: More STRONG needs to come in than go out. That's where we focus (3/3)

$STRONG Q: Can you please write an article on how to pay fees and claim from contract? Or at least provide how to get NodeID?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope What I think you're asking is: Can we create some content that walks you through the steps of doing things like paying and claiming?

The answer is: yes! There are so many new people coming in to the protocol every day, many of them just (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope starting in blockchain and crypto. As I mentioned at the start of the AMA, we are working on videos and infographics that make it easy for anyone (even your mom) to understand how to participate, and how that makes blockchains stronger. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: What do you think of LAVA NODES WHICH ARE CHALLENGING YOU ON TWITTER .. which are copying you exactly and coming up with same nft concept .. how you can challenge other NAAS COMPETITORS WHICH CAN HURT STRONG REPUTATION AND HARD WORK. is there a way to stop this

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But they are imitators with a crucial missing component. There are dozens of "protocols" copying StrongBlock's successful model. The one thing NONE of them seem to have is any actual engineering. (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope There are no "nodes" there. They're just using the word "node" as a concept. StrongBlock's mission of making blockchains stronger is the core of what we do. That's 1000's of hours of actual blockchain engineering, from a doxed team of highly (2/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope experienced and well-known blockchain engineers. I have yet to see a "competitor" with actual engineering.

As for being called out on Twitter, we don't respond - it just lends them credibility, which they don't have. And they have no capability (3/4)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope of designing and building the blockchain engineering future that we envision. They are building nothing, and have no future engineering plans. (4/4)

$STRONG Q: What is a realistic time frame for strong chain release?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Q1/Q2 2022

$STRONG Q: Hi David! Any news about node migrations?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Node migrations are a difficult issue. If your wallet has been compromised, the person now controlling it can move nodes as well.

So, first, you will be able to move nodes from Service 1 to Service 2 in the same wallet in early 2022. (1/3)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Moving from one wallet to another? We've cycled through many ways to solve this, and each time it becomes a race between the thief and a legitimate owner. We have some new ideas; they need to stay within the context of StrongBlock NEVER having (2/3)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope your private keys. That's where it gets complicated. But we are still working on it. (3/3)

$STRONG Q: HECTOR DAO, possibly SPARTACUS DAO too, will be a great FTM ecosystem addition to STRONGBLOCK. Are there any plans to work with them?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope That keeps coming up. The key to that is having a secure ERC-20 bridge between Fantom and Ethereum. And that involves making sure that a double-spend is not created. So, we're discussing the bridges in general. (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We've already solved this for ERC-1155's with $FTM and $MATIC, FYI. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: any ETA to create nodes without claiming rewards?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope It's already built into Service 2. Expected release in January.

$STRONG Q: Is there a way to build a "Claim All Rewards" function if you have multiple types of nodes, for instance $ETH, $MATIC, and $FTM? That way, we can cut down on the gas fees.

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope That is also built into Service 2, which can handle all different node types, instead of the current separate Service 1 for Ethereum 1.0 and $DVPN for Sentinel. That's why Service 2 is so crucial. So far, it's exceeding our expectations.

$STRONG Q: Strong and ripple talks? How are they going or have progressed $XRP

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope They have reached out. We are coordinating schedules to explore possibilities. $XRP

$STRONG Q: When you say you are “testing another”, is that a potential paying partnership?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Yes. With a major protocol we spoke with this month. 👀

$STRONG Q: will there ever be a higher tier node available for a higher entry cost (example being 20 strong) & a different rewards approach?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We may have a higher entry for some validator nodes, yet we are very focused on opening up opportunities for people with only 1 STRONG to participate as well.

$STRONG Q: Personally I find that ETH 1.0 nodes from early adaptors should be grandfathered as people who invested early should be rewarded for the risk they took to invest early, what are your thoughts about this?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We deeply appreciate early adopters. Early node runners have already received a LOT of benefits - the first 3000 or so got free Bronze NFT's. BYON nodes are still being rewarded, without paying any fees. And of course they have been receiving (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope rewards over a much longer period of time, while the price of strong has risen. So, lots to consider. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: Are there any plans to release new nfts with other perks, example being non-tapering etc?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Yes

$STRONG Q: Sustainability is obviously a buzzword right now, what about long term viability? I believe PoS to be a sea change and a year is a long time in crypto. I have never been more bullish on my strong investment, but what are your thoughts with regards to some of the (1/2)

$STRONG Q: more established protocols you have spoken to? Might they sit up and take more notice when we reach half a million nodes and they see younger protocols with Strongly supported infrastructure (& perhaps a strong chain negating the preference for sizeable grants?) (2/2)

$STRONG A: Grants from other protocols are a mirage. Many on the StrongBlock team were very disappointed when Block.one did not follow through on their $1b pledge to support development. We have seen the same playbook from many other protocols as well (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope waving the "grants" flag when they have billions, then handing out $15k at a time, when they even follow through.

That's why we're designing a chain that truly does support the community, not just pay it lip service. For us, this is about making (2/3)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope blockchains stronger. If we were in it for the money, we wouldn't be putting in 80 hour weeks building actual blockchain technology; we would take the shortcut that our clones are taking of just recreating the business model without the tech. (3/3)

That's from this weeks AMA. Thanks to @WithoutTheRope. Next AMA will be January 8th, 2022. Here is to a bullish 2022 from $STRONG!

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