Thread by @baconesq

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

$STRONG Q: When will the Polygon nodes be released for non-NFT holders? $MATIC

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We are planning on removing the whitelist as early as next week, so anyone can create a Polygon node. As of yesterday, we already have nearly 7500 Polygon nodes.

We'll have a separate counter for those at some point soon as well. $MATIC

$STRONG Q: There will be a high sell pressure for Strong in future. - How does team try to keep Strong price stable and increasing for simple Strong Token investors?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Isn't every token, including Bitcoin, under "high sell pressure" most of the time? We cannot control price, nor do we even talk about it. What we CAN control is the protocol, adding features, making the protocol more and more sustainable.

$STRONG Q: We've heard towards the end of last year about a tier 1 exchange listing. Anything new to report on about that?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope we unfortunately can neither confirm nor deny whether another Tier 1 exchange would be listing us. Those kinds of things just happen. Fast. Keep your eyes open...😎

$STRONG Q: How is the Swiss economist taking care for the Strong Token - to be sustainable and profit in the long run?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Our brilliant Swiss friend took some time out from his extended ski vacation to talk with us last week. His - and our - focus right now is on StrongChain, and using that to lower gas fees, make it possible for everyone to participate in validation (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope make the project more democratic and decentralized, and make the project even more sustainable. There will be news on this soon. There are several other questions in the list that ask about other aspects, so I'll answer them there. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: Will Strong Token Holders get Airdrop of Strong Chain Token according to their Strong holdings? Or will Strong token itself become the Strong Chain Token and be used to pay fees on chain and for every company that uses Strong Blockchain as a service?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Airdrops for everyone? Most airdrops are problematic. An airdrop would not likely help sustainability. Instead - again, in discussions with our Swiss economist - we are looking at ways to incentivize the community to more towards StrongChain and (1/3)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope sustainability. That could involve processes like contributing STRONG and receiving an amount of StrongChain tokens, where the amount you would get would taper over time, as long as 2 years, so the earlier you contribute, the more you would get. (2/3)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope The same could work for moving nodes from Service 1 or Service 2 to StrongChain. (3/3)

$STRONG @WithoutTheRope I can't go into all the details here; what we've found is that, whatever we say, our clown clones start staying they're doing the same thing as well. But they're not. It's just talk. So we have to keep some of our ideas locked down. And who knows, we (1/2)

$STRONG @WithoutTheRope may even talk about some ideas that may not get released - we are ALWAYS testing and running scenarios to make sure stuff works. We discard a LOT of ideas if they don't pan out early. Sometimes we revisit them. That's what engineers do. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: Has the strong team reached out to Time Wonderland in regards to partnering up for nodes? They currently have plans on setting up their own nodes and them being one of the bigger daos, I can see this as a very good opportunity for both projects. $TIME

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We have not reached out to $Time. As I frequently say, we are always open to discuss partnerships. If there is a good fit, and it's mutually beneficial (both benefit), we could move forward. If you know anyone on their team, please make an intro!

$STRONG Q: Some community members have expressed interest in 1) a sales tax to build the treasury (hopefully for ETH validator node investment) and 2) A monthly pause on rewards for a whole day to build up the rewards pool. What is your stance on these two options?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Wow, those are really cool ideas. The monthly pause sounds like a monthly fast. IRL approaches are often easier to explain and understand. We have discussed those and similar approaches. All of them of course require some smart (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope contract updates, but I will bring both of these up again on Monday when we're all back together again. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: I spoke with the team at $Metis Network if they had any interest in having a NaaS. They seemed receptive and open to exploring a potential partnership. Would the Strong team be interested in partnering with a newer L2?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope I must admit, I am not familiar with $Metis Network. We are of course happy to talk with them and explore mutually beneficial options. One never knows if a new L2 will become a major player; we were new just a year ago.

$STRONG Q: Has the polygon rewards tapering been ‘turned on’ yet or are they currently all still receiving 35% more rewards? $MATIC

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Polygon node rewards run on the Service 2 contract, as will each new node type going forward, as well as nodes that transfer from Service 1 to Service 2. They will all have some form of tapering. Polygon node reward tapering is already in effect. (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope The tapering returns a higher reward early in the cycle, then, well, it tapers! We are writing a "Where we've been, where we're going" Medium post that will include more detail on this; it was delayed a bit due to vacations. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: How much money did the strong community raise via the merch purchases?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope As of December 31, 2021, the profit from the merchandise store was just over $2700. (Keep in mind that merchandise store purchase are MUCH smaller transactions than crypto trading) All of that will be given to charity this month - we discussed (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope it internally, and found that end-of-year giving increases lead to decreases in Q1. We want to make it a policy to keep giving. (2/2)

$STRONG @WithoutTheRope We're also looking at how to do this, since the merchandise store takes in fiat. One of our team members has done considerable Charity work, and has suggested we look at EnDAOment. We'll ask the community about it as well. (1/2)

$STRONG @WithoutTheRope Our goal is to donate profits towards food and shelter security. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: Can you describe the current and projected revenue streams for strong? are there any plans to leverage the nodes for web3?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope As we have been pointing out, in almost every protocol we've looked at (native, sidechain, L2), miners get rewarded, nodes do not. We have been looking for revenue opportunities for wholesale buyers of node services. (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope There is not much of a market. Yet. That is why, with StrongChain, we want to bake node rewards into the protocol. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: Any updates on nodes transfer from compromised wallets?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope this is such a difficult subject. Once a wallet key is compromised, there is nothing anyone can do. Node migrations between two different wallets, where the original wallet has already been compromised, are a race where the thief usually wins. (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Nevertheless, we have some new ideas we are testing to see if there is a way to make this work. Please keep in mind that Support gets tickets from thieves pretending to be the original owners, and wanting the same solution so they can keep the (2/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope nodes they've stolen. It's complicated, and one of the main issues in crypto: your wallet, your keys, your responsibility.
However, over the break we also had some great discussions about governance, and how it can play a role in recovery of (3/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope stolen items. That, too, is a controversial area, as this must be done in a decentralized way. Our team were pioneers in governance, and believe that's where the future of wallet recovery may be. (4/4)

$STRONG Q: In the last ama, you talked about another major protocol that's currently already being tested. Can you reveal anything more about it?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope $FTM, of course, is now in testing under Service 2. On Friday, we received confirmation that another major protocol will provide marketing support when we launch their nodes. We will announce that as soon as possible.

$STRONG Q: how will fees work when we transfer to service 2, say have 65 days on service 1, will that transfer to service 2?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Fees should be exactly the same when you transfer, so 65 days left on Service 1 is 65 days left on Service 2.

$STRONG Q: Can you share any info on the datacenters that all of strong nodes are running on?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Some things need to stay proprietary for security reasons. As I've mentioned before, we run in multiple data centers and in multiple clouds.

$STRONG Q: Any way to pay for more than 90 days at a time?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope In Service 1, even 90 days creates some gas fee issues. There may be a possibility in Service 2 to extend that. Not sure yet - no testing has been done beyond 90 days. (Oh, and we don't wait 90 days - our engineers have built an accelerator (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope in the testing environment that lets them fast-forward any amount of days with just a click; it's pretty cool to watch. We may even add it as a feature at some point, just so people can see what rewards look like for them in the future.) (2/2)

$STRONG Q: Has there been any progress regarding talks with Hector Dao? $HEC

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We have told them that, after the disastrous outcomes we've seen with undoxed DAO and "node" teams, we would need them to dox before we can move forward. They are discussing. $HEC

$STRONG Q: How is StrongChain coming along? I know you said the last time that the ETA was around the 1st/2nd quarter of 2022. Just wondering if you think it could be released sooner based on the progress thats been made with it?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope As I mentioned, we spent a LOT of time during the break discussing StrongChain. I'm working on a new White Paper. One of the biggest components - besides the technical ones - is true, useful decentralized governance. We will be basing governance (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope on the real-world onchain issues we have seen over the last year of NaaS.

Timeframe is still good. Will likely start as a testnet. We will also have announcements around a StrongChain token. We are focusing on ensuring that introducing a second (2/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope token would only be for the benefit of the community, and only if it adds value to STRONG. But we've made tremendous progress. Yeah, I didn't take much of a break - a break for me is being able to have some time to think about StrongChain. (3/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We are certain we can make breakthroughs on community governance, validation and node rewards, and so much more. (4/4)

$STRONG Q: where does the 10% to future development really go towards? Since that is a large chunk of revenue, Are we absolutely sure your team is continuously being transparent and using those funds to continuously improve strong block?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope At this point, the majority of the 10% has gone back to the community wallet for rewards.

We'll provide more details in the upcoming Medium post.

$STRONG Q: Can you share your thoughts on what you are doing to help the the community during the bear market. Could there be a Treasury created or something that would be able to be tapped into to keep the community and node participators rewarded. Thanks

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Interesting question. The StrongBlock NaaS protocol has already gone through a number of "bear" markets. When we launched in December, 2020, ETH was in the $300 range. We already do have a community wallet, and most of the 10% has already (1/x)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope been contributed back to that wallet to keep its numbers up. One of the biggest things we can do to keep the protocol sustainable for the community is move to StrongChain, where gas fees will be lower, and (2/3)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope here are many more ways to participate, including earning different tokens for rewards. (3/3)

$STRONG Q: Lately some networks had difficulties with their whole operations luckily they got back on track, like Helium and Polygon. Some networks are show signs of collapsing under their own weight, do you think strong is going to help with those issues?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We hope that our nodes are helping. Yet the main issue is that most consensus mechanisms are flawed and were not built with scaling in mind. Those are bigger issues that just throwing RPC nodes at won't solve. We've already helped build an (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope entire protocol that, despite ridiculously poor support for marketing, had a better consensus mechanism and governance than most. That's why we reached the conclusion that we needed to build our own chain. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: Will we need to manually migrate from service 1 to 2? Will there be a window to do this, and will there be a fee to strong block AND an eth fee to migrate all over?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Since we don't have your wallet keys, you will need to migrate. We'll provide automation to do so. We're working on adding incentives tied to StrongChain so there is a compelling reason to move. The Service 2 contract for nodes - with perhaps (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope some upgrades based on feedback and monitoring from where it is now on the Ethereum 1.0 mainnet - will be one of the core contracts on StrongChain. (2/2)

$STRONG Q: is there any plan to make aligning node fees easier? People with many nodes have fees that are staggered and would appreciate a “pay all until 90” feature or something that lines them up

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope That should be possible in Service 2. There's a lot in that contract that has not been turned on yet. I'll bring that up with the team next week.

$STRONG Q: I don’t get why the tapering on poly nodes is so secretive and is taking over a month to tell us what it is.

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Sorry, it's not meant to be secretive. Will be publishing soon. Keep in mind that each new node type in Service 2 may/will have a different taper. We'll be looking at the data next week to see how well the first taper is working.

$STRONG Q: ETH nodes are not on the tapering model. And the tapering of rewards will never go to zero?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Yes and yes.

$STRONG Q: Are there any plans to make (and ensure) a hard-cap on the max no. of nodes an individual can own? Exponential growth of node by whales, with no real cap seems like a massive long-term sustainability risk.

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope I'm not sure if I understand. There is a 100 max hard cap per wallet on Ethereum 1.0 nodes, and a 50 max hard cap per wallet on Polygon nodes in Service 2. We have no way of knowing if someone creates multiple wallets.

$STRONG Q: Other strong L2’s are launching very soon, including big players like stark net , Zksync and optimism.

Will there be partnerships with these layer 2 companies?
Will there be partnerships with oracle services like $link, API3, and band protocol down the road?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope We're always looking at new protocols, layer 2's, sidechains, and more for partnerships. The whole idea is to make blockchains stronger. We've spoken with dozens of them. In many cases, unless you are part of the original team and investors - (1/2)

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope part of the oligarchy - the opportunities are limited. You'd think it would be all about decentralization.
We already have a partnership with $link. We will be using more oracle services down the road, & may provide some of our own via StrongChain (2/2)

$STRONG Q: Simple question: fractional nodes wen?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope Service 2 allows new node types to be added where you only need to contribute as little as 1 STRONG, with concomitant rewards.

$STRONG Q: Has it been made clear how Eth 2.0 will impact our Eth nodes? Will rewards be impacted by this directly? Will our $Eth 1.0 nodes automatically "convert" to 2.0 nodes?

$STRONG A: @WithoutTheRope $ETH 2.0 nodes have a geth node component with an RPC endpoint. Our understanding - again, the Ethereum Foundation is great, but moves slowly and in sometimes mysterious ways - is that Ethereum 1.0 node RPC endpoints will still be functional in ETH 2.0

That's it from this weeks AMA! Looks like we have a Tier 1 exchange and new protocol announcement any day now! Thank you @WithoutTheRope! $STRONG

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