Friday’s AMA was another stacked affair. With 100’s of questions to get though, we didn’t manage to get to them all in the two hour session. Those not covered this time will be picked up in the next AMA.
Question 1
Would it be beneficial for $DADI to move to Binance DEX, instead of being an ERC-20 token? Are there any solidity smart contract features being used by $DADI which binds it to ETH/ERC-20?
Joseph Denne: ERC-20 is not of particular value to us as things stand. We've explored a lot of alternative options on this front, including Binance DEX (which we've tested extensively, and which we rate highly). Key is understanding the requirements that existing within the network. In summary these breakdown as follows (in no particular order):
- Smart contracts. The ability to script value transfer based on pre-coded events;
- Node-level data storage. Storing all network-level activity against individual nodes and making this directly explorable;
- Coin functionality. The ability to mint coins and for these to be able to be integrated in to the broader ecosystem (exchanges etc.).
It would also be great to be able to operate on a feeless footing. Anyway, we have a clear view on the future of the platform in relation to chain requirements and the direction of travel. I can't say much more than that right now, but we will be releasing a lot of additional information toward the back end of the summer/early autumn.
Question 2
You have said that DADI will use on SGX, but have not explained the how. We need some details on the whole process and its status. That Meher is saying that SGX doesn't rely on a central authority shows that they haven't started the SGX implementation, otherwise they would know that it requires a central Intel Key Attestation server to work. So yeah... details on the security concept and how far it is along would be appreciated.
Arthur Mingard: Whilst it is true that an Attestation server is required, it doesn't necessarily have to be Intel. In 2018 Intel released a whitepaper for the support of third-party attestation. With the introduction of a trust mechanism there is the potential for a decentralized approach which is what we are currently working towards.
Question 3
How does DADI ensure its remote employees stay on top of things? Any encouragements to visit workshops, conferences, networking events etc.? For example: An engineer is seeking specific answers requiring specific expertise...How can DADI facilitate those needs?
Arthur Mingard: We actively encourage attendance across a variety of events however the way in which each engineer keeps their knowledge current is entirely up to them. Working remotely means more flexibility, increased job satisfaction, and improved mental wellbeing. We're a team, we rely on each other to progress, so it's fairly obvious when someone has taken their foot off the gas. This is extremely rare though and we usually find ourselves encouraging peers to take a break!
Question 4
How is DADI going to promote business outside Europe?
There are no requests made directly to a Host. This was a key part of the network design which allows Hosts to operate behind Firewalls. All requests are outbound, via GRPC.
Joseph Denne: We plan to build local sales and partnerships teams in each of our key target markets. Marketing efforts are global, with tailored messaging for individual markets. PR is being localized.
Question 5
Can you share an ETA for your next purpose-built device we can buy?
Joseph Denne: The best case would be the back end of 2019. Industrial design and POC is complete internally, but there's a lot more to do to take it to production and our timings are not yet set. We'll share more as soon as we can though.
Question 6
Would it be possible to share the transactions each time DADI does buy tokens on behalf of customers? (assuming DADI always buys on behalf of them). What's the wallet address to keep an eye on for monitoring network revenue?
Joseph Denne: Probably not. At least not quickly. There is a lot of commercial sensitivity around infrastructure, which is likely to prevent this level of transparency. However, it may just be a question of scale: at a point the batching of transactions may allow enough scale to effectively hide the scale of individual customer operations. This is something we'll return to and review in a few months.
Question 7
Can you run SGX servers running on Gateways or Stargates?
Arthur Mingard: SGX can be used on any machine with supporting hardware so Gateways and Stargates can run in a secure enclave.
Question 8
What are the main fields of research to be conducted when DADI starts to move towards trustless setup (DAO)? What are the challenges involved with making DADI trustless (or at least fully verifiable in trustless fashion)?
Arthur Mingard: We're spending a lot of effort exploring blockchain technology and looking at what can be done to more efficiently and transparently store network activity, and doing so in a way that enables faster - and cheaper! - payouts. Our biggest challenge remains security around self-onboarding, but we've made huge stride on this front in the past month.
Joseph Denne: Specifically, as I covered in last week's update, we've been working with Vault for the issuance of individual machine authentication codes, a setup that enables node access revocation without impacting the broader network.
Question 9
Amazon spends $25 Billion each year on R & D. That's like 700x the amount we got in the ICO. Of course, they would not focus everything on Blockchain, but they probably use some (i.e. Aelf and Amazon collaboration) And this is only one example of a competitor in this huge market. My question basically boils down to this: what makes our project that unique? What do we possess that would be really difficult for a major company to achieve even with all the money they have?
Joseph Denne: What prevents Amazon/Apple/Google/Facebook from doing anything that any other company does? Should all businesses pack up and go home? Obviously not.
Fundamentally our proposition is designed as a counterpoint to the centralization and control of these mega corporations. And of course, the same question was asked of those very companies in their start up phases.
Size isn't everything. In fact, beyond a certain size companies slow down and find it hard to change. Look at Google. It's getting increasingly hard to argue that they are still a technology company that's interested in R&D. Buying other companies!= R&D
Question 10
Why has $DADI not been listed on any additional exchange?
Joseph Denne: Liquidity is important to us as access to tokens is central to the performance of the network (for both usage and consumption of services). Availability on exchanges is something that we monitor and spend a fair amount of time on, and there is a strategy behind this. I can't say more than that at the moment.
Question 11
Will the team provide an API for the edge explorer?
Arthur Mingard: This is something we would like to offer. Encouraging the development of alternative interfaces and integration into third party monitoring services would be a great way in engage more in the networks goal to be open and transparent.
Question 12
How is the DADI token price volatility going to be dealt with?
Joseph Denne: Volatility in the cryptosphere in general poses an issue for the industry as it drives misconception about the maturity of the underlying technology. However, volatility in token value has no impact on our business in terms of customer onboarding, so it's not a major concern right now. What seems likely is that if we are able to continue to drive growth in the network in terms of scale and adoption by customers, is that the token value will increase first to reflect the value of the business and then to reflect to potential of the platform and the size of the market that it is helping to define.
Question 13
Last AMA skipped my question about the code audit progress, can we get info about this? Do we already know who will perform the audit? or when its approximately finished?
Joseph Denne: Yes, we know who is performing the audit. It was pitched as a technology due diligence report for our community, and to this end is being produced by an impartial third party with solid technology and IP experience. I don't have a handle on timings yet as there are some complexities to overcome – how do we publish a technical report in such a way that it doesn't damage the IP protection process currently in process for example – but it will be sooner rather than later.
Question 14
What's the difference between gateway onboarding and network backbone rentals mentioned in roadmap?
Arthur Mingard: One is the addition of third-party hardware to the network and the other is the rental of hardware currently maintained by the core team.
Question 15
If a customer is charged in fiat when token price is low, is it converted to DADI at one time or when there is a payout?
Joseph Denne: Conversion happens at the point of charge. And earnings are calculated at the point of processing.
Question 16
You mentioned that you will be rolling out a much bigger brand refresh. Is there a clearer ETA on that?
Joseph Denne: Yes, there is - we have a full rollout plan: we'll be sharing the direction of travel with you all in the next week or so, and the design work itself soon after that.
Question 17
How does DADI feel about the GAS cost for sending micropayments over the Ethereum network? For example, my first founding node payment cost 24 cents in gas. For paying out all founding nodes alone it should have cost at least $25. How will this workout at full scale?
Joseph Denne: It's workable for now, but ultimately, we want to get as close to real time payouts as possible, and this will require fee free transactions.
Question 18
What specific instances of AWS EC2 and google GCP are the price comparisons based on?
Arthur Mingard: Varying, but in the same ballpark in terms of power.
Question 19
What about a webinar type format on one media source for the AMAs vs doing it over multiple sources?
Joseph Denne: We've done a few of these in the past and plan to do so again. I'm not sure of the when of this though, but we'll keep you posted. We're also considering consolidating to a single channel for the regular AMAs, perhaps to Reddit to aid accessibility. Would be interested in your thoughts on this front.
Question 20
What is the difference between DADI and Ankr?
Arthur Mingard: I know next to nothing about Ankr apart from what is on their site (which seems thin on detail). They appear to be focused on the creation of a marketplace for spare capacity at DC level. I can't comment much further than that I'm afraid.
Question 21
Introducing new devices to run DADI network (founding nodes) DADI also creates new idle computing power as a node usage depends on demand. Does DADI foresee a way to use/monetize this idle capacity elsewhere?
Joseph Denne: For Founding Nodes, no, as they are the foundation of the network designed to provide enough baseline capacity for the mainnet to bootstrap itself. But overall, we see dedicated devices as making up a small percentage of the total device set in the network. The primary focus is on unlocking the idle capacity in laptops, on mobiles, in set top boxes etc.
Question 22
Can you elaborate on the current use of the DADI token in general? How is the token involved with current paying customers?
Joseph Denne: It's largely hidden from customers as most are not involved in the cryptosphere. That said this is starting to change and we have had some really engaged customer discussions around crypto. And you know what, when they get their heads around it they are really excited by the possibilities – we've had some start to explore how they could use the blockchain in their own offerings as well.
Question 23
What part of services DADI is currently generating revenue from are covered with DADI tokens? (ratio) I can imagine DADI is not buying tokens each time somebody paid for consultancy for example. So the question is, for what services DADI does buy tokens? How does this process currently work?
Joseph Denne: Currently all hosting fees run back to the network. It is the intention that everything that happens around the Edge network will return to the network, which will ultimately include support/consultancy services. When this cross fade will complete is not currently defined.
Question 24:
Have you considered migrating Telegram and Discord into one community channel?
Joseph Denne: Yes, we've considered it. They're very different channels and experiences though. What do you think?
Question 25
I noticed that my node sometimes appears as 'offline' on the explorer list. Yet on the map it shows a green dot and in my dashboard, it also appears 'online'. Why does it show offline in the explorer list and online in the dashboard? How does that influence node earnings and reputation?
Arthur Mingard: The explorer list is heavily cached so it's likely that the device was temporarily offline at the point the data was captured. How this affects earnings depends on how long it was offline, which sounds like it wasn't long at all.
Question 26
Is the compute units in the edge explorer a standardized way of measuring capacity or is it something the DADI team made up?
Joseph Denne: The concept of an Edge Compute Unit is something originated here. We needed a way of measuring the relative power of machines contributing to the network. They are benchmarked with the Founding Node as the baseline. We are working to define the boundaries of edge networking, and are setting our own language as the first stage in that process.
Question 27
Automated payout (daily i guess) for nodes how will it deal with the price volatility? Is the fiat to DADI conversion going to be automated or manual?
Joseph Denne: Fiat to token conversion will be automated, making use of the APIs provided by our exchange partners. Payouts are being fully automated with the intention of getting to as close to real time as possible.
Question 28
Ok so the baseline is Raspberry PI cores. How does that compare to how larger players like Amazon, Microsoft etc. sells and sets prices? They using the same measurements?
Arthur Mingard: If you take a look at the real performance of an EC2 instance for example a t3.small, they're pretty comparable. The reality is, when you pay for cloud resource you tend to get a bit of fluctuation in real terms performance, and you pay a lot for very little. These overheads and excessive costs come from the fact redundancy has to be accounted for. A warehouse of machines still needs maintenance and security no matter how much is really being used. These factors mean that by the time you get to paying for a machine as powerful as even the older generation RPi, you're paying a good deal more, and the pricing vs machine performance is intentionally lacking in detail.
Question 29
The company pays DADI tokens to the FN holders. Is it better for the company to have a low token price so that they can buy back low every month, or when the price increases the payout will be the same if we think $ only less tokens?
Joseph Denne: Network pricing is tied to $ USD value at the moment, as it is currency that is understood well by our target customer base. Payment is taken monthly in arrears. This means that the value of the token doesn't really matter, as there is a Fiat>Token swap at the point of charge, and earnings are calculated at the point of use throughout a month.
Question 30
Will FN holders be able to add DADI tokens to the staking balance?
Joseph Denne: Nothing is planned on this front at this stage. But we're going to be maintaining the Founding Node programme, so never say never!