Final week, I spoke with the co-founder and CEO of IoTeX, a decentralized platform that connects actual world units and knowledge to Net 3.0. On this extraordinarily fascinating interview, Dr. Raullen Chai defined to me what MachineFi is and the way it works and shared the most recent IoTeX achievements. If you wish to be up-to-date on the brand new tendencies, don’t miss this piece!
U.Immediately: You’re the co-founder and CEO at IoTeX. How and when did you first get within the crypto area? How did the concept of making IoTeX seem?
Raullen Chai: That’s an extended story. I used to be doing my PhD on the College of Waterloo from 2008 to 2012. My focus was actually on Cryptography: the right way to design new crypto encryption algorithms and authentication protocols to ensure communication is all the time genuine and safe. And the Bitcoin Whitepaper truly got here out, I believe, close to the top of 2008 or early in 2009. It was one thing so weird, many of the of us in our analysis lab thought it was incorrect. We spent one or two months attempting to assault it, however we failed. Then we realized that it was one thing wonderful. That is once I bought into Bitcoin, actually early, in these days.
Yeah after I graduated in 2012, Bitcoin continues to be small, Ethereum nonetheless does not exist. There isn’t a such factor referred to as the ‘crypto trade’ or Net 3.0 like now. That is why I joined Google, I stayed there for 5 years after which I used to be at Uber for one more yr. However throughout these years I’m nonetheless watching how blockchain and crypto is rising as an trade.
I used to be an early participant within the Ethereum ICO. That was, I believe, in 2014-ish. I am an early participant in numerous early tasks for Ethereum. I believe I all the time saved my eyes on this space. Then in 2017, I believe that the time is ripe. In order that’s once I left Uber. I had two different co-founders be a part of me and we began IoTeX. That’s all up until now.
U.Immediately: And the way did the concept of making it seem? Was there a particular second?
Raullen Chai: A particular second? Effectively it’s kind of totally different. We’re watching Bitcoin’s or blockchain’s far future. The far future, as a result of it is basically a Turing full self-enforcement. The rule engine drives the economic system. At the moment, the quantity of economic system pushed was very small, for now it is like a 1 trillion inch, I believe with the Net 3.0 economic system. However our imaginative and prescient is all the time how this can drive 100 instances extra or at the very least just a few instances greater than the true world economic system. There’s like a lacking layer in-between which we predict is a machine community which ties the true world with the blockchain. That is why we got here up with the concept for IoTeX.
We wish to create a community that drives all of the machines on the planet in an autonomous manner. It sounds just a little bit far-fetched now, however that is the final word aim.
U.Immediately: Inform us about IoTeX, what options does it present?
Raullen Chai: Like I mentioned, we do suppose there can be a number of networks that glue the true world and the crypto world collectively which assist to extract data from the true world to Net 3.0, to feed the match into these DApps. That is a technique.
One other manner is actually permitting individuals to sit down within the internet by a program like how the true world works, however nobody is definitely constructing these giant scale machine networks, besides possibly AT&T and people sorts of massive firms. That is why we got here up with one thing like a technique, what we name MachineFi, that’s attempting to leap begin the large-scale, multi-machine networks in a decentralized manner by incentivizing the deployment of machines, financialization, the utility of information from the machines and in addition enabling the self-involving governance of our machines. That is IoTeX in a nutshell. That is what we do.
With this new methodology we now have constructed lots prior to now 4 years, just like the Layer 1 blockchain completed from scratch. Even appropriate operating by 100 extra validators now it processes 40 million transactions worldwide, separated by all of the subjects chained on the planet. That is the Layer 1 we constructed. And on high of this one we now have our computational Oracle which is a layer that interacts with the machines. Primarily, attempting to translate what the machine does into some kind of proof that the Layer 1 contract can perceive. Machines might be as giant as a automotive or as small as Raspberry Pi, a sensible watch, cellphone, all types of issues.
U.Immediately: It is very fascinating and I believe it is one thing new. No less than I have not heard of it earlier than. We have all heard of DeFi and GameFi however MachineFi is one thing new.
Raullen Chai: Effectively when you concentrate on it, MachineFi is the following wave, proper? As a result of DeFi has been fairly profitable. It is simple. ‘Simple’ signifies that the life cycle for every DeFi mission is comparatively brief. That signifies that the iteration is quick. Individuals simply do that, it does not work and so they transfer onto the following, that is the explanation why DeFi has grown so quick prior to now few years. MachineFi is comparatively sluggish, as a result of it includes machines and units in a decentralized manner. However undoubtedly the spirit is all the time the identical.
I imagine there are two forms of purposes within the Net 3.0 area that can’t exist with out MachineFi methodology. One is a few new monetary derivatives or a product that’s actually based mostly on actual world data, for instance, like climate derivatives, site visitors derivatives or geo-credentialing, for instance, you may airdrop tokens for individuals, staying at a selected geo-location. That is one class that I name ‘new monetary merchandise’.
One other one we now have a heavy wager on is ‘do-X-to-earn-type’ of apps, that means you may incentivise individuals to ‘drive-to-earn’, based mostly on their driving knowledge. Or ‘sleep-to-earn’, based mostly on their healthcare knowledge or ‘learn-to-earn’. These are the 2 classes of DApps that can’t exist with out us.
U.Immediately: Attention-grabbing. Are you able to inform us how the IoTeX token works?
Raullen Chai: Yeah, the IoTeX token isn’t too totally different from Ethereum. It is a Layer 1 fuel token, for certain. And likewise delegates need to stake IoTeX to run the nodes to protect the community. It additionally supplies safety for the community. And three, it is for governance too, for instance, individuals can stake and vote for a way this protocol evolves going ahead. And sooner or later, what we’re eager about is to also have a true stream, which is just like the computational Oracle, individuals need to stake IoTeX to run the true stream node. That is one thing to come back sooner or later.
These are some native utilities for the IoTeX token and so, on the aspect, we do have just a few applications that additionally use the IoTeX token to develop the MachineFi ecosystem. One is that this $100 million Sustainable Ecosystem Fund that we introduced just a few weeks again. This is sort of a reserved IoTeX for the rising ecosystem. We basically give a day of grants to builders who’re constructing ‘public-goods-type tasks’ on high of IoTeX. They deserve a grant. Additionally, we now have an ecosystem fund to take a position into tasks which can be truly constructing, long-term, on high of IoTeX. That’s the ecosystem incentive.
One other one on the aspect is one thing we name Burn-Drop. If one system will get activated on the IoTeX community a sure portion of IoTeX will get burned and in addition one other portion of IoTeX will get dropped to all of the long-term stakeholders. These are the campaigns or applications which have on the aspect.
U.Immediately: The IoTeX blockchain already powers actual units, as I noticed in your web site. Are you able to inform us about them?
Raullen Chai: Yeah, for certain. For now, it powers two units. One is named the Ucam which is one thing we did in 2019-2020. It is a sensible dwelling digital camera based mostly round privateness. You personal your key, a ‘your key, your knowledge’ sort of thought. Nobody can faucet into your own home digital camera to see what’s going on. You’ve got the important thing, you’ve all the info. This one has been deployed I believe to just about 10k households throughout 60+ international locations, it has been fairly profitable. That’s one severe innovation on the planet in 2020.
One other one is open supply to developer merchandise. It is referred to as Pebble Tracker. It is a GPS tracker with six dimensions of information like humidity, velocity or air stress. It’s similar to a tracker.
We began a kickstarter for the {hardware} final yr and we simply offered two thousand models of this tracker. The aim right here is attempting to work with one vertical within the MachineFi area. It is a ‘proof of presence’. By having this tracker, you may go to a spot, you may show you’ve been there and possibly you are eligible for tokens, NFTs or some kind of reward like possibly extra yield farming powers in our DeFi protocol. These are the issues we wish to do with this proof for geo-location. That is two. And there are undoubtedly fairly just a few in our pipeline, some sensible units like wearables and open-source {hardware}, like Raspberry Pi. These are all within the pipeline for this yr.
U.Immediately: I additionally seen that you just actually have numerous notable achievements in 2021. What was your favourite one? What was an important one in your opinion?
Raullen Chai: I am certain totally different individuals have totally different opinions right here, proper? I imagine the truth that the token bought listed on Coinbase, that is fairly large to occur within the final yr. However to me, I really feel just like the launch of the MachineFi initiative is even greater than the Coinbase itemizing, as a result of we merely began with this want. However nobody was actually clear about or knew about the right way to create this IoTeX blockchain from scratch. MachineFi is such a milestone. I believe it isn’t simply me. The whole workforce, or the complete Net 3.0 group truly, feels the identical. That is how we must always create the IoTeX blockchain and that is how we incentivize or jumpstart the machine networks to be deployed on this planet.
U.Immediately: And what are IoTeX’s best plans for 2022?
Raullen Chai: Positively for us it is all the time extra MachineFi Dapps, extra units and extra customers. Really this yr we now have fairly just a few tasks that we’re incubating proper now round these two classes of DApps I used to be speaking about. By the top of this yr, we must always see at the very least 10x extra units on IoTeX with 100x extra customers.
U.Immediately: Are you able to inform us about your favourite crypto tasks?
Raullen Chai: That is one. I like Bitcoin lots and I like Ethereum lots to be trustworthy. I believe these are the 2 tasks everyone likes, proper?
U.Immediately: Yeah, I suppose so.
Raullen Chai: Yeah, everyone likes them. However there are some smaller ones which I additionally like.
Uniswap, I actually prefer it as a result of it is such a breakthrough. It is bringing the AMM to the world. It principally opens up a brand new chapter for DeFi. Maybe you do not know however, earlier than that, a decentralized alternate was only a catastrophe as a result of every little thing was based mostly on order-books and since the chain was sluggish, so it nearly didn’t work. However due to Uniswap every little thing works very easily proper now.
And one other one I do like is Twister. This can be a sort of privateness protocol. It means that you can have your Ethereum, or different tokens, to combine with other forms of Ethereum tokens and you may attempt to achieve some kind of privateness. This can be a protocol I actually like, though it does have some issues.
U.Immediately: And do you’ve a crypto portfolio?
Raullen Chai: Yeah, I do. I did numerous funding, particularly earlier than beginning IoTeX, once I had extra time.
U.Immediately: And what’s in there, if it isn’t a secret? What is the greatest half?
Raullen Chai: Positive. Like I mentioned, I am a really long-term holder of Bitcoin and Ethereum. For those who have a look at my pockets, I have not moved these tokens for a lot of, a few years. They’re nonetheless there. These are the long-term holding issues. Quick-term, I believe I’ve another tokens round like CityDAO, Avalanche. I want to put money into a protocol, like a Layer 1 protocol or platform protocols. As a result of for these DeFi video games, they often have a really small life cycle, a really brief life cycle. Meaning it’s important to watch the token, which might go up subsequent month and possibly die three months after. That is why I are inclined to put money into one thing extra long-term.
U.Immediately: I get it. And what’s going to the Bitcoin value be, to illustrate, in a yr from now? It is not a prediction, simply your guess.
Raullen Chai: You recognize, the Bitcoin halving is coming in 2024 if I keep in mind appropriately. Meaning, often beginning one and a half years earlier than the halving, based on my expertise, the worth will go up. I believe we’re at that time. I believe Bitcoin will maybe go to 50k or 80k by the top of this yr. If it goes even higher, 100k might be potential. That is simply my guess.