Summary of AMA with IoTeX :)
Dear Community,
Welcome to our community on t.me/Crypto_believers Telegram group’s AMA. We really appreciate all your support. There were really good and thoughtful questions that were asked. For those who missed our AMA, this blog post is for you :)
AMA Starts now!
Introduction of guest and IoTeX:-
Hello everyone, great to be here! IoTeX is the privacy- and IoT-focused blockchain platform that is building the Internet of Trusted Things. For those that are new to IoTeX, please check out our vision here: https://medium.com/@iotex/the-internet-of-trusted-things-a29a0e4f169
Raullen: Hello - this is Raullen Chai, CEO & Co-founder of IoTeX. I'm a PhD in Cryptography from University of Waterloo. Before founding IoTeX, I worked at Google as a Tech Lead for ~4 years and then went to Uber as Head of Cryptography R&D. Now I'm building the future Internet of Trusted Things at IoTeX!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/raullenchai/
Larry: My name is Larry - Head of Business Development at IoTeX. I went to MIT, where I studied Finance & Economics. After that I went to Oliver Wyman, a global management consulting firm, where I stayed for 5 years working on digital transformation. Now I work with our global partners at IoTeX!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-pang/
- Twitter Questions to IoTeX:-
Ques 1:- When do you create to mainnet? How far has the work progressed? After mainnet launch, what new features does the IoTeX have? What will the mainnet bring to the IoTeX ecosystem and the community?
Ans 1:- IoTeX Mainnet Alpha was launching in April 2019 - this was our first Mainnet release that came with live cryptoeconomics and live blockchain. For the past 6 months, we have made so many big improvements to Mainnet, and in October 2019 we launched Mainnet Beta. This release came with native staking, 5 second block time, and many security/performance-related benefits.
IoTeX Mainnet is the foundation for the IoTeX network. IoTeX is more than just a blockchain - we also layer on secure hardware, decentralized identity, and data services to make blockchain & IoT a reality. We bring a lot of experience from the traditional IoT world - the trust is blockchain cannot solve all of IoT's problems, but it CAN provide much needed trust. In other words, IoTeX is a comprehensive platform that builds true end-to-end trust
https://www.iotex.io/post/everything-you-need-to-know-about-iotex-mainnet-beta
Ques 2:- Q.2 First of all Congratulations on the recent success in #CES 2020 Innovation Award, Which is a massive milestone for IoTeX as well as in Blockchain Industry. Do you think that IoTeX can change the real world with blockchain product?
Ans 2:- Great question! And thank you - we are very happy with the award, it’s a big honor!
Ucam is the first consumer IoT product that will be launched on the IoTeX Network. It was designed in partnership with Tenvis, a large camera manufacturer that has sold millions of cameras in the past 10 years. Ucam is the FIRST fully private, blockchain-powered, home security camera that is "Powered by IoTeX" - UCam uses IoTeX blockchain to authorize access to the livestream video and video content. In other words, Ucam delivers full privacy to users for the first time, as well as full data ownership (YOU own your data, NOT corporations).
This is more than just about blockchain - this is about protectin the future of our IoT devices and data! IoTeX will power this new paradigm for the decentralized future.
https://ces.tech/Innovation-Awards/Honorees/2020/Honorees/U/Ucam-by-IoTeX-Fully-Private-Home-IP-Camera.aspx
^^ here is our award-winning camera - we won the CES Innovation Award for Cybersecurity & Privacy!
CES is the world's largest consumer technology association - a huge honor!
Ques 3:- In iotex network ecosystem, how do data control and revenue rights return to users? How is the value of these data reflected ?
Ans 3:- Data control and revenue all start with a simple concept: you must first own your data! This is a big part of IoTeX’s go-to-market strategy. We work with hardware manufacturers (cameras, smart locks, wearables) to ensure that all data from IoT devices is managed fully privately and is fully owned by the consumer - NOT corporations or Cloud providers. After consumers own their data, they are free to do what they want with it. They can:
a) Keep their data fully private (likely a popular option for Ucam, which captures home videos)
b) Share it with trusted / semi-trusted parties (popular option for smart locks / access products)
c) Expose it to service providers (popular option for wearables, where you want to own your health data but need help to analyze it)
Ques 4:-
(A)What innovativeness does iotex add to the internet of Things ecosystem
(B)What aspects does IOTEX focuses on? DeFi, commerce, payments, privacy, gaming?
(C)Explain more about Root chain, gravity chain and layer 2 chain
Ans 4:-
(A)IoTeX is bringing brand new capabilities to IoT, but our goal is not to just improve the current IoT. Our goal is to build the Internet of Trusted Things, where all physical and virtual "things" - people, devices, businesses - can interact and exchange data/value in a secure global fashion.
(B)IoTeX particularly focuses on IoT, but we also have a number of other use csaes that are running on IoTeX. There is also a big intersection between DeFi and IoT that we are very interested in exploring. For example, trading data from different IoT devices is very cool and will drive a new P2P economy!
(C)Finally, the IoTeX Network uses a multi-layer architecture. There is the Root Chain, which manages consensus for the entire network. Layer 2 chains built on top of the Root Chain are more application-focused, and can choose the artchitecture that best suits their use case.
Ques 5:- Can you please highlight more on the decentralization aspect using IoTeX technology. Also in the future, is it possible to quantify the level of decentralization and economic incentivization?
Ans 5:- Decentralization is the biggest aspect of IoTeX. Think about Bitcoin - this is revolutionary because it is a financial/payment system that cannot be shut down by ANYONE as it is decentralized. This is a breakthrough as we want our financial data to not be controlled by anyone. So shouldn’t we take the same level of rigor for our IoT data? We think so, and it will be so important for our future that the data from our devices (phones, homes, cars) is fully private and out of the hands of malicious actors.
As the future becomes more and more connected, blockchain and IoT will be a match made in heaven. IoT will generate the data and blockchain will add trust to the data.
Community Questions to IoTeX:-
Ques 1:- How does the SAAS Service work? What advantages does SAAS undertake in the operation of applications and services?
Ans 1:- Good question - software as a service is a topic that is permeating the entire enterprise space. I (Larry) have worked in consulting and can tell you that every company uses several SaaS products.
The difference between traditional SaaS and blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) is that BaaS requires more onboarding tools - most SaaS companies are plug and play while blockchain still requires lots of tools to make it easy to build new things, not just apply new capabilities. This is why we focus on providing many uinque tools to our develoeprs, not just in blockchain but also in IOT and identity.
Ques 2:- How soon IOTX native coin voting is expected? What difference will see users with it? Would the rewards from old system start adding in native net after that?
Ans 2:- IOTX native staking is coming VERY soon, likely in the next week! There are a number of new features we have added. first of all, you will be able to combine buckets and also the max stake duration has been extended to 3 years.
Most importantly, native staking gives another great utility for the IoTeX token. it is also performed through the IoTeX Wallet (iopay.iotex.io), which is our amazing new desktop/mobile wallet. definitely download it and try it out :D
Ques 3:- Where will all the IoT device data be stored? On hardware, or on the user/client side? Will the blockchain store all the data?What role do you think IoTeX plays in increasing the adaptability of the blockchain on the global stage?
Ans 3:- the IoT device data, which is a lot of data, will be stored on Cloud as it is cheaper and more efficient. but the data itself will be stored in an encrypted format (i.e., if it gets leaked, then the data is fully protected), while the decryption key is stored/authorized via blockchain. this allows us to define ownership of IoT data while also preserving cost efficiencies for users.
IoTeX will play a huge role in the future blockchain space. first of all, we are one of the first projects to launch a REAL working product that uses blockchain for a valuable purpose - data and privacy. we are using blockchain and other technologies in a very unique way that will devlier data privacy for the first time to the world. let's do it together!
Ques 4:- Why do you think your project needs the blockchain at all and more specifically why its own token? Why can’t you just use ETH?
Ans 4:- we built the IoTeX blockchain completely from scratch (no forks of other projects) for a specific reason: making blockchain & IoT & privacy work requires very specific design decisions, which when we started IoTeX found that no existing platforms were suitable for our vision. we are not trying to just create a general purpose platform, we are building a platform that will one day power entire cities and countries IoT networks in a fully trusted way.
Many people think that IoT is simple, but it’s not. the combination of hardware and software requires much different design decisions. this is why IoTeX is the leading candidate to drive the blockchain & IoT revolution.
Ques 5:- Q1: We are witnessing many projects enter blockchain industry with very good plans, promise to do good work but disappear in time and lose community.
So without not lose believers, how can Iotex survive this long and challenging blockchain marathon?
Ans 5:- IoTeX raised ~$30 million USD in early 2018, and that is a lot of money. we don’t waste money on pointless marketing pump/dump tactics - we just focus on building. so we are good as far as runway - this is not a game to us, it is real business/work, and luckily we have one of the best teams in crypto to drive our vision forward. take a look at our team here: https://www.iotex.io/about-us
Ques 6:- How have you been able to survive this longest bear market and please explain more about your consensus algorithm ?
Ans 6:- We have been able to have a very stable price throughout the bear market because people see the value in our technology and vision. This is something that everyone fundamentally believes - the Internet of Things must be decentralized to ensure our physical IoT devices and digital data are not controlled by centralized corporations that buy/sell/steal our data. If this is something that everyone believes, and they believe that IoTeX has the team to drive this vision, then of course we will continue to have followers.
Also again, we are launching REAL products. Take a look at our hardware lineup here: https://www.iotex.io/securehardware
Ques 7:- What is Secure Hardware, which is a yet to be launched product from IoTex? What are its specifications and uses? Is PRE-order opened?
Ans 7:- Secure hardware utilizes ultra-secure chips that you already use in your daily lives - you just don’t know it! The evolution of credit cards in the past decade offers a great example of how we can redesign our devices to offer true security. Not too long ago, information could easily be stolen from a credit card’s low-security magnetic strip. But these strips have now been replaced by secure hardware in the form of an embedded NFC chip. These tiny chips are, in fact, highly secure, encrypted hardware that make it effectively impossible to steal information from the physical card itself. This secure hardware can and should be applied to all of our devices in order to guarantee true end-to-end trust. Online data breaches are a major inconvenience, but just imagine the damage that could be done if our smart homes, vehicles, city infrastructure, and other machines fell victim to similar attacks.
Ques 8:-
(1) IoTeX uses Roll-DPoS consensus mechanism , How Roll-DPos is special & better than other DPoS?
(2) How will you encourage developers to create applications in IoTex Blockchain ?
Ans 8:- Roll-DPoS is IoTeX's in-house consensus mechanism, designed to support large-scale IoT use cases. This is because Roll-DPoS has extremely high scalability due to a smaller amount of nodes reaching consensus, something that is absolutely needed for IoT use cases (more scalability).
What is unique about Roll-DPoS and what makes it better than normal DPoS is that it is also more decentralized while having the exact same performance. This is because we built in a randomization algorithm that selects a subset of Delegates to run consensus every hour, which adds a layer of decentralization (i.e., not the same 24 delegates produce blocks every hour).
you can learn more about Roll-DPoS by reading our yellow paper here: https://res.cloudinary.com/dokc3pa1x/image/upload/v1559623484/Research%20Paper/Academic_Paper_Yellow_Paper.pdf
Ques 9:- About the secure computation, why does IoTex not choose Multi-Party Computation (MPC)? I think it also the best technology that ARPA (project is voting on Binance) is using? Are there any special reasons behind your choice?
Ans 9:- There are a few ways of enabling privacy-preserving computations today: secure multi-party computation (sMPC), fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), and trusted execution environments (TEE). the first two are more software-based, while TEE is hardware-based. the reason why most projects, including IoTeX use TEE is because the first two approaches (sMPC, FHE) are still very theoretical. the most you can do with these software-based approaches is super simple computions, like compute the average of 5 numbers in a private way. the hardware-based approach has been developed and mature for a decade now, and the real work that many people are doing these days is to build middleware/application layer SDKs that make it easier to program new "trusted applications" using TEEs.
in summary, FHE/sMPC are still in "research mode" while TEE is ready for production now. you can learn more about IoTeX TEE-based hardware products here: https://www.iotex.io/securehardware
Ques 10:- How robust are you to dominate the INTERNET OF THINGS ECOSYSTEM AND What’s your 5 year vision of The Future of Iotex like?
Ans 10:- The story i like to tell about where IoT is heading has to do with moore’s law, which states the amount of compute power in a chip improves 2x every year. what we have seen recently is moore’s law has hit a theoretical ceiling - chips are no longer getting faster the way they used to. instead, they are getting 2x cheaper every year. this is what has started the internet of things expanding into even every day objects - everything including our toothbrushes, household appliances, etc. now have chips inside of them that let them communicate with the internet.
It is guaranteed that more and more chips will be put into physical objects in the next 5 years and on. what is NOT guaranteed is whether we make the decisions to build more privacy and security into these chips. along with 5G, the proliferation of chips into our devices will make EVERYTHING connected, but it still does not solve many of the privacy, security, interoperability, and trust issues that are restricting the growth of IoT. this is where IoTeX and blockchain come into play - to fill in the gaps and make sure we are growing the IoT in a sustainable and user-centric fashion.
Ques 11:- What is the progress of business development and what are some of your commercial partnerships?
Ans 11:- I want to highlight one thing we are working on that are very important for IoTeX:
1) working with hardware manufacturers: we have exciting work ongoing with many HW manufacturers that are using IoTeX to bring privacy and security to their devices/users. the latest example is tenvis - they are our partners to launch Ucam, which recenly won a CES Innovation Award (see here: https://ces.tech/Innovation-Awards/Honorees/2020/Honorees/U/Ucam-by-IoTeX-Fully-Private-Home-IP-Camera.aspx). tenvis is a HUGE camera manufacturer, they have been in the business for ~15 years and have sold millions of cameras. but the world is changing - to sell more cameras is not just about features anymore, but it is about privacy and security. this is why they chose us to evolve their products to the next level. their products are already extremely popular and they are "amazon's choice" for home seucrity cameras - take a look at their existing product here: https://www.amazon.com/TENVIS-Wireless-Surveillance-Security-Auto-Cruise/dp/B071DDBT7M
Ques 12:- IOTX is used to pay for transaction fees, create and execute Smart Contract in IoTeX’s network. Transaction speed is always the most important thing, how do IOTX avoid the occurrence of transaction bottlenecks?
Ans 12:- Transaction bottlenecks are managed by separating different transactions onto different subchains or "Layer 2 chains". most networks have all of their transactions running on a single chain, while IoTeX has a vision of creating a network of interoperable blockchains. if each of these chains has the ability to do ~2000 TPS (very conservative estimate), then supporting a use case that requires 4000 TPS is as simple as creating two chains that can interoperate with each other. this is something we are actively working on, but wanted to give you our view of the future.
Ques 13:- How will the upcoming 5G wireless technology impact IOTEX?
Ans 13:- 5G will not only impact IoTeX but it will impact the world. all you need to know about 5G is that it uses a specific untapped frequency range (totally open for new traffic) and a concept called MIMO - multiple input, multiple output. this allows IoT devices to connect with each other and 5G towers at amazing speeds - in other words, everything will be connected and have super high bandwidth.
much of the limitations with current IoT have to do with the fact that data must travel from device to gateway to server - there is a "speed of light" limitation, as sometimes devices are physically very very far away from servers. what 5G and more powerful devices will allow us to do is process data "on the edge" meaning data does not need to travel far distances to get processed, it can happen locally. for autonomous vehicles and other use cases, this is a huge benefit. definitely watch 5G closely! and then 6G ... 🤯
Ques 14:- What about plans, products, and marketing, so everyone knows or understands about IoTeX with IoT technology that is worth considering and even used in a period of rapid technological development ?
Ans 14:- yes this is a big priority for us - our approach is to teach people using real products, not just theory. we operate at a very complex intersection of blockchain + IoT + privacy. sometimes explaining this to people is not easy, so we plan to show them! this applies to both end users and developers.
Ques 15:- For some things that I understand, IoTeX is very closely related to IoT technology. How does IoTeX overcome IoT regulations in each country?
Ans 15:- right now there are not many "IoT regulations" but there are many IoT standards (i.e., guidance on how to implement IoT in effective ways). mostly the regulations that we are watching very closely relate to consumer privacy laws, specifically GDPR in europe and now CCPA in california. these will have a big role in IoTeX’s future. IoTeX products allow consumers to fully own their data, which means this fully complies with consumer privacy laws. more to come on this!
Ques 16:- - How do you rate your tech team? How does the experience of your tech team stands out?
Ans 16:- 10/10 - take a look for yourself: https://www.iotex.io/about-us
i've never worked with a more capable team that is able to take ideas and turn it into reality. bet the house on the IOTeX team to fulfill our vision!!
Ques 17:-
(1) What is the difference between classic "Internet of Things" and IoTeX "Internet of Trusted Things" concepts? How do you implement trust in IoT area?
(2) Is TEE hack resistant?
Ans 17:-
(1) See this article - it explains it very well: https://medium.com/@iotex/the-internet-of-trusted-things-a29a0e4f169
(2) yes! TEEs are pretty much hackproof. for example, the chip on your credit card is actually a TEE, which is ultra-secure.
Thank you everyone for participation.
