Coinko :
Hello, I’m Jerome Kim, and I will conduct today’s interview!
Today Sota Watanabe, founder of Plasm Network will talk about the future of layer 2 and why shiden chose parachain!
And before we begin, Sota, please introduce yourself!
Sota:
My name is Sota Watanabe, director and founder of Plasm Network. Plasm Network is a multi-chain decentralized application layer in the Polkadot ecosystem. Polkadot Relay Chain does not support smart contract functionality by design. This is where Shiden Network comes in. We support Ethereum Virtual Machine, WebAssembly, and Layer2 solutions from day one. The platform supports various applications like DeFi, NFTs and more.
Agenda Q&A with COINKO
Coinko :
Great! It seems that with such an experience, Shiden will be able to reduce the difficulties to come in the future! Now, let me ask you a few questions from COINKO about the Layer 2 and parachain.
First of all, Blockchain has 10 years of history but it can be the history of solving scaling problems. There are many layer 2 projects when they launch to solve the scaling problem or ethereum’s trilemma.
What is the difference between polkadot parachain and the other layer 2 and why are you choosing polkadot to build your project?
Sota:
One main thing about why we choose Polkadot is the shared security. This will be great for all future projects that are building in the Plasm ecosystem. Another great thing about Polkadot is its scalability. Sharding, which is a layer 1 scaling solution that says that instead of every node in the network having to download and process everything, every node in the network only has to download and process a small portion of all of the data.
When you compare this with Polkadot every parachain connected to the relay chain will operate as a shard. Basically you can see each blockchain as a node. Adding our layer 2 scalable solutions on top of sharding will add extra features for projects that are looking to run a secure and very scalable dapp.
Coinko :
Second, It’s very interesting that ‘Crowd loan’ is not ICO, or any token sale but staking participation. Nowadays Korean government is interested in the blockchain industry and they plan to regulate it in the right way. For example, Koreans can’t participate in STO, or some specific ICO. So, please describe the legal character of ‘crowd loan’?
Sota:
There is a lot of underground buzz in crypto surrounding the upcoming Polkadot and Kusama auctions. The crowdloan/auctions are a key ecosystem development as they provide an opportunity for retail investors to participate in new project launches and receive project tokens. A key difference between parachain auctions and ICOs (or IDOs and IEOs), however, is that participants maintain control and ownership over their funds. Instead of exchanging ETH for tokens, users can stake their DOT or KSM in exchange for project airdrops. If the project loses the auction or the parachain slot expires, all funds are returned.
Coinko :
Last, Please describe your strategy — for the users who don’t know why they select you.
Sota:
We have created a one-pager with all the information available for everyone who wants to know more about Crowloan and Auctions. Have a look at https://crowdloan.plasmnet.io. Also our unique features: https://forum.plasmnet.io/t/what-makes-plasm-unique/872
Coinko :
Thank you for your detailed answers. Now, it’s time for the users’ questions!
Sota:
Let’s go.
User Q&A
Coinko:
Q1) @rabbitan
I’m unfamiliar with Parachain Lease Offering. What is it?
Sota:
To help everyone who want to know more about Plasm & Shiden Network and how to join the Parachain Lease Offering, we created a very helpful page:
On this page, you find tutorial videos, explanations about the Crowdloan & Auctions, and where to join. If there are still questions, the community is very supportive on Telegram or Discord.
Coinko:
Q2) @Anass
What do you think of Gavin Wood when an interview recently said: In the near future WebAssembly contracts will take on more importance, while EVM contracts will be crucial now, but will lose relevance over time. What makes Shiden Network anticipate this and how do you think WASM contracts will solve the different scaling issues within the shiden chain and the entire Polkadot and Kusama ecosystem? Thanks
Sota:
EVM is still a popular kid in school. All the tools and documentation made for EVM will continue as a gateway for new developers. So the support for EVM is still very important to have in our ecosystem. On Shiden Network developers can deploy Solidity and Vyper smart contracts through our EVM pallet. Besides having support for Solidity contracts, we also support smart contracts based on WebAssembly, written in ink!
Ink is a contract language created by Parity. This brings WASM into a smart contract. If you should compare WASM-based contract engines with traditional Virtual Machines they are more powerful and scalable.
The ink! The contract ecosystem is growing fast and we expect more dApps to show up in the near future.
Coinko:
Q3) @oxollll
What is the road map from now on? I wonder what the goal and vision is to pursue.
Sota:
Our main focus at the moment is to become one of the first parachain on Kusama. After this we have a series of updates planned this year:
- Switching from PoA to PoS
- Launch of our portal, a platform that developers can use to deploy their contracts. Where users can stake their SDN on validators or dApps and earn block rewards, integrated wallet, …
After this, we think Polkadot will not wait very long to launch their auctions. This is one of our main goals from the beginning. Launching as one of the first on Polkadot. Kusama is still ongoing but we are already looking forward to this one. One of our long-term goals is to become a DAO.
Coinko:
Q4) @LoLi_BB
Current NFT is a hot topic, but is NFT not just for art. Does Shiden think that more real world use cases will emerge for NFTs as time goes on, why should we take NFTs seriously?
Sota:
In the first phase of our launch, we will be focusing on NFT because of our great partnerships like double.Jump Tokyo, Bondly, and Mochi.Market. For all Crowdloan participants, we also have a rare and exclusive opportunity to get an NFT. Everyone who joins will get an NFT. This NFT will have exclusive utilities for the future lease period of Shiden Network. Don’t forget to get that NFT! ;-). More information can you find here: https://crowdloan.plasmnet.io
NFT will be a common use in the future with a lot of utilities.
Coinko:
Q5) @Corrie_Dorf
“Shiden Network is a multi-chain decentralized application layer on Kusama Network.”
Is your platform truly “DECENTRALIZED”? In my opinion that word can be relative e.g. an entity can split into nodes they still control & claim that.
Can you offer a provably verifiable proof that SHIDEN NETWORK is fully decentralized, trustless, permissionless and with no dominant party in control?
Entities are currently facing a wide variety of regulatory requirements, how will the SHIDEN NETWORK ecosystem be a solution to all of them? Does $SDN Smart contracts be developed for all regulatory requirements?
Sota:
Microsoft has accepted Stake Technologies, one of the core companies behind Plasm Network, for their Microsoft for Startups program. Together with Microsoft, we are going to start the Shiden Azure Program by using Microsoft Azure when Shiden becomes a Kusama Parachain. Collaborators on Shiden Network will therefore be able to run a node on Azure with technical support from both Stake Technologies and Microsoft. We will soon switch to NPoS on Shiden Network and we know as a validator, getting nominations can be hard. Our Hundred Validators Programme helps validators bootstrap themselves and cultivate a community around their reputation. By applying with the correctly configured setup, applicants will be eligible to receive nominations from the Shiden Network.
Coinko:
Q6) @vicshot82
According to Shiden’s tokenomics, token allocation for PLO is allocated at 30%, and sales volume is not allocated. Does the Shiden team have enough money?
Sota:
You can find a lot of information about our investors in these articles:
- https://medium.com/plasm-network/plasm-network-closes-2-4m-round-led-by-binance-labs-b186d987ceec
- https://medium.com/plasm-network/plasm-shidens-stake-technologies-closes-10m-strategic-fundraise-to-build-multi-chain-dapp-hub-8fe799473f51
Coinko:
Q7) @iouiouiouiou
Shiden distributed 65 percent of the tokens for the community. I wonder why you distribute so much weight. Wouldn’t it have a negative impact on the price?
Sota:
Plasm/Shiden Network is a community-driven project. We distribute 65% of the total supply to the community members through lockdrops. In addition to that, I know that many projects only raise funds from very selected VCs with huge discounts and community members can’t get tokens at the early stage. This is not our philosophy. We distributed tokens to our users first without receiving any funds. Then we raised funds from VCs. I believe that this makes a difference in the long run and will create healthy market conditions.
Coinko:
Q8) @polkadotmania
Is there any reason developers should use shiden & plasm ?
Please make it easy to understand.
Sota:
We have created a great infographic about unique features on Shiden Network and created a great summary on our forum. Feel free to check it out: https://forum.plasmnet.io/t/what-makes-plasm-unique/872
Coinko:
Q9) @bitgogogo
I’ve seen a lot of platforms that introduced cross-chain, but I’m not familiar with platforms that introduced cross-virtual machines. Why did you introduce X-VM?
Sota:
We are thrilled to introduce our new proposed core feature called the X-VM (Cross Virtual Machine). Our vision for X-VM is to establish a layer of abstraction that allows smart contracts to execute calls and read storage data from different contract engines (virtual machine) and languages (ex, interacting with Solidity dApps written in from ink! or vise versa) within the same blockchain.
More information can be found in our article: https://medium.com/plasm-network/introducing-x-vm-on-shiden-network-d74368fbd07c
We also joined the Parity & Friends Crowdcast where we introduced the X-VM vision: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/parity--friends-pos-
Coinko:
Q10) @cow13
I heard that Kraken and Huobi Okex support it.
Will it be listed immediately?
Sota:
We are supported by several wallets and also top-tier exchanges. Exchanges like Kraken, Huobi, OKEx, KuCoin, and Binance will support our ecosystem. The listing will go step by step and be announced after becoming a parachain! Join our Crowdloan & Auctions now to get an extra bonus for SDN tokens! More information available on https://crowdloan.plasmnet.io
Closing
Coinko :
Thank you for your detailed replies! I’m sure that users were able to learn a lot from this interview. In particular, among the questions and answers from the users, the launching of X-VM is very impressive! . It might have been a great opportunity to understand the cultural differences in views between the East and the West.
Any last words before we wrap up the interview?
Sota:
We are looking forward to becoming one of the first parachains on Kusama and we want to thank everyone who joined the auctions to support us. It’s still possible for everyone to support our projects in the Kusama auctions. Check all the information on https://crowdloan.plamsnet.io.
Shiden Network
Multi Chain dApps Hub on Kusama
Shiden Network is a Plasm’s Kusama version project with the goal of implementing a multi-chain smart contract platform. Shiden is currently preparing to participate in the PLO (Parachain Lease Offering). Plasm Network has received investments from VCs such as Binance Labs, Coinbase Ventures, and KR1.
📖Related Link
Webpage: https://shiden.plasmnet.io/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShidenNetwork
Medium: https://medium.com/plasm-network
Telegram: https://t.me/PlasmOfficial
