Ferrum Network’s AMA Recap with DeFiRaccoons
For those who missed the AMA, more information about Ferrum Network and our development updates can be found below.
Ferrum Network recently held an AMA with DeFiRaccoons on their Telegram channel, providing valuable insights into the development updates and future plans for the project. The discussion covered a wide range of topics, including the launch of MultiSwap. The AMA provided a deeper understanding of the capabilities and potential of Ferrum Network. For those who missed the AMA, more information about Ferrum and our development updates can be found below.
AMA Recap
SkinnyG | DeFiRaccoons: Hope you are all ready #raccoonfam! Today we’re having another educational AMA with Ian Friend from Ferrum Network!
As you know there will be 2 parts, the muted part where me and Ian will be talking about Ferrum Network in general aswell as the latest news and updates! Then we’ll unmute and have the community ask questions and some winners will be chosen. We’ll also choose some twitter questions while we’re at it. A total prizepool of $100 (2 live chat and 2 twitter qs will be winning $25 each).
So Ian, without further ado, can you please briefly tell us who you are and what your role at Ferrum Network entails?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: Absolutely! So my name is Ian Friend and I am the Co-Founder and COO of Ferrum Network. As a non-developer, my role is largely focused on operations, marketing, business development, and most significantly, leading our advisory team and advising projects that are being incubated by Ferrum.
SkinnyG | DeFiRaccoons: In my opinion that is even more important than being a dev, can’t run a successful project without a business background! Do you have any experience in other projects before creating Ferrum?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: Before Ferrum I was actually a lawyer but was doing some work within the blockchain space. I met my co-founder at a networking event while trying to source clients for the blockchain practice team and we ended up hitting it off and decided to work together. That was 5 years ago so it’s been a crazy journey. We now have half a dozen products, thousands of users, and a large team of 30+ people, and we are still grinding away every day to try to deliver value to our users and community.
SkinnyG | DeFiRaccoons: That’s great to hear! Its very impressive to see that you were a lawyer I was never a fan of it during my studies at all.
So Mr Friend can you give the raccoons the infamous elevator pitch on what Ferrum stands for and what its purpose is in this crypto space?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: Yes definitely. So Ferrum Network is working on blockchain interoperability solutions and building infrastructure and products that will help drive mass adoption of crypto. At its core is the Ferrum mainnet, a network that is designed to communicate between blockchains to enable the movement and assets and information (e.g. smart contracts) across and between chains.
The network can be viewed as our infrastructure layer and we are thrilled to report that the early phase testnet is operational and demoable. However, we also have a myriad of successful Dapps like our sustainable staking product called Crucible, our cross-chain token bridge (which burns FRM with each transaction), our highly regarded Staking-as-a-Service product line, and our upcoming multichain DEX aggregator called MultiSwap, which enables assets to be swapped between any chain and to/from any wallet. MultiSwap is in private alpha testing now and is slated to fully launch within the next few months.
SkinnyG | DeFiRaccoons: Interoperability I think will completely change the game for everyone especially day to day users. As the crypto market ages I have found that single chain projects and use-cases just arent going to bring about adoption as it just makes the user experience unnecessarily difficult for new users by needing to bridge onto different chains and what not.
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: Totally agree. As an industry, we need to find a way to connect all the chains together so users can freely operate across any chain without the risks and technical burdens associated with most bridges. Also, many developers want to on different chains, but there is no easy way to do this, especially because there is not a single programming language used for all of the crypto industry. Therefore Ferrum Network will become a hub for builders who want to build multichain, a sort of one-stop shop to make deploying smart contracts and Dapps on multiple chains a seamless experience.
SkinnyG | DeFiRaccoons: You are speaking my language ser, honestly while looking into Ferrum I could see it was something special. Very few projects are focusing on this issue but I am extremely happy to see that Ferrum is doing what we want here at the Raccoon Family which is to bring mass adoption to all! I see that Ferrum has created a “Interoperability 2.0” could you please touch on this and how it changes the cross-chain game for everyone
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: To understand interoperability 2.0, you need to understand interoperability 1.0, which we view as the simple of bridging of assets across chains. But as we know, most bridging is inherently limited because it often relies on outdated technology like mint/burn functions. Bridges are also subject to hacking risks because they become a honey pot that attracts hackers. Interoperability 2.0 on the other hand is more than about moving assets across chains. It’s about sharing data and information across chains, including Dapps and smart contracts.
Our mainnet runs on a proprietary messaging engine we call Quantum Portal, which essentially allows blockchains to communicate with each other. Practically speaking this means a developer can use the Ferrum Network mainnet to deploy a multichain staking dApp where the user stakes tokens on chain A but receives tokens on chain B (among many other use cases). The utilities offered by our multichain messaging engine are essentially endless and we it will be nothing short of a revolution in multichain infrastructure.
SkinnyG | DeFiRaccoons: Thats honestly blew my mind, so for example if I am understanding you correctly I could stake something on Celo and then earn rewards on a token built on polygon?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: Yes correct, as long as Celo and Polygon were connected to our network. I brought up the multichain staking example because I have seen it working in a team demo. Our founder and lead dev Naiem showed it to the team around a month ago. If I remember correctly, he staked tokens on Eth chain and withdrew rewards on BSC chain. It was quite mindblowing to be honest.
SkinnyG | DeFiRaccoons: Honestly that changes the entire DeFi game. How easy is it for a dev or another dapp to make use of or deploy Ferrum into their own Dapp?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: Our goal is to make it very easy. We want to be the one stop shop for devs who want to deploy dApps on multiple chains (which will be very common in the future). We are writing technical instructions for how to do this, but the goal is to make it simple as possible. Our new whitepaper which comes out in a few weeks goes more into this topic (and other technical topics), and it also includes information on the types of Ferrum Network nodes, how much FRM youll need to stake to run nodes, and projected rewards for running nodes.
SkinnyG | DeFiRaccoons: Will definitely be reading your whitepaper when it comes out sir! I know you mentioned staking earlier as one of the cross-chain use cases but are their any other cross-chain use cases for users/devs?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: Absolutely, there are many use cases that arise out of our Quantum Portal messenging engine, like multichain NFTs, modular dApps/smart contracts, multichain wallets, multichain DEXes, multichain metaverse assets, and more! Please check out the bottom of our website for a list of use cases for our mainnet: https://ferrum.network/
SkinnyG | DeFiRaccoons: What are the major milestones you’re planning to achieve in 2023? Can you tell us more about your roadmap?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: Great question because we just aligned internally on an updated 2023 roadmap (which will be uploaded to the website in a few weeks to correspond with the release of the new whitepaper). But it fundamentally comes down to 3 things: 1) the completion and launch MultiSwap, our multichain DEX aggregator; 2) the completion and launch of our testnet (now is a stage where its running blocks); 3) and hopefully the completion and launch of the mainnet itself with live validator nodes. Its going to be a huge year for Ferrum!
SkinnyG | DeFiRaccoons: Definitely sounds like it is going to be one! Ferrum really is a one stop shop for building DeFi tools I see! I noticed that you have a Governance committee, is anybody able to join the committee? Are there any special benefits/ incentives that the committee members have?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: Yes the Governance Committe (GC for short) is a HUGE part of our success. Those guys are amazing supporters of Ferrum. There are many benefits to being in the GC like the ability to invest in exclusive presale opportunities, access our products before any one else (they already tested MultiSwap for example), and even earn referral fees for referring new holders to FRM. Its a great place to be if youre a big fan of Ferrum.
SkinnyG | DeFiRaccoons: Looks like I need to join the GC after this myself! As you mentioned earlier Ferrum has been in the market since 2018 and managed to scale your project from 6 to 40 team members. How did you manage that? Ferrum is one of not many bear survivors in the space.
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: We just keep working hard every day to do our best to deliver value to our clients, users, and community. Theres no real secret just hard work and perseverance and a relentless focus on delivering real value. Anyone can do the same if they have enough patience and willpower.
SkinnyG | DeFiRaccoons: Exactly I have to agree with you, What you put in is what you get out! To finish off the first section of the AMA I would like to find out your thoughts and viewpoints on the current state of DeFi in general. Interoperability is going to be playing a huge part in bringing adoption to the masses as it allows for the DeFi space to be less intimidating to new users. Do you think that focusing more on Interoperability will allow for other Traditional Finance services to make their way on-chain into DeFi?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: I think blockchain interoperability is just one of many innovations that are coming in the next cycle which will help onboard the next batch of millions of new crypto users. There are innovations happening in terms of speed and scalability with all the layer 2 solutions that are coming out. There’s also innovation happening on the UI/UX side with improvements to Web3 wallets. There’s also good stuff happening in terms of showcasing additional use cases of blockchain technology through the Web3 gaming and metaverse sectors. The bottom line is we are still VERY VERY early in this space, and the future is incredibly bright.
SkinnyG | DeFiRaccoons: Thats what we like to hear at DeFi Raccoons! Thank you for your valuable insight Ian.
Twitter Questions
Q1: It caught my attention that Ferrum Network has a “Crucible” Ferrum Network that delivers DeFi 2.0. However, I didn’t find much information about it, can you explain what it is about “Crucibles”? How does it work and how does it work? How will Crucible impress and benefit users?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: Crucible is our sustainable staking dApp, meaning users can stake their FRM there and earn rewards, but the staking rewards do not cause any inflation. In fact, the rewards come from the transaction fees that are paid within that Crucible ecosystem. So users generate transactions and pay transaction fees, and those fees are distributed to the stakers. It’s perfectly designed for anyone who believes in Ferrum for the long term and wants to earn some extra APR on their tokens.
Q2: Ferrum currently keeps many of its products alive in what it calls the “Ferrum Gateway”. So, can you explain Ferrum Gateway? What products will be connected to the Ferrum Gateway ecosystem? And how do the products at Ferrum Gateway benefit users in the long term?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: The Ferrum Gateway is essentially our Web3 interface that allows users to connect with all our various products whether that be Crucible staking, the cross-chain token bridge, our vesting portal product, MultiSwap and any of our future products. Think of it as the gateway, or way to connect to, our product line.
Q3: An important issue when dealing with projects that offer multi-chain transactions is fees. They are usually very high in this type of transaction. Will Ferrum Network optimize this in any way? It is important if you want to achieve good adoption.
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: It’s true that a multichain transaction will involve more transaction fees than a single chain transaction fee because it involves more transactions. But the number of transactions is less important than the cost per transaction, which on the Ferrum Network will be quite low because the consensus mechanism is based on the Polkadot/Kusama substrate infrastructure. Also any of our products that connect to other chains, most of those chains have low transaction fees like BSC Polygon Arbitrum etc.
Q4: Security, Interoperability, and Scalability are very important in a project. So does Ferrum Network seamlessly implement these three phases in dApp, blockchain networks?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: Security is critical to Ferrum. We build all of our products with security in mind first and foremost. It’s why we built our bridge using a liquidity pool architecture as opposed to a mint/burn architecture for example. We also get all our products audited and stress tested by a white hat hacker. We can’t guarantee anything because this is still Web3, but we do our best to ensure our products are safe and secure. In terms of interoperability, that is our core focus and the main problem we are solving for our multichain messaging engine Quantum Portal. In terms of scalability, that was one reason we chose to utilize the Polkadot substrate framework for our consensus mechanism because it is an inherently fast and low-cost and therefore scalable chain. Those three issues are indeed challenging to solve, but we always do our best to ensure success in those areas.
Live Audience Questions
Q1: Do you have tutorial videos so we can get to know your project more clearly or do you have a YouTube channel or something? can you share it with us?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: Yes we have tutorial videos for all our main products. Here is an example for Crucible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OmSdFvf0xg&t=255s
Q2: Marketing is key in this industry. What is Ferrum’s strategy to attract new users and investors? Are youtube, podcast series, and trending cross-marketing campaigns your way to attract new users and Investors?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: Absolutely agree that marketing is key. We have an amazing marketing team led by Tom Frazak who has done an incredible job organically growing our following on basically a $0 marketing budget during the bear market! We also have an ambassador program where we are working with many notable influencers across the crypto space who have taken a position in FRM and are promoting us over the long term. We also have a traditional marketing campaign planned for the launch of MultiSwap and test net. Going to be a BIG year for Ferrum!
Q3: What are the ways for Ferrum project to generate revenue in the long run?
Ian Friend | Ferrum Network: We have many revenue-generating lines of business, including through our grants/integrations team where we connect our technology to other chains (e.g. Algorand, Casper, Cudos, etc) and get grants for doing this. We also have a robust Blockchain as a Service business where we sell our products like staking and vesting portals to other projects. And we have our advisory business where we advise and launch new projects and allow our community to invest in their presales.
About Ferrum Network
Ferrum is ushering in the era of blockchain interoperability 2.0. Powered by a multichain messaging engine known as Quantum Portal, Ferrum Network’s mainnet will bring value, data, and functional interoperability to every chain in the industry.
Utilize Ferrum Network to build and deploy solutions on one network and instantly enable multichain functionality without the burden or technical debt that comes with managing a multichain infrastructure.
