Twitter Space Synopsis — Best Practices & Experiences on DYOR & Due Diligence
Topic of the space is focused on the importance of doing your own research / due diligence, particularly in light of recent events in crypto markets at large, and how IAMX is developing solutions to address many of the issues plaguing crypto at this time.
Special Guests:
Julia Froenicke (@JuliaSteinmull1) — Background in TradFi as a financial consultant & analyst. Passionate about the crypto space. Julia is accustomed to the high level of regulation found in TradFi.
Vince Vaughn (@iam_vincevaughn) — IAMX marketing team. Background in sales, marketing, publishing, TradFi, and real estate investment.
Past Experiences, and Discussion on Research & Due Diligence
Julia explains that she counts herself lucky to have withdrawn her funds from FTX roughly a week prior to its collapse. When asked, Nick (@ChipDapper) explains that what kept him from using the platform to begin with were some of the core tenets of crypto, decentralization & self-custody in particular. These values prevented significant loss for many people in events like Celsius and FTX.
Julia’s belief is that heavily-regulated central exchanges will play a big part in the future of crypto, but acknowledges that she fell for Sam Bankman-Fried’s projected altruistic messaging, just as many of us did.
@bone_pool adds that the lesson from FTX crash, and other similar events, is that there is no need to trust centralized exchanges or services with our funds. It is taking an unnecessary risk.
Julia adds that centralized exchanges will be necessary for onboarding and believes in a balanced approach to crypto. Not centralized or decentralized, but a balance between the two. This allows people the freedom to choose.
Nick shares the popular metaphor for central exchanges: treat them like public restrooms: get in, do your business, get out. No need to linger.
Julia shares her metaphor of central exchanges as a necessary bridge between tradfi and defi / crypto.
Rob (@RobCardano) shares that he is leery of exchanges that offer the “other services,” for instance the APY earnings on deposited bitcoin offered by Celsius. He emphasizes that this is where we tend to be tempted into trouble. The dollar signs, the greed, can be dangerous.
Nick agrees with Julia that regulation is incoming one way or the other, and that it could have a positive impact on centralized exchanges. However, the prospect made possible via IAMX is a further decentralization of these onboarding options. As reusable KYC, on-chain and self-custodial, comes to prominence via IAMX we will see more robust offerings from decentralized exchanges, and that these DEXs will be enabled to comply with forthcoming regulation.
@bone_pool adds that IAMX identity solutions meet regulators in the middle, by providing requisite KYC and retaining decentralization.
Vince shares one of his “hard lessons” in crypto markets. He invested a substantial amount into a new project that from the outside looked good. Despite professional looking materials and a doxed team, the project “dried up” within 2 months. Social channels are all still available, but the team itself has disappeared. Vince believes that in this case, he did not do his due diligence, and was rug-pulled.
Vince continues to compare the amount of data available in traditional, publicly traded organizations vs startup Web3 ventures. There is significantly more information available for analysis of traditional firms. Most web3 don’t typically have enough data available early on to make a completely informed investment decision.
Lise (@wessel_lise) comments on how the youth of the web3 space, in addition to the unsettled regulation, contribute to its attractiveness to “scammers” and other actors with less-than-honest intentions. Lise introduces a best-practice for evaluating people with whom you have the opportunity to work:
“Something I learned when I’d been running my own marketing agencies for 20 years and I had a string of employing the wrong people. This lady told me that when you have an interview or when you assess a candidate or a situation or a person, go home. Sit on your sofa, close your eyes and imagine that person coming into your living room, and let your intuition and your mind tell you what is happening. Do you feel good about that person coming in? Or do you feel terrible? After I started deploying that tactic, I never employed the wrong person ever again.”
The same practice I believe can be applied as we evaluate these crypto-based projects. Do our research to the extent that the available information allows, but also employ our subconscious mind through “the living room test.”
IAMX Due Diligence
The remainder of the space is focused on providing answers to core DYOR questions in relation to the IAMX team and organization. For thoroughness sake, included below are answers to these questions and more as answered directly by IAMX CEO Tim Heidfeld:
Does IAMX have any working products at this time?
Yes, current working products are:
- Verified NFT (vNFT)
- Verified Pools (vPOOLS)
- Delegation Center
- Collectors Portal
Do you have customers currently paying for these products?
Yes, there are projects paying for use of the delegation center, vPools, and other products.
Are you building additional products that will generate revenue?
Yes, revenue generating products currently in development:
- COMPLIANCE tools for B2B
- KYC KYB
- 3 DEXs on Cardano will integrate (no name dropping here)
- 3 wallets will integrate with API
Did you receive any investor seed funding when you started?
Yes, roughly 1.5 million in investment sourced from personal and professional connections
You are currently doing an ISPO with several IAMX stake pools. How well are they producing?
The stake pools are producing very well at this time. This can be verified via pooltools.
What does your treasury look like? Is it well funded?
It is well funded, as we’re not the sort to waste money. In the event that IAMX required additional funding, we are backed by the same personal and professional connections. Without “name dropping” or disclosing specific numbers, we are backed by reliable sources with whom we have a history. This history of investment includes working together with our previous ventures: price24.de and handy.de
What are the biggest expenses that IAMX has at this time?
Travelling and tradeshows are among the highest expenses at this time outside of development costs of course.
If this bear market were to get extended, do you worry about running out of funds or becoming insolvent?
IAMX converted funds to fiat a long time ago.
About IAMX
IAMX is a token-based Self-Sovereign Identity and authentication protocol that empowers individuals with the means to own their identity. Adhering to the strictest of regulatory standards for identity protection, IAMX builds on the foundational principles of SSI to provide a robust and secure system where individuals are able to take control and manage their identity. Users of IAMX will realise significant time and cost savings through novel approaches to identity management and ecommerce transactions, like 1-click fulfilment, which are legally binding and maintain local regulatory compliance. With users in control of their identity data, time-consuming processes like Know Your Customer (KYC) or Know Your Business (KYB) become near instant, highly secure transactions.
IAMX builds upon the foundations of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), blockchain, and DIDs, enabling individuals, organisations, or any entity to prove their identity independent of external parties or centralised authorities. This way, the authenticity of anything tied to an IAMX DID can be independently confirmed by the entity holding the DID.
IAMX is at the forefront of the Web3 revolution, bringing the world’s most secure, decentralised, and user-friendly Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) solution to the Internet. Adding the layer of identity and authentication to the Internet, with IAMX you can treat the Internet like you are always logged in. Pursuant to their mission and vision, IAMX is working to solve the problem of providing an identity to the billions of people who do not currently have a state-recognised, legal identity. Using a Biometric Identity Gateway, users with or without state-level identification can create their own identity for use online, one that relies on their unique physical attributes, including their face, iris, and fingerprints.
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