May 7, 2021
AMA | Public Mint at #CryptoRoyals
Read the transcript of the AMA between our CTO Jorge Pereira and the Crypto Royals Telegram community, hosted on May 5, 2021.
Date: May 5, 2021 |1:30pm UTC
Hosted by: Aryan Soni
Speaker: Jorge Pereira
Aryan Soni | Crypto Royals
Good evening everyone, I am pleasured to have Jorge Pereira ,CTO of Public mint to join our AMA today.
Hello @jorgerpereira So nice to have you with us for AMA Session today.
Jorge Pereira
Hi everyone, good to be here!
Introductory Questions
Aryan Soni | Crypto Royals
Q1 Can you please introduce yourself as well as Public Mint?
Jorge Pereira
Well, hi, I’m Jorge Pereira, CTO and Co-Founder at Public Mint. My background is in Computer Sciences and Systems Engineering, and I’ve been building software for about 18 years now, in a variety of areas. Last few years I’ve focused primarily on fintech and blockchain.
Public Mint is an open blockchain platform for fiat money where people and businesses from all over the world are free to build all kinds of applications or services. It is fueled by money as most people know it, without the uncertainty and complexity of cryptocurrencies, nor the limitations of traditional banking.
In short, we look to combine the best of both crypto and fiat worlds in our mission to democratize finance and bring the benefits of blockchain to everyone.
Currently, we’re focused on building Public Mint EARN, which is the first application to run on top of the Public Mint network, and which will provide a simple and friendly interface to access earnings rates available on the DeFi/CeFi market — but for your fiat (or stablecoin) deposits.
In a nutshell, EARN works like a savings account that delivers the kind of yields seen in the crypto space, while retaining the ability to move funds instantly like a checking account. EARN relies on the MINT token for Governance.
Aryan Soni | Crypto Royals
I am loving it great
Twitter Questions
Aryan Soni | Crypto Royals
First question from Twitter
What is your strategy of building a strong community? Will you agree that the power of the community will lead project to develop globally? What services do you provide to the community?
From @Dynamanxoal
Jorge Pereira
Community is perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to projects in the blockchain space. And not just users and traders of cryptocurrencies, but also developers, entrepreneurs and the entire ecosystem that makes up a community. Without a community, there would be no Bitcoin, Ethereum or, in this case, Public Mint.
What we want to achieve is a strong community that understands and is aligned with our goals, and who can feel part of Public Mint. To achieve this, we cultivate a culture of openness, transparency, diligence and education. Across our social channels, like Telegram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, we’re always listening, engaging and trying to accommodate our community’s suggestions and criticism.
We’re also building open tools and documentation so that developers — anyone, anywhere — can build their apps and solutions on top of our network without the need to ask for permission — ours or anyone’s.
Additionally, keeping the community informed is a high priority, which we look to do in the form of AMAs, community reports and social media. We’re planning community engagement events (contests and polls) for the near future and nurturing a healthy developer community by hosting hackathons and/or grants in the future (although this is still in the early stages of planning).
Ultimately, we want to enable everyone — and not just us — to freely build, use, and profit from Public Mint with as little friction as possible, and at the lowest possible cost.
Aryan Soni | Crypto Royals
Pretty 👏 awesome
Second question from Twitter:
From technological and commercial perspectives, how can traditional companies be integrated into the blockchain? What are your plans for traditional companies that continue to exist with their own system?
From @RandyNava21
Jorge Pereira
Companies like Tesla and Microstrategy who have entered the crypto space, still do it primarily from a perspective of using crypto as a store of value, not really incorporating it into their operations. And how could they, seeing as their whole supply and distribution operates in fiat?
So, first and foremost, we deal with fiat. Our network currently runs on USD (with Euros and British Pounds to come later in the year). There’s no need to buy ETH or any other volatile native cryptocurrency, or to go through crypto exchanges to get started. And our blockchain is connected to the banking system via wire, ACH and soon credit/debit cards, and to the crypto space via stablecoins.
In addition to that, all transaction fees are transparent, fixed and paid in fiat, so there’s no financial uncertainty when operating within Public Mint.
What this means is that with Public Mint, companies can put aside perceived risks associated with crypto (price fluctuations, regulatory uncertainty) and focus on taking advantage of the innovations the blockchain brings, and how features like instant settlement and smart contracts can impact their business.
Ultimately, if you think about how companies operate, you’ll understand that the fewer people involved in decision making, the more likely they are to make changes. So, if you replace the way they handle money, without changing the money itself, it’s a much easier path to adoption, than trying to convince companies to change multiple things — particularly their accounting practices, which often cannot even cope with crypto. By choosing to continue operating in fiat (for now), they can focus on upgrading the technology through which they handle their money, and that’s where Public Mint comes in.
In other words crypto is not ready for mass adoption, particularly by businesses. But if we can get companies to continue to use fiat, over blockchain, they’ll be much closer to crypto. Evolution is more important, viable and realistic than Revolution.
Aryan Soni | Crypto Royals
Third question from twitter
PublicMint represents the financial ecosystem for customers and merchants. It also includes fiat payments. As we can see earlier it’s difficult to deal with governments or Visa/MasterCard etc. So how do you solve this problem?
From @john_labby
Jorge Pereira
Payment processors are increasingly becoming more crypto-friendly, as you can see by Visa’s and Mastercard’s recent investments in the technology, but you’re right to say that there is still a lot of friction and distrust in the intersection between fiat and the blockchain.
Instead of starting from scratch and obtaining licenses across all jurisdictions in which we want to operate, our approach is to work extensively with existing regulated financial institutions. Our efforts include thorough compliance work and careful research on institutions that are open to innovation, and even educating potential partners to the benefits of working with the blockchain.
We’ve been successful in partnerships in the United States, and we’re in conversations with similarly regulated institutions in Europe, UK and elsewhere in order to expand our custodial network into other currencies.
This approach ensures that we can grow consistently, and that funds are kept within the regulated financial system, and follows all legal compliance requirements by governments.
Aryan Soni | Crypto Royals
Fourth question from twitter
At this point, do you think you need exchanges as Binance to keep growing? Or is it better to forget those things and focus on other activities?
From @yoriLipBs
Jorge Pereira
Like any other blockchain startup, being listed on a centralized exchange can obviously impact token price, which can be good for our investors and our community in general. We recognize this fact, so it’s something we are very carefully working towards, both in terms of timing and in terms of where to get listed.
That said, token price is very different from growth, and sometimes (like during a bubble) it’s something completely divorced from it. While being listed on an exchange is a positive development, that’s just a stepping stone, and we’re looking to build more tangible growth.
As a company, Public Mint has been around for nearly three years now. We’ve survived through the worst of the bear market in 2018 and early 2019 — and we kept building and growing. We have long-term plans for Public Mint, so while we’re working on being listed at a reputable exchange in the not too distant future, we value long-term success over short-term gains, and are singularly focused on creating real products with tangible value, for our users and community.
Aryan Soni | Crypto Royals
Great
Fifth question from twitter
Is your project completely decentralized, and will there be any risk of centralization in the coming time?
From @caronkalana
Jorge Pereira
It’s really two questions here, and there are a few assumptions implied in what you’re asking, so I’ll do my best.
First, decentralization is not the goal of every crypto project.
And it shouldn’t be. There’s really not many people who wake up and say “You know what I need? for my money to be decentralized.”
So, I’m glad there’s projects who pursue decentralization, and we’ll work well with many of them.
But the goal of Public Mint is to give people full control of their fiat, and to allow them to use their fiat with no intermediaries.
However, fiat is and will always be centralized, and regulated, so we need to play in both spaces.
So, with that said, the best way I can articulate what I believe in is that centralization/decentralization is a spectrum, not an absolute, and also that it can happen at various levels.
To clarify, let me explain the architecture of Public Mint:
- Layer 0 is our custodial structure, with connections to the banking system (wire, ach)
- Layer 1 is the blockchain that sits on top of it, the protocol layer
- Layer 2 is the usage of the blockchain: transactions, smart contracts, etc
- Layer 3 are applications
Layer 0, our custody of USD is NOT decentralized, but it is distributed through a network of 200+ banks. So it serves the purpose of removing the risk of bank failure, but there is still centralization on how funds are processed into and out from this structure.
Layer 1, our blockchain, is distributed, but not fully decentralized. This is very much the case with other successful projects like Binance Chain.
Layer 2 is very much open and decentralized — anyone can use the blockchain
Layer 3 is a mix, depending on the authors and medium of each application. You can operate a decentralized web wallet over Public Mint (our own web wallet is decentralized). Our mobile wallet will also be decentralized, but distributed in a centralized fashion, due to how app stores work.
So, if fiat money is centralized, if the way you download your mobile app is centralized, but using the app itself is decentralized… you can see how this is very much a spectrum, it’s not an absolute.
To finalize, in response to the question, I’d say that we’re as decentralized as possible given what’s both viable and practical at the current time and considering the regulatory framework, and that we’re constantly looking for ways to continue down a path of decentralization. One good example of that is the EARN program, which is designed from the get-go to evolve into a fully decentralized program.
Live Questions
1.DE Razy
You mentioned that Public Mint is an open blockchain platform for fiat money where people and businesses from all over the world are free to build all kinds of applications or services. Did you received many proposals on application or services? Is there any requirements to propose apps or services to your platform?
Jorge Pereira
We’ve onboarded a few businesses weaving Public Mint into their operations, and we’ve seen some interest fro, developers as well. Importantly, as you point out, there is no requirement to propose or build an app on our platform. Anyone can build an app that handles money already on-chain. Some businesses need a bit more support like KYC-passthrough, in which case they need to enroll in our Partner Program.
2. Enma Wayne
We’re concerned about 2 things — Marketing and Rugpull. What are your marketing plans? How can you guarantee us no rug-pull?
Jorge Pereira
We’ve recently brought in @thiagopublicmint to manage our Marketing initiatives, and we’re engaging with companies to expand our marketing presence.
As for rug-pulls, what use would there be to any kind of guarantee from someone you are concerned may do that? ;) I’d say, do your own research. I have been working on projects for almost 2 decades now, I have other businesses I’m involved in, and I’m publicly here answering questions. There really isn’t a lot of room to “rug pull” if I want to continue living the simple life i like to lead. My reputation is on the line, and so is everyone else’s who’re on the project. There’s nowhere to pull the rug.
3. Dalmasca Blockchain
Can users integrate Public Mint into dapps and our own web and mobile applications? Why was PublicMint designed to be Ethereum compatible?
Jorge Pereira
Yes, you can, either by direct calls to the blockchain, or using our web widget (in fact, our own web wallet is decentralized, but then uses our own web widget for deposits and kyc — you could add this to your app as well). Being Ethereum compatible means we tap into a large pool of developers, resources and tools, and we can also easily operate as a sidechain to Ethereum for fiat transactions (if you have the keys for an Ethereum address to receive/send ETH, then you have the same address on Public Mint to receive/send USD).
4. Tom and Jerry
Your project has great features. There must be an experienced team behind. Can you tell some about your team and their experiences in the market?
Jorge Pereira
Sure, let’s see…
Thomas Brooke is our Legal Counsel, who has been involved in fintech companies for over a decade, and he’s been instrumental in many of them navigating their legal and regulatory obligations.
Diane Gray-Smith is our CFO, and she’s got a long background in M&A, Investment and fintechs.
Paulo Rodrigues, our CEO, has headed a national Swift Bureau, and has extensive experience with banking and payments.
I myself have significant experience working with banks, but also with crypto, particularly my experience starting Uphold (formerly Bitreserve) as CTO for almost 4 years, my experience operating my software development company Seegno, and a few other businesses I’ve ideated and launched in the last few years.
Our development team is top notch, I’ve worked with about half of them for over 5 years, so we’re a tight, experienced team.
5. Luccy luc
What is your most ambitious goal in your #Public Mint project? We would appreciate it if you could share with us any upcoming updates of this #Public Mint project !?
Thiago E | Public Mint
First and foremost, we’re working to deliver and grow the EARN program along with our brand new mobile wallet, so anyone can get started earning with just a cellphone. This includes finalising our USDC bridge — which should be finished very soon — and launching credit/debit card integrations.
After that, we intend to launch two new currencies on the network: Euros and British Pounds, along with regulated custodial partners in these jurisdictions, which is something we’re working in parallel with the technical development.
Last but not least, we plan on providing the tools and bootstrapping a community of developers that can start building their own solutions on the network.
And that’s the last question we have time for today
Jorge Pereira
I see many questions about the same issues as in other AMAs, so let me summarize:
- Partnerships. All announcements are done on our ANN channel and our Medium. We will never announce any through other means.
- Roadmap. Our litepaper has our tentative roadmap. Obviously there’s often adjustments, and we communicate progress through our blog. At some point in the future we’ll add the Roadmap to our website as well, but we’re conserving resources to focus on getting product to market fast.
- Fees & Speed. A USD transaction between two non-smart-contract addresses costs $0.05, and other transactions are costed proportionally based on their gas, which on average means we’re up to 100x cheaper than Ethereum. Transactions are final within 3–5 seconds.
- Rug pulls. Rug pulls are a consequence of decentralization and the anonymity it provides. As a company that is incorporated and has real people operating for years, things are considerably different. Surely, like any startup (including in the VC world) there can be failure, but that’s not the same as going to a sunny beach with people’s money. As an example, no one in our company is able to move funds on their own (thanks to multisig).
- Safety of funds. We don’t store user funds, banks and financial institutions do, and funds are spread out in a way as to guarantee that they’re FDIC-insured. Users are in control over their own USD with their own private keys, so this concern hardly applies.
In the future, if you’d like to know anything else by all means join our main group — I’m often around and always willing to answer novel questions that haven’t been answered before, and the community can help answer those who have been asked.
Thanks for the chat, great questions and great community you have here. We really appreciate your participation and invite you to ask further questions at our Telegram group
Aryan Soni:
Thank you for answering questions from live session. Thank you so much everyone for joining us for todays session with Public mint and special thanks to @jorgerpereira and @thiagopublicmint for such an informative session
