As we enter the next chapter of Reserve Protocol — the full launch of the protocol on the Ethereum network — we take a look at the most common questions around Reserve, and dive into what happens after launch.
RTokens, RPay, and RSR — how does it all link together? Find out below with a few final Questions & Answers.
We also share our Business Development Roadmap for the year ahead, and how we will work to foster the creation and adoption of RTokens.
For a quick guide to the overall project, check out our quick “one-page guide” to the protocol.
Why won’t Reserve build RTokens themselves?
See us as the platform — perhaps an analogy is like Amazon Web Services, or Microsoft building Windows.
We offer the protocol to the world, and open the door to anyone or any team to create an RToken.
Creating one ourselves may open us up to accusations of bias — our RToken getting special treatment.
Over time we do not wish Reserve to be the focal point of the protocol — it is there for everyone to use. Not creating an RToken ourselves strengthens the argument of decentralization — an important goal for us.
Who will build RTokens?
It sounds like a big unknown, right?
At this point, we do not want to speak on behalf of third parties — however we have confidence that, post-launch, a number of RTokens are waiting to be built.
While it will take some effort to create an RToken, there’s not a huge barrier to entry, just a bit of work and thought. We estimate someone can deploy their own RToken using the initial collateral plug-ins and default governance system within about an hour.
It’s likely to be worth doing so for purposes— unique to different businesses — we can’t foresee yet.
So far we have spoken with people interested in launching everything from “low yield, low risk reserve currency” to “branded in-game stable currency” to “medium-risk high yield savings products”.
What we look forward to over time is that people who really dig into the question of “what’s a good basket for a stable currency?” start making their own ideals on the platform, and the wider community (not just crypto) start softly voting on it by using it / increasing its m-cap.
What is Reserve doing to foster the adoption of RTokens?
While we are agnostic over the creation of RTokens, we will be vocal about which RTokens we believe are suitable for people to use.
And we expect others to join in on this — the Reserve community, voices within the stable coin community, and perhaps in time financial institutions and stable coin rating agencies.
To that end, we will be placing at least $10m of our own capital via the Reserve Grant Program to foster adoption — these grants will be focused around:
- issuing grants to RToken creators
- funding the listing of RTokens onto top exchanges
- research grants around potential stable baskets
- studies around governance systems
- marketing and promotion of RTokens.
Expect more details on the Reserve Grant Program in the coming weeks.
We are also excited to be holding a side-event at Devcon Bogotá on October 10th — “How to launch a stablecoin with Reserve”.
This will be the first in-person workshop on how to use the protocol to create custom RTokens.
Is there a roadmap I can look at?
While we have refrained from the traditional “roadmap” of many companies engaged with crypto, our Business Development Roadmap is the guide to how we look to engage the creation and adoption of RTokens and the Reserve eco-system.
Below is a copy of our internal roadmap - what we call the next three phases of Reserve Protocol.
Our BD Roadmap will consist of three Phases, broken down based on our product launch timeline and maturity of our protocol.
- The initial phase will focus on pre-launch period, and immediate period post-launch of RTokens.
- The secondary phase will begin following protocol launch and RToken deployment, and the focus will be on expanding use cases and adoption for RTokens through defi partnerships.
- The last phase, after we have one or more RTokens that have achieved product market fit, will focus on further expansion through RPay integration and Cefi partnerships.
1) RToken Creation
We are currently in this phase, which will concentrate on the months both pre and post-launch of the RToken platform.
Goal of this phase:
- Raise awareness for Reserve Protocol and our vision
- Target potential RToken deployers and get them to create an RToken when our platform launches
How we get there:
- Marketing & PR
- Connect with potential RToken deployers
- Conferences & events
2) Defi Expansion
The second phase focus will be on expanding use cases and adoption for RTokens through defi partnerships.
Goal of this phase:
- Partner with other projects to increase utility for successful RTokens.
How we get there:
- DEX listings & liquidity incentives for RTokens
- Listings on decentralized borrowing & lending protocols
- Listing on institutional borrowing & lending protocols
- Portfolio tracking integrations
- Educational content and partnerships
- Data analytics integrations
- Ratings agencies
- Research partnerships
3) Retail Expansion
The third phase, after one or more RTokens have proven product market fit, will focus on further expansion.
Goal of this phase:
- Increase usefulness of RTokens for retail through integration with RPay and CeFi partnerships
How we get there:
- RTokens integrated into RPay app for retail customers to transact
- Partnerships with centralized exchanges for RToken listings
- Expanding marketing and sponsorships to gain retail adoption
- Crypto tax integrations
It’s important to note that these phases are an outline of how we are thinking about expansion over time, and are not hard timeframe cut-offs and are not mutually exclusive.
When we reach phase 3, we will likely still be devoting time to items in phase 1 and 2.
Additionally, we like to use the “walk before you can run” analogy when thinking about our plan. This is to say, phases can start and happen in parallel.
So far there is no connection between RPay (the Reserve app) and the protocol — will that change?
Yes! Currently the app (with 670,000+ users, 26,000+ merchants) as well as our Institutional service, with more than $150m in transactions a month pass through Reserve.
After the full protocol launch, the RPay team will be looking for at least two RTokens to bring into the app, which will present staking opportunities for RSR holders.
We expect to adopt an RToken to serve as a “savings” account for app users, and an RToken replacement for the current RSV.
Bear in mind RPay is just one (excellent) use of the protocol. In a way, the app team has had a two year head start on the protocol — let’s see what other products/companies/teams out there have a good use case / product fit for an RToken.
You can see RSV as a prototype RToken, coming before the full protocol launch, to aid us in bringing the app to life, and serving a practical, helpful service in the countries we are in.
Once we have confidence with available RTokens, RSV will be replaced with a suitable RToken, fully-backed, yield-bearing, and seeking insurance via RSR staking.
How does staking revenue work for RSR stakers?
Let’s try an example:
Let’s put price out of the equation for the moment, whether RSR is purchased at 0.1c, 1c, 10c, etc — it doesn’t matter for the moment.
Let’s say hypothetically an RToken reaches $10bn in market cap and, over the course of the year, returns 2%, or $200m, to RSR stakers.
Let’s say 20bn RSR was staked on this RToken.
Each RSR in this scenario would receive 1c in yield for that year.
This is only an illustrative example in a vacuum, and the team makes no suggestions or predictions of what we think is likely.
But as a simple maths exercise, that’s the connection between an RToken, and RSR holders who choose to insure it.
Bear in mind, staking with RSR is “staking” in the true sense of the word — your RSR is acting as insurance in the event of any asset defaults, such as in a Black Swan event , and therefore is at risk if that eventuality occurs.
For a deeper reader of staking, check out the below:
You are nearing code freeze — what’s next?
The protocol is currently in the final stages of testing and auditing and we are looking to launch in Q3/Q4 this year.
Once we hit code freeze, we expect to do a final audit or two, and at that point we will launch the full protocol and dApp, allowing the creation, minting, redeeming of RTokens, as well as staking and un-staking.
We expect to have a bug bounty running concurrently during this period, and we also expect to give an “all-clear” — a signal that we are comfortable in seeing larger amounts of money flowing through the protocol.
After that, our attention will shift towards the adoption and promotion of RTokens, supporting those early creators where we feel their basket and governance is a worthy thing to do, as well as open-sourcing the dApp to help other parties to interact with the protocol.
On the RPay side, we look forward to introducing you to our next countries for expansion, as well as launching in Mexico and launching the Reserve international banking card.
📚 Would you like to know more about Reserve? Read about our project here.
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