Team Interview with Anbessa

Eight months have passed since Stakenet launched in March. Could you please introduce the project and any notable developments from the past eight months.

Stakenet aims to build an inter-chain economy by linking blockchains together through our Masternode Network. This will create a platform which allows users to easily access whatever they are looking for and also for developers to take advantage of our unique technology.

We aim to remove many of the obstacles currently inherent to the crypto industry to provide a seamless experience for the users, there are so many different coins and tokens now that it makes things daunting and complicated for many.

Since the launch this year, Stakenet has delivered Trustless Proof of Stake (TPoS), our unique offline staking solution. TPoS allows users to stake even while their wallet is offline by using a merchant to provide the network security that staking offers in their place. This will allow people to stake from cold storage devices such as Ledger Nano S and Xeeda, both of which Stakenet has confirmed integration on as well as our own upcoming hardware device.

We also were one of the first PoS/MN projects to implement SegWit, Lightning Channels and Atomic Swaps. These were crucial as a foundation for our project to build off of. This has allowed us to complete the recent release Lightning Swaps on Mainnet and provide a guide on how to execute the swap, which is another Stakenet world first and is the first stage for our DEX.

We also launched our Cloud services platform, this will provide services to make crypto easy for beginners. We started with Staking Pools where people can send their coins to the Cloud and they automatically start staking — users don’t need to do anything else or have any technical experience to start staking. We also launched our RSB Monitoring and Masternode Monitoring services on the Cloud. We will soon be launching our Masternodes-as-a-Service.

At Stakenet we want to offer services to everyone no matter their knowledge of the crypto industry so making things as simple as possible so everyone has access to this wonderful technology is very important to us.

Can you tell us more about the team and your strengths?

Stakenet is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) made up of four team divisions:

• X9 Developer team (TPoS, XSN Wallet, Lightning Network etc.)
• XSN Cloud team (Pooled Staking, Masternodes-as-a-Service, RSB Rewards Monitoring etc.)
• XSN Hardware team
• Marketing team

Across the four divisions there are over 40 individuals working for Stakenet across the globe and contributing to the growth of the project.

The four divisions are managed by the three project founders; Draper, Shahab Behzadi and Nathan Faust. Draper holds unique experience in the blockchain industry from leading teams consisting of between 10–40 developers, designers and technical specialists. After graduating Marine Officer Candidacy School, he went on to start various businesses, which led to the successful launch of XSN.

Frank Amato, Block 5 Co-founder and former JPMorgan Executive Director, is part of the team as an advisor to Stakenet in the build of our Decentralized Exchange. Frank’s will be assisting Stakenet with bringing early adopter retail investors into the project as well as advising on the building of the DEX to create an optimal trading experience.

Which markets of the cryptocurrency ecosystem will Stakenet penetrate and why are you one step ahead of your competitors?

It sounds cliche but we want to offer a complete solution for the crypto industry. Currently there are all these different projects with their own coins/tokens and our mission is to build the bridges to link them all together seamlessly into one giant user friendly ecosystem. To do this we have had to spend a lot of time building a solid foundation. This included utilising the best existing tech and where the technology was not yet built to suit our purpose then building it ourselves.

This allows us to offer leading security, unparalleled privacy, increased speed and scalability across our entire network.

Our comparison chart compares Stakenet against leading cryptocurrencies and traditional payment methods.

Why is “Secure Performance” important for a cryptocurrency? Which obstacles do you see in the cryptocurrency space and how do you guarantee security and privacy for investors and users of the platform?

Security and privacy are as important to Stakenet as it is for our users. For security we offer unique features such as TPoS which allows cold staking so you can keep your wallet offline or on a hardware device. We are also looking to add cold exchanging which we will be talking more about later in the year. Of course we are also building our own hardware wallet to add another layer of security to our network.

XSN will have the usual privacy features of TOR and coinmixing/zksnarks but the Lightning Network also provides unique features. We are also looking to implement things like random hop secrets and transforming the LN funding from identifiable 2:2 multisigs into untraceable 1:1 standard signature transactions. This combination of features should allow XSN to offer unparalleled levels of privacy.

What are the benefits of using XSN coin or holding it as an investment? What are the most important use cases?

Our economic model is two step, there are PoS rewards for securing the network, these can be claimed through normal PoS, TPoS or via our Cloud Staking Pools. The other option is to run a Masternode which will provide the services for the network. Every block reward is split 45% PoS, 45% Masternode and 10% for the XSN Treasury to pay for development. In addition to the block reward Masternodes also receive income from fees generated by services running on the Masternode Network.

All fees for all services will be collected in XSN either directly or in the background. So for example, trading fees on DEX will be collected and then paid back to MN holders as additional income. People do not need to hold XSN in order to pay the fees however, this is where Lightning Swaps also step in. If someone were to trade for example BTC/LTC then the fee would be taken in BTC and then automatically swapped to XSN using a Lightning Swap and then distributed back to the Masternode holder for providing the service. This will be the same for everything even using privacy features and DApps.

What are your plans for Dapps?

We can’t wait for developers to begin creating on our platform, our goal is to remove the limitations of current blockchain tech and make things as accessible as possible for end users. Developers will be able to take advantage of the technology we offer that is already built into XSN and also our own hardware device — this give developers a unique opportunity to build something that is currently not possible. Our platform will be code agnostic allowing developers to build in a language they are comfortable in.

A great example of making things easy for the end user though is that users will be able to pay for Dapp services in any coin/token they wish while the developer will receive the coin/token that they also wish. So if a Dapp developer wants to receive his own native token for payment a user can still pay in something else and our Lightning Network can automatically just swap it to the developers chosen currency using a Lightning Swap in the background.

As a side note many people do not realise but TPoS is actually a smart contract which has been running since day one of Stakenet’s launch.

How does the XSN Cloud work? Which cryptocurrencies do you already support and what are the criterias for adding other PoS (Proof of Stake) projects?

XSN Cloud is a platform of services available to holders of XSN and other PoS coins. A key service available on XSN Cloud is Staking-as-a-Service, developed to make staking accessible and easy to use for all. To get started with XSN Cloud, users simply sign-up and deposit their coins to the Cloud via a wallet address generated on their account. After 24 hours the coins will automatically start staking and users will receive regular rewards for a small fee.

XSN Cloud currently supports staking for XSN, PIVX and STRAT. QTUM and DCR will be added to the platform in the coming weeks. Once QTUM is integrated, a community poll will be held to determine the order of the next four coins to be added. We are currently integrating major PoS coins with a consistent and strong developer team as we strive to provide users with a reliable and credible service.

Other services currently available on XSN Cloud are Masternode Monitoringand RSB Rewards Monitoring. Masternode Monitoring is a free to use service that calculates estimated ROI and notifies users if any problems arise with the Masternode. RSB Rewards Monitoring enables users to monitor our RSB mechanism to see how many XSN have been already burned or used for further development.

In the coming weeks, Masternodes-as-a-Services (MNaaS) will be released on XSN Cloud. A highly anticipated service, users will remain in full control of their coins at all times whilst Stakenet setup and maintain the Masternode.

Could you tell us more about Masternodes-as-a-Service (MNaaS)?

Masternodes are vital for our network (Stakenet Decentralized Exchange will be powered entirely by XSN Masternodes) so we want to make it as easy as possible for people to own one. However, Masternodes traditionally require some technical knowledge to setup, maintain and update. To solve this issue and open up Masternodes to a wider audience we are going to provide MNaaS.

MNaaS will setup, maintain and update your Masternode for you so you don’t have to worry about any of the tricky and technical details.

It is a trustless service so users will own the private keys at all times and the coins will not leave their local controller wallets completely offline. Furthermore, our Masternode hosting service will have servers distributed all around the world in different data-centers to ensure geo-redundancy.

You have one of the most ambitious roadmaps this year. What accomplishments and partnerships are you most proud of?

One of the accomplishments we are most proud of is TPoS. TPoS provides many benefits to users (as discussed in previous questions) but also enables individuals run their own business as a merchant. We are currently working on Ledger and Xeeda Hardware integration so users can TPoS directly from their hardware wallet and we can’t wait for this to be complete and available to users.

We are developing partnerships with notable projects and companies in the blockchain industry and we have recently partnered with 21 Cryptos Magazine. Our latest feature in the magazine was an in-depth article all about TPoS, staking and the security of XSN. We are pleased to have formed professional relationships with Blockfolio Signal, Delta Direct and CoinGecko Beam to enables users to directly receive all our updates and news.

We have an exciting Q4 2018/Q1 2019 planned and we are currently working on the development of Cross-Chain Proof of Stake (CCPoS), DApps, XSN Hardware and XSN EPoS (Exertive Proof of Stake) whitepaper and roadmap.

The whole team are extremely proud of our recent Lightning Swap achievements. We believe Lightning Network technology is a crucial development in the cryptocurrency industry.

Why are you so excited about the new Lightning Swap feature and Stakenet dx? How will investors and user of the platform benefit from it?

We are excited to have achieved Lightning Swaps for XSN to LTC as we believe Lightning Network is a major development for the cryptocurrency industry and we are proud to be at the forefront of development of the technology. We are the first project to release a comprehensive guide for Lightning Swaps over Mainnet, another development we are very proud of.

For Stakenet, Lightning Swaps is the first stage in the development of Stakenet dx. We are building a truly decentralized exchange to provide the market with a trustless platform for exchanging cryptocurrency. Lightning Swaps allow users to instantly trade assets through a virtually infinitely scalable P2P network.

We will continue executing, teaching, and encouraging the public to swap via Lightning Network on this early version of a DEX we call ‘Stakenet dx’. So far, over 100 swaps have been executed over our Mainnet channel. The next stage of development is to turn the command line technology into a one button solution, allowing trustless exchange of coins simply with the click of a button (coming in XSN light wallet, currently under development).

Many major exchanges in the crypto industry are centralised exchanges. We are proud to be developing a truly decentralized platform and this will provide many benefits to users. The framework of the exchange will be built on the utilisation of Masternodes meaning exchange downtime will be eliminated, hacks are virtually impossible as there is no central network, trustless transactions and virtually zero fees are achieved and no third party (or even Stakenet!) can shut down the exchange once it has launched.

What are the next major upcoming developments for Q4 and early 2019 that you already can share?

Our next major releases/developments include our new Multicurrency Light Wallet, which is unique as you do not need to download the blockchains to use it. Blockchains will be hosted by the Masternode Network instead and the Light Wallet will interact with the blockchains using Lightning Invoices. This means the wallet is lightweight and fast so we will be able to put it on multiple devices including mobile. MNaaS will be launched in the coming weeks and there is continued support to add more coins to the Cloud Staking Pools. Staking-as-a-Service is an ongoing development for the team as we build a platform that hosts a number of major PoS coins.

Another exciting development is our work on the Lightning Network as we begin to incorporate our existing second layer Masternode Network with this emerging second layer technology we are finding great and unique solutions to problems that otherwise would be difficult to solve as stand alone.

A think tank is also constantly running to produce new ideas and concepts, some of the latest out of it is an innovative staking method called Exertive Proof of Stake (EPoS). The idea behind EPoS can be read here:

https://medium.com/stakenet/exertive-proof-of-stake-epos-4a999807f9e4

What’s your long-term vision for Stakenet? Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

In the future we see Stakenet being accessible to people with all levels of technical knowledge where they are using blockchain in their everyday lives and will not even realize which protocol they interact with. We aim to have all this technology so far behind the scenes the end user won’t even realize its blockchain they are using, to them it will just be another useful application that is helpful in their everyday lives.

Thank you to Anbessa for hosting the interview. Learn more about Stakenet by joining us on Discord and keep up to date with our latest news on Twitter.