Meet TOP Network Ambassador: Brad Laurie
TOP Network has recruited talented individuals as our global ambassadors to spread the word about our project in their local communities. We are excited to work towards a decentralized future with our community members.
It is a great opportunity to get involved in a promising project at an early stage. Since we launched TOP Network Ambassador program, we’ve received hundreds of applications from all over the world, and we anticipate more talents to join the squad. With the support and enthusiasm from our community, we believe we are building a top-notch ambassador team — curious, capable, and committed.
Welcome to a new series sharing the stories, passion and vision of our TOP ambassadors. Let’s meet Brad Laurie, TOP Network Ambassador in Australia.
Brad has been a blockchain enthusiast and cryptocurrency educator since 2017. He is now working as ambassador for TOP Network and MultiVac.
Why and how did you get involved in crtypto/blockchain?
I started in Blockchain in 2017 after watching a BTC documentary. I was attracted to blockchain because it presented a means to optimize existing business, to ameliorate inefficiencies in current business models and to afford simplified ways to transact, exchange and make transparent transactions. Initially I was also attracted to the narrative of autonomy and anonymity, but I quickly realized the real value of such technologies is really one of optimization. For this reason, I quickly became focused on speaking with the top projects in the crypto space to better understand their purpose and plan and the rest is history.
When I first started in Crypto, I was primarily focused on research. I first started out researching dual token models, trying to understand how permissioned and permissionless systems work, particularly in hybridized contexts. I did months of research and I gradually started to speak about this more publicly, which led to my @Brad_Laurie twitter and @BlockchainBrad YouTube channel being established. Overtime I started investing in some projects I deemed as technologically outstanding in the crypto domain, but later, post Bull-Run of 2017, I realized that tech alone did not make for a sound ground for crypto investment. This was because I could see that many variables determined the success of a project post-bull run 2017. To date, I continue to invest in a transparent manner and when I do, I make sure to inform the public. I can say that today, in 2019, I tend not to invest in many projects because there are few that demonstrate long term viability as a real and viable protocol & business. I also currently work with MultiVac as an official ambassador. The role entails a modest monthly stipend, but these roles also require real work, thus it is different to the common sponsorship (pay-for-piece) model we see in crypto.
What kinds of projects would you consider potential?
Personally, I look for projects that have real applicability in the real world. Hence I am interested in infra-tech, L1 & L2 tech at addresses scalability and security adequately. I am also interested in BPaaS. BaaS & SaaS projects, as well as DApps, that optimize businesses and reduce overheads with empirical proof. I also strongly support those projects that can scale in accordance with real use case, adoption and uptake of their token. Understanding the different categories of DLT, and cryptocurrency-based startups, is also fundamental. While BTC will always have a place as the original immutable open ledger & store of value commodity, it greatly differs from projects aiming to use blockchain as a means to tokenize their quasi-centralized business and foundation models. I see potential in both areas, but there is a lot of false narratives and immature tech in the space too, so proponents of crypto-based startups must do their own research; #DYOR.
What do you think crypto/blockchain will be like in the future?
The Crypto landscape is in constant flux. Several variables affect price; none more than speculation. If I am being completely honest, I think many poorly designed startups, cash-strapped concepts or even fraudulent projects will disappear this year (and next year). I think that infrastructurally sound projects will dominate in this crypto climate this year. I also think that the IEO craze has a very limited life-span. My reasoning is that it is too challenging for retail investors to access optimal investment opportunities and the model is too reminiscent of the ICO craze and ‘opportunity hierarchy’ of yesteryear. This year I think many crypto influencers & networkers are also starting to controversially align to capitalize in privileged groups, and this concerns me greatly because I am a proponent of making things fairer and more equitable in crypto, This space certainly has its fair share of contemptuous and greedy characters too. Equity will likely become an ever-increasing crypto topic in 2019, as well as asset ownership and qualifiable fractionalization. Startup best practice narratives of long lockups and vesting may morph into more transparent listings that provide fairer access to crypto consumers from the outset. I think this is probable because if the retail investors are not valued, the startup ecosystem will struggle from a longitudinal standpoint to sustain itself. Pressure for projects to prove their utility will increase this year, and I think many investors will adopt a ‘less is more’ approach in this convoluted crypto context and climate.
Longitudinally, I think that the space will mature and regulation will emerge to support a trusted framework (where by grassroots or top-down pressure). Traditional markets will likely engage with blockchain-using innovative fin-tech, de-fi and new tech startups. Long term, I think money will flow in when regulation-clarity emerges and token economic models start to prove themselves. I think that equity, above all else, will remain a major marker of value in the crypto market long term. The BTC halvening will certainly impact the speculative marketplace because of the basic economic effects caused by increasing demand and reducing supply. This is what will likely instigate a mini-bull run as we see a lead up to this $BTC halvening event in 2020. As for institutional and enterprise entry, I see the impact of blockchain in business already. Successful startups that use blockchain in some way will continue to increase, but I think that private, permissioned & hybridized systems will become the tech of choice as businesses of today seek to optimize to stay relevant and competitive.
What do you want to see in a decentralized future?
To be honest, I think that term is opaque. I want to see better business models that enable better access, fairer distribution models and better opportunities consumers and small business to benefit from the blockchain. I don’t think that blockchain is the panacea, but more part of a new wave of technological innovation. In the future I want to see governments and enterprise apply decentralized and modified business principles not solely to improve business efficiency and productivity, but also to benefit the crypto-users themselves. I would like to see an increase in reciprocal profits and benefits in a new, open and borderless global marketplace.
How did you learn about TOP Network? What do you think about the project so far?
I learned about TOP through my role as researcher of blockchain tech & startups. I also have a strong relationship with NGC and other prominent venture capital firms. On that basis, I was introduced to this project. Some colleagues in the U.S. also raised this project with me. In terms of what I think of the project so far, I think it has demonstrated great strength and success so far. It has conducted on of the most successful IEOs of 2019, but more importantly, TOP is on track in its roadmap, which gives me great confidence we will see evidence of significant revenue generation and tech development in the remainder of the year and beyond. I am impressed by the academic and business support that TOP has garnered internationally.
Why did you choose to become a TOP Network ambassador?
I was really impressed with TOP’s pragmatic business model. Steve, the CEO, used his extensive experience to build a logical business model that reflected traditional models that work. I see a lot of projects purporting to have tech and teams that can build something, but I chose TOP because they were clearly streets ahead when it came to infrastructure. TOP Network has such a strong history of industry-specific experience and their related pre-existing technologies and apps were already successful. TOP’s seamless portability of client bases from non-blockchain to blockchain technology was extremely interesting to me. With tens of millions of users, the scale of the TOP client base was also a major feature for me. I also believe that the TOP team and advisors are second to none in their field and I particularly like Steve’s (CEO) focus on forging real business partnerships. TOP’s reputation both in the Silicon Valley and in China is outstanding.
What are your expectations of TOP Network? What do you want to see in the future of TOP Network?
In the future I expect an increase in real, long term partnerships. I also think there will be a significant increase in revenue generation from TOP in the coming years. I want to see TOP Network continue to expand in mainstream business and to assert itself as a major player in its field. I would also like to see the token’s utility become universally known, accepted and adopted as a token of choice for its specific use case.
Interested in being a TOP Network Ambassador?
Application still open! More details at:https://www.topnetwork.org/ambassador
You can find TOP Network on:
Email Contact: contact@topnetwork.org
Official Website: http://www.topnetwork.org
Telegram: https://t.me/topnetwork_top
Twitter: https://twitter.com/topnetwork_top
Medium: https://medium.com/@topnetwork
Steemit: https://steemit.com/@topnetwork-top
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/topnetwork_top
Discord: https://discord.gg/ZE3Nv59
About TOP Network
TOP Network is a decentralized open communication network that provides cloud communication services on the blockchain. TOP offers secure, low-cost services such as messaging, calling, video, VPN, CDN, IoT data sharing and more.
TOP Network is also a high-performance public blockchain platform designed to handle real-world business of any size or volume. Powered by innovations including three-layer network, two-layer sharding, two-layer lattice DAG and PBFT-DPoS*, TOP can process several hundred thousand transactions per second on the blockchain.
The long-term mission of TOP Network is to build a public blockchain infrastructure for all Dapps. Our world-class team of over 100 developers is striving for this goal.
TOP Network originated from the common underlying network layer of Dingtone, CoverMe and SkyVPN, three communication apps built by the TOP team before the blockchain project. These apps, having attracted over 60 million users in total, will be ported to TOP Network upon the launch of TOP and generate huge volumes of transactions in the TOP ecosystem.
TOP Network was founded by serial entrepreneur Steve Wei and his colleagues in late 2017. Steve was one of the earliest employees of WebEx in the 1990s. After WebEx, he founded a successful video conferencing software company which was acquired by Huawei in 2010. In 2012, Steve co-founded Dingtone, a public listed company operating popular communication apps such as Dingtone, CoverMe and SkyVPN.
On March 26th, TOP Network made its debut as the first project launched through Huobi Prime — Huobi’s selective Direct Premium Offering platform. A total of 1.5 billion TOP Tokens were sold out in seconds, after which the price of TOP surged 2770% once it was freely tradable. Upon the listing, TOP’s trading volume hit $100 million in just eight seconds, and surpassed the trading volume of Bitcoin at $167 million in less than a week, ranking first in terms of volume on Huobi Global. Before that, TOP Network has closed $15 million early investments from prestigious institutional investors and individual billionaire investors, including DHVC, Fenbushi Capital, NEO Global Capital (NGC), Ontology Global Capital (OGC), LD Capital and more.
