Thank you to everyone who joined AMA Blockelite x Thorstarter on 17th June at 07:00 AM UTC I 02:00 PM (UTC+7). Here is the recap for those who missed this AMA.
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Yuno – Blockelite Host: Hello fellow Eliters and welcome to another Blockelite AMA Series
So ladies and gents, Our special guest today is Thorstarter team
AM – Thorstarter team: Hey there everyone!
Yuno – Blockelite Host: Thanks for joinning today
How are you today?
AM – Thorstarter team: Thanks for having us. 🙂
Doing well, hope everyone is having a great and profitable day.
Yuno – Blockelite Host: Yeah, I have a nice day 🙂
Before moving on Segment 1, Can you briefly introduce yourself as well as the Thorstarter ?
AM – Thorstarter team: Absolutely.
I’m compound22 but go by my initials AM. I’m one of three co-founders of the Thorstarter network.
I’ve been personally active in the crypto space since 2016, investing and advising various projects, several of which are now DeFi blue chip projects. I was an early investor in Thorchain, participating in their IDO on Binance Chain.
One of the earliest projects I worked with was Bancor, which is one of the first if not the first protocols to use and implement the AMM (automated market maker model), which is now a core feature of many great projects like Uniswap, Sushiswap, and Thorchain.
The marketing and operations team working on Thorstarter has likewise been involved in crypto for some 6+ years, and worked with several of the more well known projects in the DeFi space.
Our developer team includes 4 devs, two of which are full time. Our lead developer is working on smart contracts and core features of the Thorstarter protocol, and the others are taking a supporting role working on front- and back-end
That about sums up our team. 🙂
Yuno – Blockelite Host: Thank you, for your introduction, our pleasure to have you join us today
On to the Segment 1 of our AMA, we hope you’re ready for the next few questions coming at you!
AM – Thorstarter team: Bring ’em on!
Yuno – Blockelite Host: Our guest is ready, we will enter Segment 1 right now !!!
I think you forgot introdce Thorstarter
AM – Thorstarter team: Ah right, apologies.
The most important part. 🙂
Thorstarter…
Yuno – Blockelite Host: yes, let’s do it
AM – Thorstarter team: We are heavily invested in the narrative that the future is multichain. Vitalik himself has been quite vocal that, if there were a network/protocol to effectively nail multichain, it could be orders of magnitude bigger than many of the largest blockchains now.
We firmly believe that Thorchain is that project.
However, the Thorchain protocol and network design is not super intuitive upon first glance. It takes some time to fully understand. It has been called – and probably deservedly so – not that beginner friendly.
For this reason, Thorchain has some of the most ardent and big brain supporters of any community in crypto. People who truly “get” how the project works on a deep level (we call them THORChads). 🙂
As the Thorchain mainnet launch grows near, a project was needed that onboards and introduces the core tenants of the Thorchain ecosystem to a wider audience. Thorstarter is that project.
More specifically, we built the project for two reasons:
Given our time in the space, we’ve advised or participated in many IDOs. We found that every IDO, without fail, had some unfair aspect to it – typically because the structure of the sale was limited / fixed without flexibility.
So, we set out to build a launchpad that prioritizes fair launches, and takes a stand for great projects building in the Thorchain ecosystem. In this way, we aim to “heal” the IDO space a bit and also help bring attention, liquidity, and innovation to Thorchain.
That about sums it up!
Yuno – Blockelite Host: Perfect, thanks for sharing
AM – Thorstarter team: My pleasure.
Yuno – Blockelite Host: Let’s go Segment 1 =))
Q1: Thorstarter uses the xIDO model to launch projects. What is it and why is it important?
AM – Thorstarter team: Very good question.
Projects launching on Thorstarter will use what’s called the xIDO model, which offers the flexibility to choose from several different launch models. This will allow them to optimize for a token distribution that is most suitable for their project and community.
Some examples of these include:
- Fixed Price Crowdsale. Sale participants would be given allocations of tokens at a specific price, which they can claim until all tokens in the crowdale are sold out.
- Dynamic Price Auction. Token price changes based on certain parameters. A common dynamic price auction format is the Dutch Auction, where token price starts high then decreases over time and weighted to demand.
- Pool Share. Projects would allocate a fixed number of tokens to the sale pool, and a set amount of contributions in a contribution pool. The token price would be calculated at the end of the sale based on each participant’s contribution relative to the total contribution pool.
The xIDO structure actually allows for ~12 such customizations, and projects can pick and choose what they want for their early supporters.
Total flexibility. 🙂
Yuno – Blockelite Host: xIDO, first time i see it
Next question
Q2: Please tell the community about Thorstarter DAO and its mechanics.
AM – Thorstarter team: Gladly.
I hope everyone is familiar with the basic concepts of a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization). It basically just means a group of individuals governed by laws that are written in code (smart contracts).
Thorstarter will launch as a community-governed DAO, and will evolve through two distinct epochs
1) The Age of Asgard
The initial period of stewardship will be conducted by 9 members elected by the DAO.
Confirmed members consist of Thorchain core team members, developers, Thornode operators and early supporters, institutional liquidity providers, and thought leaders in the Thorchain ecosystem. Project Selection and Incubation The initial onboarding of any new project will be managed by the DAO and DAO fund. Each new project, after being selected, will pass through four stages:
- Project vetting and negotiation
- Liquidity provision of ASSET
- Liquidity provision of XRUNE/ASSET. (provided by Eco Fund)
- IDO announcements and marketing
2) Valhalla DAO
The final goal of the Thorstarter DAO is to evolve into on-chain governance structure called the. In this later phase, Valhalla DAO members will identify and recommend projects, provide opportunities for liquidity pools, and adjust incentives for liquidity providers. Members of the DAO will be able to pool capital and decide which projects to support.
On-chain governance will allow XRUNE holders to propose and vote on a number of strategies via the DAO. Execution of these strategies will then be provided by Council members. Valhalla DAO will allow democratic voting for protocol upgrades and new features, as well as treasury allocation. Decisions will be made via Discord discussions, community calls, forum discussions, and ultimately Snapshot votes.
One thing that might be interesting to BlockElite community here, is that users will have the option to lock their XRUNE into a voting escrow version called vXRUNE. This will grant them voting rights in the DAO, ie they can have a say in which projects launch!
Yuno – Blockelite Host: That’s so great
Thanks for sharing, it’s so detailed
AM – Thorstarter team: Appreciate the translations a lot. 🙂
Yuno – Blockelite Host: If you’re looking for Thorstarter, don’t miss it
AM – Thorstarter team: We are working closely with some partners to start a VN community on TG.
Yuno – Blockelite Host: wait for it =))
Next question
Q3: How does Thorstarter compare to other launchpads like BSCPad and Polkastarter?
AM – Thorstarter team: Good question and glad you asked.
We are quite different, in a few ways… Several of which we just touched on (the liquidity grants, the xIDO model with many features, etc).
From a high level, a good way to think about Thorstarter is betting on IDOs that will grow alongside the Thorchain ecosystem, and which we help accelerate.
Most other launchpads, including Polkastarter, claim to promote a particular eco but in reality will launch any project that comes along. (No problems there, just not our MO).
Additionally to that, IDO launches have been a popular target for bad actors of late. Launchpads have taken steps to protect users, largely by implementing defensive strategies and systems.
Still, each launch format has its own set of vulnerabilities. Ensuring that bots and attackers can’t steal value from interested investors will be an ongoing effort for the Thorstarter team, and one conducted in line with feedback from projects and investors.
That should cover our differentiation in detail. 🙂
Yuno – Blockelite Host: Got it
Continue with Q4
Q4: Do you guys have any partners? How do you benefit from them?
AM – Thorstarter team: Many partners… 🙂
We are partnered with Thorchain itself, and they are helping us structure the sale, assist with marketing, and advise us pretty much every step of the way.
We’ve made it a focus to partner with the best and brightest in the THORChain ecosystem.
Several prominent devs in the TC community are advising the project, along with the THORChain team itself.
We are backed by several large instiutional liquidity providers for THORChain: True Ventures and Nine Realms.
It’s important that we have strong technical talent on the project, so most of our partners are devs or come from a dev background. 🙂
Yuno – Blockelite Host: love $RUNE
Perfect, last question in segment 1
Q5: Looking down your Roadmap, I see that you have some interesting stuff for the year.
Can you give some more info about these?
AM – Thorstarter team: Yep definitely!
Thorstarter is approaching development using a lean model of building what we need. Development can be broken down into three distinct phases:
Phase 1: dApp Build and Launch DAO (we are currently here)
The first phase of Thorstarter development is currently underway. The project will entail a forked version of ASGARDEX with specific features kept in tact, and others omitted. The end user will arrive at the Thorstarter website and be able to choose from the app (UI to swap between assets), available IDO projects, token farms, governance, FAQs, and other pertinent information. Thorstarter’s Aragon Company DAO contracts will be launched, and the Council of Asgard will be elected by the DAO.
Phase 2: IDOs and DEX Improvements
The second phase of Thorstarter development will include upgrades to the Thorstarter swapping functionality and UI, integrating with XDEFI and other chains, and launching IDOs. The IDO launch contracts will be able to be upgraded and modified over time, as the feature suite is rolled out. Thorstarter will launch with a plan to IDO 1–2 projects per month for the first several months.
Phase 3: Ongoing IDOs and Protocol Work
The third phase of Thorstarter development will refine the cross-chain IDO model. Further, protocol work will focus on partnering with existing projects to tap into XRUNE-RUNE liquidity regardless of whether or not they IDO on Thorstarter. This has the added benefit of bringing additional buying power to XRUNE as a means to tap into RUNE cross-chain liquidity. Projects which may wish to access Throchain liquidity but not IDO will be able to do so based on integrations during this phase.
Phase 3 will be an ongoing development phase.
Yuno – Blockelite Host: Thanks for sharing
We wrapped up nicely the first part.
AM – Thorstarter team: Indeed. 🙂
Yuno – Blockelite Host: Are you ready for Segment 2 (5 best questions from twitter)?
AM – Thorstarter team: Yes!
Yuno – Blockelite Host: We will start Segment 2 right now !!!
Q1: How is Thorstarter going to ensure fair launches for Rune and Thorstarter supporters? Many IDO platforms have struggled to ensure fair access for community supporters as whales dominate the token supply – is this something Thorstarter is working on?
AM – Thorstarter team: Fantastic Q Devendr.
This is definitely a concern that we are very cognizant of. We have seen projects like DuckDao who have benefited the top few large holders of their tokens. To prevent this, our strategic sale will use a measure where the more $XRUNE a user tries to buy, the more gas fee they will have to pay (and this increases exponentially).
This is called a “slip based fee.” It’s part of how the THORChain AMM works. Bigger transactions = much larger fees = whales are sad. 🙂
We have also recently successfully completed an airdrop to get $XRUNE in the hands of as many holders as possible!
Yuno – Blockelite Host: Thanks, next question
Q2: One of the most important milestones of Thorstarter is that it allows users to participate in IDO using native assets on any blockchain, this will certainly break down many current barriers, but could you explain how you guys achieve this? What is the importance of $RUNE in this?
AM – Thorstarter team: Good question, Ohidovy.
RUNE is actually a settlement currency already… this is how THORChain works.
If you want to switch to BTC from ETH, how do you do that? You essentially need to use a CEX (centralized exchange) like Coinbase or Binance.
This is not ideal for a few reasons, namely it introduces KYC requirements and counterparty/solvency risks.
THORChain accomplishes this in a decentralized way…
If you want to swap native ETH for native BTC without going to an exchange, you just:
- go to any DEX UI that integrates with THORChain
- Enter your BTC amount
- The DEX returns ETH
Tada! Simple as that. 🙂
How it actually works…
THORChain converts your BTC to RUNE, then RUNE to ETH.
So like: BTC -> RUNE -> ETH
But the user only sees the BTC to ETH swap.
That is why RUNE is important!
XRUNE just takes this one step farther…
When a new project launches on Thorstarter, the swap works like this
IDO-TOKEN –> XRUNE –> RUNE –> BTC (or ETH)
Yuno – Blockelite Host: wow, really ?
AM – Thorstarter team: Yes really.
THORChain and its token RUNE will be BIG!
Yuno – Blockelite Host: Thank you
Next question
Q3: THORSTARTER is a liquidity relayer and IDO platform for THORChain. How do you make sure the projects that IDO on your platform are really quality projects. Do you have a special standard for accepting projects that will do IDO on your platform?
AM – Thorstarter team: Thanks Letitia, good question.
We sorta just covered how this will work in the previous answer, but from a high level:
In the first phase of the DAO, all projects must go through a careful selection process by the Council of Asgard to ensure quality, working product and safety. The Council will conduct thorough due diligence on all applicants. Council members will all vote to decide if a new project will be awarded a grant from Thorstarter for initial liquidity.
Early Council leadership will ensure that the project reaches a critical mass of investors. Over time, as the community grows and network liquidity deepens, the existing council will vote in new council members. Council seats are time-bound and require active participation in the DAO.
As XRUNE holders are aligned to the success of projects launching on Thorstarter, we can only accept projects that are of acceptable standard.
Yuno – Blockelite Host: There will be a verification step
Next question
Q4: ThorStarter is based on Enabling cross-chain exchanges between long-tail crypto assets. But for me and new users, can you explain what a long-tail asset is? Are there also short-tail assets?
AM – Thorstarter team: Thanks for asking Elsonele.
Good question! 🙂
Short vs long tail is not well defined. Just think of “short tail” as any crypto coin/asset that is economically significant, i.e. one that you would see in the top 50 or 100 on CMC.
“Long tail” assets are coins outside of this range, like new IDOs and small cap projects.
Simple!
Yuno – Blockelite Host: Ok, last question of this segment, everyone please prepare good questions for segment 3.
Q5: With XRUNE being another step in the transaction process (using the example mention BTC > RUNE > XRUNE > ETH) have you done any steps to minimise the gas fees equated to this? If yes, could you elaborate on how this has been done?
AM – Thorstarter team: Good question Liu!
This is one of the core features of what we’re building:
1) Making the XRUNE-RUNE pool extremely liquid, so that xchain swaps through XRUNE are low slippage.
2) Making this transaction in one step, to minimize gas fees.
It’s the core focus of what we’re building at Thorstarter, and will release more details on how it works very soon.
Suffice to say, with each successful IDO, the XRUNE pool on THORChain becomes deeper, and the slip fee is less and less.
Once the 1-step swap is implemented, users will be able to do crosschain swaps in one step and with low slip!
Yuno – Blockelite Host: You are awesome, thanks for answer all 5 best questions from twitter of my community.
Last Segment for AMA today, The guests will select 5 best questions from the community.
Blockelite Community:
How does Early Council leadership offer community support to ensure the project reaches a sufficient audience of investors? Is it mandatory for council seats to engage actively in the DAO?
How are you different from other launchpad platforms that bring cross-chain liquidity to ensure that funds are collected fairly? How will you change the way crypto projects provide liquidity?
AM – Thorstarter team: Hey Thor! Awesome name. Great questions (you asked a few – so I’ll address the first).
The early council consists of members of both TC and TS, as well as several major backers, funds, and influencers. New projects will have the full support of this entire THOR-related marketing army. ⚡️
Blockelite Community:
Do you have a Token Burning plan to increase Token value and attract Investors to invest?
AM – Thorstarter team:Great question Mst! We do not have a burn, but will have a voting escrow lock similar to other projects like SUSHI (ie, xSUSHI).
This will allow IDO participants to lock XRUNE and get vXRUNE, and get a share of DAO fees associated with the LP position for those projects!
We’re really excited about this model and will share more soon.
Blockelite Community:
Is there an active referral or ambassador program for users that we can attract a new community?
AM – Thorstarter team: Great question Galli! In fact the THORChain community just released a unique ambassador/affiliate program that allows indivduals to be paid a commission on any liquidity they bring to the THORChain pools.
We will likely implement a version of that in the future. 🙂
Blockelite Community:
All projects must go through a careful selection process by the Council of Asgard to ensure quality, working product and safety. What does this selection process consist of?
AM – Thorstarter team: Good question Emi!
Check out our post here –> https://blog.thorstarter.org/how-thorstarter-works-idoi-launches-and-cross-chain-swaps-6739de58ba98?gi=eb38c6461258
Under Selection Process
All details covered there. 🙂
Blockelite Community:
I love this project is placing importance on the community aspect. It’s something that I think is lacking in a lot of projects. How can us early investors really help THORSTARTER grow before it launches? From providing liquidity to general participation, what different roles are there when it goes live?
AM – Thorstarter team: Good question Starcrypto.
We have several ways to get involved, the most important being:
- Become an LP in the Thorchain pool (and earn high APY rewards)
- Send myself or a mod a DM to see where you can support us. We are looking for help with content and community marketing at the moment, so applications are welcome. 😉
Yuno – Blockelite Host: Thank you for joining today AMA! It was awesome!
Our AMA session is now over !!!
AM – Thorstarter team: Thanks everyone, really appreciate you lending your time today. Awesome questions!
Thanks @yuno_02 for having me ❤️
