chiliZ (CHZ) AMA with Wolf Crypto
We held an AMA with chiliZ (CHZ) in our public Telegram channel on May 24th. The chiliZ platform turns fans from spectators into decision makers, trading and leveraging their tokenized voting rights to become the decentralized crowd management and guidance engine behind their favorite gaming and esports organizations.
The chiliZ TGE is expected to start sometime in July. You can check out the chiliZ whitepaper here.
You can also visit the chiliZ Telegram channel for further details.
Here’s what chiliZ CEO Alexandre Dreyfus had to say in the AMA.*
*This AMA has been edited for clarity.
WC (Wolf Crypto Telegram Member)
The CEO of chiliZ ICO is with us. Welcome Alexandre!
AD
Pity we can do this as a video conference. Next time :)
We are opening our new offices 1,000 sqm this summer, with many others blockchain companies. From this summer, we’re going to use our TV studio to do regular livestream content like this.
TEAM & TEAM GOALS
WC
Can you please tell us something about yourself Alexandre? What is your background and professional experience?
AD
Ok, here we go. Apologizes in advance for my spelling mistakes, as I’m a French native (don’t blame me).
WC
We will try to forgive the fact you are French :)
AD
I’m a 40y old French net-entrepreneur, who started in the online space since 1995 creating one of the first web-agencies, sold in 1997 to Publicis Groupe in Lyon, France.
Then I launched my first baby, Webcity — which was the first European online city-guide. 37 cities covered, 100 employees, I was 21. We raised funds with major VC’s and industrial groups. Eventually, failed, merged with our competitor in 2002+ and was sold to Orange and then Yelp.
I moved to Malta in 2006 to launch an online poker company, with our own technology, that we eventually sold in 2012 to the largest casino supplier in the world, Scientific Games (Bally Technologies) in Las Vegas.
Since 2012, I’ve reinvested my funds and raised money to build and develop ventures.
Anyway, long story-short (impossible), I’m a builder, an entrepreneur and 2 years ago shifted into esports and more recently educated myself on the blockchain :)
WC
How did you find blockchain? Were you one of those early Bitcoin investors?
AD
Ahaha. 😊 You’re going to be surprised by my answer. So, as an early adopter in almost everything that the Internet provided in the last 25 years, cryptocurrency was NOT one of them for me.
As someone who comes from the online gambling background, which means payments, KYC/AML, banking, etc … I saw all the dirty sh*t that can happen and I didn’t want to taint myself with it :)
Then, last summer, I really educated myself and yet I do NOT own any cryptocurrency, because I’m not a trader or an gambler. I’m a builder. I invest my money and my time in projects, people and development. That’s what excites me, day to day. I do not work for $$, I’m lucky and settled already.
WC
chiliZ has a very impressive team, advisors and shareholders. How did you manage to gather all these people to work on your project? How many team members do you have?
AD
We are not newbie in the entertainment/Internet space. When you have like me or some of my team, 20+ years of experience, it comes with a ton of networking.
Today, we are 23 employees and will be 30 by end of summer. Mainly in Malta, where we are moving to a new 1000sqm facilities with other blockchain companies.
I think, for me, what was important to show is that we are not a money grabber but have a real vision, long term vision.
WC
Give us an elevator pitch on what chiliZ is? What is the product of chiliZ? What problem is it fixing?
AD
Obviously. Very simple. We do not want to change the world, we do not want to reinvent blockchain, we do not want to disrupt the financial services industry.
We come with a very simple vision, that is for every single individual who supports a sports team (or esports) and always wanted to be more involved. That’s why fantasy sports or sports betting exist, to give that feeling.
We actually provide that experience, based on on something that exist for 50 years+, the concept of Socios. You may not know it, but the most famous teams like Real Madrid or FC Barcelona are NOT owned by a billionaire, but by their fans.
What we do is very similar, we are a platform which tokenize voting rights for eSports, and eventually sports teams.
We give power to the fans, in partnerships with teams, to provide a fan engagement + fan monetization.
I don’t believe in the question : “what problem does it fix”. I don’t think that technology and innovation is always about fixing, but rather creating opportunities to innovate. Our goal is to offer to 300m eSports fans in the world a way to vote/engage/control some of the largest eSports teams.
WC
Do you ever see this model being applied to “real world” offline sports, almost like a competing pro league driven by team’s community base?
AD
100000000000%. But to be clear eSports, is real offline competition, not online stuff. It happens in stadiums, in Madison Square Garden with 20,000 people watching.
COMPETITORS
WC
Can I ask, what projects do you consider competitors and what differentiates you from them, if there are any?
AD
Objectively, we don’t have competitors in our product/vision. We work in a competitive market, esports & entertainment in general, but what we do — we are the only one.
PARTNERSHIPS & EXCHANGES
WC
Are you able to discuss plans to list the token?
AD
You know the answer to that. 😊 We have plans, we can’t talk about them.
One thing, we will not be treated by exchanges like any random Google form to apply 😝
WC
Regarding partnerships, do you have specific partners targeted or are there any you are able to discuss that have not been announced?
AD
It is egg and chicken. You need to develop a product before making deals. Having said so, we are starting to push our agenda publicly (like today with the $10m investment into Battle Royale teams) in order to get the word out and start to engage more actively with partners.
WC
What are the main games you see chiliZ used for in the immediate future?
AD
We’re going to focus a lot of Battle Royale games (Fornite, PUBG, …), because that’s what people want to see right now. We will also focus on CS:GO, DOTA2 and likely a couple of more independent games.
We don’t think we will work in short term with RIOT (League of Legends, Activision/Blizzard) because we are likely too disruptive in the short term for them 😊 But, step by step.
TOKEN UTILITY
WC
Why do you think your project needs the blockchain at all and more specifically why its own token? Why can’t you just use ETH?
AD
First of all, we are NOT developing our own blockchain. NO need to reinvent the wheel, as our creativity as to come from the application itself, not how its build.
We made the choice of using ETH/Solidity, etc … because it is the biggest community in the market and easier to develop projects.
Why blockchain, for 2 reasons:
- We are in the voting/engagement business, therefore we need transparency and integrity.
- We are in the tokenization of digital assets (voting rights of teams), so, blockchain and the legal framework where we are based (Malta in Europe) provides us that.
We are probably one of the most concrete application of blockchain. 😊
WC
The advertising video I have seen shows some ways the chiliZ token might be used in the future? Are chiliZ-token going to burned when they are used for services or are they reintroduced into the supply´? And how do you plan do deal with rising cost of token?
AD
The main chiliZ token is a utility token to access to the platform, where each teams will have their own tokens (Team A token, Team B token, etc …).
We also have side usage of the token, related to games.
WC
So will I need like 10 tokens to access the platform or how would that work?
AD
To access, you need only chiliZ. (CHZ), but we will have a side-chain/platform/exchange where all the tokens of teams will be listed/traded and used to vote.
ROADMAP, BETA & FUTURE GROWTH
WC
Can you tell us a bit about your roadmap? Do you have an MVP, and when do you imagine the platform will be in full operation?
AD
So, we have actually plenty of existing tools in the company, but the chiliZ platform first MVP will be privately presented at Gamescom in Cologne, the 21–25th of August. Its the biggest European gaming exhibition.
The real full operations are expected end of the year as it will connect with calendar season (sports/esports wise).
ICO & TOKEN SUPPLY
WC
You have a pretty steep hardcap of 60M USD. Why do you need so many funds? I am sure you get this question very often..
AD
Hehe indeed. Well, we want to do a lot of M&A (mergers & acquisitions). Money we raise is not just for operations and expenses, as you can’t spend 60m on that. We want to acquire companies, and build-up our venture thanks to those funds.
WC
Regarding this, how much have you raised in the presale so far? Are you close to your hardcap and are there still opportunities to invest?
AD
For Wolf Crypto, always space for you 😊 We made an announcement few weeks ago.
Since, we have more — obviously. I can’t yet disclose the amount. Most of our investment comes from Asia. We are going to open bigger offices in Korea & Japan, the 2 biggest countries for crypto + esports (with China).
WC
I see you also have offices in Las Vegas, Beijing and Seoul.
Whats the connection between chiliZ and Mediarex?
AD
Mediarex is the company that owns 100% of chiliZ (HX Entertainment Ltd).
It’s the parent company
WC
Crypto investors always like to see a connection to real world businesses.
Can you tell us a bit more about Mediarex?
AD
Mediarex is a group of companies I started 12 years ago, first in the online poker till 2012, and then we now own www.globalpokerindex.com / www.thehendonmob.com they are the largest live poker database and we are the poker ranking authority. We have also couple of TV studios. We run some esports Discord channels (largest PUBG with 50,000+ members) and many other digital assets.
WC
I am curious what has Malta such a hotstpot for blockchain companies.
AD
Easy, because it is the ONLY country today to have a regulation coming for blockchain. A country that not only allow it, but promote it.
Companies will be REGULATED in Malta (aka in EU) and therefore its safer for investors, users, etc …
Malta is part of EU, each country build laws that are compatible with EU. Like they do right now in Online Gambling. 12% of GDP of Malta is with online gambling business, compatible with EU Laws obviously. So a company based in Malta, can legally provide it services to the 27 other countries.
The Prime Minister himself welcomed CZ from Binance —
CLOSING THOUGHTS
WC
Thank you @alexdreyfus for taking the time to review chiliZ. Unless there are any more questions we will conclude the AMA.
AD
Thanks guys. Please ask me questions anytime. I’m your slave 😊
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