COTI AMA with Wolf Crypto — Part Two

COTI — The Ultimate Power Grid of Payments

We held an AMA with COTI in our public Telegram channel on May 22nd.

COTI is a blockchain 3.0 Proof of Trust DAG, Internal Exchange & Payment dApp. COTI aims to be the payment platform of choice for consumers, merchants & enterprise, bridging the gap between traditional and crypto payment platforms.

The COTI Trustchain consists of three main components, the Proof of Trust (PoT) Algorithm, Double Spend Protection (DSP) and Buyer Seller Protections.

COTI-X is an internal interoperability exchange and settlement layer, enabling cross currency payments, direct transfers of one currency to another and ensuring liquidy on the COTI platform.

COTI Pay is the payment dApp built on the COTI platform. COTI Pay offers a payment app and debit card for consumers along with a POS software suite for merchants, including processing tools that allow a merchant to accept and mange payments from COTI Pay wallet holders. COTI have also built a whitelabel solution for enterprise, allowing developers and organisations to issue their own branded tokens, payments apps and tools on top of the COTI platform.

COTI will be KuCoin’s next spotlight project on June 4th.

COTI to launch IEO on KuCoin Spotlight on June 4th

You can also visit the COTI Telegram channel or COTI website for further details.

Here’s what COTI’s CEO Shahaf Bar-Geffen, CTO Dr. Nir Haloani and VP of Marketing Efrat Bar Lev had to say in the AMA.*

*This AMA has been edited for clarity.

WC (Wolf Crypto Telegram Member)

Hello again to the guys from COTI, it’s been a moment since we last spoke. This is part two of our AMA series with COTI. We initially interviewed them all the way back in November 2018!

You can check out that previous AMA here -

COTI AMA with Wolf Crypto

Today we welcome COTI’s CEO Shahaf, CTO Nir and VP of Marketing Efrat!

TEAM & TEAM GOALS

WC

We did this last time you were here, but for those who are joining us for the first time, including Efrat, can you please give us a quick intro and how you became involved in COTI?

SBG

When I first joined COTI, I was an early investor and part of the board of advisors. I was a co-founder of successful companies in my past, so for me it was natural that a few months later I was asked to take the helm as CEO. I was impressed with COTI’s vision and promise in solving real world issues, so I came onboard and haven’t looked back since.

NH

I was first attracted to COTI mainly because of the blockchain technological challenges and because it takes a holistic approach to solving fundamental problems in today’s payments landscape.

I was an early Bitcoin adopter a few years ago and maintained small mining networks for experimental purposes. I was looking for the right opportunity to join a company which could tackle the challenges faced by traditional cryptocurrencies and deploy solutions that could be of use and be adapted by the mainstream.

EBL

Hi everyone and thanks for having us here! I’m Efrat Bar Lev, and I have been working in the digital media sphere for the past 6 years. I met Shahaf while working at WEB3. When he joined COTI as CEO, I was asked to come on board as the VP of Marketing and was more than happy to.

WC

Shahaf, when did you join COTI?

SBG

As an investor and advisor, right from the beginning. As CEO, a few month after inception…in 2017.

WC

Thanks for the intro guys, Shahaf, I know it’s a broad question, but since it’s been awhile since we last spoke, can you give us an update on what’s been going on at COTI since November 2018?

SBG

In November 2018, we released the TestNet and moved forward with our key technological developments. The COTI Pay app generated revenues of over 3 million USD, and we signed key partnerships, which we will be disclosing very soon.

We also released the private MainNet and dispersed our two billion COTI token supply to the network pools.

Some of our most recent updates include the opening of our first office in South Korea, the launch of the COTI IEO on KuCoin and our newly designed website.

You can check it out at here — https://coti.io/

WC

You’ve been working on COTI for awhile now, so much so you’ve released a new roadmap. Have you checked off all the commitments on the old one before creating the new?

COTI Original Roadmap

SBG

Absolutely, we’ve ticked off all of our major milestones leading up to 2019. Some of our achievements include the release of our Trustchain AlphaNet, the release of COTI Pay and COTI-X, the launch of the TestNet and signing over 50,000 users and 5,000 merchants.

We have also signed enterprise partnerships, such as Orme, Millenning, Blue Cellular, REMIIT, Credit Union West and IDT Finance.

We’ve also released the private MainNet and minted COTI coins. The IEO and TGE are right around the corner in June, so we are definitely still on track with our roadmap. We usually hit our milestones on time and with a scope greater than what we originally promised.

EBL

You can see COTI mainnet roadmap here —

COTI Development Roadmap .pdf

WC

Alright, before we get into the tech which we’re all eager to discuss, for those who are finding out about COTI for the first time, let’s talk about some of the advisors you have on the team.

First up, Greg Kidd is the former Chief Risk Officer at Ripple. Can you tell us a bit more about him and what brought him on board?

SBG

Greg previously worked with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and later became the risk advisor at Square. He also held a CRO position at Ripple and is an investor in a number of businesses through his investment company Hard + Yaka, including COTI, Coinbase, TransferGo, GlobaliD, Yoyo Wallet and more.

As far as what brought him on board at COTI — in his own words —

“COTI in our minds solves a real problem. COTI feels very real to me, so we’re in for the hunt with them because we think that in the future an alternative form of currency and an alternative form of payment rails will exist.”

EBL

You can also follow Greg on Twitter here —

Greg Kidd (@gregkidd) | Twitter

WC

Nimrod Lehavi, the CEO of Simplex is also attached to the project. Is Simplex going to be used as part of the COTI ecosystem?

SBG

Yes it its. Simplex is a major payment processor, enabling users to buy crypto using credit and debit cards in a fraud-free payment environment. Binance and KuCoin, two top cryptocurrency exchanges, have already partnered with Simplex to streamline transaction processing on their platforms.

WC

Before we get off the topic of advisors, I just wanted to ask about Dr. Matt McBrady, former CIO of BlackRock. Can you tell us a bit more about him and why BlackRock are a big deal in the investment world?

SBG

Matt has also held senior roles at Silver Creek Capital and Bain Capital and has worked with Janet Yellen in President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors.

BlackRock is a heavyweight in the investment world. It is the world’s largest asset manager with $6.5 trillion in assets under management as of April 2019.

We are the only blockchain company he is advising. He is incredibly experienced in traditional finance and also an economics PhD.

WC

Speaking of investments, you have a mix of traditional VC’s and crypto VC’s invested in the project. Can give us some more info on Hard Yaka and Recruit?

SBG

Hard + Yaka was founded by Greg Kidd and invests in a number of startups, including COTI, Coinbase, TransferGo, GlobaliD, Yoyo Wallet and more.

Recruit is a Japanese international conglomerate with a market cap of over $50 billion, which also has a funding arm known as Recruit Strategic Partners (RSP).

RSP’s investment portfolio lies in all business stages, from the seed round to the growth phase, and covers sectors such as fintech, blockchain, AI, IoT, robotics and business applications. Some of their most prominent investments include Udacity, BitFlyer, Shift and 99Designs. We’ll be releasing more details about the partnership in the upcoming days.

EBL

You can see some of our investors and advisors on our website: https://coti.io/#investors

For additional information about Hard Yaka and Recruit, you can visit these links —

https://hardyaka.com/investments/

Hard + Yaka Investments

http://recruitstrategicpartners.com/investment.php

RSP Investments

THE COTI NETWORK

WC

Nir, can you give us a quick overview of all the elements that make up the COTI Network?

NH

There are 3 layers to the COTI ecosystem: the infrastructure layer, the service layer and the application layer.

• The Infrastructure Layer

1. The Trustchain protocol and PoT. This is a DAG-based protocol that has high throughput and scale.
2. Ability to define the actual risk and how trustworthy a user is.
3. Each entity is assigned a trust score, including consumers, merchants and node operators.
4. Payment requests
5. multiDAG, smart contracts, stability framework.

• The Service Layer

1. The COTI-X exchange provides white labeling and is also a gateway to the COTI network.
2. On boarding process and regulated solutions with KYC/AML procedures.
3. Arbitration service

• The Application Layer

1. SDK/API for cross-platform and inter-platform communication and integration.
2. COTI Pay solution and application layer
3. Loyalty programs

It’s important to note that we are not a payment app, but an infrastructure upon which developers of all kinds can build payment apps. Briefly summed up, we do what ETH does for dApps.

COTI is an extremely scalable DAG-based technological protocol optimized for payments and stable coins. It consists of a bespoke Proof of Trust (PoT) consensus protocol, internal exchange, price stability features, buyer-seller protections and more.

Most of today’s blockchain platforms are optimized for dApps and not for payments. They also don’t provide the infrastructure and the tools required for everyday transactional use. This in addition to possessing numerous challenges related to identity, trust, stability, scalability and high transaction costs, which deter the adoption of cryptocurrencies for mainstream use.

COTI Network Layers

WC

Nir, what’s a multiDAG?

NH

COTI’s multiDAG is a unique implementation that frees the COTI network from being bound to a singular DAG instance. The COTI multiDAG ecosystem is similar to Ethereum in the sense that both are common decentralized infrastructures acting as the basis for a multitude of different tokens and smart contracts while utilising one main coin for payment of fees in the network.

COTI’s selfsame node infrastructure enables the creation of multiple DAGs by originators of varying nature, such as stable coins, dedicated enterprise tokens and more. Because COTI uses several independent clusters that each support one token, the whole network is made infinitely more efficient and modular.

In essence, the COTI network will have several independent clusters and tokens built atop the Trustchain, while the COTI native coin will be used as a common means of payment for all fees and staking inside the COTI ecosystem.

EBL

We just published an article about the multiDAG, which you can read here —

Introducing the COTI multiDAG!

WC

You say COTI is like Ethereum in that coins can be issued on top of it. Is this a good thing? Pretty much all we’ve seen issued on ETH are shitcoins…

SBG

The COTI Trustchain is extremely scalable and can process tens of thousands of transactions per second, compared to 15–20 TPS on Ethereum. This is a major downfall that has made it inefficient to issue coins with ERC-20 as an underlying protocol. In essence, slow processing speeds for high transaction volumes, which is exactly the issue that COTI solves.

WC

So why is white labeling coins such an important thing for COTI?

SBG

The idea is to provide enterprises and merchants with the ability to create their own payment networks and loyalty programs. This is a huge cost saver and also enables companies to regain control over their data and business insights.

In essence, they become their own PayPal and payment processor. This means they set the rules and own their financial data.

WC

When is public mainnet?

SBG

June 4th! IEO, Listing, TGE, Public Mainet. It’s going to be a long day at the office, I guess.

WC

Can I create a mainnet wallet now then?

EBL

You sure can —

How to open and set up your MainNet wallet

WC

Why do I have to KYC to create a wallet on COTI?

EBL

The COTI network is adopting appropriate AML and KYC procedures to ensure that its network cannot be used to facilitate money laundering or other illicit activity. COTI is inherently not conducive to money-laundering, as any user of COTI’s wallet, exchange or processing solutions must undergo strict onboarding procedures.

Notwithstanding its commitment to AML and KYC, COTI is similarly committed to protecting user privacy and has appropriate consumer data protection mechanisms in place.

WC

You don’t think that requiring KYC will hurt adoption?

SBG

Actually no. Having a solid KYC policy opens up the usage by the masses as governments and corporations can participate.

WC

I’ve seen some mentions on Twitter about COTI’s security being bad, is this true?

NH

COTI’s ecosystem and technical solutions provide robust cyber security measures around data integrity and confidentiality, and are future-proof against blockchain cyber attacks.

The COTI wallet requires user credentials paired with a 2FA login to establish a session with the node manager, after which all communication with the COTI network and nodes requires the wallet’s seed. This seed is then used to encrypt and sign all transactions and messages sent on COTI. All messages sent from the wallet are validated and no spoofing or manipulations are possible.

COTI tokens are stored in private, pseudo-anonymous virtual ‘wallets’. Each wallet is identified and protected by a unique access key known as a ‘seed’. The seed itself is not sent and no SSL is required. Even if an attacker were to use some sort of phishing manipulation to get a user’s seed, it wouldn’t help them connect to the user’s wallet because the private key is also required for the messages to be properly encoded and validated . Moreover, the private key is always stored locally and not sent anywhere.

In addition, COTI is currently conducting multiple external audits to assess any vulnerabilities, which once finalized will be released to the public for peer review, and all required fixes will be implemented as we move forward toward our public MainNet.

We’ve also added SSL certificates to better protect the first layer of wallet sessions, and we will also add enhancements to address user/password compliance issues and any other aspects raised by the auditors.

EBL

Nir wrote a detailed article about how COTI is securing our blockchain and non-blockchain infrastructure, which you can read here —

How COTI is Securing Our Blockchain and Non-Blockchain Infrastructure

WC

On the topic of security, will COTI have ledger support?

NH

Due to the technical differences of the COTI TrustChain infrastructure from the usual blockchains, COTI was so far not supported in hardware solutions.

However, this is an issue that the team is working hard to overcome and hardware support will be available in the near future.

WC

How do nodes work on COTI?

NH

There are four node types in the COTI network: Full Node, Double Spend prevention (DSP) Node, Trust Score Node and History Node.

Full Nodes are the main client-facing servers of the system. Each wallet is connected to a Full Node and every transaction is received by a Full Node and propagated to the entire system. Together with DSP Nodes, Full Nodes are the backbone of the system. Full Nodes are responsible for the Trustchain Consensus. They receive new transactions from the wallets, validate them, do PoT (Proof of Trust) and attach them to the DAG.

The Double Spend Prevention Nodes (DSP Nodes) are a set of highly trusted distributed servers responsible for DSP consensus, account balance control and general protocol and data integrity. Each transaction has to be approved and signed by the majority of the DSP nodes. Users cannot directly connect to DSP Nodes.

Trust Score Nodes are dedicated servers for calculating and storing participant Trust Scores and participant KYC statuses. To run a Trust Score Node, a user is required to stake a sum of COTI.

History Nodes keep the earlier parts of the Cluster after the Cluster stamp process is complete. Full account history can be retrieved from the History Nodes.

EBL

You can watch the transaction confirmation process in COTI’s Trustchain protocol here —

COTI Trustchain Transaction Process

WC

Have node rewards been finalised?

NH

Node fees and incentive mechanism is already implemented and will be available in our public MainNet.

WC

What are the requirements for a user to run a node on COTI?

NH

Nodes can be run by all users. Full nodes are easier to operate and don’t require staking or high Trust Scores. COTI coins are not required to run Full Nodes. However, COTI coins are needed to run critical nodes in our system like the DSP Node and Trust Score Node.

The minimal requirements for running a Full Node are:
16GB of memory
4vCPUSs cores
Estimated costs for running such an instance on AWS/Google Cloud is ~120$ monthly
EBS-optimized bandwidth: up to 3.5 Gbps
Network Bandwidth: up to 10 Gbps
Operating system: Ubuntu/Linux/Windows

WC

Do you have a reward calculator by chance? Just wondering how profitable it will be to run a node.

NH

We are preparing a node calculator which will give you an estimate of the costs vs. rewards and profitability of operating a node.

WC

What was TPS on testnet and what will you have on mainnet?

NH

10K TPS has been verified and benchmarked internally using synthetic transactions and load simulations executed within our TestNet environment (these tests can be replicated by any user).

We believe that this will result in improved network scalability following our MainNet release and as more users join the network. In other words, there is a positive correlation between the number of network users and the rate at which transactions are confirmed.

So as our solution expands and is adopted, the rate of transactions per second will also increase significantly.

WC

Are smart contracts working on COTI?

NH

Not yet. We are still working on the implementation of multiDAG before deploying the smart contract to the network.

The first phase is to move to public MainNet and then move to multiDAG and smart contracts.

WC

COTI-X, why have you gone down the path of creating your own internal exchange?

SBG

COTI-X is a currency exchange and gateway to the COTI network. It serves as an enabler of cross-currency support in fiat and cryptocurrencies while providing security, liquidity and price stability for tokens on the network.

COTI-X will allow stable coin issuers to easily deploy their own token on the COTI network and to collateralize it against other crypto and fiat assets. We don’t plan on being in the exchange business per-se but only to streamline processes for our enterprise clients.

EBL

We prepared a tutorial if you’d like to check it out —

COTI-X Tutorial

WC

Will you support other stable coins on COTI-X?

SBG

Both fiat and cryptocurrencies can be exchanged on COTI-X, including BTC, ETH, Ripple, XLM and LTC. In later stages, COTI-X will allow for the deployment and listing of new tokens in the COTI network.

NH

COTI-X will allow stable coin issuers to easily deploy their own token on the COTI network and to collateralize it against other crypto and fiat assets.

In other infrastructures that only provide the infrastructure itself as a means to deploy tokens (e.g. ERC-20 on Ethereum), tokens are not accessible to users other than for sending tokens to participants.

So COTI-X presents the best way to easily deploy new tokens and stable coins running on the COTI network through a simple wizard walk-through that provides token issuers with:

Streamlined token listing on our exchange with no costs.
The ability to purchase the token with other crypto or fiat money and automatically define pairs from fiat to crypto and crypto to crypto, as well as the ability to withdraw the token back to fiat.

The ability to define collateralization for new tokens to create price stability.

WC

The idea of COTI-X is not to compete with other crypto exchanges right?

SBG

Of course not. We are not in the exchange business. This is simply put to streamline processes for our clients.

WC

How will you guarantee liquidity on those various tokens on COTI-X?

SBG

We are working with 3rd party liquidity providers at the moment.

COTI PAY

WC

Shahaf, can you show us how COTI Pay works? How easy is it to use?

EBL

COTI Pay is easy to use and makes purchases no different than paying with PayPal as you can see in this video —

COTI Pay Tutorial

WC

A Loyalty Network wasn’t something we discussed with you last time around, but it now appears on your website, is this a new addition to the project?

SBG

We’ve been working on our loyalty offering for a few months and it ties in directly with white-labeled coins.

Using COTI’s solution, enterprises can create and issue tokens that will serve as loyalty points.

Building blockchain-based loyalty programs has a few advantages:

• Empowers customers by providing them with direct ownership of their loyalty tokens.
• Simple integration, as users maintain the tokens in their wallet.
• Easy to build a loyalty network and brand alliance for a range of marketplaces.
• Users can exchange loyalty tokens among themselves for added tradability.
• Loyalty tokens share the same properties as digital money and can be used as a form of payment across all allied merchants.

WC

When will COTI Pay be available as a mobile app?

NH

At first phase, COTI-PAY will be available as a responsive (React base) wallet supported on all mobile browsers and devices. By the end of this year we will have mobile application support.

WC

When will you have Shopify, WooCommerce and WordPress support for COTI Pay?

NH

Once COTI Pay goes live on the MainNet, it will take up to a month to add support for each new platform, so we will deploy them gradually.

WC

How does the debit card COTI are issuing fit in with COTI Pay? What’s the point of having a debit card in the first place?

SBG

A debit card will be issued that supports point of sale (POS) operations by enabling COTI native coins to be spent at millions of points of sale around the world. The idea is to solve the initiation phase of any two-sided market place by adding a ready made merchant adoption tool in the form of debit cards, before all merchants accept the coin.

Debit cards have been a mainstay in the COTI trajectory from the early days. Debit cards will be offered to connect the COTI network and wallets with other payment rails. The rationale for offering these cards is that they will enable users to make payments from their COTI wallets when dealing with merchants that have not yet integrated with COTI.

WC

Is it going to be one of those dodgy crytpo debit cards that no-one wants to issue, is limited to a few select countries and eventually gets pulled?

SBG

All debit cards usually start with certain countries where they operate because it depends on bank issuers that have limited jurisdictions by nature. We expect this to grow over time. Because we abide by strict KYC rules, we don’t plan on the card being pulled.

TOKEN UTILITY

WC

Let’s talk tokens, you’ve got two tokens in the COTI ecosystem, the COTI coin and the COTI Dime, can you explain how each token works?

SBG

There are potentially thousands of tokens in our network and only one of them is the COTI native coin (COTI). Any entity can issue multiple tokens, COTI Dime is just an example of a token issued by COTI itself. Our stable coin COTI Dime is fiat-pegged, which means that it will always be price stable with a value of $0.1. We created COTI Dime to enable merchants to implement COTI Pay without having to worry about token volatility, which is necessary when handling large scale revenues.

Native COTI coins are not price-stable and are needed to operate the COTI network. Native COTI coins are used by merchants, node operators and more to pay network usage fees.

WC

How do COTI Dime coins get issued on the network? Can you compare it to any other stable coins in regards to issuance and use?

NH

At the genesis stage COTI-DIME is deployed atop the infrastructure using multiDAG and using it own cluster which is operated in parallel to the COTI cluster-0 which is the native coin cluster.

As opposed to other infrastructure which only provide application developer/organization with the infrastructure itself and a mean to deploy token (for example ERC-20 on Ethereum). The token are not accessible or usable for the users other than sending the tokens to participants there is no way in all other platforms to onboard users into the system.

So COTI presents a revolutionary way to easily deploy a new token/stablecoin running on the COTI network with a simple wizard walkthrough that with a few clicks enable any token issuer with:

1. Listing of his new token on our exchange with no costs — in other platform this is a very costly procedure.
2. The ability to purchase the token with other crypto or fiat money — automatically define pairs from fiat to crypto and from crypto to crypto.
3. The ability to withdraw the token back to fiat.
4. And the ability to define a colleterization for the new token in order for it to be stabilized (most setting are fully automatic).

WC

Nir, can you explain how both tokens work across the multiDAG?

NH

COTI’s multiDAG is a unique implementation that frees the COTI network from being bound to a singular DAG instance. The COTI MultiDAG ecosystem is similar to Ethereum in the sense that both are common decentralized infrastructures acting as the basis for a multitude of different tokens and smart contracts while utilising one main coin for payment of fees in the network.

COTI’s selfsame node infrastructure enables the creation of multiple DAGs by originators of varying nature, such as stable coins, dedicated enterprise tokens and more. Because COTI uses several independent clusters that each support one token, the whole network is made infinitely more efficient and modular.

In essence, the COTI network will have several independent clusters and tokens built atop the Trustchain, while the COTI native coin will be used as a common means of payment for all fees and staking inside the COTI ecosystem.

WC

How will other (whitelabled) coins function on COTI? How does this work into the overall utility model?

NH

In the COTI multiDAG, different Clusters are separable at the transaction layer by the ClusterID. The Cluster with ClusterID=0 represents the COTI coin. The difference between ClusterID=0 and others is important because the genesis transaction for ClusterID=0 is created when the network is launched and cannot be added after.

Genesis transactions for other Clusters are created by the Cluster owner or smart contracts according to the particular Cluster rules. Transactions in the ClusterID=0 are confirmed, taking into account balances of all relevant users. Transaction confirmations in other Clusters can implement other rules. All fee collection in COTI is the responsibility of Full Nodes. For this reason, Full Nodes must create fee-paying transactions in the main coin DAG before transaction attachment. All Clusters in the COTI multiDAG use the same identification and KYC procedures, which creates one common frictionless crypto universe that includes many tokens of various types.

THE IEO & TOKEN SUPPLY

WC

Two initial questions, why an IEO and why KuCoin?

SBG

I would begin by saying that our IEO is not about fundraising, but more about community building and global exposure. We have already secured enough funds to support our growth.

COTI is primed for an IEO as our circulating supply is very low to begin with and because our product brings in organic demand for our coin.

We have partnered with KuCoin as KuCoin is one of the largest global exchanges, with more than 398 live markets listed on CoinMarketCap, which translates to 398+ cryptocurrency pairs trading on the platform.
They are excellent partners, great to work with and care about their community and ours.

WC

What percentage of tokens are being sold to the public in total across all token sales?

SBG

We’ll know by the end of the IEO, but our token economy states not more than 30% and we’ll keep that promise.

WC

What percentage are of tokens are being sold in the IEO?

SBG

2%-3% probably.

WC

What is the token price and hardcap for the IEO?

SBG

It hasn’t been announced yet, but we did a good job in preserving the interests of future and past buyers of the coin.

WC

Why are COTI raising more funds?

SBG

We don’t necessarily need to raise more funds, but as the saying goes: “raise while you can and not when you need.” We are gearing ourselves for the future. We have a huge vision to fulfill.

WC

I see lots of people in your Telegram talking about bounty. How many tokens did you give on bounty?

SBG

Actually not a lot, but it was distributed to MANY people, hence the many questions.

WC

How many tokens were given out for the bounty?

SBG

2.5M tokens.

WC

I assume bounty tokens are locked right?

SBG

Of course…for 6 months.

WC

How much money has COTI raised?

SBG

We have successfully raised $15M in token sales. Additional fundraising is equity-based with an undisclosed total.

WC

Was there a particular reason you also decided to raise in equity as well?

SBG

To gain participation from institutions that don’t invest in coins like RSP Japan and local VC’s.

WC

Your Telegram admins say you last sold tokens at 0.20c,who did you sell these to?

SBG

No, that was just for equity round, not for token buyers.

To be exact, people that have invested for equity in COTI, bought coins at that price with a substantial lockups. It doesn’t represent the prices that token buyers paid.

WC

What is a substantial lockup in that context?

SBG

Up to 2 years.

WC

Can you disclose the % of equity sold to VCs/private stakeholders?

SBG

About 20%.

WC

What will be the circulating supply on the first day of trading?

SBG

Undisclosed, but VERY low.

WC

Have you hired and set aside funds for MM’s?

SBG

We have.

WC

IEO Leaks say this about COTI —

‘Coti: ask coti to show you bank balance before invest.’

What does this mean?

SBG

I saw that today and to be honest I’m not sure what he means. We started our project in 2017, in a much different landscape for blockchain projects (some of you might remember they were called ICO’s back then)!

In this time both our raise and project objectives have changed, in fact, we decided to raise less and build more along the way! We have currently raised $15m in token sales and more in equity.

By the end of the IEO will have a solid 5–6 year runway, in cash and in the bank!

WC

45% of tokens are assigned to the ‘incentive and liquidity reserve this seems excessive. Why so many tokens and how can you assure investors you won’t dump these tokens on them?

SBG

This is a crucial portion of onboarding users into a completely new platform with innovative technology. The incentive program is tailor made for partners, node operators, merchants and users to encourage early adoption. This allocation doesn’t belong to the team and will be supervised by E&Y. More information can be viewed in the adoption strategy section in the Token Economy document here —

EXCHANGES

WC

Are COTI in talks for any secondary listings past KuCoin?

SBG

Yes, we are in talks to feature on additional exchanges following the IEO on KuCoin.

We’ll be releasing more details in due time.

WC

Will COTI be listed on any exchanges like Bilaxy or a DEX?

SBG

Our MainNet cannot run on Ethereum-based exchanges.

WC

Are you worried about listing on KuCoin in regards to both performance and liquidity?

SBG

We can’t predict performance, and we already have assigned liquidity providers. KuCoin’s user base correlates with ours, so I expect good liquidity.

PARTNERSHIPS

WC

Andre Cronje from Fantom said COTI and Fantom were partners, but I can’t see any announcement of this? What’s the deal there?

SBG

That’s true, you can expect an announcement soon.

WC

What are your region targets for partnerships?

SBG

Asia, Australia and the US is currently on our map.

WC

How about Netcore? Is this just a for the sake of it partnership or are they actually going to use COTI?

SBG

COTI has partnered exclusively with Netcore, allowing merchants on the Netcore platform to accept COTI coins as a means of payment.

COTI is the first and only native cryptocurrency on the Netcore platform, and this integration marks a significant step towards the adoption of cryptocurrency as a viable day-to-day payment method. COTI is also on-boarding users to its system through carefully-crafted merchant accounts. All approved merchants will receive $1000 worth of COTI coins.

We have also signed enterprise partnerships, such as Orme, Millenning, Blue Cellular, REMIIT, Credit Union West and IDT Finance.

COMPETITORS

WC

You mentioned before that Fantom is a partner of COTI, but surely you’re also competitors too?

SBG

I think that all blockchain companies aim for the same thing: adoption. Anyone that can contribute to this market expansion isn’t a competitor.

WC

What about other DAG projects? They all seem to be pretty quiet these day, who do you see at the biggest threat?

SBG

We don’t see other DAG projects as a threat per se. Being a disruptive technology, it may be assumed that other companies are developing similar technologies in competition with COTI. COTI’s MVP, its technological components and current partnerships, provide COTI with an advantage over competitors. Moreover, popular payment apps and digital currencies operate at a lower tier in the value chain and can become clients of COTI.

The Scalable Protocol Alliance (SPA) is a further testament to blockchain-based projects working together to advance distributed ledger technology (DLT) for consumer and enterprise-grade adoption.

EBL

To find out more about SPA, you can visit this link —

Blockchain Leaders Join Forces to Launch the Scalable Protocol Alliance to accelerate enterprise…

WC

How about payment dApps in general? The payment space is getting super crowded now. Are there any that you’re worried about?

SBG

My sentiments about this are echoed in the previous answer. Moreover, COTI is a technology solution for the fintech industry, one of our products is a payment app, but we go way beyond that. We are the first enterprise-grade fintech platform that empowers organizations to build their own payment solution and digitize any currency.

WC

Flexa is a hyped payment app everyone is talking about after Consensus. How does COTI compare to Flexa?

NH

Flexa has based the collateral of its solution on its own token, which is not a stable coin. Another challenge is that ERC-20 as an underlying protocol will cause low scalability and slow processing speeds (15–20 TPS) on high transaction volumes. Moreover, Flexa’s solution is mainly aimed at the POS market and not online payments, and they only support crypto payments.

ROADMAP & FUTURE GROWTH

WC

What’s your business development plan once the IEO ends?

SBG

Our go-to-market strategy is built on using our infrastructure to sell a stable coin platform, payment platform and loyalty platform to global enterprises.

We are offering COTI Pay to small and medium enterprises as an off-the-shelf product.

We have hired and will continue hiring business development managers in various regions to help us with this effort.

WC

Do you have any announcements to drop after the IEO?

SBG

More than a few, actually!

WC

We’ve seen a lot of well funded projects come and go after having no plan for actual usage post product build. What’s COTI plan for adoption of the platform?

SBG

Our path to adoption can be viewed in detail at the following link —

COTI: The Path to Adoption

The main factors to adoption include ease of use, accessibility, usability, price stability, high scalability, liquidity, immutability, portability, anonymity and transparency.

COTI decided early on to focus its efforts around a blockchain for payments and stable coins because it believes that the first “killer app” for blockchain, the app that the masses will use, will be one that uses a price-stable coin designed specifically for payments. After all, payments are something that almost every person in the world does every day — and something that blockchain and cryptocurrencies do especially well with the right design.

COTI’s goal is to combine the innovative technology it has developed with an aggressive business development strategy based on partnership agreements and a referral program that ensures a significant amount of users and merchants from day one. It is our aim that the COTI network will host the most transactions per day of any crypto network within the first twelve months of the COTI MainNet release.

DUE DILIGENCE CHECKS

WC

Can you elaborate on the % “commission/fee” that is reserved for the company through transaction fees? I believe that is the company’s primary revenue stream?

SBG

The company’s revenues will be derived from the following fees —

Network Usage Fees — fees levied on all transactions carried out by clients using COTI’s Trustchain infrastructure and charged from node operators. The network fee is expected to be about 0.2% (much lower than current fees) and depends on the trust score of network participants. Fees can reach near zero for highly trusted users.

Premium Services — COTI expects to levy fees on enterprise clients implementing COTI’s technology in the form of setup fees, maintenance costs, customisations and more. We expect that the vast majority of COTI’s transaction traffic will be produced by offering its Trustchain technology to enterprises as a B2B white label payment solution, much like our recent business deal with Ormeus. By charging fees per transaction, COTI will be able to generate significant revenues. The long tail of COTI’s transactions traffic will be derived from merchants using the COTI Pay branded solution.

EBL

If you’d like to learn more about the Ormeus partnership, you can view this link —

Ormeus has signed a $1.5 million deal to use COTI’s Trustchain technology

WC

How have you managed your treasury, did you raise funds in ETH, BTC or USD?

SBG

We managed it quite diligently and this is another factor that has contributed to our success. We hedge a lot and were able to support ourselves in the bear market. We think that this is what our supporters expected us to do — to not to hold ETH and BTC like speculators, but to actually focus on developing our product.

WC

What is your current monthly burn rate and overall project runway?

SBG

With the funding we received, we have 5–6 years of runway. Considering the fact that we are currently generating revenue, then it’s more that that.

WC

Does COTI have a publicly available Github?

NH

Yes. You can view it here —

Coti

WC

Has COTI’s code been publicly audited?

NH

COTI’s Trustchain code was reviewed by leading tech analysts, including:

• Andre Cronje voluntary public code review: Positive feedback with regards to COTI’s Full Node, DSP Node, Trust Score (TS) Node and Zero Spend server. Additional positive remarks on the decentralised nature of COTI nodes and their overall design pattern with promise as a well-thought-out distributed payment solution.

COTI Code Review: Currency Of The Internet DAG | Crypto Briefing

• Allie Zhang from Blep Coin code review (was ordered by a VC which invested in COTI).

According to Zhang, having KYC/AML and arbitration built-in on the DLT level gives COTI the potential for higher performance than other projects that implement KYC/AML and arbitration. Positive feedback with regards to the COTI Full Nodes and DSP Nodes, citing that “the code looks good and it matches the whitepaper well.”

In addition, COTI is currently conducting multiple external audits to assess any vulnerabilities, which once finalized will be released to the public and all required fixes will be implemented as we move forward toward our public MainNet.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

WC

Thanks to the COTI guys for joining us today! We wish you the best of luck with the IEO and beyond!

SBG

Just to finish, it is our aim for COTI to become a real world blockchain technology that can be mass adopted and fit for everyday, mainstream use in the payments sphere. Within a year of launching the MainNet, we predict that the COTI network will be one of the top networks in terms of transactions per day of any crypto platform around.

We are gearing up for our upcoming IEO, which is a few days away and will open the doors for more exchange listings to follow. We also have a number of exciting announcements to come, which we will be releasing in the upcoming weeks. As always, we’d like to thank our community for their ongoing support.

COTI Resources

Website: https://coti.io
Telegram: https://t.me/COTInetwork
Medium: https://medium.com/@COTInetwork
Github: https://github.com/coti-io
Technical Whitepaper: https://coti.io/files/COTI-technical-whitepaper.pdf
COTI Pay Overview: https://coti.io/files/COTI-Pay-Overview.pdf
COTI Token Economy: https://coti.io/files/COTI-Token-Economy-2019.pdf

Wolf Crypto Resources

Public Group: https://t.me/WolfCryptoPub
News Channel: https://t.me/WolfCryptoAnnounce
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WolfCryptoGroup