OIN Finance AMA with Wolf Crypto
We held an AMA with OIN Finance in our public Telegram channel on August 25th.
OIN Finance is the first DeFi platform to provide liquidity mining and loans on Ontology, and ultimately on other top platforms through cross-chain functionality.
The OIN platform will build the bridge technology to seamlessly integrate Ethereum to start into our ecosystem, opening up to all of the current DeFi space.
The OIN Finance network features -
- OIN-Swap — OIN-Swap is the DEX on Ontology with liquidity pooling, cross-chain functions coming to allow other blockchains such as ETH, Qtum, and eGLD.
- OIN-Lend — Allow for the lending of ETH and ONT based coins, again with cross-chain technology opening up access to other coins.
- OIN-Wallet — Cross-chain interoperability and will support ETH based projects such as Curve, Balancer and Compound.
- OIN-DAO — Allows users to collateralize ONT at 300% to provide them with USDO, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar.
- OIN-Chain — Allows cross-chain functionality between Ethereum and Ontology.
Key points -
- The first DeFi platform on ONT (liquidity pool DEX & lending).
- Supports cross-chain functionality (ETH to start).
- The OIN-Swap Pool will launch Q3 2020!
- Investors include Singum, FBG, Blockwater, and GBIC.
The OIN public sale will occur Wednesday, August 26th at 8PM Hong Kong Time.
You can also visit the OIN Finance Telegram channel or the OIN Finance website for further details.
Here’s what OIN Finance’s CEO, Renard Zhang had to say in the AMA.*
*This AMA has been edited for clarity.
WC (Wolf Crypto Telegram Member)
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to another edition of Wolf Crypto AMA, this time with OIN Finance!
Joining us from the OIN Finance team today is their CEO Renard Zhang.
TEAM & TEAM GOALS
WC
Welcome Renard, it’s our pleasure to have you here today.
Let’s start off with a brief into from yourself, how you became involved in OIN Finance and what your history is in the crypto space?
RZ
I have been in the “traditional” fintech for over 6 years.
Prior to this I was working within the United Nations system and traditional investment banking for almost 10 years. I provided strategy consulting services to banks like Standard Chartered and fintech’s like MasterCard. That’s also where I got to know blockchain and became obsessed with this amazing innovation.
My first experience with decentralized finance is to advise on a ConsenSys led atomic swap project as early as in 2018.
WC
The “legacy world” as we call it now, haha!
How about some of the team members who aren’t joining us today?
RZ
Thank you for mentioning them! They are important to the success of our dream, and we’re lucky to have some great talent on the team.
From experience at traditional tech giants such as Nokia through Mike Li, to automated testing designers and exchange experience with Jackie and Amo, we are well equipped to take on the challenges ahead.
WC
Before we get into the guts of the project, you have a fairly impressive list of backers…
Can you detail who they are, what their ongoing involvement in the project is at this point and what that will involve moving forward?
RZ
We’re always happy when our supporters get mentioned. We are thankful to have them on board, and love that they have taken such a liking to our project. FBG, Blockwater, GBIC, they’ve all brought amazing opportunities for OIN.
Aside from the obvious funding that allows us to fund our operations, they also bring a wealth of potential partners and alliances that will enable us to reach out to separate communities, bringing these locked assets to our platform to be leveraged and utilized.
There are of course other ways of working together from their vast networks. The potential is limitless and we’re in talks with some great initiatives in mind. I’m sorry to say that we can’t divulge this information at this time.
WC
You tease, I’m sure there’s more to come on that post launch right?
RZ
Exactly, you will find them on our updated website. Coming soon!
THE OIN FINANCE NETWORK
WC
Thanks for that, so let’s move onto the project stuff.
What’s your elevator pitch on what OIN Fiance is, what it does and why it’s needed in a DeFi space already packed with similar product offerings?
RZ
OIN provides DeFi platforms for a DEX with liquidity pools, and a lending platform that is able to connect with all of crypto, unlocking markets outside of ETH to be leveraged. We will become the gateway into DeFi, creating a platform that can integrate all of blockchain to create an infrastructure to legitimize the industry.
And this is why we are different, and why we’re needed. Currently, too much of the DeFi space is entirely locked within the ETH ecosystem. Regardless of ETH’s pros and cons, its functions and future, being the only large DeFi player limits the growth of the industry.
For example, let’s look at fiat currencies around the world. They work well together through traditional financial systems as there is an infrastructure in place that allows different systems and currencies to work together. Without this, DeFi cannot grow unless ETH is the sole remaining player, at which point blockchain itself will die, or bridging allows integration of other blockchains.
WC
When you talk about “non-ETH assets”, can you explain what you mean by this with some examples?
RZ
It’s simply the amount of “trapped” value outside of ETH that has no access to DeFi. For example, we will integrate Qtum and eGLD onto our platforms.
You will be able to trade these on OINSWAP and lend on OINLED.
WC
Can you break down the core components of the OIN Finance ecosystem for us.
What are the major components and how do they all work together to produce an overall DeFi ecosystem?
RZ
First of all, we’re one of the DeFi projects tackling the cross-chain issues with the goal to address congestion issues of Ethereum-based DeFi.
BUT — -We have no intention of diverting users away from the Ethereum ecosystem.
Quite the opposite, we allow them to keep their ETH while enjoying the high-performance of other public chains such as Ontology.
Secondly, we’ve got three ways for OIN holders to receive rewards — OIN Lend, OIN Swap and Cross-Chain mining — we are one of the first to create this unique mining opportunity in the industry.
Very similar to how MakerDAO works in Ethereum. We do it in the Ontology ecosystem. But it’s worth noting that a unique feature of OIN Finance is that we don’t ask you to give up any Ethereum assets (ERC-20 or Ether).
Instead, OETH is only a temporary asset in our system; you’ll get your ETH assets back once you leave our OIN Finance DEX.
That’s precisely why we’re not competing against ETH. Rather, we help make the Ethereum ecosystem stronger and allow more public chains to leverage the existing hype in the Ethereum ecosystem.
WC
I assume using OETH has a big impact when it comes to moving assets in and out of the ecosystem?
See the afore mentioned ETH fee issues…lol
ONT from what I’ve read is a MUCH cheaper chain to transact on…
RZ
Indeed. That’s precisely our advantage.
We were attracted to the high performance of ONT — perhaps around 1 US cent transaction fee and over 1,000 TPS.
Customer experiences will be effectively enhanced. That’s the biggest advantage and ultimate goal of our project.
WC
Is this scalable?
Say OIN Finance becomes the new ETH of DeFi, with the increased traffic will the fees will remain at that same low level?
Cause some days on ETH it’s 50c, some days its $10…
RZ
That’s actually not how we think about our future plan.
Honestly speaking, we don’t expect all ETH assets holders to choose ONT.
DeFi still centered around ETH.
Also, it’s worth noting that we’re seeking partnerships with more public chains. For example, we’ve officially announced partnerships with QTUM, QKC, NEST, ELROND…many more going forward. Our goal is to help more public chain communities integrate into the Greater DeFi ecosystem centered around ETH.
Not the other way around.
WC
So as I understand it, you’ll be leveraging the ETH network and the DeFi resources that sit upon it. Is this a give and take relationship or just take?
RZ
Haha only those two options? It’s really dependent on who you’re speaking to.
Our goal is to help ETH assets holders find high-performance solutions. It’s a symbiotic relationship. We are not looking to be a substitute with ETH, but rather grow with it.
What we’re doing here is integrating the different segmented and fractured blockchain spaces into one coherent DeFi infrastructure. We’re allowing easy transfer, leverage, and utilization of value that has been trapped here and there.
And communities of other public chains can also leverage their assets on ETH…We’re seeing an integrated future, not as siloed as today.
As ETH grows, so do we. As we grow, so does ETH.
WC
What about “liquidity pools”…This seems like such a broad term these days.
In the context of the OIN network, what does this actually mean for you?
RZ
Liquidity pools as you say are very popular these days, with a broad meaning.
We’re sticking to the basics and most common understanding of the term.
A user can become essentially a market maker for low-liquidity trading pairs on our DEX by staking on both sides. They will earn a proportionate amount of fees from the DEX.
WC
Nice, now I have one more question to ask when it comes to that kind of thing…
Can I farm OIN?
RZ
Haha! We don’t have the exact “Yield Farming” functionality at the moment.
We do have a couple of mining and rewards opportunities, like I briefly mentioned there are ways for OIN holders to receive rewards — OIN Lend, OIN Swap and Cross-Chain mining.
WC
Does this mean you’ll also have governance as part of the platform?
If so, what type or style of governance? What can users vote on?
RZ
When we talk about “governance” at OIN Finance, we were focused on the true sense of ownership.
Governance token holders can vote on the distribution structure of incomes like fees and interest; They can have a say on the future product features of OIN Finance.
Our community members are not only from ONT but also from other public ecosystems we’re or will be working with.
It will become a truly decentralized governance structure.
OIN TOKEN UTILITY
WC
We briefly touched upon some of the OIN utilities in the previous questions, but how about you give me a bullet point summary of the various use cases within the OIN Finance ecosystem?
RZ
Of course.
OIN serves several functions, the largest of which are the governance of the OIN-DAO, serve as collateral rewards, with its first use-case leveraging its cross-chain function to map Ethereum assets onto the Ontology ecosystem.
- Used as collateral rewards, governance, and clearing compensation
- Goal of the OIN-DAO is to ensure the stability of the USDO — USD peg
- Can be used to build liquidity pools on OINSWAP
WC
I note you also have a secondary token within the ecosystem, USDO.
Can you explain its role within the ecosystem and why you chose to roll your own stable coin instead of using one of the many existing stable coins?
RZ
It’s quite simple. It serves as the stable currency for our financial system.
For any financial system to work seamlessly, there must be some form of denomination that carries an expected and relatively stable value. This is why we created USDO that will serve OIN, as we can also ensure it’s stability.
As for its functions, we saw that ONT was a great platform that was trapped without access to good DeFi products. This, coupled with their great liquidity, community, and market cap, we decided to launch a coin that will be backed by the ONT coin. It serves as the first decentralized stablecoin where users can collateralize their ONT.
WC
One thing I’m super interested on this, as a few other projects are doing similar things with rolling their own chain based stable coins…If you had say USDT support on the ONT chain, could you use that?
Would it function the same way as USDO?
RZ
Great point
We are actually thinking about PAX…which also has worked with ONT in the past
But it won’t come out with our V1 products. We’re always seeking real world assets and more unique assets to ensure the safety of the system.
At the same time however, we’re also cautious about the tendency of over-centralised assets…
WC
So while I’m asking about tokens…eGLD?
This is a new one to me, I see its from Elrond?
RZ
It’s just an example of possibility…we just announced a partnership with Elrond.
WC
Nice I have to say, Elrond has forced me to respect them over time as they’re one of the most consistent builders in the space…
I remember when people said it was just an eastern euro scam and look at it now!
Just goes to show…
RZ
Haha…I feel the same way!
OIN REVENUE MODEL
WC
So on the subject of tokens, it’s probably a great segue into how all these token mechanics work to serve OIN yourself, past the users of the network.
So what’s the revenue model past selling OIN tokens and how do the aforementioned token mechanics work into the model?
RZ
Great question and that’s something we keep asking ourselves all the time
As a DeFi infrastructure project “built to last”, we do have a long-term business model.
Sources of income and rewards for our project and governance token holders.
- Incomes from transactions through our cross-chain functionality
- Interest rate spread from our product OIN Lend
- Fees from OIN Swap and other DeFi products.
As it is a community-driven project, our community members, including governance token holders, will vote on the changes of our business model.
DEVELOPMENT ROADMAP
WC
Looking through the roadmap, I see the first product launch is OIN Swap v1.
Can you take us through what that launch will involve and what the progression through to v2 and your other product offerings will look like?
RZ
OINSWAP Pool V1 is simply OINSWAP but only with ONT assets.
V2 will then open up the rest of the blockchain world, starting with ETH…V2 will come out in 2–3 months.
V2 will then open up the rest of the blockchain world, starting with ETH. Once we’ve experienced this transition, we will move on to our OINChain, DApps, OINLEND, and wallet (the order may change). We will be building a great foundation for an infrastructure that spans blockchain and crypto itself.
Once we’ve experienced this transition, we will move on to our OINChain, DApps, OINLEND, and wallet (the order may change).
We will be building a great foundation for an infrastructure that spans blockchain and crypto itself.
WC
Can you dump the development roadmap here before we get too far into this?
RZ
Of course!
This is our current roadmap. As we complete our public sale (tomorrow! Don’t miss out!), and move on to releasing the OINSWAP V1, etc., our roadmap may change as we see higher demand or strategic value in reordering milestones.
As our industry is changing at a rapid pace, we are not afraid of pivoting or adapting our strategy where necessary. This is of course only if we see significant value in reordering our planned releases.
The contents themselves however, we’re confident in. We believe our product portfolio brings great synergy within OIN and within blockchain itself.
WC
Do you plan to develop on, or support other chains past ONT and ETH?
RZ
Of course.
We already have Qtum and eGLD (Elrond) on board.
We plan to add many more, so stay tuned!
WC
How about anything that may not be on the roadmap for now.
Any hidden surprises for us along the way?
RZ
Wouldn’t be hidden if I told you now, would it?
Haha jokes aside, you should be excited for our development, because we sure are. Our team and advisors have extensive experience in blockchain, but we’re all excited.
We have some great partnerships we’re eyeing, some incredible newsworthy developments coming, and a whole host of things we have planned. I hope you’ll stay tuned!
PARTNERSHIPS
WC
How about other partners in the crypto space?
Who would be the targets and what intended purpose/utility would you have for them on the OIN network?
RZ
The easiest sell we have for the crypto space is that their users can leverage and/or stake their coin without actually exiting. For example, if Qtum users want to take part in DeFi, they don’t have to sell on the market, putting downward pressure on their price. Qtum holders can just plug into our platform and use OINLEND or OINSWAP at their discretion.
As for targets, we obviously are eyeing the large market cap companies that have a massive untapped pool of liquidity for DeFi. This is for obvious reasons.
Business targets though, become more interesting. We could potentially plug into many different types of platforms, from payment systems, wallets, to oracles. The possibilities are endless, and our targets have been highly receptive so far.
COMPETITORS
WC
We touched on it briefly in the intro, but as a project with DeFi in your name, you’re kind of up against EVERY DeFi project haha!
So dial it back for me. Who do you consider your true competitors in the space?
RZ
REN is one of the key competitors.
In DeFi, their role is to help project non-ETH assets into the Ethereum network as an approach to achieve cross-chain interoperability.
But they fail to address the congestion and gas limit challenges, which has made Ethereum increasingly expensive to run any DeFi transactions.
OIN Finance has taken the opposite approach. We restructure ETH assets on other blockchain networks that have demonstrated much higher-performance.
In this way, we kill two birds with one stone — we integrate more public blockchain communities to the Greater DeFi Ecosystem centered around Ethereum while solving its scalability problem. As a DeFi infrastructure provider, we help build dapps for blockchain networks that have not yet tapped into DeFi.
There are only a few that truly offers cross-chain compatibility, with usually different products at that. Where we differ changes from project to project, but the main points are a mix of these:
- We are building a suite of products, from the DEX to lending to a stablecoin
- Our mission is to become the gateway into defi. That means integrate and free up the crypto that is trapped within their own system
- Our mission also means we’re building a foundation for the infrastructure of DeFi
The last point is crucial in my view. As stated many times by the best business minds in the world, vision, your mission, your culture is what makes or breaks a company.
It’s what sets you apart.
Even if you do what appears to be the same thing as the next guy on the surface, your end result will differ by sometimes an imperceptible amount, but in very significant ways.
I am confident in saying that the whole team at OIN believe in our mission, and that it will not only help us grow and take a stronghold position within the industry, but also fulfill the rest of our mission: to promote the DeFi space, and to help it grow to maturity.
TOKEN SALE & SUPPLY
WC
Ok this is probably the section that 99% of people following the AMA are interested in!
So firstly, can you drop the version OIN token metrics on me please?
RZ
WC
How much of the sale tokens were raised in seed/private and soon to be public and at what valuation?
RZ
In total, our seed, private, and public rounds will take up 15% of our tokens, or 15M tokens. Our seed and private rounds have lockup periods, as per the whitepaper.
The valuations were as follows —
- $1M at seed — raised $20,000
- $5M at private — raised $530,000
- $8M at public — will raise $192,000
WC
What will the day one marketcap be, based off those figures and any locks involved?
RZ
10% of the tokens sold during the Seed Round will be unlocked after exchange listing and the rest will be unlocked following a schedule of 20% every 3 months.
25% of the tokens sold during the Private Rounds will be unlocked after exchange listing and the rest will be unlocked following a schedule of 25% every 3 months.
Tokens sold during the Public round will not be locked.
THIS IS IMPORTANT, we don’t have an initial listing price yet.
But the valuation following the token sale is $8M as an estimate.
WC
Can you drop an article or details on me for how to participate in the public token sale?
RZ
Of course! The medium article we have lays out the instructions.
We will also post the link to participate on Medium 30 minutes before start of registration.
The link will be live at 7:30 PM Hong Kong time, August 26th.
WC
What is the unlock schedule for team/advisor etc tokens?
RZ
Team/advisor tokens will be locked for the first six months, then unlocked 20% at every 6 month interval.
WC
I hate to be this guy, and I’m more than happy to just trade on Uniswap, but when exchange, when CEX, when Binance? Etc etc…
RZ
Haha!
I hate to be that guy, but all I can say is soon. I’m sure you know, but we can’t discuss the details of our conversations with exchanges until a date where we both agree to announce.
DUE DILIGENCE CHECKS
WC
Does OIN have a Github?
RZ
Of course.
We are transitioning onto Github, and there aren’t many commits on there yet.
WC
Where is OIN based?
RZ
You mean the company? Very hard question for blockchain companies…We’re a decentralized team.
Our office is in Singapore.
WC
Where is OIN incorporated?
RZ
We are incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.
WC
Do you have a legal opinion that your token isn’t a security?
RZ
Yes, it’s handled by a very well-known Swiss law firm.
A “MUST “ by virtually all the CEX we’ve been in discussion with.
WC
Have your smart contract’s been audited and can we see the results?
RZ
Yes…by Beosin.
We’re also talking to more 3rd parties for the auditing as it will be an ongoing process
CLOSING THOUGHTS
WC
Thanks so much for your time today Renard, wishing you all the best for the sale tomorrow!
We’ll keep the community here updated as the the sale and progress of!
RZ
Thanks a lot for having me here! Really enjoyed all the questions!
OIN Finance Resources
Website: https://oin.finance
Telegram: https://t.me/OIN_Finance_Eng
Medium: https://medium.com/oin-finance
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinanceOin
Github: https://github.com/timingex/oin
Whitepaper: https://oin.finance/file/OINWhitePaper.pdf
Wolf Crypto Resources
Public Group: https://t.me/WolfCryptoPub
News Channel: https://t.me/WolfCryptoAnnounce
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WolfCryptoGroup
