LTO Network AMA with CryptoSherlock ENG
LTO Network AMA with CryptoSherlock ENG
1) How did you even get to know each other and the team? And who initially decided to create LTO?
Rick Schmitz: The core team was already working together since 2014 doing centralized workflow solutions. Ivan joined the team when we met him at a conference and he heard that we already had lots of clients using LTO Network testnet.
I launched firm24.com in 2012. This is the biggest incorporation platform in Europe. Then I decided to whitelabeling part of the software that we developed for the platform and took part of the development core team with me. My Co-founder still leads FIRM24. Whereas I lead LTO network.
No friends, but when you work that long together you will become friends
Martijn Broersma: I joined in 2015, initially as a lawyer. Over time i was lucky enough to be able develop myself into software operations as @rickschmitz right hand for the LegalThings- and later LTO Network project where i currently oversee day-to-day operations, next to consulting clients on (decentralzied) processes.
Ivan Golovko: The team has been gathering slowly since 2012: first, we worked on incorporating enterprises - when that company became successful (it now occupies 10% of the market in its sector), added a software development company and filled the clientele. And then, when that company grew, and there was a need for several companies to transfer data and work together, they switched to the blockchain. That is, the blockchain was not a “toy” - but a necessity.
2) since you are working closely with a real business, this question has arisen: How do companies relate to the introduction of blockchain products, given? because according to most people who are not involved in the cryptoindustry is that cryptocurrency is a scam and of little use for real use.
Martijn Broersma: Indeed, when you work with clients, they don't want to have the complication of neither tokens, nor their existing IT infrastructure they already use. But that's exactly what LTO prevents.
1) Integrators or and ISV handles the token staking part, not the end clients - so it does not become a friction
2) We make sure to integrate INTO existing IT systsems instead of replacing them fully.
This is why LTO has seen tremendous success since launch, because we know what businesses need and how they work. No tech research papers, but adoption.
Rick: We are not integrating decentralized workflows at clients ourselves anymore. Having companies dealing with crypto for usage is to difficult for them. We started to hook n integrators that built solutions for their clients on top of LTO network. The integrators deal with tokens and setting up nodes. The clients get an out if the box solution
3) And question number 3 is obtained from the previous question: Given that there are not so many blockchain projects that attract customers from a real business, the next question. How often do companies turn to you? because one thing is simply fictitious partnerships that some projects rivet in bundles. and another thing is the real use of products on the blockchain. and it's really hard
Martijn Broersma: We have various ways of acquisition on new integrators. From LinkedIn, from seminars/workshops and also a lot via our community, more specifically the business band. The ‘how often’ question is a tough one to answer, since it fluctuates per day. What i can definitely say is that we attract multiple leads per week that we believe add serious value to the network and where blockchain also makes sense to use.
Rick Schmitz: This is correct. The blockchain space is full of empty partnerships just to make another annoucement. We only focus on partnerships that can bring more transactions to the platform. You wont see any parternsips that dont make sense from a business perspective from LTO Network
Ivan Golovko: Say "we are here trying to integrate the business"! = Really integrate it. Other projects / platforms are either very difficult to impeachment, or very expensive, or they cannot provide the GDPR with a match for the data - and this is now needed in Europe and the USA, and also spreads further around the world. After several years of working with the blockchain, we found exactly what the business needs (privacy and customization of workflows) with the power of decentralizing the public blockchain. Hybrid solution.
we do not anonymize leads, as other projects do, simply because we have dozens or more of them. We work with what really gives us utility and value tokens (transactions, staking) and not just empty partnerships. Here about nodes and transactions here in json option - https://lto.tools/txs
4) we had more questions, but in principle they were already answered above as part of other answers, so question number 4: Can you tell us at what stage the live contracts are now? Are they already used?
Sven Starm: LiveContracts are in the final stage of testing. We have a doing the final tests with the Dutch and Belgium government with the Waste transportation project. As soon as all tests have been completed we will do our first release. It is already open for developers to start testing with. We have released to tutorials on how to build and we are working on videos and sdks to make it easier to integrate withthem. You can find the tutorials here: https://docs.livecontracts.io/getting-started/tutorial/the-basics
Ivan Golovko: I will add a little non-technical information: they have been ready for some time and are used in the second stage of the pilot project with the rights (where the garbage is carried, here: https://docs.lto.network/project/company-area/ adoption). We also conduct trainings for BCG, Axveco, and others (for developers) on how to use them. The next stage is open-source of more detailed and understandable documentation, the developer of the section and other tools, so that anyone can take and build their Live Contract.
That is, 1) work 2) so far only with partners, for tests and training 3) we remove vidosa and write documentation (finish) for developers.
Questions from subscribers:
@Kiku_reise:
1. What are the mechanisms for the protection and punishment of malicious nodes in the LTO network?
Sven: 1. For our public chain we have blacklisting in place to disable malicious nodes. For our private chain we don't need any because users chose nodes to work with.
2. What difficulties have you encountered while your network is running?
Rick: 2. What difficulties have you encountered while your network is running?
A couple challenges: Getting your first seriously big project on LTO network took me more then a year and lot of blood sweat and tears. 2) Getting to a level of decentralization, getting more nodes to join thje network 3) building a communit: Really thankfull to have Ivan in the team
3. What is the financial status of your project?
Rick: 3. What is the financial status of your project? We have raised 5.2M. We have an anticipated burn of approx 1M in 2019. We anticipate on cashflow positive in 2021. Made with our enterprise nodes
4. Did you conduct a financial audit? If so, who did this and is it possible for us to see the audit report?
Rick: If so, who did this and is it possible for us to see the audit report? We are obligated to publish annual accounts with LTO Network BV each year. As we are based in the netherlands we are obligated to compy with all the financial rules here in the netherlands. You can always check financial reports in the chamber of commerce as we need to publish a report each year
5. Did you conduct a code audit? If so, who did this and is it possible for us to see the audit report?
Ivan: We had 2 audit communities, but otherwise the solution is already tested and working. Prav-va and large companies would not use what is unsafe.
6. How many clients does the project have now? What are the largest and most active clients?
Rick: 6. How many clients does the project have now? What are the largest and most active clients? We have over 100+ clients and more then 1M combined users that are served by integrators.
Martijn: 6. We have several integrators, that service a ton of (end)-clients themselves. Meaning that those numbers are probably in the thousands, via our integrators. Thats why the only metric we look at is the Tx/day chart, to be found at www.lto.tools
7. What are your plans for expanding the team?
Rick: 7. What are your plans for expanding the team? We have 2 new developers starting this Thursday. More are joining in september
Martijn: We try to stay as lean as possible, which we can achieve through our integrator approach from our Amsterdam HQ. If there would be an expansion, the first country we’re looking at is the US
Ivan: Also 1 new designer, 1 more ghost writer, and so on.
8. Do you continue to work on both the LTO Network and Firm24?
Rick: 8. Do you continue to work on both the LTO Network and Firm24? I am not involved at FIRM24 anymore. Only our CFO Martijn manages the finance for both companies.
Martijn: FIRM24.com and LTO Network are two different companies and will therefore both stay active. Firm24 is the biggest online notary service in the Netherlands, that obviously uses the FIRM24 network to anchor all the events that take place in their solution
9. Russian community lacks community managers. Are you planning to expand?
Ivan: Russian community has a lot of community managers, but still not that many members. We are planning to come to Russian end of this year and expand, definitely!
10. Yes, we did. It brought us credibility, a use case, connections to the government, and a very strong partner (a few).
10. Have you won the blockade of the Ministry of Justice and Security of the Netherlands? What did this bring to your project?
Martijn: We did win the blockathon in 2017, Yes! We’re coming with cool news on that continuation soon
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@YourFriendCL: What about liquidity? Are You Satisfied with it? What are your thoughts about your binance chances?
Ivan: We are also working on liquidity, yes, and on exchanges, too. But we do not make hasty decisions: many exchanges fake their user base and statistics, and ask for millions. Although the benefits of this 0, and they do not add liquidity. We focus on the main exchanges, but they take time.
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@mezoantropo21 There are a lot of other blockchain projects based in the Netherlands like v-id. How often do you interact with them?
Rick: They integrate LTO Network. V_ID is a perfect example of a integrator. They build user interface and deal with clients. We just deal with VID.
Ivan: We are like a platform-toolkit for everyone. That is, we do not sell solutions, we are like Docker: use blockchain, steak, pay for transactions (through integrators, if that’s more convenient). Therefore, all other projects are potentially our "little brothers / partners." For example, the same V-ID. They all bring adheshen to us. That is, other companies and software providers are not competitors for us. LTO grows with more and more users.
About finance, customers, and so on. Understanding "revenue" is not quite suitable for current startups (look at the companies tied to the data). They fill the user base and then implement different models. We also - it does not matter whose client, no matter who he pays - our focus on token utilization - that is, we work with other companies, integrators, etc. - and they are already doing it so that LTO has more transactions, uses, and stacking
@mezoantropo21 Do i target any particular industry like semicon, helthcare etc and deliberately work on make it happen? Or is it a matter of business opportunities presented by moment?
Ivan: Tulkit can be applied to different businesses, it is customized. We also work with integrators in different areas that can help with different areas.
Martijn: You ask, we deliver;
We made a new executive summary for all our business band members to send out to your (executive) contacts. Feedback is always welcome! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me!
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@schapridu Have you already had cases of using your Live-Contracts for drawing up rental agreements and NDA?
Rick: Yes. The contract app being launched by on of the biggest legal process automation companies in the USA Check quislex inc
Martijn: Expect a big release on this the coming weeks!
Martijn: And for the decentralized rental agreements we’re collaborating with CMS Law and M7 Real Estate.
@schapridu Some LTO marketing materials mentioned that Firm24 owns 15% of the entire legal market share. Where can we find the same statistics?
Rick: The stats are not public. But FIRM24 incorporates over 9.000 companies per year. The market was approx 66.000 last year
@schapridu Do you plan to rewrite your code from PHP to other languages?
Arnold Daniels: We have API libs for PHP, JavaScript and Java. Python is in the making. Other languages can be supported in request.
@schapridu Do you have a sales representative in the USA?
Martijn: Not yet, but as i said earlier, the USA will be our first focus country after the European countries.
Rick: Well, I am going to launch a product on. Standford on 26 september called Proofi. This is our first serious step into USA (Silicon valley). We do already have integrators in the USA
@schapridu Do you have any merger/acquisitions already planned?
Rick: No, its not the time for that yet
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@make_americagreat_again What did you do for Heineken? Just found on your web site
Martijn: Heineken uses the network through one of our integrators, TaxTimbre, for their international tax allocations.
@make_americagreat_again Most of the IT companies which implement IT-solutions for real sector earns money from consulting-support? What do you think about your product and is it possible to earn money after implementation?
Rick: Yes, both from a consulting perspective and support using LTO going forward in their IT infra strucutre. If you are interested please DM for the integrator presentation and integrator demo portal
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@stesionare We have seen that you already have partnerships with companies from the real sector, such as Deloitte, CMS, Hainiken, Sign Request and more. How tightly are they integrated into the LTO?
Sven: Most of them use our APIs to do integration of the blockchain, some of them are using the LegalThings product which itself leverages on the LTO Network chain.
@stesionare And what images do you have implemented the conformity of the GDPR? After all, there it is necessary to delete the data, and then the blockchain
Rick: We have implemented privacy by design. The data shared into the live contracts is only shared between the participants (layer 2 P2P data sharing). In layer 2 the data is deletable. But you can always verify whats steps where taken in. the process that led to the current state of the process. We use communicating finite state machines to structure live contract processes. Only the block transactions in layer 2 are anchored on layer 1 (our public chain layer).
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@genrixxx Do you have other examples of live contracts work besides that stated on your website?
Do you have other current agreements to share with us?
How can you evaluate demand on live contracts and where is your target audience?
Speaking about target audience, the fact you are having AMA in russian channel, do you consider us as investors or potential clients?
Martijn: I don't think someone would use your product in Russia due to lack of blockchain culture in Russia, absense of laws and other problems of economic environment
Martjin: If it’s not on our website or blog, we didnt announce it yet. As said before; we don’t do empty partnerships, so a roll-out should be imminent before announcement.
Live Contracts are new, yet marketable as the ‘tested and proved business process version of a smart contract’ for instance. This takes time, but im 100% positive eventually it will be a blockchain household name.
I have to disagree with you on the use of the product in Russia. The russian version of SignRequest (our EU-signing partner) could easily integrate LTO Network, because why shouldnt they eventually?
@genrixxx Are there any plans of making open-source code?
Rick: Yes, end of this summer.
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@AndriyM0928 Are you planning to get big government contracts? This will be official recognition!
Ivan: We already have a few, but this is only the beginning. Or have not looked yet? LTO has over a million users through integrators. https://blog.lto.network/report-q1-q2-2019-lto-network/
Martijn: Government and NGO’s are a major focus point of our operations. In those sectors, repetitive processes are all over the place, and therefore a great target for LTO Network to digitize and streamline
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@boot1985 Hello, Team. What's your favourite expansion of "LTO"?
Ivan: Korean exchanges Wait a minute, are you talking about encryption? lettuce tomato onion
Martijn: Liquid Task Orchestration
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@axer_ego After the ICO, what activity are you proud of in the project and what you have failed to do during this time?
Martijn: I believe that we can be proud of the enormous progress we made in general (for an overview, see: https://blog.lto.network/report-q1-q2-2019-lto-network/). Launching in a bear market, we still achieved amazing on-chain results due to the relentless effort by every single team member in the past 6 months.
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@Hansice Do you have any limitations for integration? For example, Iran goverment wants integration of their some programm on LTO Network. What shoud you do?
Rick: We cannot deliver paid support to restriucted countries. Also they cant buy LTO form the exchange. So they must turn to DEX in order to buy LTO and use it. But it is possible to join the network (permissionless). And they can use layer 2 to streamline their rocket program, as layer 2 is open source
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@Alex_Rumata What changes are expected for the community platform (social mining)? 2. Is LTO Network collaboration planned with countries other than the EU? (I hope that I did not miss the news about this, Binans dex does not count 😀))
Ivan: 1) in the Russian chat yesterday just discussed, this week we will decide exactly @LTOnetworkRU
2) yes, we are developing to the Middle East + USA (after all, there are global software providers, we are not limited by geographic territory)
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@Juullii Have you had any legal problems after the ICO?
Ivan: 0, none at all. We are in the legal sphere, tax, and business registration. Therefore, there are no problems at all, we have 3 opinions.
@Juullii Got a question regrading the supply: CMC shows 350m as total supply, while Coingecko shows 45m only. What is the supply exactly?
Ivan: Correct capplay on the marketmarket. 185M about now. Full 450M.
But 50M are forever shut up of them, and another 80 are not inflation. That is, in fact, except for the team, everything has long been unlocked.
About others here:
https://docs.lto.network/project/company-area/token/distribution. That's better?
@Jullii Why 50M locked forever instead of burnt?
Ivan: To have a steak for "voting" in the system, because it is PoS
@Jullii I wanted to understand if there are services you are providing that will not require clients to lease or buy LTO tokens. Any services where clients can pay with fiat as an option?
Rick: We do have fiat payment options bying integrated in LTO products. Proofi will be the first one that has credit system with fiat but LTO is required to use Proofi. They clients using it wont notice.
Ivan: Indeed, when you work with clients, they do not want to complicate the business with tokens, nor the existing IT infrastructure that they already use. But that’s exactly what LTO aims to prevent.
1) Integrators or ISV process part of the breakdown of tokens, not end clients - so this does not become a problem.
2) We are trying to integrate INTO (integrate on the go, let's say) into existing IT systems, rather than replacing them completely.
That is why LTO has achieved tremendous success since its launch - we know what a business needs and how it works. No technical research work, but advices
@Jullii Are there goals for the amount of tx per day? Is so, can you share how many you would like to see in 2019?
Ivan: Plz don't say ur fav number Rick LOL
@Jullii Any new software competitors?
Ivan: Software providers are NOT a competition - they are all potential partners. That is, the more of them, so, on the contrary, it is better for LTO