AMA With Bob Reid (Thu 12th Oct 2023) — Transcript

Jon: Will the web wallet be accessible via mobile in beta? I understand there are apps, but one would hope that it would still be accessible through a responsive site.

The plan is to have the wallet be accessible via mobile in beta

Yoki: If the tokenized stocks come by eoy, will we actually be able to use them throughout DeFi? Any collabs with projects to enable collateralized loans against X.c assets and stuff like that? Or will we just be able to look at them in our everwallet — same as if I just bought the stock on Robinhood?

Great questions. You will actually be able to hold the tokens in your wallet, so more than simply digitizing as others, like Binance and FTX attempted. Also, you’ll be able to send/receive and a few other features. We have legal opinions that tokenized assets via Everest can be used as collateral on permissionless networks, and that is 1000X more valuable than inside the Everest ecosystem. BTW, that puts Everest in very rare air….. representing tokenized securities on permissionless networks is quite the needle to thread on a technical and legal basis. It’s ridiculously hard to pull that off, and on a personal note I’m expecting an honorary JD sometime in the near future.

freedomAI: If chainlink's CCIP is used worldwide, it is certain that $ID's products will be used. It's integrated with chainlink here, right?

Yes, it is integrated with Chainlink. And if CCIP is going to be moving any value (via smart contracts), then they will need to ensure identity verification, KYC, risk rating, etc are implemented — and Everest is ideal for this kind of service. And if Chainlink isn’t moving the value, and that function is being done by two counterparties who are leveraging CCIP messaging, then they will need Everest’s identity oracle. Either way, Everest helps in this scenario.

BTW, as Chainlink w/ CCIP gets more into RWAs, the requirements for identity verification and compliance go up exponentially. See above. RWAs in the form of securities are not “money”, nor “utility tokens” with basic requirements……securities require a huge amount of compliance.

palmcivet: When will the identity status oracle be available on sepolia?

Not in the near term, but have them reach out if you know them.

Aiman (1): Are any institutions such as banks or governments planning to implement Everest technology, and do you have connections to showcase your product to them?

We stopped working with governments a few years ago because TBH they consume lots of resources, and don’t lead to recurring revenue. So, we’ve been focussing on TradFi institutions who can effectively white-label Everest’s custodial solution. That said, we ended up with good case studies of delivering programmable money, cross border and compliance.

Aiman (2): Are any of the major players in the industry aware of Everest and its capabilities, because if no one knows you exist, it’s as if you don’t exist?

Some players know we exist, and I’m not sure about others. I hear ya though. It’s been tough to break through the noise, and that’s something I expect will change with the introduction of swapping and stocks.

Aiman (3): What is the use case for the ID token, and what specific problem does it solve?

I suggest you read about the Tokenomics model: https://everest-foundation.medium.com/tokenomics-summary-8c7e5517698c

And here’s an explanation on tokenomics utility and model: https://medium.com/everestdotorg/what-makes-a-tokenomics-model-best-in-class-746fa1ffe173

stuntmanKEV: I have a question about the .c assets. who has actual custody of the asset (BTC, TSLA etc.) and if the entity that has custody goes under, what are the assurances that our assets are not gone too? or what insurance does that entity have to protect our assets? i think a clear infographic on asset custody would be helpful because i know it’ll come up.

tangential to that, will we be able to transfer BTC.c out of everchain to our own bitcoin wallet at some point? or will we be limited to the widget options and have to convert BTC.c to something else?

Fiat.c are held in custody by licensed and regulated banks, and in segregated accounts. Crypto.c are held in custody by either Everest or exchange partners. Stock.c are held in custody by licensed broker/dealers.

Yes, you can transfer/swap ETH.c to ETH on its native chain. — delivering ETH to your wallet Probably BTC.c to USDT is more likely, as we have not implemented our BTC wallet yet. BTW, since Everwallet is BIP39 based, we could generate a BTC wallet — and then “listen to the network”…..just a matter of prioritization of resources.

Dimitris: Please list the past announced partners and the current status of partnership (terminated/scope completed/ongoing/integrated/implemented/under implementation/under integration etc)

The majority of our previously announced partners are delaying due to a combination of their internal governance (i.e. “now we’re a DAO and can’t make a decision out of fear of liability), our delay in delivering (combination of chokepoint 2.0, FTX and our ability to code fast enough), and “crypto winter” scaring/delaying a lot of TradFi. BTW, there is a pallpable difference in attitudes in Europe and Asia compared to the US……”crypto is a four letter word in the US”, whereas in the EU, I’m seeing banks, brokers, everyone gearing up for 2024.

Coco: Has there been any private funding raised since the original token offering in February 21? Is there substantial fiat runway for the next 5–10 years? Do you feel this is a potential impediment to mass adoption for Everest?

Everest should definitely raise more capital, which will help it drive mass adoption. There are numerous examples of companies simply buying there way into the market, and I’m not opposed to that approach.

Coco: Has Everest been involved in the CCIP development process? Where/when do you think Everest would come into play as I see they went live on base today? Would coinbase handle the KYC for this and it would vary by integration whether identity is handled in house or outsourced?

We discussed CCIP a few times with the Chainlink team. Per the above, Everest helps if/when CCIP actually moves value (right now, they are mostly messaging); that is, if CCIP facilitates transfer of tokens, not just messages the state on two sides, then the law in most jurisdictions requires identity verification, KYC, etc. — and that’s where Everest helps.

Coco: Are there any recent developments with the XRP ODL integration? Bob, do you personally know David Schwartz, I think you are both absolute legends and know exactly what is coming up in this bright long future of cryptocurrency/cross border payments

No recent developments, and I don’t know David well (we met once). I’m closer with other folks at Ripple.

Jaro: How is XRP ODL integrated into Everest?

Almost every single transaction Everest does pulls XRP via the ODL service. So, if a user wants to purchase $LINK from fiat, we see the payment message (not the money) and instantly borrow XRP and convert that into fiat, and use the fiat to purchase LINK immediately; this way, we don’t wait for fiat to clear, which can take days — and the user gets their LINK quickly.

Coco: Do you believe Link + XRP + Everest combined together can completely decentralize banking? If so, how do you think each one would piggyback off the other to make it happen?

• Everest has the requisite licenses, integrated compliance, fiat-on/off ramps, plus tokenization engine
• Ripple has access to a fast, cheap chain, plus more exchanges, and a warchest of capital
• Chainlink brings in the messaging and data required to mesh it all together

In sum, yes, we could collectively decentralize banking

Coco: What does the patent cover and what is its current status?

We have three patents pending. Mostly, they are related to the biometric cloud wallet, and legal compliance mapped into smart contracts. All of them have been reviewed by the examiner, and we are narrowing claims (ie. we started with 17 claims on the first patent, and the examiner said 13 were valid; this is great, as it means that they did not throw out the patent application)

Coco: Are you familiar with the European Digital Identity Wallet being pushed from the EU? Were you ever involved/provide guidance to the framework? How would everest stack against that, they also claim to be giving users full control of personal data. Would this be a competitor to Everest?

Yes, we’re aware of the European Digital Identity Wallet. No, I didn’t spend cycles on guidance (see above about govts sucking you dry, and not paying your dev team). Everest is very competitive in this space…..mostly because we offer a combined Identity + Crypto + Fiat wallet, whereas others only offer one of those. Again, Everest is like a physical wallet with multiple cards, including identity, fiat banking, crypto, and soon stocks and social media.

bethebank: Bob- what does success for Everest look like to you? 5 years from now what do you hope Everest is? What do you expect to see Vs your hopes?

Great question. I hope Everest is the go-to, easy-to-use wallet/dashboard (don’t lose your keys; my mom can use DeFi) with lots of functionality integrated. See above with Identity + Crypto + Fiat. And it’s worth mentioning that Everest is the “bank”, which is really driving sovereign identity at THE Foundation. Over the past five years, I’ve seen almost all “identity” solutions in blockchain die; and that was due to users not caring much about identity. The few who are still relevant, including Everest, leveraged a killer app (ie faster, cheaper, better money, crypto, value) to drive adoption. So, I hope we see 100s of millions of sovereign users collaborating and using Everest’s services if/when they want to.

stuntmanKEV: The swap feature looks to be really ramping up. “liquidity provided by everest” and “no network fees on everchain”! very nice. my questions pertain to swaps on everchain: why is the ID token not currently available for swapping “from” or “to” in the everwallet swap feature on everchain? and will this be changed soon? do swaps over a certain threshold require KYC? any other insights into the scope and potential for swaps/trades here on everchain?

We opened swap to/from of ID on Uniswap, not Everchain; there are multiple reasons for this, and I don’t expect that will change soon. Under $1k there is essentially no KYC; $1k to $10k there is traditional KYC (scan your doc + selfie); over $10k we get into enhanced due diligence. Again, just applying the law into code.

TBH I’m most excited about BTC, SOL, HBAR, XRP, MATIC, XLM on everchain……all swappable. Adding AAPL, TSLA, GOOG, FB, SPDR to be swappable from ETH, BTC, EUR.c, etc is game-changing. And getting those effectively out to permissionless L1s as collateral is the holy grail.

stuntmanKEV: it seems that staking rates decrease yearly and that makes good sense from a tokenomics emissions standpoint. are there plans to reduce further from 18% APY? if so, approximately when would that be scheduled to happen?

I’ll look into that and get back to you.

Coco: If Everest achieves its goal over the next few years, what do you expect the staking rewards percentage to be with users who delegate to nodes? Will it be consistent or will it also decrease annually like the current staking rewards structure? I’m looking way ahead into future, when nodes are all set in place. Will those reward percentages be consistent or also decrease annually percent wise? Thank you!!

I recommend you review the tokenomics paper above. Most of the important decision making is or will be done by the community.

Coco: When will nfts be added to the wallet? Is it a complex issue that takes time or can they be added pretty quickly? And if they hypothetically get added, is it possible to access opensea and other marketplaces through Everest web wallet like a web browser? Thank you!!

It’s on the list of stuff we need to add, but stocks and a few other things take priority these days. Everest Names is something to look for that is going in that direction.

BTW, what do you all think of buying a name for 1/10th the price of ENS? ie bob@everest. is $15 or $30 for 10 or 20 years?

dark blue: Could you elaborate on the liquidity provided for swapping/buying ID? Who is providing the liquidity ? It also seems that price of the ID token is not affected when being purchased through the widget — is this correct and will this be fixed?

I can’t comment on liquidity being provided. Also, it’s nearly impossible to track all the ins/outs of the ID token circulation in real-time. To give you a sense, most of us see 116M circulating supply, but we all know that a huge percentage of those are either locked up, or there are partners who are simply sitting on their tokens, unstaked. So, real circulating supply is a fraction of what is published. Similarly, if you grock the tokenomics, there will be a constant ebb and flow of ID tokens used for all the various services; as such, circulation will go up and down a lot.

dark blue: Could you comment on the outcome of the latest marketing campaign (who it performed compared to your expectations etc.). Any learnings or changes that you have taken away from it?

Biggest takeaway is that biometrics still scare people (in industrialized markets). TBH I thought we’d do much better, especially considering how much better our solution is compared to Worldcoin. That said, what we saw is similar to Worldcoin…..you can get lots of sign ups in emerging markets, and less so in industrialized countries.

What we did show with that campaign is that we solve two problems that X/Twitter, Meta, Reddit, LinkedIn, et al. are having: anonymous proof of humanness, not a bot, and a wallet connected to a global financial platform. A few people noticed.

I’m more optimistic about the upcoming campaign, which is basically a cheaper Uniswap…..paying affiliates 10% of fees. And adding names & stocks after that!

stuntmanKEV: are the majority of crypto projects actually worried about MiCA and/or other incoming crypto regulations? and by worried i mean are projects actually working to come into compliance? or are we gonna see them wait until enforcement starts handing out penalties? will there be an infographic available to disseminate that shows how integrating everest will solve all/most compliance challenges?

Most of the conversations I’m having lean towards the latter……DEXes are waiting until they get the letter and fine before they implement compliance. The vast majority know it’s going to be something they must deal with in 2024, but they don’t want to lose users and revenue in the near term. I expect it’ll be like 2019 when CEXes had to do it, and 50% of them went out of business in the following 1–2 years. Everest can certainly help, and I have a few infographics that explain it. Probably need to do more and better.

Coco: Are there current, ongoing partnerships that you cannot elaborate on due to NDA? Or has every partner been publicly announced to this point and there is no NDA attached to the ongoing developments of the partnerships? Thank you!!

100% there are discussions and partnerships I cannot divulge at this time. I take NDAs seriously, and our partners respect that. Sorry that I can’t be more forthcoming.

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