Yesterday on March 31th, James Anderson, CEO of RioDeFii was invited by Cryptos NewCapital to a LIVE AMA on their Telegram Channel. this was a great opportunity for our CEO to introduce RioDeFi and engage with the crypto community.
Cryptos NewCapital is a Portuguese group dedicated to the exchange of information and opinions about the world of cryptocurrencies so the event was transalted live in Portuguese to help the 600+ attendees to understnad what we are doing.
A giveaway campaign was organised to further engage with the community. 5 people whose questions were shortlisted and answwered by James Andersion won RFUEL:
@KASG95
@wiegandangelo
@katelynnwilderm
@TenaOctroi
@ghuibs
Congratulations to them! Each one of the winners will receive 123 RFUEL. If you are one of them, we invite you to contact the administrators of Cryptos NewCapital Telegram group and share your RioWallet address with them.
Below is the transcript of the online AMA if you want to know more about RioDeFi. Portuguese speakers are also invited to join our dedicated RioDeFi Telegram Group here to connect with Portuguese-speaking crypto lovers and RioDeFi’s believers around the world.
Introduction Questions
1. What is RioDeFi’s all about?
James Anderson:
RioDeFi is a blockchain technology company which aims to bridge decentralised finance (DeFi) to traditional finance, making cryptocurrencies accessible to all. We aim to achieve mass adoption by making cryptocurrencies so easy to use that even my parents or grandparents could use them. This happens by massively simplifying the user experience and having integrated services that makes the user’s life easier. To do so, we are developing a few products that we think are essential to enable cryptocurrencies to become mainstream:
- RioWallet: a crypto wallet supporting several cryptocurrencies with easy on and off ramp services. (e.g the ability to bring cash in and out from a bank account, credit card and other traditional payment method). With our OAuth integration (automated solutions for users to login from a Gmail or Facebook account) coming in a few weeks, we think we can bring blockchain to the masses, which other wallets have yet to do. Below is a screenshot of RioWallet V2 that will be released in a few days. We have put the user at the center and emphasis on the UX to make it more intuitive, organised and easy to use. The navigation for the users is clearer with the most important information visible, the dashboard is more balanced.
- RioChain: RioDeFi’s blockchain, developed in-house and built on Substrate. The idea of having our own blockchain is to get more flexibility and build something sustainable. RioChain is faster, more scalable (up to 3,000 TPS compared to Ethereum’s 17 TPS), and has lower transaction fees than Ethereum.
- RioPay: targets solutions for merchants and includes the launch of RioDeFi’s debit card to allow people to easily spend using their cryptocurrencies with merchants.
2. You are strongly associated with the Polkadot ecosystem. How are you related to Polkadot?”
James Anderson:
We chose Polkadot (https://polkadot.network/) and to build RioChain on the Substrate (https://www.substrate.io/) framework because we believe that cross-chain DeFi (CrossFi) is the next big evolution of blockchains. Until recently, blockchain could not communicate with each other. Polkadot is the next generation of blockchains. It answers the need to connect blockchains together, so the entire industry grows together and transfers value safely across networks.
RioDeFi is working on getting set up on the Rococo v1 Parachains Testnet to be ready for a parachain auction, later on in 2021. We are also in talks with various exchanges about their parachain auction programs, because there are some really interesting liquid staking options available. We definitely plan on securing a Parachain slot this year.
3. RioDeFi is often described as an ecosystem which incubates external dApps. Can you clarify on what you are trying to build?
James Anderson:
As described previously, RioDeFi is building a complex network with interconnected services. We have our own applications built on RioChain which include RioWallet and RioPay and on top of it, there are a number of decentralized and external applications (dApps) hosted on RioChain:
- MANTRA DAO (https://mantradao.com), a platform for savings and lending activities. They have a lot of innovative features including MANTRA POOL which is a sort of lottery system where by using OM, you can actually burn it to help increase or contribute. The KARMA protocol that they’re building is going to offer a new form of credit scoring for the decentralized financial space. They’re going to move more and more modules into RioChain particularly as we build out our own DeFi ecosystem with more swapping and other things of this nature.
- LABS (https://labsgroup.io) which is doing the tokenization of Real Estate. This is a great project for people that are interested in investing in the property market because with a hundred dollars, they could actually own a piece of property in various locations around the world. LABS will offer some great opportunities for getting tokenization of beachfront villas in Thailand for example or in Southeast Asia, It’s really cool to see that they’ve chosen RioChain to build their platform on. As well, they’re going to require security tokens so we’re actually developing a security token standard on RioChain to help support the LABS ecosystem. I think security tokens will continue to become very prominent in the coming years now that the space is a lot more mature.
- Lepricon (https://lepricon.io), a gamified platform for prediction markets. It takes some of the best concepts of DeFi such as liquidity provision and yield farming. It’s a kind of “Super Dapp” which will provide 3 games with:
- Bitpool: users could guess whether the price of Bitcoin or Ethereum is going to go up or down and they can win rewards if their predictions are correct;
- KQJ: a card game that allows users to pick a card and according on if they guess correctly, then they can actually purchase bitcoin at a discounted price;
- Fans Predict: a game to guess the outcomes of sports events, elections and various world events in the future.
Those are the dApps that are currently building on RioChain, but more are coming with a new dApp in partnership with a loyalty program firm, that will be announced this or next week…
4. You recently announced your expansion in LATAM and also have a TG group for portuguese speakers. Why did you choose to expand here and what’s your plans in those markets?
James Anderson:
Indeed, we were thrilled to announce our expansion in the Latin American market 2 weeks ago, here is our article: https://riodefiofficial.medium.com/riodefi-expands-to-latin-america-f12aaecd1558 Many Latin American countries, such as Argentina and Venezuela, have experienced massive inflation in recent years and we think our ecosystem and solutions can bring alternatives, help people to take control of their assets, start saving through our upcoming DeFi pools and staking programs.
As for Portuguese speakers, Brazil is among the top 10 countries visiting our website so we thought about opening a group for this community a few months ago. It’s actually our CM, Mario from Portugal who accelerated this process. He reached out to us in December because he believes in our project and wanted to start a group to raise awareness about RioDeFi so here we are today with a friendly community of 120 portuguese speakers animated by him which you are more than welcome to join at: https://t.me/riodefiPTBR
5. Rio DeFi will have a debit card, when can we expect it to be released?
James Anderson:
Indeed, we announced the Debit Card as one of the benefits people holding the LABS-RioDeFi NFT card would access. This debit card will be released in Q2 2021. We will be sharing more information about RioCard in the coming weeks!
6. Will the community be able to stake RFUEL on RioWallet?
James Anderson:
Yes, absolutely! Staking RFUEL from RioWallet will be possible in RioWallet V2.1 in April. In the meantime, people can stake RFUEL on MANTRA DAO, BitMax, and KuCoin.Yes, absolutely! Staking RFUEL from RioWallet will be possible in RioWallet V2.1 around April/May. In the meantime, people can stake RFUEL on MANTRA DAO, BitMax, KuCoin and KingSwap with an APR at 50%.
7. We know many projects are interested in building on RioChain, are you thinking to have a LaunchPad to help them Launch ?
James Anderson:
We are currently not looking to set up a Launchpad however, we announced on Tuesday that RioDeFi has launched a DeFi incubator to bring an interoperable blockchain hub to Asia. This hub will enable projects to develop use cases from idea to proven concept, advice on regulatory and sustainable tokenomic frameworks and provide fundraising support from a network of notable venture capitalists and investors. The hub is a move that will accelerate the legitimization of DeFi and strengthen the bridge between the nascent space and traditional finance. For more information, here is our article: https://riodefiofficial.medium.com/riodefi-is-disrupting-asia-fintech-landscape-with-its-interoperable-blockchain-hub-6493f104accc
8. Do you have any plans to be listed on tier one exchanges like Binance?
James Anderson:
Yes. We are seeking to be listed on major exchanges including Binance.
9. What can you tell us about NFT and the recent launch of the first NFT by RioDeFi?
We launched our first NFT initiative in collaboration with LABS 2 weeks ago: the LABS RioDeFi NFT Membership Cards (a blue and a red card with different benefits embedded to them) which could be acquired through an Auction on a bidding process by our community members. This initiative was successful because all the red cards were sold out! The cards will be distributed this week to the winners. Each card gives them access to several benefits including RFUEL airdrop for a 12 month period, discount off to LABS tokenized properties, a VIP access to Boxmining group and to rio debit card (for the red card owners).
Rio, the psychic whale created in collaboration with PolkaPet was the second NFT initiative we launched last Friday. 800 NFTs collectibles (prints representing Rio) were SOLD OUT on BondSwap within 4 hours! Here is a screenshot of our creature:
Do not worry though, some NFTs owners may flip their cards on the Open Sea marketplace at any time so keep an eye on the platform if you want to be among the few privileged ones who have it in their portfolio.
Moving forward we will announce a third NFT initiative in April. Without disclosing too much, what I can share with you is that we are collaborating with Japanese artists on this project and we cannot wait to share more about it with you, when times come! If you are interested in NFTs, we encourage you to subscribe to our social media (either our Telegram Channel (in portuguese) at https://t.me/riodefiPTBR or to our Twitter account (in English) at https://twitter.com/riodefiofficial so you won’t miss any news related to this growing trends in the crypto space!
Community Questions
Question 1
@KASG95: Many projects recommend implementing ZK-Rollup privacy in DeFi to provide greater security, do you think that is true? And if RioDeFi prioritizes security, then do you plan to implement privacy? or is it already totally safe?
James Anderson: We’re actively looking into ZK-Rollups now for ways to improve both the privacy and efficiency of RioChain’s cross-chain DeFi hub.
Question 2
@wiegandangelo: Nowdays So many Rug Pulls and exit scam happening . How Users can trust your project and how you are different from others? What makes your project different from others and what are some of it is practical usecases?
James Anderson: Yes, this issue definitely plagues the cryptocurrency space. All of our founding team members at RioDeFi have been in the industry for many years, and we’re all committed to advancing a world in which everyone has access to DeFi services. We’re all very public-facing and transparent. I’ve been in the cryptocurrency space since 2013, and my passion lies in creating a more free and fair financial ecosystem where people have access to financial freedom.
The practical use cases for RioDeFi’s ecosystem are many. We’re building a cross-chain DeFI hub that will connect many blockchains to each other and to traditional financial institutions. We will have various DeFi staking pools, CeFi savings services, RioExchange, RioWallet, NFTs, cross chain assets, swappable assets, a DEX, debit cards, dapps, RioChain (a layer-1 mainnet that intends to become a Polkadot Parachain this year), a kusama parachain, a BSC bridge, an OKExChain bridge, a big list of partnerships, incubated projects including MANTRA DAO, LABS, Lepricon, and over 5 more on the way. We are in this for the long-run, and I can assure you that I will put my full heart and soul behind building up this ecosystem for many years to come.
Question 3
@katelynnwilderm: Crisis is an opportunity! What opportunity did the RioDeFi team see for themselves in this crisis?
James Anderson: Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic has been very tragic globally, with far too many casualties. Amidst chaos, there is always opportunity. It’s been great to see humanity rally together to rapidly create vaccines, mask distribution infrastructure, care packages, community support groups, and more.
At RioDeFi, we’ve taken the time to really build up our local community in Hong Kong. We have been able to build an incubation hub that allows the brightest minds in the industry to come together to build sustainable projects that can disrupt major industries, including finance, real estate, gaming, and more. Without the ability to travel, we’ve been able to focus on building up our ecosystem.
Question 4
@TenaOctroi: What’s your outlook on the future of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain?
James Anderson: The future of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies is very bright. We’re witnessing the birth of a new financial ecosystem, powered by Web 3 technologies that will create a more decentralized, user-centric internet of both information and money. The world is changing incredibly fast, and the blockchain industry even faster. Even with Bitcoin nearing $60,000 again, the blockchain industry is still very young at just 12 years old. This technology has finally captured the mainstream media’s attention, but yet many still think blockchain is a fad or a scam.
Blockchains will ultimately bring increased transparency, collaboration, and efficiency to the global financial system, and I’m proud to be a part of this revolutionary industry.
Question 5
@ghuibs: How many partners currently have trusted $Rio Defi technology and what benefits do these partners bring to Rio Defi and vice versa?
James Anderson: We currently have 3 projects building on RioChain, and many more in incubation. RioChain offers a number of benefits to them, including 2 second block times, up to 3,000 transactions per second, and super low gas fees (0.1 RFUEL). Additionally, 20% of transaction fees generated by the network are paid back to its dApps.
Question 6
@katelynnwilderm: I want to have a LONG TERM INVESTMENT with this PROJECT, but I’m in doubts right now, how can you convince and assure me this project is SAFE and PROFITABLE?
James Anderson: As I mentioned earlier, RioChain is building a large ecosystem that can be summarized as an interoperable cross-chain DeFi hub that connects blockchains to each other and to traditional finance. Our international team is committed to building an ecosystem that lifts all legitimate projects. We’re actually releasing an article very soon about how we’ve delayed our team & advisor token release schedule by an additional 6 months, because our ecosystem has taken longer to build than we’d anticipated. We believe that team tokens are rewards, and they should only be earned after we’ve delivered on our promises to our community.
Our v2 RioWallet desktop version will be out very soon, as well as the v1 Android version of RioWallet. Functionality will release in phases, starting with cross-chain assets and a new UI at launch, followed by OAuth, then RFUEL staking, DeFi Pools, and simple swaps. We’re in the queue for Rococo Testnet and are excited to start testing the Parachain auction functionality. We’re also in talks with major exchanges and big partners. Major announcements are coming for RioDeFi in Q2.
We love and appreciate our supportive community who has been helping us since day 1. We are all proud of the work we do, and we promise to deliver powerful products that will leave a lasting impact on the blockchain industry.
About RioDeFi
RioDeFi accelerates the mass adoption of digital assets by bridging traditional and decentralized finance. Our vision is a world in which everyone has access to decentralized financial (DeFi) services.
We develop solutions that connect banking institutions with blockchain systems. Our applications enable lower transaction fees, faster confirmations, more efficiency, better returns for savings account holders, and global reach.
To learn more about the latest developments regarding RioChain, visit: Riodefi.com and join the conversation on our social media in Twitter and Telegram.
