Q: What do you think, with so many advantages of NB-IoT module it can be used for example in space or it is possible to modify it for such purposes?
A: As to IoT use cases, we expect the heterogeneity among different devices, so that when we design the blockchain, we have taken it into account to define different roles in a blockchain network (e.g., full node, light node, light client, …). Thanks for calling NB-IoT module out, which is an interesting technology we would investigate into. We have discussed and brainstormed on possible optimization on communication channel among nodes, but we didn’t get to concrete actions yet, as we have a long list of high priority challenges need to address before that. Eventually, we believe we will and need to get to this step.
Q: Team without a doubt plays the majority of a role in bringing project into fruition but community and backers with their trust support and loyalty play a huge role as well usually overseen. I absolutely applause and admire that IoTeX with its backers decided to extend the lock-up period of the tokens team foundation and private investors by half a year. This means that everyone included believe in this project even in dark times and that speaks volumes about the significance and potential of IoTeX. Could you expand on if the consensus on a decision was agreed upon easily and unanimously? Why was the decision made? How will the extension of the lock-up help in the long run ?
A: Thanks for the supporting feedback to our token release update. We have discussed several potential options with our private sale investors, IoTeX core team, and advisors, who are most affected by this decision due to the extended lockup of their tokens. We are lucky and proud to have overwhelming support. The overall process was not difficult as expected since all of them, including our team members, have the long-term belief in our project, and are even more motivated than ever to deliver on our vision.
For the reason we make this decision — Looking forward, we know that for IoTeX to succeed, we must not only deliver on our technical roadmap but also re-align specific components of our project to best sync with our roadmap and ensure the longevity of our IoTeX. Since we issued the IOTX token in late May, we have learned a great deal regarding the role of our token in the broader IoTeX ecosystem. The IOTX token will play a crucial role in the IoTeX Mainnet — it will be used as “gas” for the blockchain, root/subchain management, network-wide governance, and more. However, today we are still in Testnet development phase and the current ERC-20 token lacks real utility outside of the secondary trading market. Furthermore, we fundamentally believe that the majority of IoTeX tokens should be distributed as a native token (not ERC-20), which will best incentivize the development of IoT DApps and token ecosystems on the IoTeX Mainnet. Taking these considerations into account, we believe the most effective approach to guarantee a thriving IoTeX Mainnet is to align our token distribution schedule with the public launch of the IoTeX Mainnet in Q1 2019.
Q: IoTeX mainnet token will definitely be a must for Roll-Dpos consensus for example but for mass adoption stability and easy of payments will be musts no question. Let’s analyze an example ending with a question: You are partnered with GSE network as a sharing economy dapp to run on IoTeX blockchain. Let’s say Epik wants to rent a home via GSE to eliminate centralized fees. Do you see him sending fiat to Coinbase, buying btc on exchanges, sending that to Binance for example, buying GSE token and then using it to rent, very unlikely. What do you think about payment platforms that are about to emerge like Nex for example. Until crypto goes mainstream Epik can pay to rent even with fiat with 1 click and smart contracts would convert fiat to GSE token in seconds and payment for a renting on GSE would be almost instant as well as measured in a stable currency. I believe that the Road (IoTeX) will succeed as long as Cars (dapps) use the road efficiently so would you consider to push for these payments’ integration? Do you see them being mandatory for masses to adopt these dapps and therefore IoTeX to prosper? In addition, are you planning on developing atomic swaps and do you see them also being user friendly to help Epik in this case?
A: The Road (IoTeX) and Cars (Dapps) is a very interesting analogy 
In order for the Cars to run efficiently on the Road, we believe payment integration is a must-have for sharing economy usage. And for such usage I think the payment solution won’t involve fiat but will be using IoTeX token (or native token on the target usage’s side-chain). User will need to stake a certain amount of token (corresponding to a proper monetary value to secure the shared device being borrowed) into a notary smart contract, and upon returning the shared device the remaining token (minus fees for usage) will be deposited back to user’s account. This eliminates the concern of centralized fees because the stake and return are managed by a notary smart contact.
We are actively investigating various cross-chain communication/transaction technologies including atomic swap, will have more update in our next release.
Q: As a supporter of Iotex it is fascinating to see that Iotex was the only blockchain project participating in Cryptographic hardware and embedded systems conference. What goals did Iotex have going to the conference? How successful was the team in achieving prior goals? How do conferences like these help in growing Iotex?
A: Yes! We are very honored to be the only blockchain project there since it is not a blockchain/ICO conference, but for scientists and researchers who are pushing further research and innovations in the cryptology space. Not that many blockchain projects will participate or be able to contribute papers or research. We are proud to be the only blockchain project and having Dr.Xinxin Fan represent us due to his vast work and research in this space, along with papers and patents he has created. It is a great opportunity for us to connect with the industry-leading experts in the hardware and embedded system area and explore deeper conversations on how to bring the blockchain technology, proof of concepts to the real life. We will have a more clear understanding of the cryptographic hardware and embedded system use cases.
Q: During private funding you guys raised Ether. To develop and grow such an ambitious project a lot of money is needed: for salaries, partnerships and so on. Many investors and supporters may be fearful and concerned that you guys went down on funds in USD as the whole market fell off a cliff and Ether especially. Could you clarify if there are and for a long time will be enough funds to fulfill the dream of IoTeX? Maybe you took USD right away after funding or are you holding to Ether and taking what is needed but are down in equivalent USD amounts? Are there any problems with funds sustainability? Thanks.
A: Thanks for raising this question! We care very much about all of our investors so we will try our best to keep you on the same page with us. Currently, our fund is in a quite healthy mode with a combination of cryptocurrency and fiat money. We have reserved a sufficient portion of the fund for the project development for at least the next three years. We have strategic plans for not only technical development and marketing expansions but also professional fund management and arrangement plan to support all the above expenses.
Q: To be successful it’s very important to deliver promises on time and Iotex up to this date has delivered everything before previously set timelines and that’s a fact. Many other blockchain projects lack this vital element — to deliver on time — and this is crucial. My question is as Epik has been a wonderful way to end 2018 Q3 what awaits in 2018 Q4 for Iotex, based on previous promises is Iotex going to deliver everything on time? What do you think will be the most difficult tasks? How motivated are you to keep working on this project?
A: In 2018 Q4, we will have another release, which we will have our MVP subchain implementation as well as a bunch of improvements of security, performance, and robustness. Subchain is still a new technology at the baby stage. There are a bunch of research/engineering efforts we need to put into before we could build a solid solution. The other difficulty is to be able to breakdown this into steps, and continuously deliver meaningful miles and unlock use cases incrementally. No matter how many difficulties we will encounter in the future, we’re fully motivated to keep working on the project, as we believe in our mission that connecting the physical world block by block. Last but not least, we’re grateful to our supporters, and will not let you down.
Q: Hello! How will you deal with competitors, IoT projects that appear almost every day, for example, a new project IoTBlock that appeared just recently?
And do you plan to merge with such large projects for high-quality implementation of the set goals?
It is true that there are many more “competitors” coming into the crypto space every day — however, we don’t see them all as competitors. We have taken the philosophy of befriending many other projects, even those that are doing similar things as us. At the end of the day, we are confident that what we are building requires not only the upfront design (which can be copied conceptually) but also the technical capabilities to execute (which cannot be replicated). We are keeping a close eye on the progress and innovations of other open-source projects, but we like to think of ourselves as thought leaders, not followers in this industry. Also, we have no plan to merge with any other projects, since every project has a specific approach to solve different problems. However, we would love to communicate with others to together push the frontier development of this such brand new industry.