Props AMA Recap

04 Sep 202004:08

AMA

Props AMA Recap

Cryptodiffer Team

Hello, everyone!😁

We are glad to meet here:
Adi Sideman, CEO and Co-Founder at Props

Adi Sideman

Great to be here
THX for having me

Cryptodiffer Team

Our pleasure, our team has prepared 3 questions for you to start with:
Q1: Can you introduce yourself to our community?

Adi Sideman

I am the Co-Founder of Props
I come from running consumer networks at scale.
I co-founded the world’s first online Karaoke (K-Solo) - which sold to Fox/MySpace at the height of Myspace.
I then founded the first mobile live streaming service in the west (YouNow), which grew to over 120 Million User sessions/ month.
There In 2014, we were the first to introduce virtual currency in the context of a two sided marketplace, where users can buy into the currency, and other users can earn it.
We sold close to $100 Million Dollars worth of that (non-crypto) digital currency over the years, and became experts at running a digital economy, at scale
At the time - power users / content creators were asking to get paid not just in dollars, but in stock options...
They were eager to have an upside in this network that they loved and devoted huge amounts of time to.
They would say:
“Adi - you will be a tech millionaire"
And I get paid like a coin operated...
“I want an upside potential - to participate in the upside, like you!”
Of course: we were not going to issue stock options to users..
So it got us thinking about blockchain.
I knew from experience the power of sharing value with the content creators -
and wanted to take those concepts to the next level
With something better than stock options:
- Utility that unlocks benefits
- Scarce asset - characteristics of Capital
- Can scale - productized/ gamified.
That’s how Props was born.
Enabling apps and users to allign through a loyalty token
Thats the short/long story Maks

Cryptodiffer Team

Let's talk more about Props:

Q2: Can you briefly tell us what is Props in 3-5 sentences?

If you wish you can do more than 5 sentences, I don't mind

Adi Sideman

Props is a work / discount token that unlocks user benefits in the apps that run Props. One way to think about Props is as a cross between traditional loyalty points and capital
Another way to think about it is: tokenizing loyalty points and imbuing financial value into them.
Props value is backed by the aggregate utility it provides to its millions of users across all participating apps.
Last sentance: Today we have a 7 apps that have signed up and 4 that have launched, each with Millions or hundreds of thousands of MAU. And we have ~8 million users across these apps who are holding Props for the benefits they unlock.

Cryptodiffer Team

The last question from us before we start community questions part:

Q3: Let`s now talk about the milestones you have achieved so far and about your upcoming plans?

Adi Sideman

Thank you Sir!
So looking back:
We started the project in 2017
We started the project in 2017
We launched on Main net in March 2019
In July 2019 we were approved by the SEC.
By Sept 2020
we had multiple apps that have launched each with millions of users.
Last week - we listed on 3 exchanges - OKEx, Gate, KuCoin
And this week we announced another app that will launch in the weeks ahead
Each milestone is significant - as it derisks the project
And launching mainstream apps, and publishing case studies that the Token is improving traditional Key Performance Indicators like revenue and engagement is key

It helps educate the market to the power of businesses alligning with their users
through the power of a token they both share
It proves the model
UPCOMING:
First - focus on continued marketing and adoption
Expanding the network and launching new app in the weeks ahead and more this year
Second - this year we plan to introduce Staking and Goverannce
The first stage is an upgrade to the Protocol rewards, whereby app rewards is governed by the amount of Props staked towards the app.
App Users, apps and speculators all selfishly chose which app they believe most in - and should get more rewards.
Lastly - Props is a network token. We are also laying the ground-work for App tokens - whereby each app can have its own liquid token and props becomes an ETF-like governor of all App tokens.
so that's a tad on looking back and to the future in terms of Milestone, Maks

Cryptodiffer Team

Thank you for such detailed and interesting answers!
It is time to move to the community questions part.

Cryptodiffer Community

How easy is it for apps to integrate with Props? Can you tell us some of the enhanced tools you plan introducing to make the integration further simple and stressfree?

Adi Sideman

Our philosophy is that apps should have tools they are familiar with to build on. So we provide simple APIs, and tools are available, like Admin and Webviews. Integrating App engineers dont need to know Solidity or worry about the Blockchain. Its Obfiscated for them - and Props handles it behind the scenes. So we try to speak to mainstream apps in their language to make it easy. And with each app that joins, Potential apps that are considering Props see more case studies. Here are some of the tools:

Cryptodiffer Community

1. Why do you think I should introduce Props (a blockchain powered loyalty program) instead of just implementing my own loyalty program?

2. Why have you decided to exclude US and Canada residents from participating in the "earn up to $50 USD in Props by joining the OKEx Exchange"? Are you trying to disenfranchise us?

Adi Sideman

Great question - The Loyalty program they are implementing with Props IS THEIR OWN. - except its superior to a traditional, non Blockchain plan in that the loyalty points also have a financial asset associated with them. So done well, it compounds the value of the program. Also - they can invest in blockchain engineering and legal and build their own token, but our experience is that only larger companies want to go that rout, and the mass of the market is seeking off the shelf solution, and a proven roadmap they can follow

Cryptodiffer Community

Do you think the year 2021 will be groundbreaking for Props? We see that you are signing great partnerships, working on some “secret” service that soon you will announce. But all this will be fully implemented in Q1–2021. Do you think then we will start to see the full potential of Props regarding price and token as the heart of your tech?

Adi Sideman

Great question. Obviously we cannot address Props. I will say that the market has been early for years. And still is. But its getting closer and closer and indeed 2021 will be an important year. We believe that once staking features are out and the token holders participate more significantly in the ecosystem, it will be an important milestone. Also - we are seeing more attention from apps - they are more curious about Crypto and have more appetite to get in the game. (In many ways interest is correlated with the price of Bitcoin...). So that bodes well for adoption. Lastly - we are adding/ improving tools - so that helps apps to adopt.

Cryptodiffer Community

What do you plan to do in order to have wider audience for props project and how do you plan to keep it self sustainable?

Adi Sideman

A. There are 2 main ways we grow the Props user base:
1. Apps using Props growing and introducing Props to more users.
2. More apps adopting Props.
We are unique in a sense that our Total Addressable Market - is huge - traditional consumer apps that wish to leverage the power of blockchain - without decentralizing themselves.

We are investing in making it easy for Apps to join:
Facilitating easy to use tools.
Providing grants to apps - bootstrapping our network development
B. We are growing our bizdev team and providing - at this stage, white glove service
C. Growing marketing to educate and reach web 2.0 apps who can benefit from Props to increase revenue and engagement KPis - so that they discover Props.

Cryptodiffer Community

There are users who do not know anything about cryptocurrencies and could easily lose their tokens. Do you have a solution to this, like a centralized wallet?

Adi Sideman

Hi @araceley great question. Users are not required to self custody, and the apps custody for them UNTIL the user chooses to claim. So in the apps - the users earn IOUs, which are easy and gamified. Its only when the user wants to claim, and have some dollar value associated with their IOU tokens, that they are motivated to jump through crypto hoops, educate themselves about what a wallet is - and take the time to go on Chain.
Here is the side chain in action: https://metrics.propsproject.io/
for the in apps IOUs.

Cryptodiffer Community

What are the benefits for a developer to use Props tokens in their applications? What is the Protocol Rewards Engine reward system?

Adi Sideman

The benefits are that they get an out of the box system they dont have to build from scratch. The developer is also the one mining the Props from the Protocol. The Protocol rewards engine has 330M (out of a Max Supply of 1B) that it releases logrithmically to apps over many years. The incentives are alligned, as the Protocol recognizes the value of the utility / demand provided by each app on a daily basis and rewards it accordingly. So the developer can keep some of the Props, and share a portion with its most loyal users, who, if they get valuable benefits will chose to HODL/stake and signal the protocol of the utility value they get from the app.

Cryptodiffer Community

What types of business models on the Internet would you like to work side by side? At the moment we have streaming, social networks, does Props have any target towards other types of platforms on the internet?

Adi Sideman

Launching a token for a busineses' / App's community is still a novelty and an early behavior. But the low hanging fruit are so far: Two sided networks - where the buyers and sellers, or Service providers and consumers, or payers and earners - are the ones breathing most of the value into the App. That's where intuatively rewarding power users for the value they bring is apparent to mainstream businesses. Further - in the case of social and strong community elements, there is an additional vaklue - as users are doubly motivvated to participate in the ownership economy of the network. SO that's our focus ATM. That said, Props is agnostic to the apps model - and its up to the app to integrate in a way that drives value for them

Cryptodiffer Community

What is the Props token utility in the ecosystem, and what growth drivers do you see in the future? What steps will you take to increase demand?

Adi Sideman

Good question @OlegDubinskiy The Utility for Props is different from App to app. Each app has the flexibility and the tools to establish its own utility. The design of the system is such that the incentives for the app to provide a strong utility (Discounts, Higher rev share, Unlocking Features or content, Status, etc.) are there, as the app mines from the protocol rewards based on the demand value of its utility and the mount of users displaying HODL behavior to unlock and keep access to those benefits.

In terms of growth: 2 factors:
1. Existing apps on the network growing - and we see that, and Props integration gives them a boost and makes them more attractive and that in itself drives their growth - which is heartwarming and critical to see
2. Adding new apps to the network. We are excited to announce more apps this year.

Cryptodiffer Community

Aside from the SEC compliance, why do you think Props is unique when compared to other crypto projects?

Adi Sideman

FIRST: Props is an app level Protocol:

The value of Props, is the aggregate utility of the Props token across all apps.

The apps mine the Protocol and receive Props rewards based on the utility value and demand they drive for Props.

If an app provides valuable benefits (like discounts, or premium features), and users chose to buy or stake Props to the app to get these benefits

the app receives more rewards from the smart contract.

If an app simply rewards users with Props but provides no benefit, and the users don't stake it:
the app will mine little or no Props at all.

The incentives are aligned:

Apps are incentivized to earn more Props, by engineering more Props utility into their apps.

They are also incentivized to reward their best, most loyal, users who will be most prone to HODL - as the app earns more from the Protocol rewards when users HODL and stake to the app.

This is a unique approch that provides the apps full flexibility on running their own show.

SECOND: Props is a solution for Apps, not Dapps.

For mainstream web 2.0 apps that want to use regular APis and not program in solidity. We make it make it simple for them to integrate Props.

Apps keep custody of users’ tokens and use an APi to issue IOUs - we manage it all through Layer 1 and Layer 2 - with over 100,000 transactions a day.

Its frictionless for the end users who can benefit from a token, without taking custody of it until they claim.

And Ecosystem tools make it easy:
SaaS like admins and webviews for users - are available - making it easy for Web 2.0 apps to integrate. This is what mainstream apps are familiar with and we speak their language.

That is another unique approch.

Cryptodiffer Community

"STAKING" is one of the STRATEGIES to ATTRACT USERS and ACHIEVE MASS ADOPTION

Does props Project GREAT PROJECT have plan about Staking?

Adi Sideman

Yes - we have announced that we plan tolaunch staking and are actively working on that.

Cryptodiffer Community

What kind of partnerships can we expect from PROPS with different platforms or projects in the future? How can other platforms and projects benefit from PROPS?

Adi Sideman

I find the latest app to be joining the Props Network - Tegger - to have a very interesting potential. They are a loyalty Points provider for multiple websites and they are migrating their traditional Loyalty Points to Props, for all their clients. Video here:
https://blog.propsproject.com/tegger-network-to-join-props-22c272a1df8b

Cryptodiffer Community

I would like to know if you've completed any security audits? Perhaps by third-parties? We've seen dozens of hacks, exploits and stuff like that this year, what measures have been taken to protect investors and community from it?

Adi Sideman

Yes - our audits are published. byZepplin - which is a top provider

Cryptodiffer Community

Given the approval of the SEC, which congratulations for that, do you plan to expand to other markets in the world such as Asia? where the loyalty system is stronger than ever

Adi Sideman

Our center of Network Developemnt has traditionally been in the US, where the SEC qualification is also a competitive advantage. That said, in 2020 we hired two people in Asia to focus on network growth and marketing, so indeed, slowly but surly, we should see international expansion.

Cryptodiffer Team

Thanks for your time!
Great answers today 🙏
Thank you to everyone who took part!

Adi Sideman

It was a pleasure!
Pls visit us @propsproject