LTO Network AMA Recap
CryptoDiffer team
We are glad to meet here Rick Schmitz, CEO (@rickschmitz), and Ivan Golovko, CMO (@IvanGBi)!
Can you introduce yourself to the community? What is your background and how did you come to the idea to create your project?
Rick Schmitz
CEO
I m Rick Schmitz CEO of LTO network. I was a M&A tax lawyer for 5 years at PWC and Deloitte. In 2012 I started my first business. My second business I started with mastermind Arnold Daniels (tech mastermind) which became LTO Network.
Ivan Golovko
CMO
I was doing marketing / SMM before, but the relevant part is my time in ICODrops / lowkey VC investing before, so learned the ins and outs of crypto marketing and communities, means it’s easier for us to keep a ginger on the pulse and see what things to imporve on, how to keep shaping the professional yet playful side of our team / brand and constatly retain more talented community members.
The start of the team are our Rick, Rick, Arnold, Martijn, and Sven though =)
Arnold has been writing tech series in the dungeon, so I’m excited for those to be released over the course of the next few weeks
CryptoDiffer team
Can you tell us a story of your success since conducting ICO and till the moment when LTO can potentially be listed on Binance? How did you reach that, what major milestones did you achieve?
Rick Schmitz
CEO
Major milestones:
– Launch of mainnet this year
– Top 20 most used blockchains
– More then 1M business users on LTO
– Closing deals with EU governments
– ISO / NEN partnership closed last week
– Growth of more then 30% MoM
Ivan Golovko
CMO
Interesting phraising So, exchanges in general are very important. Just adoption by itself is not gonna do too much because liquidity is key, so as (don’t put me to jail) good price level. Community, which entrusts you with their time and assets, must see that their contributions to the development are respected in a proper way: no huge parties with Moét or expensive 1st class tavels…
Anyway, liquidity: yes, this is key as well. We all know exchanges game their stats, while in fact the volume outside of the top10 major alts is actually about 0, regardless of where they trade at. Because cashflow into the token (buying power) is something that is not tied to an exchnage, it’s tied to the quality of the project. Therefore, we essentially do this in a professional where where it’s like 2 businesses: token side and the community, and integrator / solution adoption.
Timing is of essense. We are pretty much transparent about our strategy with exchanges: throwing volume around is not good nor bad as long as it gets new buyers. Right now alt volume across exchanges is super low, and paying a few hundred K to some fake volume one (who some consider to be top 10) will be a waste of money, 1 day small exposure, and pretty much no buying power.
How to get there: both the adoption as well as the community / token marketing. None of those should be disregarded.
CryptoDiffer team
Could you tell us more about your recent partnerships? What are your expectations from collaboration with NEN?
Rick Schmitz
CEO
Yes, Its great to work on both sides with LTO Network. Defining the ISO – International Organization for Standardization for TC307 – Blockchain & DLT and simultaneously implementing blockchain at NEN for streamlining the certification processes. This brings us a level deeper into these organizations then other members that work on TC307 (blockchain standards). Our project with NEN is showcased to all member states of ISO. Which is practacally the entire world
CryptoDiffer team
Cool! Let the community ask questions now!
Cryptodiffer Community
Question 1: What are the first responses from the business regarding Proofi and what are your expectations of it for 2020?
Question 2: Do you still stick with the 15mm tx per month by the end of 2019? And if not 15M what is a realistic projection?
Rick Schmitz
CEO
Q1 Proofi is not launched yet. This will be done on 26 sept. We expect this to be the number one commercial SaaS product of LTO Network and hopefully of all blockchain products.
Q2: 15M end of 2019 is a stretch, but def the goal to reach.
Cryptodiffer Community
What is the difference between LTO Network and Aergo – another good project that use hybrid blockchain for business? What is your advantage comparing to them? Let’s convince me why should I choose your LTO, not Aergo?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
The stack is similar only with the anchoring side of it, but the real gem in the toolkit of LTO is the Layer 2 toolkit: it can automate any process as a Finite State Machine. You can already see that LTO achieved more in that regard thanks to its adoption strategy, and closer to the gov level as well as major ISVs. I would not feel comfortable with “choose LTO over x” because that is your decision – we can only put out content, show our strengths, constantly over-achieve, and keep growing a greap community. Just pop by in @LTOnetwork and see how fun and focused the community is! And also have a look at this: https://blog.lto.network/report-q1-q2-2019-lto-network/
Cryptodiffer Community
We all know and love GDPR compliance when it comes to real world, but how would you integrate GDPR with existing blockchain projects to make the compliant with the current directives, Bitcoin for example ?
What is the uniqueness of your project that cannot be found in other project that’s been released before ?
What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and limitations of LTO ?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
We don’t need to make blockchains GDPR compliant. We make it possible for companies using the blockchain in GDPR compliant way. This is a much bigger market. There is no point in making Bitcoin GDPR compliant, it should NOT be. We automate processes and secure digital data. It’s a different use case, different stack
Rick Schmitz
CEO
Bitcoin can be GDPR compliant, as long as you dont put it hashed of personal data.
Our layer 2: Live Contracts: Allow for on- and off chain communication elliminating the need to solve everything with oracles. Also the fact you can delete the data in the chains, but can keep the records of the events that led to a certain end result. Summary blocks (setting up a node in minutes, even when the chain is super big is also on of a kind.
Cryptodiffer Community
What is a competitive advantage of “LTO Network”? What unique has “LTO Network ” which makes its better than their competitors?
Rick Schmitz
CEO
Cryptodiffer Community
Why would an entreprise use LTO Network solution instead of building its own blockchain or use existing ones like Hyperledger or Ethereum for example?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
It comes from the “why do I need a blockchain”. The goal of a layer 1 is to be a decentralized (thanks to economic incentives) secure settlement layer. That needs to have unknown actors (permissionless), be tested by time, and so on. Company can’t make a blockchain out of the box – it wouldn’t deliver any benefits.
Start with something simple which can be shipped today and which businesses understand. When we succeeded with that, show them what else we have under the hood. A classic land & expand strategy. – Rick. Adoption must come simple, other companies try to push huge costs and their products, which makes onboarding much harder.
https://blog.lto.network/strategic-business-plan-for-2019/
Cryptodiffer Community
Recently LTO entered into a partnership with NEN, can I ask a few questions?
1. Has solution integration already begun? If not, when will it start?
2. Are there any technical or legal obstacles to integration?
Rick Schmitz
CEO
1) Tech Kick off is on 16 august. The entire project scope was agreed with NEN in the last few months. Release of the product is planned for end Q3.
2) Yes, we have to work with many different systems. But we have some good integrators that help us out
Cryptodiffer Community
How does LTO Network allow people to join the legal system without relying on lawyers or trusting a government?
What is the difference between LTO Network and other blockchain?
How does the LTO platform create a private blockchain for each Live Contract?
Rick Schmitz
CEO
Well, we moved away from changing the legal system a while ago. This is not realistic enough so we focussed on enabling trustless collaborations to create a level playing field (doesnt matter if you are a small busienss or Coca Cola).
Q2: Our layer 2: Live Contracts: Allow for on- and off chain communication elliminating the need to solve everything with oracles. Also the fact you can delete the data in the chains, but can keep the records of the events that led to a certain end result. Summary blocks (setting up a node in minutes, even when the chain is super big is also on of a kind.
Cryptodiffer Community
Q: Social Mining is an interesting option that i just saw in LTO Network. As a new member which doesnt have tech skill, which way can i join in to work for this programme and get reward?
Q: As i see in LTO network website, Audit Trail is one of use case which is already used by Capptions to serve for over 20000 daily users by integrating LTO Network’s anchoring service. So, beside completing form to contact LTO, which are other conditions for a company to have this intergrating?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
Create infographics! Quality ones would be a great asset to the community. For instance, edit my ugly drawing plz
Adoption is what #blockchain was missing. You shouldn't be changing the full IT infrastructure of a company. Instead, make integrations into existing systems easy. Work with ISVs who already have users -> and transpose those into transactions. Real token utility @LTOnetwork pic.twitter.com/AMPuKZ9WXn
— IvanGBi (@IvanGBi) August 8, 2019
Capptions, SignRequest, and others – are integrators. They work within their own SaaS models and get more end clients. This is why LTO Network is able to grow so fast.
Cryptodiffer Community
Q: On LTO homepage “”Hybrid blockchain built for business”” so how LTO attractive the businesses who need Hybrid Blockchain?
Q: Which is the key incentive of LTO to attractive the businesses who need Hybrid Blockchain
Rick Schmitz
CEO
Our integrators and ISV’s use LTO to built product and integrate LTO with their clients
Cryptodiffer Community
1.Are there any performance testing reports on the throughput of LTO network , for high volume business entities?
2.What are the best practices for integrating a legacy system with LTO network?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
1. It’s beyond what is required, we had audits for the centralized engine previously, some current ones are running or in pilots. Not a concern at all. Unless I didn’t catch the question?
2. Oh cool question! We are releasing our demo portal shortly. The integration is much easier than with any other blockchain, because it can indeed be connected to a legacy system. This way end users of digital signatures, like SignRequest, can just log in normally to the software provider and have blockchain as an added value there. No barrier to entry!
^ all of this is transactions then => real token utility
Cryptodiffer Community
Where does LTO Network core profit come from? How will your team make LTO Network become a win-win solution for both investors and platform? Have your team made any mistakes since starting the project? How did you fix it? Recently, Zilliqa’s CEO left his position making community confused about the project, how can I be sure that your management board will not leave after making enough money? What will you plan to do to gain the trust from recent community and attract more users/investors?
Rick Schmitz
CEO
Lot of Q
From rev share on software products that are integrated on LTO. So same as Apple in their Apple store. They take 30% revenues.
Win-win = we implemented with win win in our token model. Clients and software products use the LTO token which needs to be purchased.
Mistakes: Many, running a company is all about making smart bets. Sometimes you make a wrong one. But I never place a bet that I will not overcome and puts the business at danger.
Cryptodiffer Community
If I present myself as an investor and ask the @ivanGBi what expansion plans does your company have and why invest in LTO, WHat advantages does it offer compared to other companies?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
As you know LTO network is a backend for any system or application to connect to – those all already have end users, so they all transpose their activity into transactions / staking. We now have over 25K daily transactions, which is cashflow into the network (node / token holders – not team). So we reverse the incentive model to really expand and grow, I guess you want to know what’s coming up? Check this out -> https://blog.lto.network/ecosystem-v-evolution-of-lto-network-updated-roadmap/
Cryptodiffer Community
The social component of the community has been of great value to the Blockchain community, how could you take advantage of this new community force to get more integrators ?
Can you settle disputes between two parties on the blockchain, for example when both say they have done their task, but both not satisfied with the quality for example ?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
> Can you settle disputes between two parties on the blockchain, for example when both say they have done their task, but both not satisfied with the quality for example?
Layer 1 is the settlement layer. But blockchain does not cure cancer. It’s a way to execute process without a third party.
Cryptodiffer Community
1. You’ve recently formed partnerships with Nen_nl, Helis and INATBA to name but a few. Can you talk some lights about these partnerships and how they help support the LTO ecosystem?
2. What are the applications that LTO targets in the future (daaps, finance, business …) ?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
Automation of any process and any data exchnage: finance is business, insurance, etc. Check a more detailed release: https://blog.lto.network/nen-lto-network-iso-standards/
In short: more transactions, more staking, more real world token buying power (this is not a meme!)
Cryptodiffer Community
Hello, LTO team!
What problems did you face to when trying to implement your product in working businesses? Is it hard to explain to usual non-crypto people what is LTO and what are the advantages of using it?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
That’s a good one – that’s also why we don’t work with end users. That’s hard to do, blockchain as product is still raw for everybody in the real world. We work with B2B and tech teams who then take our toolkit and work on implementing it for software providers, companies, and so on. This way, our end user reach (for the network) exponrntially increases
Cryptodiffer Community
Moving on, with ecosystem 5 you detailed about the 5 cores pillars and mentioned Product: end-user applications, can you detail more on this front, what applications do you have in mind that existing partners haven’t provided yet as a use-case for LTO ?
Rick Schmitz
CEO
One of the products is Proofi. A SaaS product that change they way that e-signatures work. Preveting scams on telegram, email phishing etc.
Cryptodiffer Community
Q: what is the hardest part when dealing with enterprise, trying to persuade them to move on blockchain?
Q: Enterprise normally don’t use token that much. It means more client != more buying demand of LTO. How LTO tokenomics will be applied in this case?
Rick Schmitz
CEO
Yes, thats why we take the indirect approach: Instead of serving clients directly we serve them through ISV’s and System Integrators.
Transaction over margin
Cryptodiffer Community
More transactions go through getting new integrators exponentially. No doubt behind this there must be a great commercial force. How is LTO going to face this ?
Can you share more about LTO allocations of benefits and token burn ? Do you have any road map for this ?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
This is true. But you say no doubt. They buy, use LTO, and stake. That’s a clear cashflow token model. There is no need for burns -> token retention happens with usage, there is no inflation.
Cryptodiffer Community
What is your Total Addressable Market (TAM) and what do you estimate is the max share your network will take?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
Cool one! Gartner says DTM market is like 80B in 3 years or so. So it’s a huge market indeed. Plus we can add more token utility – about that soon too =)
Cryptodiffer Community
Your workflow engine states a delete chain feature. Isn’t that one contradicting with basic function of a blockchain, that is immutability? If not, could you explain a bit?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
It deletes the layer 2 event chain, for GDPR compliance, but it does not delete the fact of an event happening – those hashes are on L1. This is a good discussion, please read this -> https://blog.lto.network/lto-network-blockchain-gdpr-made-possible/ and then drop in @LTOnetwork, would love to explain more
Cryptodiffer Community
What is your strongest advantage that you think will make your team leading the market? In contrast, what is your weakness? How do you plan to overcome it? What is the most difficult thing your team faced from the beginning of the project? I see you recently making partnership with NEN, can you elaborate more about this partnership? Why you decide to choose them but not the others
Rick Schmitz
CEO
We have a product – market fit! So thats what a lot of blockchains lacking. It is used by many businesses on a daily basis. Our core team has worked together for over 4 years, so we all know our strenhts and weaknesses. I think our weakness is making cool flashy frontend stuff. We are more into making infrastructure and SDKs.
Cryptodiffer Community
Why does lto choose to have Triple token model with ERC20, BEP2, and mainnet LTO? Do you think it is too much? Do you think it will confuse your customers, especially your new customers as I don’t see any advantage for a project to have too complex token model like this in blockchain industry? And is the purpose of having BEP2 is just to list on Binance? how can we believe your team won’t dump LTO token after moving from DEX to CEX like the others?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
It’s confusing, yes. For Mainnet – ERC20 we chose it to have easier and faster liquididty + Bridge Troll model we innovated. BEP2 was a biz move to get more eyes and get new members. Is it bad, was it short-term thinking? No, we knew the consequences of this integration, and actually got quite a few new members from that exposure =) Retention is key
Cryptodiffer Community
Why organizations should use Proof-of-Existence instead of already available Digital Fraud Prevention solutions?
Rick Schmitz
CEO
It provides data integrety in any applications at a fraction of the costs. It is also verifyable without having to rely on a party that controls the Dital Fraud Protection siolution.
Cryptodiffer Community
If your project fail in your roadmap or whitepaper , what should you do it for make it right?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
It can’t, we already over-delivered. So did we stop? No, we added more stuff to our goals!
https://blog.lto.network/ecosystem-v-evolution-of-lto-network-updated-roadmap/
Check it and tell us if it’s true
Cryptodiffer Community
I’m new to the project, so please explain me briefly about your project. What is LTO Network and what was the reason behind starting this project? How optimistic are you of the future use-case of the LTO Network compared to when you started it?
Rick Schmitz
CEO
We created something that could be used today by busiensses. LTO Network makes it possible for organizations to collaborate on processes that run outside of their organization.
Today when an organization needs to collaborate on a process that runs outside its own organization – they have to rely on ancient methods like sending emails, fax or letters.
The problem with circulating emails, PDFs, status updated by phone and even fax messages is that they produce unstructured data.
And unstructured data is very hard to understand by a computer and thus to automate.
So efficiency is basically gone if we are collaborating outside our own organization. (Silo problem).
LTO solves this.
Cryptodiffer Community
What’s the added values of LTO in comparison with other similar projects like FACTOM and TIERION?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
Nice one! SWOT analysis (competition) is very important. We pay close attention to it. Here is a comparative chart:
https://blog.lto.network/strategic-business-plan-for-2019/
Cryptodiffer Community
What’s the signification of the new logo and why you have chosen to change it? Will we expect a full rebranding of the project?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
New one looks like a good fit for Ecosystem V: it’s talent, companies, developers – as birds -> flying in together and forming an Ecosystem!
A more professional brand look as we get higher and higher in the adoption ladder
Cryptodiffer Community
Ecosystem V brings together projects working in and around LTO, where do you see it growing to encompass over time? (ie what are you looking for to join and expand use-case or technology wise)
Rick Schmitz
CEO
Its all about balancing the Ecosystem. You should have too many similar third party applixations in the ecosystem. We look for complementary solutions and integrations. This is smth we can control in the beginning, but overtime, you will see winner takes all in a certain niche / solutions space.
Cryptodiffer Community
What are your actions to increase awareness around LTO token in non-crypto space? As I understand, the whole crypto community is aware of what is LTO ;D
Do you attract non-crypto people to LTO, and how?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
Absolutely! A huge part of our work is real-world adoption and marketing, we have dozens of meetings and calls every week, because LTO solutions are ready for adoption.
Cryptodiffer Community
Recently, Binance Customer Data Has Leaked so How does LTO ensure Security?
Rick Schmitz
CEO
We dont store customer data. Clients store the data on their own node. Security implementations is up to the ones running LTO node.
Cryptodiffer Community
With blockchain being such a young industry, partnerships are an integral component of any project’s journey. Which types of partnerships have LTO already attained and what are the plans on this front moving forward ?
Ivan Golovko
CMO
1) Software providers -> they have end users and provide digital signing, document audit, and so on.
2) System integrators -> they are tech teams implementing solutions in other companies
Independent software vendors → Software applications which can anchor data on LTO Layer 1 public permissionless blockchain to secure the integrity of digital data. Here is a detailed business pitch – https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/lto-content/documents/LTO+Network+Proof-of-Existence+presentation.pdf
System integrators → Companies and providers utilizing LTO Layer 2 decentralized workflow engine to automate processes and solve the issues of data silos. Here is a detailed business pitch – https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/lto-content/documents/LTO+Network+System+Integrator+Presentation.pdf
Cryptodiffer Community
How LTO is ready to tackle unexpected events like..
1.Ceo left the company..like Zilliqa
2.Sudden compliance issue
Ivan Golovko
CMO
Good question -> we make sure we do not make LTO team as a focus. We ship, we promote, we onboard integrators -> then we cna even disappear, and then network will live. Decentralization is the goal here. Also, we do not have any compliance issues.
Cryptodiffer TEAM
Rick Schmitz (@rickschmitz) and Ivan Golovko (@IvanGBi), thanks a lot!
It was a pleasure to conduct an AMA with such a cool project like LTO Network. Good luck guys. See you on Binance ;D
Thank you for your time!
