Autonomous NFTs Take NFTs and Crypto Gaming to the Next Level: Unhashed #23

For the 23rd part of Unhashed, I reached out to Diego Chui, the Co-Founder of Autonomy Network, a decentralized automation tool powering Web3 application developers with on-chain conditional execution.

Let’s dive in!

Q1: Welcome to Unhashed. What’s your crypto story, and how did you start with Autonomy Network?

Answer:Back in 2015, I had just recently moved to Canada and realized my passion for tech. I was born and raised in Peru, where a career in tech was close to non-existent. Through this passion, I stumbled upon Bitcoin and decided to buy my first BTC. I never really gave it much thought other than knowing it had questionable use cases in the dark web. In 2017, after BTC saved me financially as a broke college student, I decided to dive deep into it. I dove way too deep into it, and fast forward to now; I became a DeFi degen, according to degenscore.com. At the same time, I had developed my career as a software engineer working at different companies as well as contributing open source to a few DeFi protocols.

Everyone that has spent enough time in the DeFi space understands that it is very time-consuming; you have to be stuck to your monitor 24/7 to avoid getting liquidated or exiting out of a position; the process is very manual. Of course, there are tools, and you could build scripts to automate this stuff, but the problem still exists for non-technical users, and it also becomes harder to manage as you try out new strategies and protocols. The problem is that there is no native on-chain automation. Finally, in 2021, my long-time friend from University, James, another degen, approached me with a solution (initially called ASC) that was exactly the need of DeFi. That was when I joined in, and later, ASC turned into the Autonomy Network.

Q2: We understand that Autonomy Network allows users to write conditions that trigger automated on-chain actions. However, how can a normal user be equipped enough to write conditions? Will a drag and drop-like programming facility be provided?

Answer:Autonomy Network is a tool for Web3 developers to automate and create new features. The idea is that developers would use Autonomy as a native integration into their dApps; this means that normal users would not need to know that Autonomy is being used. The dApp would have an easy-to-use interface for users to use their specific automated features, so there is also no need for a user to write their own conditions. However, with the whole no-code movement I do envision that in the future, Autonomy would have some sort of interface with a drag and drop logic gate like system to allow normal users to program their own conditions.**

Q3: Please delve into the unique concept of aNFTs (autonomous NFTs). How do they bring more utility to the growing NFT economy?

Answer:Autonomous NFTs or aNFTs is an attempt to add an interesting feature so that NFTs can perform actions on their own and benefit their owner. For example, you could have an aNFT that arbitrages between tokens or one that can lend itself as collateral and return to the original owner once a certain condition is met. You could even have NFT wearables that change colors or shapes depending on the price of ETH or the weather… the options are infinite.

More interesting use cases can be seen on the metaverse, where aNFT’s can become aNPCs (Non-playable characters). Most crypto games are PVP-focused because they are missing one big aspect from traditional games called NPCs or non-player characters (like every character on Skyrim). With Autonomy, NPCs are now possible, which unlocks a whole new level in crypto games.

Players are able to interact with NPCs, and they can have a bouncer that pushes you out of the Decentraland Casino if you drop below a certain level of ETH. You could have world bosses that you can fight and are also composable, meaning that they can appear in a different game, and everyone can build on top of it to add more features or interactions. You could even have aNPCs interact with other aNPCs like a wolf eating a sheep. Again, the options are infinite. What is really mindblowing to me is that these autonomous NFTs could be acting on their own forever without a way to shut them off. They are not only automated NFTs, but they are truly autonomous.

Q5: Bot triggers are often perceived as spam traffic by exchanges. This has led to several checkpoints being placed to mitigate bandwidth issues caused by this spam traffic. How does Autonomy Network work around this major headache?

Answer:Well, Autonomy itself would not be affected by any sort of bot triggering. When a user or a bot places a transaction to be automated, and the condition is met, then a fee is paid to the executor. This means, irrespective of who places the order, it is beneficial for the network.

This is not to be confused with Autonomy’s decentralized network of executor bots. These bots are the ones rewarded every time they execute a transaction. To become an executor, one must stake Autonomy’s native token $AUTN. To mitigate race conditions and gas inefficiencies between this network of bots, a proof of stake algorithm has been implemented so only one executor is allowed to execute transactions at a time.

Q6: What are your thoughts on the masses’ dependency on CEXs? And how do you think DEXs can attract more people?

Answer:CEX’s are appealing to the masses because of two main reasons, the first one being that a CEX has a very low barrier to entry in terms of understanding how it works (order-book mechanism, no interactions with the blockchain, no gas fees, etc.) and also in terms of fiat to crypto and vice versa.

The second reason is that CEX’s are able to provide the risk management and profit-maximizing tooling that DEX’s are not able to provide most often, say limit orders and stop losses. At a deeper level, it means that DEX’s need to be able to provide a way for users to manage their assets while they are not looking because the biggest risk in Crypto is not volatility; the biggest risk is not being able to pay attention.

In order for DEX’s to achieve mass adoption, they need to be able to educate people, provide users fiat on-ramp services and allow users to manage their assets while they are not looking.

Q7: Now that automation is here, crypto trading can be more seamless now. Moving forward, what do you reckon is the next big thing for the crypto market and its mass adoption?

Answer:In my opinion, there are two things that will lead to mass adoption, one is the legal and government regulation aspect. This would make Crypto and DeFi more credible in the eyes of the more risk-averse population.

The second element for mass adoption is education and lowering the barrier of entry for Crypto. I believe that the next big thing will be projects steering away from gamified solutions as a way to lower the barrier of entry and move towards more serious and instructive solutions with more seamless experiences for lowering the barrier of entry.

It is important to mention that automation does not just make Crypto trading more seamless, but it solves the attention problem for trading. It also helps manage assets in the highly volatile Crypto markets, which in turn lowers the barrier of entry to the more risk-averse population.

Disclaimer: The sole purpose of Unhashed is to unhash (decode) information about projects innovating using blockchain and cryptocurrencies and share it with the community. The writer does not have any vested interest in any of the projects covered herein. Not that this article shares any, but still, taking investment advice from strangers on the internet is not a wise thing to do.