Discovering NFTs and Economics with Anderson Mccutcheon

In this slogging AMA, we had the pleasure of having Anderson Mccutcheon with us. Anderson is the Founder and CEO of Chains, a cryptocurrency and NFT exchange platform designed to allow users to earn, trade, invest and spend across multiple chains. In this AMA, we discussed DeFi vs. CeFi, tokens, crypto, market economics, and the future of Chains.

This Slogging thread by Sara Pinto, Anderson Mccutcheon, Mónica Freitas, Mark Finnigan, Cris Silva, Jack Boreham, Kelley Dane, John T., SuperSaiyanProgramming, Char736 and james Burrows occurred in slogging's official #amas channel, and has been edited for readability.

Sara PintoAug 15, 2022, 12:01 PM

Hi @channel, please join me in welcoming Anderson Mccutcheon, the founder and CEO of http://Chains.com - a platform focused on enabling cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange at scale. He is interested in gaming, blockchain, economics, and programmable money.

Please feel free to ask Anderson anything about:

Sara PintoAug 15, 2022, 12:02 PM

Hey Anderson Mccutcheon, it’s a pleasure to have you here with us. First, can you tell us a bit about your background and http://Chains.com?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 15, 2022, 12:10 PM

Thank you for having me!
Sure. I am in the blockchain space since 2011. Previously I worked on developing real-time thermochemical control systems and other fun low-level projects. As an executive, I had the opportunity to work with amazing teams in Riot Games, PokerStars, 888 Holdings. In the past, I was part of the founding teams for Unicoin and Synereo, as well as General Partner at Nemesis Capital.

Anderson MccutcheonAug 15, 2022, 12:12 PM

http://Chains.com is an evolution of an idea that the team and I have had for a decade now. The biggest opportunity today is building solutions for the next generation of users. Going from 100M cryptocurrency and NFT users to 1B users, by building products that don't cater to just investors and technologists.

Mónica FreitasAug 15, 2022, 12:18 PM

Hi Anderson Mccutcheon! It's great to have you here! How does your platform work and how has it been able to deal with all the recent crypto fluctuations?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 15, 2022, 12:22 PM

Mónica Freitas, we weren't affected directly by the fluctuations, as we don't maintain significant balances of fluctuating assets. I am certain that it affected our users, and we, just everybody else, are looking forward to seeing the market adjust after the liquidations and bankruptcies of recent months.

The platform we are building is a stack of CeFi products connected to a single account. In the very near future, we will be adding Web3 connectivity, and we have already issued account-tied NFTs to our users.

Sara PintoAug 15, 2022, 12:19 PM

Anderson Mccutcheon, so who’s the target market of http://Chains.com?

Sara PintoAug 15, 2022, 12:20 PM

Also, to reach 1B users is quite the goal! What do you think it will take to accomplish that?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 15, 2022, 12:25 PM

Sara Pinto, just like with the first 100M, it will take a combination of variables. Market conditions, utility levels, (DeFi, NFT, MoE), regulation, and most importantly, the level of friction that users experience with the product. Our goal is to develop radically user-friendly and inclusive products.

Anderson MccutcheonAug 15, 2022, 12:26 PM

Sara Pinto, there are a few target markets, but as mentioned above, the key for us is catering to users who wish to interact with multiple products across multiple blockchains, without understanding the underlying technology.

Sara PintoAug 15, 2022, 12:43 PM

You mention how you’re building CeFi products and how DeFi is a factor to gain more users. So, where does http://Chains.com fit? How do you see it?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 15, 2022, 12:52 PM

Sara Pinto, users don't see themselves as "CeFi users" and "DeFi users". Almost all active users use both CeFi and Web3 products.
We are thinking of it as "MeFi" - a single identity that interacts with various financial products. The identity and its account are connected to a stack of CeFi products on http://Chains.com, and provides connectivity to DeFi and NFT products from a Web3-enabled dashboard.
So far 33,000 users have received the DSS NFT that is associated with their http://Chains.com account and we will be announcing partnerships with Web3 services in the near future.

Mónica FreitasAug 15, 2022, 1:33 PM

Anderson Mccutcheon, interesting. So you offer CeFi products. Where does crypto fit in?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 15, 2022, 1:35 PM

Mónica Freitas, it crypto CeFi products. A la coinbase.

Anderson MccutcheonAug 15, 2022, 1:36 PM

The amount of CeFi cryptocurrency users exceeds the number of DeFi users.

Sara PintoAug 15, 2022, 1:38 PM

Anderson Mccutcheon, oh wow, MeFi is an interesting concept! That accordance seems like it can bring great outcomes. How far ahead is http://Chains.com in Web3 besides the account-tied NFTs?

Sara PintoAug 15, 2022, 1:39 PM

Can you explain how those accounts work? What are the advantages?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 15, 2022, 1:42 PM

Sara Pinto, we've launched NFTs in April and are still working on the first Web3 features, while establishing partnerships in the background with projects that will interact with users holding the Chains NFT.

Anderson MccutcheonAug 15, 2022, 1:43 PM

Sara Pinto, it depends on your use cases. If you are using the Launchpad, you can purchase tokens (we support 13 types of payment methods and deploy to 4 blockchains), you can use the Exchange and Marketplace to utilize cryptocurrency and use Prism to track and analyze your portfolio

Mark FinniganAug 15, 2022, 2:53 PM

Hello Anderson Mccutcheon! What would a future with unified CeFi and DeFi look like?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 16, 2022, 8:54 AM

Mark Finnigan, an identity that exists on both CeFi and Web3 services. A CeFi account is connected to a stack of products, interacting with a whitelist of DeFi products.

Sara PintoAug 15, 2022, 2:59 PM

What kind of partnerships are you looking for to help achieve your user growth and those projects?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 16, 2022, 8:56 AM

Sara Pinto, we are looking to partner with GameFi, Metaverse and DeFi services that are interested in tapping into our community of users and providing them with additional value.

mailto:[email protected] if you'd like to partner up with http://Chains.com

Cris SilvaAug 15, 2022, 3:04 PM

Hi Anderson Mccutcheon, Chains is already a big name in the area, with a huge community. But it wasn't always like this. So, how was it to create a project from the ground up? What were the biggest challenges you faced to grow Chains to its current state?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 16, 2022, 8:58 AM

Cris Silva, the biggest challenge was starting with nothing. No name, no community, no team. There is a long period of ideation, planning, iterating before you even start putting the team together. Securing the first investors is also incredibly hard.
Shipping things is very very hard, and nothing compares to putting a product that up until now was only available to a few dozen beta testers, into the hands of hundreds of thousands of users.

Mónica FreitasAug 15, 2022, 3:07 PM

How does Chains helps CeFi users enter the crypto stratosphere? How does it make it easier for new users?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 16, 2022, 9:02 AM

Mónica Freitas, even today, we provide an experience that natively supports both credit cards and cryptocurrencies, as well as a very friendly KYC process and 24/7 support on our channels. The website is available in 4 languages and we have official communities in 12 languages. Not getting "into crypto" is not being able to get an answer to the unique question that is currently inhibiting you from doing something. This is why we've put together so many videos, FAQs and support channels, as well as a wizard-style onboarding mechanism.

Sara PintoAug 15, 2022, 3:07 PM

Anderson Mccutcheon, what do you mean by enabling cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange at scale? How does crypto act and change in the market economics?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 16, 2022, 9:04 AM

Sara Pinto, the biggest opportunity in the space is still the great promise of the Bitcoin whitepaper - a digital currency that is not issued by a government.
We have free markets for almost everything. Imagine a reality where there is a free market where people can use what they consider to be the right medium of exchange, instead of just one official currency.

Jack BorehamAug 15, 2022, 6:07 PM

Anderson Mccutcheon, how can cryptocurrencies scale when they are so volatile?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 16, 2022, 9:04 AM

Jack Boreham, cryptocurrencies are not volatile. Their USD value is.

Kelley DaneAug 15, 2022, 9:16 PM

Hey Anderson Mccutcheon! Could you elaborate on http://Chains.com connection with NVIDIA, AWS Activate, and Microsoft?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 16, 2022, 9:06 AM

Kelley Dane, sure. We are part of multiple accelerator programs, that provide us with resources - such as cloud credits, software, networking, investors, mentorships and even hardware. We are very grateful for the resources provided to us by NVIDIA, Microsoft and Amazon.

Mónica FreitasAug 16, 2022, 10:54 AM

Anderson Mccutcheon, I've seen a couple of your videos, and they're great and an excellent strategy to support users. Your community numbers are also really impressive! Granted that crypto enthusiasts tend to be a dedicated community, but how did you manage to grow your numbers? What strategies did you apply? (speaking as someone who's trying to engage a small online community)

Anderson MccutcheonAug 16, 2022, 3:37 PM

Mónica Freitas, marketing is precise and predictable science and is not different from coding. It's a skillset and anyone who possesses it can build communities, acquire users, retain them and so forth.
Similar to programming, the way to fail at it is to apply common sense. Sometimes you may end up succeeding, but to be consistent you need a team that knows how to do things without having the think up solutions for every step.

Sara PintoAug 16, 2022, 10:55 AM

Anderson Mccutcheon, the idea of a free market is really interesting, and Bitcoin might be a great promise. However, to reach this goal, isn't the main issue the education around this subject?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 16, 2022, 3:32 PM

Sara Pinto, no

Mark FinniganAug 16, 2022, 10:56 AM

Anderson Mccutcheon, won't unity demand that traditional banking structures change and adapt to welcome crypto?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 17, 2022, 8:43 AM

Mark Finnigan, you should set up your account on http://Chains.com. You will be able to buy CHA and use the Launchpad and its features.
By going to the pinned message on our Twitter
https://twitter.com/chains_com/status/1542825607234523136?s=21&t=drk9gHg8mw-a-b7mK5fyrA
You will then be able to claim a unique NFT tied to your account.

John T.Aug 16, 2022, 10:58 AM

Hello Anderson Mccutcheon! Nice to meet you. I've read that Chains operates with NFTs. How so? A bit like a wallet?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 17, 2022, 8:51 AM

John T., anyone who has a http://chains.com account can claim a unique NFT on Polygon, which is in their custody. That NFT can then be used to connect to our and other services.

Kelley DaneAug 16, 2022, 2:56 PM

Anderson Mccutcheon, what's the difference between MeFi and unified CefiDeFi?

Kelley DaneAug 16, 2022, 3:04 PM

I was checking http://Chains.com and I noticed that you have specific info about the number of tokens available and their current and next prices. It's the first time I see something like this. How does this exactly works? Won't the value fluctuate depending on the sales?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 16, 2022, 3:04 PM

Kelley Dane 1) it's a much shorter word. 2) Cefi and DeFi can't just be “unified” as these distinctly different products. They are fundamentally different, and even though one can use both, the tech behind these products and the experience for the power user is differently incomparable. A DeFi power user interacts with the code.

Anderson MccutcheonAug 16, 2022, 3:06 PM

Kelley Dane, the value of the tokens during the TGE is predictable and we're not the first to provide a deterministic curve, albeit we perhaps make it more obvious to the user.

Sara PintoAug 16, 2022, 4:50 PM

Picking up on what Kelley Dane mentioned about the tokens, the market has considerably changed throughout this year. Does that affect your token sale?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 17, 2022, 8:49 AM

Sara Pinto, yes. People have less capital to deploy and obviously, a lot of cryptocurrency users are hurting because of the series of bankruptcies that wiped out billions of dollars from retail and medium/small investors. Larger investors and funds however are very active, despite current market conditions.

SuperSaiyanProgrammingAug 16, 2022, 5:28 PM

In what way is Chains partnering or interacting with NVIDIA? As a gamer, I'm always excited to hear that name

Anderson MccutcheonAug 17, 2022, 8:46 AM

SuperSaiyanProgramming, we partnered up with NVIDIA in order to secure resources and support for our big data and machine learning programs. NVIDIA has already allocated $100,000 USD in server resources to us and we are grateful for their support:

Sara PintoAug 16, 2022, 6:40 PM

Anderson Mccutcheon, What does your product roadmap for the next 12 months look like?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 17, 2022, 8:54 AM

Sara Pinto - a major upgrade to the Launchpad and token pricing mechanism is 2 weeks away.
Introducing the Rewards Classic and Rewards PRO programs for affiliates.
Prism, our analytics, and portfolio tracking service.
CHA based yield
Cryptocurrency exchange
And more :)

Jack BorehamAug 16, 2022, 6:46 PM

Anderson Mccutcheon, can you tell us about how Chains works with Microsoft

Anderson MccutcheonAug 17, 2022, 8:50 AM

Jack Boreham, sure. Their program provides us with server resources, licenses and access to a very helpful network for partners.

Anderson MccutcheonAug 17, 2022, 8:45 AM

We will be announcing unique features and benefits of the NFT shortly. Today you can use it to access a special channel on our Discord server.

Char736Aug 17, 2022, 9:40 AM

Hi Anderson Mccutcheon, do you think the blockchain is a positive thing for gaming?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 17, 2022, 5:44 PM

I think it's an irrelevant thing for gaming and goes against everything we know about human behavior. As an avid gamer and gaming industry veteran, I have nothing but ridicule for most current “gaming” offerings on the blockchain.

james BurrowsAug 17, 2022, 9:45 AM

Anderson Mccutcheon, do you think crypto will replace fiat?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 17, 2022, 5:45 PM

Yes, it's quite likely that government-issued crypto will either replace completely or almost eradicate paper money. Blockchain is the ultimate control mechanism and this is why we see so many governments adopting it in quick succession.

Sara PintoAug 17, 2022, 10:21 AM

Anderson Mccutcheon, where do you see http://Chains.com 5 years from now?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 17, 2022, 5:46 PM

Sara Pinto, we aspire to be a top-10 exchange and a top-3 marketplace.

Sara PintoAug 17, 2022, 6:19 PM

Thank you for the great answers, Anderson. Unfortunately, our time for the AMA is up. It was a pleasure to have you here with us. Any final thoughts you want to share with our community?

Anderson MccutcheonAug 18, 2022, 8:51 AM

Sara Pinto, thank you for having me! I think that this is the part of the cycle where real value building happens. It's never the top of the bull cycle. Now is the time to build the products and infrastructure that define the next 10 years!