Ethereum is Supposed to go PoS (Proof of Stake) in 2022 Which Will Make it More Scalable

Ishan Pandey: Hi Robert Wesker, welcome to our series “Behind the Startup.” Please tell us about yourself and the story behind Candao?

Robert Wesker: I am a serial entrepreneur with a passion for social networking which I expressed in 2005 creating one of the first social platforms. For the next many years I was watching startups struggling to raise money. Someone once said 80% of the costs of a startup are people. I had this thought about changing that paradigm by allowing people to make their own currency as personal and brand tokens so they can easily sell their skills and exchange values between themselves and any projects they find interesting. That is how Candao was born, offering a complete ecosystem for matching everyone’s needs.

Ishan Pandey: The purpose of the protocol, as I understand, is to provide a platform where people with similar commercial and social aspirations can come together to inspire, engage, and build values. What are the privacy features that have to be adhered to in this regard especially since the marketplace is going to be vast?

Robert Wesker: Privacy is a tricky thing nowadays. Most people share their data all over the internet without thinking, intuitively feeling that this is a right way to express oneself and let others know what is happening by them. I would rather point out the origin of the given information as the key. If we achieve the level of identification which is certain, no other information will be taken into account other than coming from a verified source. Perhaps even banned or at least hidden when not confirmed by the owner of the given data. Thanks to blockchain technology it is possible to achieve that level of certainty.

Ishan Pandey: How do you see the future of DAOs? Will they last within the current market situation?

Robert Wesker: I would upside down this question. Will centralized organizations last? DAOs are still finding their way. A lot of stuff is still experimental but giving the power over to people is inevitable to some extent and in some context. While people still have to learn how it works and what benefits it brings to every member of a DAO community, DAO is an opportunity for both smaller and larger organisations. It decreases the disparities and offers more to those who are more involved. Recent moves in crypto give power to users, just as with Web3.0 where users do not just have the power to read and write but also own. At this stage, there are still some potential pitfalls like misinformation, centralized media and not an equal level of education which may disturb conscious decision making in larger DAOs. This is why it’s more reasonable to start it from smaller groups of people who share the same interests. In a few decades, we may see no governments but DAO-like structures.

Ishan Pandey: What are your views on Ethereum rising fees and its impact on the ecosystem?

Robert Wesker: The rising Ethereum has fees creating an unbalanced market. In the first week of December, 2021, many Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs, including Uniswap, were dominated by Whales - large volume traders). This took a toll on small-scale investors. It is important to note that the aim of decentralized Finance (DeFi) is to "democratize" finance by promoting and enhancing equal access to financial products and services which would not come easy under the traditional finance system. For the crypto market to be balanced, both large and small investors must be present.

Despite all of these, we have witnessed growth in the number of dApps and NFTs being built on the Ethereum blockchain. Also, many DeFi platforms are deploying bridges that can connect other blockchains to the Ethereum blockchain. This will help to make transaction fees fairer and enhance transaction speed. That aside, what doesn’t kill us, will make us stronger.

Despite high gas fees the whole ecosystem thrives. Based on that little weakness other competitors had a chance to introduce their products to the market which is a good thing for the market. It is still an underdeveloped world with a lot of challenges for everyone. Ethereum is supposed to go PoS (Proof of Stake) sometime in 2022 which will make it more scalable and I think it has the best idea and scenario for it out of many PoSs on the market. A very good job was done by Polygon (formerly MATIC) by creating a plasma side chain, a faster and cheaper version of ethereum while still inheriting the security of a mother layer 1 blockchain. Most of our tools will run on the Polygon network while still being cross chained to many other blockchains.

Ishan Pandey: What new advancements can we expect in future in the DeFi movement in its run against the traditional system?

Robert Wesker: The point is not to stop it, rather than to fight the competition of the traditional system. What is happening in the world is not a revolution, but an evolution. First and foremost, we must start seeing and implementing decentralized finance in a much broader way than we are today. Instead, consider it as a way to deliver liquidity to everything and make it available to everyone.

Any value that is created, built, developed, or delivered by people, their systems, and their businesses works for the benefit of end customers. These benefits can be completely quantifiable and transparent to the public. Imagine community-developed software that currently generates millions of dollars in annual profits. If you are staking those tokens, the profits are distributed to you via smart contracts. What about owning part of a machine or the entire production line? Assembly lines create elements that are then sold from manufacturers, through importers, distributors to direct customers.

Why couldn't the DAO communities finance their own production lines for home appliances, cars and electronics? Imagine the DAO finances Hollywood movies or music hits. Vote, give feedback and influence the process of creating the biggest productions, and earn money in the end. What about properties that generate profits for a single homeowner. Why to not share it with 20 smaller token holders? How about selling only 50% of your home to 100 users to get the cash flow that you currently need and rent this part from them on pre-defined terms?

Why not start a DAO community with hundreds of small co-owners of a new hotel making money from safe rentals? First, link the trademarks, patents and property to the NFT. Second, distribute benefits to the world and share financial data with token holders. Third, use smart contracts to distribute these profits. DeFi could actually exist in any industry and be connected to any asset and any resource. I call it digitization of reality, that is, the process of creating a new world in which we will all participate in the period of transformation.

Ishan Pandey: According to you, what are the certain limitations regarding Dapps and Defi applications running on the ethereum blockchain?

Robert Wesker: Dapps are magnificent new creations with decentralized souls but also hard to develop, maintain and upgrade. Some applications require KYC and as there is little to no central authority to verify the user identity, it becomes an issue in terms of UX. Dapps are built on blockchain and use complex protocols. They have to be built to scale itself, we can’t just code an idea and then later on add more features and scale it.

Ishan Pandey: Please tell us a little bit about the Candao Protocol and its comprehensive social Over-Layer within the crypto space.

Robert Wesker: Similar to what Layer 0 is for blockchains, Candao is an Over-Layer for applications and their utilities. Imagine tokenizing all offline and online assets, people, their skills, networking, contracts, intellectual property and so on, put in one place to be matched with those searching for them. Imagine you don’t have to go out to another application to use a single function just because someone made the app popular. If they were all interconnected, the user experience would be a lot smoother. That is where the metaverse comes into play allowing users continuum under one roof throughout a trustless public ledger where users keep private keys to their data.

Ishan Pandey: What new trends are we going to witness within the crypto ecosystem especially in the post covid-19 era?

Robert Wesker: more people getting interested in crypto, investing, new projects and solutions for businesses and people. There is a big urge for a change in our system - blockchain offers the solutions to address them. We need decentralized media, social media, organizations or even governments - but everything started from decentralizing the financial system but even here there is still a lot to be done.

Law will need to adapt to the new monetary system. Covid-19 was a surprise but also an opportunity to move into a direction of decentralized people, working in a virtual space, cooperating on a daily basis through computer systems, on a huge scale. Crypto adoption can be potentially sped up by that, as acceptance for digital space is growing fast.