KuCoin AMA With PARSIQ: Turning Blockchain Data Into Actions — IQ Protocol Is Live
Dear KuCoin Users,
Time: July 7, 2021, 10:00-10:59 (UTC)
KuCoin hosted an AMA (Ask-Me-Anything) session with Tom Tirman, Co-Founder and CEO of PARSIQ, in the KuCoin Exchange Group, who introduced what PARSIQ is and shared the latest project development and updates.
Project Introduction
PARSIQ is a next-generation platform for monitoring and intelligence — offering analytics tools for blockchain technology across a plethora of industries. This enables users to track network activity in real time, unlock new use cases for their application and create instant notifications.
Official Website: https://www.parsiq.net
White Paper: https://parsiq.net/en/platform
Follow PARSIQ on Twitter and Telegram.
Guest:
Tom Tirman — Co-Founder & CEO of PARSIQ
Tom has extensive experience in business and finance, having worked in both traditional banking institutions and fintech companies as well as having been an entrepreneur. While working in management positions in finance and operations departments, Tom accumulated a track record of building teams from the ground up and transforming existing teams to deliver exponential improvements. Tom holds a law degree from TalTech University. He focuses his business on bringing disruptive next-gen technologies to the masses.
Q&A from KuCoin
Tom: Hi everyone!
Q: Please tell us about yourself and the PARSIQ team.
Tom: Thank you. It is great to be here. My name is Tom, and I’m the CEO of PARSIQ. Most of the PARSIQ team and I are based in Estonia, although the rest of the team is distributed all across the world.
I have an extensive background in law, traditional finance, and fintech startups. I co-founded PARSIQ in 2018 along with Andre Kalinovski and Anatoly Ressin.
Anatoly holds an MSc Computer Science degree and has taught as a university lecturer for 14 years at the Transport and Telecommunication Institute of Riga. Anatoly is revered as one of the best blockchain architects in the Baltic region and is our main driving force behind our newly released IQ Protocol.
We’ve expanded the team by 100% so far this year and are hoping to find more talented people to join our diverse team of blockchain passionate individuals, like Evan Cheng, the head of research for Novi and Diem (formerly project Libra) at Facebook, who’s just joined PARSIQ as an advisor and investor.
Q: What is PARSIQ and what do you do?
Tom: PARSIQ is a blockchain-to-everything platform that turns data into actions. Our technology allows users to subscribe to any events happening across different blockchains in real time at scale.
Furthermore, users are able to script programmable reactions to those events. If-This-Then-That conditional logic for automating processes and transforming valuable data streams. It provides a layer of interoperability between blockchains and the real world.
The problem of the blockchain is that blockchains contain massive unstructured data, they are disconnected from centralized systems, and it is difficult to extract actionable insight from them. PARSIQ technology solves these problems.
PARSIQ is involved in developing an international security standard for blockchains that will complement the ISO standards, and real-time monitoring of smart contracts is one of the primary requirements to implement within that standard.
Furthermore, we are deeply rooted in analytics and forensics and have helped several projects fork and recover stolen tokens in the CoinMetro hack in 2020. We’ve assisted in forking several projects like PAID Network and helped create elaborate incentive and refund schedules based solely on blockchain events.
Q: What makes PARSIQ different from other competitors in the same space, like The Graph, for example?
Tom: PARSIQ takes real-time blockchain data at scale, transforms it on the fly, combines it with off-chain datasets, both public and proprietary data, and delivers this data to an off-chain app or device of choice to trigger further actions in the real world.
In the case of The Graph, the comparison is more apt because PARSIQ and The Graph both deal with blockchain data, but the use cases and technological approaches are completely different. The Graph allows querying, via a pull-based approach, historical blockchain data has already happened, but PARSIQ processes live streams of events, using a push-based approach, at any level of confirmation, 1 block or even mempool, with programmable reactions to those events.
Another distinction is that solutions such as The Graph and API3 are strictly developer-oriented. PARSIQ caters to both developers, due to our programming language ParsiQL, and non-developers as we have UI/UX layer complete with templates, wizards and drag-and-drop editors for those who do not code. In addition, PARSIQ is blockchain agnostic as it has support for all blockchain protocols.
Q: PARSIQ has recently launched the IQ Protocol. Could you tell us a bit more about what it does?
Tom: The IQ Protocol is a decentralized finance (DeFi) solution for the SaaS market. IQ Protocol is the world’s first risk-free, collateral-less DeFi protocol to tokenize SaaS subscriptions in the DeFi space with a circular economy. IQ Protocol features several standard DeFi services, including lending (staking) and borrowing, allowing participants to earn passive income.
IQ Protocol is open-source, and we allow anyone to incorporate the protocol into their own projects and change it to how they see fit. And there are no limiting factors.
Intended to be a Subscription as a Service, we’ve come to realize that IQ can be much more than that. It can,for example, service those who need to create elaborate incentives over time, like node runners crucial in a project's network.
Q: What does PARSIQ’s native token PRQ do?
Tom: PRQ token is an essential part of the PARSIQ ecosystem. It is directly tied to the demand for PARSIQ technology. Demand for the services increases the demand for PRQ tokens.
We are using a model that is gaining increased popularity among protocols, projects, and software projects – On-Chain Subscriptions.
To gain access to PARSIQ services, you need to hold and lock a certain amount of tokens for a certain period of time. It could be a month, a year, or however long the users and clients need to consume our services.
The amount of the tokens needed to be held depends on the usage and features of the services consumed. Heavier users and corporate clients need to hold a bigger amount.
The best part is that you only need to temporarily lock it and not spend the token, which means the users can withdraw the tokens at any time when they don’t have the need to subscribe to PARSIQ software anymore.
Now here is where things get more interesting since this is a completely new approach and will be a new trendsetter in the industry. One option is to market buy the token and then lock it to use PARSIQ services.
But for some users, market buying may not be an option. They can borrow the said tokens for a time via our IQ Protocol. The tokens are provided into the lending pool by any holders. This is risk-free as there is no collateral neede, and there is no way the borrower can spend the tokens. The borrowed tokens will be returned to the pool once the subscription is canceled or ended.
This means that the demand for PARSIQ services creates demand for the token, decreases active circulating supply and allows holders to earn passive income from lending—a perfect combination for ecosystem growth.
We believe that the On-Chain Subscriptions model, along with the risk-free collateral-less lending via IQ Protocol, is the future of all SaaS.
Q: What kind of clients do PARSIQ service? Who’s your typical client?
Tom: One of the strengths of our platforms is that it scales perfectly, whether you’re an exchange that needs to monitor millions or addresses or if you are a trader who’s looking at arbitraging between a few Uniswap pools and a CEX. PARSIQ delivers the perfect set of tools to complete both tasks.
We have large business clients who use our services to quickly notify their compliance departments about incoming deposits that need further review before allowing the client to use them on their platform. The blockchain streams of data we handle can be enriched with all sorts of 3rd party analytics, like for AML purposes, for example.
We’ve done several analytics projects for some of the larger launchpads, analyzing data post IDOs to enable them better understanding of what typically happens and create new strategies for their clients based on those findings.
Q: What’s in the near future for PARSIQ?
Tom: We have 44 000+ registered users, among them traders, developers, crypto companies, traditional companies, and DeFi projects.
I believe we have solidified our position in the market as a provider of blockchain to off-chain connectivity, infrastructure, and data automation.
From hereon, we have a lot of room to grow. We want to reach 1 million registered users by July 2022. We want to support dozens of blockchain protocols and DeFi protocols to let our users leverage the events happening on those protocols.
We want to improve our product, add integrations with apps and communication channels to solve even more pain points for our users and clients.
One of the most important milestones was the release of IQ Protocol and our new tokenomics model for PRQ this month and we are still working on launching this to its full extent along with integrating the IQ Protocol with other projects, like Mysterium, who’s just announced that they will be using it for their upcoming tokenomics upgrade.
We will see many traditional enterprises start adopting blockchain as the underlying tech, and they all need middleware to connect blockchain to their legacy systems. PARSIQ will aim to be the industry standard for this as we look forward to many milestones to announce very soon.
Lastly, we’ve just completed a 3 million USD funding round backed by Solana Foundation, so now we need to focus on making that money work for us, along with all the advisors we onboarded from the round as well, including people from Mindworks VC, Axia8 Ventures, Krypital Group, CoinUnited, Transfero Swiss, Elevate Ventures and Sanctum Ventures.
Q: What is ParsiQL and what is it used for?
Tom: For developers, we have ParsiQL, which is PARSIQ’s own domain-specific programming language designed specifically to process live streams of blockchain events. It allows developers to easily script their blockchain monitoring solutions across different blockchains.
This type of approach is unique in the industry and allows for a layer of scriptability to be applied when creating automation workflows. Developers do not have to know the specifics of building on all these different blockchains. Using ParsiQL, everything is standardized for them and easily accessible.
Even when no-coders use PARSIQ’s UI, it is powered by ParsiQL under the hood. Additionally, developers do not have to host nodes or spend money on infrastructure costs, as the PARSIQ platform already hosts full blockchain nodes, which are instrumented with our own custom trackers and tracers.
Free-Ask from KuCoin Community
Q: Binance Smart Chain blockchain has high transaction speed and cheap gas fees. Do you have a plan In mind to launch your mainnet or switch to other blockchains in the future?
Tom: Yes. In fact, we've launched the mainnet beta version of PARSIQ's IQ Protocol on Binance Smart Chain and set up a bridge to be able to port PRQ tokens from Ethereum to BSC.
Q: As you told us, to gain access to PARSIQ services, we need to hold and lock a certain amount of tokens for a certain period of time. Can you tell us how much we need to hold or lock? If I hold and lock in your platform is there any reward for it?
Tom: You can lend any amount and start receiving rewards immediately. There is no time limit as you can withdraw your tokens from the renting pool at any time. The APY is variable and dependent on the amount borrowed to access the platform subscriptions.
You can check out the IQ Protocol pool here: iq.space
And here is a guide to using it: https://blog.parsiq.net/the-iq-protocol-is-live
Q: We can set up PARSIQ very quickly and get notifications via Telegram. Besides Telegram, can we receive these notifications by mail?
Tom: Currently, we have integrations with Telegram, Discord, and Google Sheets. Additionally, we have Webhooks that allow you to connect to any API endpoint.
Q: I have came across a term called smart trigger while doing some research about PRQ. I know about smart contracts but what is a smart trigger? How does it make PRQ more unique?
Tom: Smart Triggers are similar to blockchain to off-chain smart contracts. Using Smart Triggers, events happening on the blockchain can trigger actions in the real world. If-This-Then-That logic with automation between decentralized networks and centralized systems.
Q: I have seen the roadmap of PARSIQ, and I don’t see that PARSIQ will have NFT in their project plan. Every new project is planning about NFTs. Do you consider having NFTs in your platform?
Tom: The PARSIQ platform is already capable of monitoring and setting up triggers for NFT transactions.
Additionally, we will consider making the IQ Protocol renting pools for NFT tokens so that users can borrow NFTs for a set time period.
Q: Do you plan to burn your tokens? Are you planning to list on other exchanges?
Tom: We just burned almost 190 million PRQ tokens. More info here: https://blog.parsiq.net/parsiq-burns-189-million-tokens
Q:
1. Parsiq has diversified from good products like monitoring, workflow management, wallet solutions and now DeFi. Do you think increasing the breadth of solutions may affect the depth? Also, maybe resource allocation of projects?
2. What is PARSIQ's plan to increase trader engagement and increase liquidity/volume on exchanges?
3. Will PARSIQ have a governance token that will be tradeable on the market?
4. Do you view PARSIQ as an RPA solution to blockchain in the long term?
Tom:
1. We intend to have dedicated teams (devs, biz devs, onboarding, etc.) for each major product. It will be challenging, but I think we will manage.
2. We are planning for more listings and some incentives for trading on existing exchanges.
3. Not at this point, but we are playing with the idea of governance for the IQ Protocol for the future.
4. Yes, that is the long-term outlook.
Q: Almost 90% of the goal of DeFi applications is to create a new financial system that eliminates subjectivity, bias, and inefficiencies by being based on programmable terms. Does your platform support this vision, and how does it participate in the DeFi space?
Tom: The IQ Protocol is our foray into pure DeFi. It will give users the ability to easily (without locking too much capital) get access to rights, access, services, goods that these utility tokens provide without exposing them to the potential downside of the volatility.
And it allows holders and investors to not only wait around for price appreciation but earn daily passive yield at the same time.
Interests of all groups will be aligned without the DeFi protocol.
Q: I wanted to follow PARSlQ project for the long term and don't want to miss any updates. Kindly share your social media links (because there are many fake groups)
Tom: For more information on PARSIQ, you can follow us here:
Website: https://parsiq.net/en
Blog: https://blog.parsiq.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/parsiq_net
Telegram: https://t.me/parsiq_group
Q: Is there anything else you would like to share or you want us to know?
Tom: Thanks for having me. And thank you to the KuCoin community for your great questions.
For anyone interested to learn more about PARSIQ, do not hesitate to follow our socials (listed above).
And for those interested, here is the latest on PARSIQ in the media:
IQ Protocol:
PARSIQ vs The Graph:
https://hackernoon.com/parsiq-vs-the-graph-pull-and-push-queries-cj1533hi
Evan Cheng from Facebook joins PARSIQ:
https://blockonomi.com/parsiq-adds-advisor-investor-evan-cheng-to-team
PARSIQ funding round:
https://www.coindesk.com/solana-foundation-leads-3m-investment-in-blockchain-data-platform-parsiq
PARSIQ ParsiQL and general monitoring:
Giveaway Section
KuCoin and PARSIQ have prepared a total of 4,000 PRQ to give away to AMA participants.
1. Free-ask section: 150 PRQ
2. AMA activity: 3,850 PRQ
Activity 1 — Quiz: 2,400 PRQ
Activity 2 — Price Guess: 600 PRQ
Participation Rewards: 850 PRQ
. . .
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