KuCoin AMA With Smart Layer Network (SLN) — The Key to Secure Digital Ecosystems

Dear KuCoin Users,

Time: February 29, 2024, 14:00 PM- 15:02 PM (UTC)

KuCoin hosted an AMA (Ask-Me-Anything) session with the Chief Strategy Officer of Smart Layer Network, Mathew Sweezey, in the KuCoin Exchange Group.

Official Website: https://www.smartlayer.network/

Whitepaper: https://www.smartlayer.network/Smart-Layer-Lightpaper.pdf

Follow Smart Layer Network on Twitter and Discord

Q: Could you provide a brief overview of Smart Layer?

Matthew: Smart Layer is a new infrastructure layer enabling tokens with front-end. We are the team behind ERC-5169 & TokenScript. Smart Layer provides a new infrastructure layer combining a suite of tools, technologies and standards to support the accelerated adoption of token front-ends.

We introduced token front-ends that can transform token liquidity and utility. The technology is proven at scale with Smart Cats, which has +22m blockchain transactions and +500k users, and over 222M calls to the Testnet.

Breaking it down: TokenScript is the front-end framework for tokens. ERC-5169 provides a secure, convenient and decentralized way to link the front-end and back-end of a token. The Smart Layer Network handles the off-chain part of the token's back-end logic and offers a server-side runtime environment to support a future, token-centric and AI-centric web. Launchpad is the suite of developer tools, and marketplace to launch new projects enabled with this technology. The SLN token captures value from the Smart Layer ecosystem.

We believe all tokens need a front-end. We have them in all other digital primitives, and we've proven that tokens with front-ends have greater liquidity, security, and use.

Q: Could you introduce the team behind it?

Matthew: Sure, the company was Co-Founded in 2017 by R3 Architect Weiwu Zhang, Serial Founder Victor Zhang and Blockchain Architect and Gaming veteran James Brown. They shared a vision of web3 integration and liquidity based on a token-centric architecture. TCA means a token is at the center of all digital interactions, and for this to be tru, it has to have a front-end.

The team today includes marketing and strategy leaders from Meta and Salesforce, including me, the co-founder of Salesforce web3 studio, and former Meta and Uber executive Brent Annells.

Q: You've proven this technology with Smart Cats, could you tell us more about this project?

Matthew: The Smart Cats were a game we created on Polygon to showcase what token-front ends can unlock. By the numbers, the Smart Cats crushed it.

The First xNFT on Polygon, that means it is a token that carries a Front End and is interactive. A free mint which our community minted 940k of. It was the most traded NFT of the last 30 days with over 180K sales. Smart Cats became the #1 trending collection on OpenSea and it also became a #1 game on dApp on Polygon by transaction volume.

Smart Cats put over 20M transactions on-chain in 90 days. 3M in the last 7, which is more than either Base or Optimism.

Let that sink in. By simply giving a token a front end it has put more transactions on-chain than either of the two hottest L2’s in the a 7 day span. That is the power of a token front-end.

Q: Could you update us on the progress Smart Layer has made to date? Please share any achievements and developments over the years.

Matthew: Smart Layer has achieved several significant milestones since its inception. It has raised over US$12M from investors including OKX Ventures, Crypto.com, Mark Cuban and Xinjun Liang. It is a major contributor to EVM projects ENS and WalletConnect and is a Public Goods Supporter to the Ethereum Foundation. The team has authored 5 ethereum standards including the ERC-5169 token standard.

As of listing over 1M wallets have interacted with Smart Layer technology putting over 22M transactions on chain. Smart Layer’s technology is also validated for advanced token use cases with a published ERC404 V2 improvement that uses a token front-end to give users greater control over token balances and transfers. We also just listed our token last week and are floating around a $500M market cap currently. We've been up to A LOT!

Q: I'm curious about the utility of the $SLN token. Could you explain its purpose?

Matthew: We just wrote a long post about this on Medium you can find here, but I'll give an overview.

The $SLN token is designed to capture value across the entire ecosystem inclusive of Smart Layer Network, Smart Layer Launchpad and all tools and technologies.

The token has 3 fundamental utilities across the ecosystem:

1. Staking

Projects and users can stake to earn $SLN rewards, $SLN fees, receive discounts on usage, receive discounts on sales price, vote in governance, or to become eligible for Launchpad projects.

2. Payment

Projects and users can use $SLN to pay for the usage of the Tools, Network or Launchpad, hire services, and much more.

3. Gas and transaction fees

All the transaction fees paid across Tools, Launchpad and the Network are collected in $SLN, similar to how Ether is used for gas.

Q: Could you provide insights into Smart Layer's roadmap?

Matthew: We have a big blog post coming about this later this week which will dive into great detail on the roadmap, but here's a quick overview.

In the past 6 months, Smart Layer has delivered large scale, in market proof of concepts for its underlying value proposition and technology. Through Smart Cats, Cat Loot, Smart Pass and Improvements to ERC404 we have validated that ERC5169 + TokenScript + LaunchPad + Testnet can deliver transformative token utility and liquidity.

We have laid a foundation for future ecosystem growth via : Smart Layer wallet integrations with JOY.id, TokenPocket, Math Wallet, OKX and platform partnerships / integrations with OpenSea, Magic Eden and Polygon.

Our 2024 Roadmap for March through December is to deliver :

• 6 Launchpad projects
• 6.4m executable tokens
• 2.2m unique wallets
• 444m Testnet requests
• Foundational ecosystem partnerships

In 2025, Smart Layer will move to a first phase of scaling based on verticals where most value has been proven through 2024. Gaming and DeFi are two verticals with high potential based on results to date, but the areas of focus will be finalized closer to year's end.

In 2025, Smart Layer will more aggressively seek out new partnerships and growth. Ecosystem growth will be aligned with vertical expansion strategy and see scalable integrations with wallet providers and marketplaces. Target is to increase LaunchPad and Network traffic by 100% YOY over 2024.

In 2026, Smart Layer will continue to scale in key verticals where value creation is highest. Smart Layer will move to a more mature partnerships and growth function, looking to increase LaunchPad and Network traffic by 100% YOY over 2025. Ecosystem growth to scale alongside launchpad and executable token growth targets.

Q: What can we expect from $SLN in the future?

Matthew: More building! More value!

We’ve got launchpad projects lined up and will be releasing them soon. By the end of 2026 token front-ends will be accessible across tens of millions of tokens and Mainnet will be handling over a billion requests annually.

Smart Layer will be perfectly positioned to support every token on the planet with advanced utility and liquidity based on advanced off-chain function and logic.

We also have a lot of big ecosystem partners to announce coming up. So stay tuned, and join in as we are all going to rise together!

Q: EVM Chain will often inconvenience the community due to high network congestion and higher transaction fees. Do users encounter these problems on the EVM Chain when interacting with the Smart Layer Network? Has the Smart Layer Network taken any solutions to address these issues?

Matthew: We are not a blockchain, rather support for chains. Just like The Graph we are a decentralized service network. Which enable tokens to carry off-chain logic, that logic is a front-end in many cases. We are starting with the EVM world but will move into other networks in the near future so there are no issues our users face from the chain. You choose which network you want to use, and we enable that token to go far beyond the limitations of the blockchain.

Q: How is the Smart Layer Network project different from other similar crypto projects? What features have you added to your project that make it unique and a market leader?

Matthew: There are no other similar projects, we created ERC-5169. We then used it to create the first xNFT on Polygon, and created the first token as a game to showcase how token front-ends can increase use, security and liquidity. That is why we have a lot of momentum behind us and why we are able to gain so many high level ecosystem partnerships quickly.

Q: Almost 80% of investors have focused solely on the short-term price of a token instead of understanding the project’s real value. Can you tell us about the motivations and benefits for investors to hold $SLN tokens in the long term?

Matthew: The motivation is if you believe that tokens are a key building block of the future. We do.

We also believe that tokens are only beginning in their use. So for tokens to go further they need front ends, just like all other digital primitives. If you believe this and can see that we enable all chains, there is a lot of value to be captured.

Q: Every project has something unique about it. What is unique about the smart layer that makes it stand out against other projects?

Matthew: We are not a blockchain, rather run parallel to all chains. So our total addressable market isn't about building an ecosystem, rather supporting all existing ecosystems. All tokens are our total addressable market, not just those within one chain's ecosystem.

To further this we enable the standards for those tokens to have greater liquidity via front-ends. We've proven how this works, and have a lot of interest from projects to do this for their tokens. These two elements make our project very unique.

Q: How does the project plan to sustain long-term value for its token, and what strategies are in place to ensure a steady growth in profitability for token holders?

Matthew: Great question. We plan to deliver long term value via growth of use of our standards and tools. Once a token is enabled it creates a base of use. Each token references our mainnet as it is the store of the logic. This requires payment in SLN. There are other drivers of value as well which we plan to leverage for value creation.

So each token that we enable with a front-end, each time that front end is interacted with, either to serve up information to a marketplace, or a button is clicked, etc it requires use of our token. So our goal is to enable as many tokens as possible with our technology driving our value capture.

We believe in a few years it will be crazy to think about having a token that doesn't have a front end. We don't use computers by command line prompts, we got GUI with Windows. We don't code to servers over the internet, we use HTML. We built these tools for the tokenized world and that is our value capture.

🎁 Participate in the Smart Layer Network AMA quiz now for a chance to win $10 in SLN!

The form will remain open for five days from publishing this AMA recap.

KuCoin and Smart Layer Network have prepared a total of $2,000 in SLN to give away to AMA participants.

1. Pre-AMA activity: $800 in SLN

2. Free-ask section: $50 in SLN

3. Flash mini-game: $400 in SLN

4. Post-AMA quiz: $750 in SLN

Sign up for a KuCoin account if you haven’t done so yet, and ensure you complete your KYC verification to be eligible for the rewards.

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