KuCoin AMA With tomiNet (TOMI) — Fostering Decentralization Through an Alternative Internet

Time: June 21, 2023, 13:00 - 14:09 (UTC)

KuCoin hosted an AMA (Ask-Me-Anything) session with the community and content manager of Tomi, Dag, in the KuCoin Exchange Group.

Official Website: https://tomi.com/

Whitepaper: Click to view

Follow tomiNet on Telegram and Twitter.

Dag — Community and Content Manager of Tomi

Q: Please start by introducing yourself to our community.

Dag: I am the content and community manager at Tomi! I work across many of Tomi's social media platforms, writing content and engaging with community members to answer questions or start discussions about decentralization and everything Tomi.

So for those of you already in the community, you've probably already seen and talked to me before, but for all newcomers, I welcome you all! And I encourage you to join our social channels where we can speak all about Tomi and what we're working on.

Q: For those who have yet to hear about Tomi, please tell us more about the project.

Dag: At Tomi, we see ourselves as more than just a project; we are a vibrant, community-led initiative aiming to revolutionize how we use the Internet today; instead of centralization, we aim to foster decentralization through an alternative Internet that we call the tomiNET.

The Internet we use today is flawed, and the centralization it is built upon needs to respect its users. Our main goal is to build an ecosystem of products that give people more freedom and fewer restrictions when they use the Internet.

We strongly believe in everyone's right to privacy, freedom of speech, and a censorship-free internet. Our community isn't just watching from the sidelines; they're helping us make important decisions about our actions. Our aim with Tomi is to help everyone enjoy the Internet without the limitations we often face today.

Q: How does Tomi realize the need to build this alternative Internet? You mention things such as freedom of speech and censorship on the Internet; is that something we have?

Dag: As you all might know, censorship comes in many shapes and sizes and exists worldwide, believe it or not. But sure, the most radical change to the Internet would happen for people living in countries where the government has obvious control over it.

Take China as an example, where the government has implemented the Great Firewall, blocking access to foreign websites and censoring content that is deemed politically sensitive, or take Australia as another example, where in 2009, a list was leaked containing over 2,000 websites that the government deemed to be "inappropriate" or "harmful" that they blocked users from accessing, yet strangely enough, many of these websites were quite harmless.

And all of us have been targeted by marketing against us based on our search history or even the amount of time we spend looking at a post on social media. That shows that Internet users of today don't own their data. Yet, big corporations like Google are earning billions by selling your data to third parties for targeted ads, and who knows what else is next?

We at Tomi find this highly problematic and very intrusive. It is your data, so you should be the one in control of it. If anyone should earn money by selling your search history to third parties, it should be you. That is why we are building an alternative internet where the users are in control.

Q: You mentioned Tomi planning on creating an entire ecosystem of products to provide the world with this alternative Internet. Please share some of these products and tell us more about them.

Dag: Our goal is to provide products that cover all aspects of the internet experience but are built in the tomi way of decentralization, privacy, & security. I did mention tomiNET, our alternative Internet. So to access it, you'd need a browser, so we have that! We even integrated a VPN into it.

Then we have tomiPAY, our multichain mobile wallet. We also have the TPL, Tomi Privacy Layer, and the following privacy stablecoin (tpUSD), a revolutionary service to gain more privacy and anonymity while making transactions on the blockchain.

These are just some of our products; you can check our website for the full list. As I mentioned, Tomi is an ever-growing ecosystem with new products and technologies being unveiled left and right! We are adapting to whatever this new alternative Internet will need, one product at a time.

Q: You just launched the tDNS; I've been seeing a lot of hype around this latest product. What is it?

Dag: This has been a huge launch for us, and it's been amazing seeing our community come together for this launch!

It's our take on a DNS (domain name system). We call it the Tomi Domain Name System, or for short, tDNS. This fundamental part of the Internet translates human-readable domain names into IP addresses. You can see the DNS like a phone book for the Internet. When you type a website address into your browser, your computer looks up that address in the DNS to find the server's IP address where the website is hosted.

The problem is that governments can censor internet traffic by blocking or redirecting domain names. In addition, they can use deep packet inspection to monitor and filter content. That is why we have created a clean slate, a decentralized approach to the domain name system that we call tDNS!

To have a fully decentralized alternative internet is one fundamental part that makes that a reality.

Q: That sounds very interesting! However, let us know what this means to the end user and what the benefits are for them.

Dag: This is where it gets really interesting. This is a clean slate; we're starting over from scratch. This means that you can own ANY domain in the world. Imagine you could own the domain apple.com or love. Tomi. In the early days of the Internet, domain names were widely available and affordable. Many should have taken advantage of the opportunity to secure valuable web addresses at a fraction of today's prices.

That is why we're offering this new opportunity to own any domain out there virtually and for YOU to speculate about the potential growth in value of these domains.

Q: Could you go through more detail on how the minting process works?

Dag: You acquire your domain name through an auction mechanism on our website. Pay $100 to mint your domain name, providing you with a unique Partner NFT, granting you 25% of any future sales from this domain. The auction will begin with an initial bid of $100, the same amount paid by the minter.

Anyone can bid on your domain but must offer at least 15% more than the previous bid. If they do, you, as the original buyer (minter), get 25% of the difference between the new and previous bids.

On top of that, if someone else places a higher bid than yours, you get your original bid back plus 20% of the bid difference.

The money from these bids is divided between the tDNS platform and its treasuries for development purposes—the tDNS auction runs until May 2024. You've got plenty of time to strategize, bid, and potentially own the domain of your dreams.

Q: What's next for Tomi? How does the project plan to expand from here?

Dag: We will continue to expand and create new products to fully encompass the entire experience of this alternative Internet. We are 96 people from 10 countries working to make this a reality.

One of our latest efforts has been our decision to become more present at events worldwide to show more people who we are and what we stand for. We hosted a forum for industry leaders in Marrakesh, the Nakamoto Forum, which successfully created new bonds with industry professionals. We spoke a lot about decentralization and how Tomi fits into the equation.

Q: I infer Tomi to be very community focused. What steps are being taken to grow the community further?

Dag: Our community means the world to us at Tomi, but as I mentioned, one of the efforts is that we're planning on being present at crypto and blockchain events worldwide. We are also joining AMAs like this to talk directly to future users. And we have a community contributions program called the tomiARMY. Where community members can complete certain tasks by promoting the project and thus earn $TOMI tokens, you can join our Discord server and read more about it there!

Q: I am interested in investing in your project. When and where can I buy your tokens? Is it already listed on exchanges?

Dag: Our token has been out for a couple of months, and we are constantly growing the list of exchanges offering to trade with $TOMI. Our list includes KuCoin, ByBit, Huobi, Gate.io, Mexc, Crypto.com, Bitget, and Phemex. And just a couple of hours ago, it was announced that we're getting listed on Poloniex; trading starts in less than 3 min!

Q: Do the token holders have the right to participate in project governance? What kind of decisions can they vote on about the project?

Dag: Our Pioneer NFT holders gain voting rights through our DAO. Where they can submit proposals about the project's governance, these pioneer holders can change the entire setup of the company; if they think one of the team members isn't doing a good job, they can file a corrective action for them. But we are planning on eventually giving token holders voting rights too!

Q: The success of a project attracts more investors who still need to get into this crypto space. What plans do you think are effective in raising awareness about your project beyond this realm?

Dag: Tomi is a project that benefits everyone, not just crypto enthusiasts! We believe everyone has the right to access a free and democratic internet. That is why we're building what we're building! But your question about attracting these people is interesting; education is one of the keys to this. I work a lot in creating simple-to-understand educational content for our social media to explain to the world what we are doing and how it can help them.

Q: Is staking available for $TOMI tokens, where can we stake, and what's the APY?

Dag: You can stake your $TOMI tokens through our website, where you have different staking models based on how long you want to lock up your tokens! The APY there goes up to 12%! And, on KuCoin Earn, we've got flexible staking of up to 50%. You can read more through this Tweet.

Q: How do you envision Tominet promoting digital human rights by providing tech for privacy, anti-censorship, and freedom of speech, and what role do you see TOMI playing in developing a decentralized Internet?

Dag: Everyone can access a free and uncensored Internet through the dominant, alternative Internet we are building, regardless of where they live. Enabling freedom of speech and expression, imagine you could speak up against your government if you're living in a country where you would face prosecution in normal cases. And the $TOMI token is the beating heart of it all, the token that makes this entire ecosystem go around, that works across all of our products! Also, you could see the token as an investment in the possibility of an alternative internet where you are in control.

🎁 Participate on the tomiNet AMA quiz now for a chance to win 10 USDT!

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

KuCoin and tomiNet have prepared a total of 2,000 USDT to give away to AMA participants.

1. Pre-AMA activity: 1,000 USDT

2. Free-ask section: 50 USDT

3. Flash mini-game: 400 USDT

4. Post-AMA quiz: 550 USDT

. . .

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