By: Geeq  on Sep 10, 2020

The Telegram Community of Gains Associates welcomed Hans Sundby and Stephanie So for the first Geeq AMA of September. Alexandre Raffin hosted and asked excellent questions about how and why Geeq’s ecosystem could be distinguished from others. Stephanie, of course, was glad to answer every technical question in detail – which was nearly all of them.

The AMA went well over an hour, so the recap has been lightly edited, links have been added, as well as a few italicized comments. Here it is!

Host: Alexandre Raffin
Guests: Stephanie So and Hans Sundby

Alexandre:
Let’s get started, we probably have a lot to cover! So, tell us about yourselves, what did you do before crypto, how did you get into crypto and did you have any other venture in crypto previous to being involved with Geeq? By the way, this question might be one of the most important ones, as people often say they invest in people, rather than ideas ?

Tell us why you’re fit to make Geeq a leading project in crypto.

Stephanie:
Hi Alexandre! I’ll tell you about myself, but I am only a part of a larger team. As a team, we’re incredible.

I became interested in crypto/blockchain only after my fellow Founder and better half, John Conley, started talking to me about problems he saw in the security models of blockchain. He’s on the technical side, which I have now learned quite a bit. In addition, I plunged head first into the world of crypto and blockchain to see what was being promised about adoption at that time. It worried me that these promises could bring financial and policy ruin if those promises weren’t kept. So we’ve worked to put together a safety net. Geeq is a blockchain that fulfills blockchain’s promise.

Geeq is a leading project in crypto because our Team spans the space in crypto, blockchain, software tech, business leadership, enterprise and SaaS and security and telecomm experience, among other industry leaders – and we know the effects and outcomes we want to have. We’re not building technology for its own sake.

Hans:
Hey everyone, glad to be here on this awesome Friday with you all.

As Stephanie said above. We are all a part of a bigger team of really great people within different fields. I’m Hans Sundby, Head of Crypto for Geeq. I am a crypto maximalist with 6 years of experience in the crypto market as a Key Investor, CEO, Consultant, Advisor and expert in investments & crypto business development. My main expertise is market strategies and exchanges. Joined in on Geeq about 1 year ago, and have been building up a marketing and business development team for Geeq.

My first introduction to crypto was in 2014/2015. Since then, I’ve mostly done investments with my investment group NCG, and helping different projects out with their market approach.

Alexandre:
Thanks for the intro guys.

What is Geeq doing in a few simple sentences?

Geeq is reconstructing blockchain. We’ve developed a patent-pending technology, called Proof of Honesty^TM (PoH), which reworks how blockchain is constructed and guarantees the end user that they can access and be served a correctly validated ledger. In fact, the user can require a proof that it is correct.

That requires building from the ground up, because no blockchains give the ordinary user the power to demand proof themselves.

If no Proof of Honesty is given, the user can walk away and find information elsewhere in the network that holds the honest record of the account. What that means is that tokens cannot be moved or stolen without the user’s validating credentials for the exact transaction they authorized.

Since Geeq’s PoH handles the extreme case of complete permission-less and complete decentralization from the outset, we’re excited to be able to bring blockchain services of any kind to mass adoption.

That sounds interesting. How different is it from other consensus mechanisms? They also have some kind of proof you can check, provided you’re techy enough, no?

It’s very different. As for other mechanisms, the answer in my opinion is – sort of.

Geeq’s PoH often resonates by calling it a no-consensus consensus. In no way do nodes have to agree. That’s what makes it Sybil proof and eliminates gaming or collusion. Consensus protocols that depend on 51% agreement of hash power – well, they can take over the chain. You can prove that 51% have agreed, but they might not be agreeing on what they’re supposed to do. It’s similar for consensus protocols that depend on stake. Concentrated power in stake makes it easy to take over a chain, as we’ve seen this year.

So you can prove it sort of – watch it happen – in other consensus protocols, but you can’t demand recourse, you can’t walk away. Which means the user is subject to forks, delays, and huge arguments. We avoid that at Geeq.

What happens when nodes disagree?

PoH is constructed so there’s only one correct answer in validation. So if nodes disagree, they’re either all doing something wrong (differently), or someone is doing the correct calculation and someone is not. You can identify which is which, which we call Edge Security.

Geeq’s definition of security is that a malicious node or attack has no effect on you.

Thanks for the details. So, is Geeq a blockchain? I read on the website that it’s a multi-blockchain platform, could you expand on that?

Sure! These are fun questions. Proof of Honesty is a way to construct blockchain and guarantees at least one blockchain will be provably honest at all times which will serve as the reference for users of that blockchain. Details are in this Technical Paper.

$GEEQ is the ecosystem token for the engine of validation. All validations use $GEEQ. That validation layer is completely specialized to only do the PoH without any intermediate control.

However, Geeq has no main chain. So, as a platform, devs can launch their own application blockchains that are then validated by Geeq. Each application is validated by PoH, but is powered by its own network. So we can have hundreds, thousands of application blockchains running side by side on the platform. Unlimited numbers.

So blockchains could decide to add Geeq as an extra validation layer on top of them?

I’d flip that – We sometimes refer to Geeq as a platform with a validation running below and an application running above. Blockchains could decide to move over to Geeq (or run one on Geeq in addition to wherever else they’re using them) by getting a genesis block with Geeq’s validation code in it, combined with their application code. Any ecosystem could build on Geeq and we’d love that. I’d say, also, we’re going after enterprise blockchain.

Are there any existing blockchains that have chosen to “integrate” Geeq so far?

Yes, as a company, we actually investigated the demand for Geeq first, before we even started developing. However, we are under NDA right now and I’m not really allowed to say much else. What I can say is that, many people we talk to say, “that sounds great, please build the platform quickly so we can use it”.

Interesting. How many people are in the team? For how long have you been working on Geeq?

We have a strong Core Team of 7, including Hans, who is Head of Crypto and Ian Smith, who is Lead Dev. However, we each have other members on the team that we work with, including 5 expert crypto members of Hans’ Token Team, and devs, and a lean admin support, and 16 advisors who are well-known in their respective domains or industries. Also, Hans has been working with our newest advisors at Jun Capital, although they are not on the Team page yet.

Nice. Did you raise funds so far? If so, how did you handle them? Are you planning to do any future raises?

Yes, we’ve raised funds and as we say, the first dollars go to devs. There’s no company value without product, and the best devs have competition, so they are paid in fiat and tokens. The core team has not used funds. We’ve spent funds on legal services, including the patent application and compliance, website development, some copywriting, but for the most part funds are reserved for those kinds of services. The rest of us are dedicated and have been working for the future.

We’ll continue to be dev-heavy this year and will spend funds on more IP, with a marketing budget that Hans decides.

Got you. Any timeframe on when the patent could be accepted?

The first patent application that covers the way we’ve re-defined the Geeq PoH engine and the multi-chain architecture, and the ecosystem token was submitted awhile ago, the timeline after that is mostly out of our hands. We are submitting more patent applications as we go.

Since you were talking about devs, what stage is the project/product at?

We’ve been developing and working all along. It’s really from the ground up. We’ll start revealing some of the features of the test net late next month, if not before, and then main-net is expected next year.

You might be interested in how far down in the fundamentals Geeq’s code has gone.

It’s incredible the amount of hype you’ve been able to gather with a mainnet so far away lol ?

I’m very glad groundbreaking tech is being recognized. It’ll be worth the wait. 🙂 I learned the expression, “slow is smooth and smooth is fast” from a friend in the Special Forces. It seems to be working.

Nice, spooky ahah. What is the token use case? How did you make sure it captures the value of the ecosystem you’re building?

The token use case is a native token that’s primarily used for all the validation payments. One feature of PoH is that validation payments are automated for each network that supports each app. We have plans to kickstart the ecosystem with IoT and fintech and a surprise or two, which essentially generates huge volume in transactions, which increases the velocity of the token.

The token also can be adopted as a native token for applications that don’t want to bother with one themselves. Finally, the ecosystem’s ability to provide correctly validated ledgers for every chain allows interoperability for the $GEEQ token, so it is in some sense fungible. A user opens a Geeq account on one chain, and then does not have to go back to an exchange to use it for another application.

I doubt we’ve thought of all the use cases for the token, but that is the primary function that’s built in.

Will there be staking or some other kind of similar mechanism? 🙂

Hans:
Absolutely. People will be able to become validators on the Geeq mainnet. Before that, we are going to do pre-staking with various partners. Aiming to roll out coming week.

Stephanie:
The mechanism that Hans is talking about to become validators is actually a fixed Good Behavior Bond that we’re trying to make cheap and accessible for people to participate. It will be the same for everyone, and it will get locked up and returned if you’re honest. It’s not stake in the sense that it lets a validator acquire more influence in the network – on the validation side.

A feature of Geeq is that it’s a platform for application devs to build on top of. Devs can build applications that have staking features. So, on the application side, who knows? 🙂

Questions from the GainsChat Community

You said you have a solution to the fee wars. It’s really expensive right now, could you tell us how you’re going to do that?

Geeq’s transaction fees are magnitudes lower than other platforms that use either hash power or a gossip network (or both) to construct blockchain. Everyone understands the cost of PoW, or any other mechanism that requires the expenditure of money to get into the system. Gossip networks require communication and bandwidth to go all over the place. That increases costs.

Because each Geeq application is powered by this particular provable mechanism of honesty, it can be achieved with very small networks, hence the low costs of transaction.

What other added value could Geeq offer for IoT?

For IoT, the value added is partly because of the protocol and this network configuration, partly because the code that’s being written is to make messages super efficient, and partly for the low cost. We have a lot of IoT domain experience on the Team.

I am confused. As per the pic provided by you in this AMA at the intro regarding key features, it says no Mainchain and then later you said that your main-net is expected next year. How can a Blockchain product work with no Mainchain and where are the transactions getting recorded currently?

That’s a great question, sorry about the confusion. The easiest answer is “main-net” is used to compare to other projects.

Main-net will have all the features that allow applications to use Geeq’s validation for each chain. So every application is separate (multi-chain rather than main chain), but it’s easier to refer to main-net to mean when both the protocol and the platform will be ready.

Transactions are recorded in two places, actually. Payments of $GEEQ will be in blockchains consisting solely of $GEEQ. Application data and transactions are recorded in a blockchain for that application. In that way, the application is executed, and validated by the protocol.

What do you mean by PoH being “Nation state proof”?

When we started, we were worried about scenarios where the stock market would be tokenized and put on blockchain, for example. Or critical infrastructure.

In crypto, sometimes the only serious threat considered for Bitcoin is if a government decided to attack it. They would have the resources and be able to coordinate the hashpower. Some embargoed state, for example, that could take over the chain on PoW.

PoH can sustain an attempt at complete manipulation through a security layer we call the Catastrophic Recovery Procedure. Essentially, what happens is the blockchain can resurrect itself from the last known honest canonical chain so that the blocks written by a full-out malicious attack become irrelevant.

In what language is your project written?

I’m not as versed on that part because I’m not a coder. I think the validation code is in Rust, but they’re reworking quite a few parts of the stack, I believe. As for application code, we’re going to provide APIs and libraries so devs can essentially port over applications, with the modification that the $GEEQ is used for fees. The dev update may have to correct me, but that’s my understanding. Thanks for the question!

When new exchange?

We’re not allowed to comment on exchanges, sorry. It’s currently on Bitmax.

What’s your business model?

Geeq’s business model is built around a core service of validation : massive volume, tiny slices. We’re really thinking about an explosion in a newly formed decentralized economy. Even a portion of that – think about going from email in the earliest university network to the use of email now. Geeq is a data service that can be used to support any blockchain app imaginable in a decentralized way.

Since we have expertise in IoT and fintech, being able to provide secure blockchain validation at scale, and fully decentralized, is a bonus for Geeq.

Do you think it may be a disadvantage or an advantage to enter late in the game when there are so many competitors around?

I think we are so differentiated, and we’ve been able to learn so much from early entrants, that we’re at an advantage. HOWEVER, having said that, there’s nothing I take for granted. We are working all the time, on all fronts.

The great thing about working with both an experienced crypto team and also experienced tech and software entrepreneurs is that we know which spaces need to be worked on concurrently. And that, by itself, is an advantage.

What is the difference between Proof of Honesty Protocol (PoH) and Proof of Stake (PoS)? How does the Proof of Honesty Protocol (PoH) ensure “Decentralized”?

PoH is constructed so there is no opportunity to have more influence over how the blockchain is written by acquiring stake. It ensures decentralization by being able to accommodate a completely permissionless system, which I believe in. The default is that anyone can participate as a validator and they will get paid if they provide honest work (computation, etc.) We’re providing a platform that is a level playing field for validators.

I just don’t feel that’s the same for PoS. And, if you use a staking service, which is more convenient, it is possible to lose control over what you commit to do. In PoH, it’s voluntary. You can join as a validator to provide a lot of services or a little. Either way, you’re paid according to the honest work you do. You have complete control.

Will blockchains need to fork if they want to add Geeq PoH?

No, they’ll need to come over and build on Geeq. We will make it as easy as possible, according to demand.

Alexandre:
Thanks for all the answers Stephanie 🙂

Stephanie:
It’s my pleasure, thanks for having me.

Alexandre:
Keep us updated on the development. Where can we follow Geeq?

Stephanie:
Yes! Please join our Telegram! We’ve grown a lot. I still try to say hi and answer questions often and we have a community that’s been with us from the start. Cheers!