Pontem x Aptos AMA recap

AMA questions on Pontem Future Memo:

- Can you list 3 killer features of your project that make it ahead of competitors?

We are the building the first decentralized exchange that will be live on Aptos. We aim to support both volatile and stable asset pairs which means both the Uniswap and Curve model in one exchange. We also will add voting escrow token mechanics to drive utility and incentives around governance. Being on Aptos allows us to provide the fastest, safest and most reliable DEX experience on the market.

- Solidity has a dominant position as a programming language for blockchain due to Eth , also there are rust ,go, etc. How MOVE will succeed?

Move is designed specifically for blockchains so that gives it an advantage over more generalized languages like Rust, Go, Javascript etc… When it comes to competing against other blockchain specific languages like Solidity, Move’s main advantage is that it is safer. With a formal verification tool and deterministic execution, common errors like re-entrancy bugs can be avoided which have led to billions of dollars in lost funds on Ethereum. Move also has a more efficient storage model than the EVM and is designed to be blockchain agnostic so it can more easily be optimized to run on other L1s like Polkadot, Cosmos, Avalanche, etc… Move is also structured very similarly to a typescript language like Solidity or Javascript so the learning curve for developers won’t be as steep as something like Rust on Solana.

- Are you going to develop substrate bridge between Aptos BC and Polkadot ecosystem? If yes do you plan first to be the enter point for move developers?

We built an MVP of this but it’s not ready for production. Likely we will first look to connect liquidity from Ethereum but we will likely work with an existing bridging solution as opposed to supporting our own. Perhaps something like Multichain or Stargate. Nomad I think is also a good framework for bridging across chains that seems safe than the standard multi-sig bridges.

- Good afternoon, I have a question. As we already know, Aptos and Pontem are partners. I kept my verified kyc node in Pontem as a collator candidate and I have a node in Aptos. Now the other day Aptos is launching its network, users will have to pass kyc and 100 people will be able to access the test. Users of your network will be able to somehow get into Aptos, maybe through this partnership, like already proven noderunners?

Hi, the two registration processes are different so in order to qualify for the Aptos incentivized testnet you will need to go through their registration and KYC process.

- What about Pontem tokens ? In announcements i saw that i can convert them in Aptos tokens if i had a Pontem node ! Which way is better ? Hold pontem or get Aptos tokens ? And where Pontem tokens will be utility ? I like both projects and i launched their nodes . Thanks ! Best regards !!!

Hi, we originally had allocated tokens from our network on Kusama “NOX”. Likely we will first launch PONT tokens on Aptos for our AMM so we will honor rewards if you qualified for NOX rewards by running a node on Polkadot. We will post an update on the conversion once we get closer to a token release date.

- There are restrictions on writing programs using Move Playground ?

No restrictions, it should be the same experience as if you had set up a local environment.

- I was very excited about the Move language when I heard that you had previously achieved 160K tps on a benchmark. Do you expect to achieve similar performance in an actual production blockchain environment?

This is a great accomplishment for the Aptos layer 1. This benchmark was in devnet and I’m sure Aptos will release more benchmark results as mainnet nears. I recommend everyone interested in better understanding how Aptos is able to reach such high performance to read this article on how they are using novel methods: https://medium.com/aptoslabs/block-stm-how-we-execute-over-160k-transactions-per-second-on-the-aptos-blockchain-3b003657e4ba

- Are you going to make bridges to other blockchains in the future? If so, which ones?

We will likely partner with bridge providers like Multichain or Stargate to bring liquidity from other chains. Starting with Ethereum but also looking at other major ones like BNB, Polkadot, Avalanche, etc…

- Some people believe that ZKsnarks will be a revolutionary solution and they will advance the world for decades. How does the team see development in this direction?

Something we have researched and are excited for the development of the technology. Aptos supports L2 solutions for applications like ZKsnarks so as the technology develops I’m sure we will be early adopters. Both for scaling and privacy ZK in my opinion is the best solution but the technology is still relatively new.

- As we all know, a strong community not only brings interesting ideas to the project but also attracts larger partners. So how is PONTEM planning to expand its community? While building your project, do you take into account community feedbacks and demands?

Yes we are very focused on building the best community we can to take into account feedback for building our products. As we become more decentralized, a lot of governance will also be delegated to the community so having a strong base is very important. Pontemites is the term we are experimenting with to name our followers but also open to other names. You can start contributing by signing up to be an ambassador to earn bounties and NFT / token rewards by contributing content, user feedback, finding bugs, etc… You can start by going here: https://pontem.network/ambassador-program

- There are lots of cases where DeFi is getting hacked or liquidity provided getting stolen, and these cases scare the users. Which preventions do you take in order to project the platform against cyber attacks and security breaches?

Hacks in DeFi are definitely more common than we would like them to be. On the smart contract front, we are using Move which is safer than solidity by avoiding common errors like re-entrancy attacks. For individual users it’s very important to safeguard your private key and never sign any transaction with your wallet in websites that you don’t trust. Unfortunately this attack vector is outside of the actual protocol and is on the key management side of the user to safeguard their keys. We also want to work together with enterprises like centralized exchanges which manage your private keys to make using our DeFi products more secure and accessible to a broader set of users so keep an eye out for that in the future. Until then DYOR and be SAFE!

- Launching projects in a bull run is much profitable than during the bear cycle. In a bear run where most of the projects fail and sometimes gone into oblivion, how will "Pontem" stand the test of times? What strategies do the project employ to mitigate possible losses?

Bear markets are also where builders can go heads down and focus on delivering value. We are moving quickly to launch our products on Aptos. We understand that market conditions could be a factor in token launches especially if token value is a factor in security for protecting against governance attacks so these are all factors we will consider when launching our token.

- Would it be interesting to hear your opinion on the situation with Terra Luna? What would you recommend them to do in the first place? And what conclusions did you draw for yourself to improve your own network?

It is very unfortunate what happened to the Terra / Luna ecosystem. Overall it is one of the most vibrant communities including a ton of developers building applications. Separating out the smart contract chain from the speculation around the stablecoin will be more important so the value created in technology can still flourish.
In our opinion, a decentralized stablecoin is necessary and the seigniorage model that Terra / Luna employed is a good attempt at it but as we now know it has serious risks if people lose faith in the underlying tokens. The overcollateralized Dai model is a much safer alternative so we believe that this model will flourish at least for the short to middle term. It’s possible that other projects like Frax which are undercollateralized also get mainstream adoption but when you have a token that is supposed to be stable and it is not fully backed at least 1:1, there will always be a risk of a bank run.

I think the direction they are taking to split the network and try again without the stablecoin is fair and will hopefully revive that ecosystem where there is a large community of builders that are building innovative products. If it doesn’t work out then we can certainly help them come over to Aptos :)

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