Partner Spotlight: Stafi Protocol

Welcome to our new content series! Every month we will be highlighting one of our partners and interviewing key members of their team who will provide a fascinating insight into their views on current trends in the DeFi ecosystem.

As decentralization is at the heart of blockchain technology and due to the globally diverse nature of the Oasis Network, we have chosen to base these interviews around a travel theme. So, in the very first of our ‘travelling around the world with a blockchain expert,’ we are excited to hear about from Young Liam, founder of Stafi.io.

Stafi protocol is the first decentralized protocol unlocking liquidity of Staked assets and solves the contradiction between Mainnet security and token liquidity in Proof of Stake consensus. As leading innovators in the liquid staking space, Stafi’s partnership with Oasis offers PoS validators in the Oasis Network the enticing ability to get liquid assets in return for the stake without being locked in a bonding period. So, without further ado, let’s hear the insights from Young Liam.

What is your next travel destination post-pandemic? Do you have a place where you feel particularly inspired?

I really love to travel; every new destination has its culture, its uniqueness attracts me. Spending time visiting natural beauty is the best way to relax. As much as I enjoy nature, I won’t be limited by it because I also love cities like Munich, where I will be next month. Ultimately I would like to go to a place with rich natural scenery and put myself into my inner peace. The blockchain industry grows too fast, and there is noise everywhere. I need a quiet place to get inspiration. Unfortunately, I think the pandemic will not end in the near term and working remotely is still the main rhythm of life.

How & why did you enter the blockchain space?

I have not caught up with the well-developed Internet era or even the fast-developing mobile Internet era in my age cycle. I am just a small player in the later era of the Internet. Since 2015, I have been looking for new opportunities, hoping to find the next era from the beginning. At that time, I tried AI and O2O but did not succeed. Until 2017, I worked at Alibaba, and my colleague introduced Bitcoin to me. I read the white paper written by Satoshi Nakamoto, and I was deeply attracted by the blueprint for decentralization that he imagined in it. Since then, I started to look for new opportunities in the blockchain. One of the things I did right was when I kept introducing Bitcoin to colleagues, hoping they could join me and start a business. In 2018, we created Wetez, a staking service provider for PoS consensus-based projects, and successfully completed our fundraising, and since then, I entered into the Staking Industry.

Why did you partner with Oasis? What plans do you have with Oasis in the future?

We are living in a ‘Big Data’ world. As long as we are using electronic terminals, data is being endlessly generated. However, the usage and ownership of this data has been a controversial issue. The most obvious problem is that the ownership of personal data by the data generators exists in name only. On the other hand, people who gather data enjoy a substantial income, but the data’s real owners get nothing in return. Blockchain has brought the idea of decentralization to the world. The first thing to do is to regain ownership of data. Many teams in the blockchain world specialize in data privacy protection. Oasis, which stands out by its academic background, is one of them. In the potential cooperation between StaFi and Oasis, Oasis can guarantee data privacy, and StaFi can help Oasis with data application solutions. Among the many possibilities, we found that StaFi can provide users of privacy products on Oasis with data “lending” services through derivative(rToken). The exchange, namely ‘Money Market’ formed by rToken, can help data producers claim ownership of data — data derivatives seem very interesting, and it is more to be explored.

If you could invite a living, dead or fictional person to travel with you, who would it be and why?

I would invite the author of The Three-Body Problem to join my journey so that I can enjoy an infinity of imagination during the trip. And I would like to invite Alex Honnold, a climber who uses no safety equipment when climbing the main peak of Yosemite National Park, as he can help me to reach this unreachable scenario.

When humans eventually establish a colony on Mars, what cryptocurrency do you think they will use? Do you think there will be a standardized cryptocurrency, or will we see great diversity like we presently do?

I think blockchain technology will be directly brought to the Martian colony, but the standardized tokens depend on the development of civilization on Mars. If the territory is fragmented, then the emergence of super-sovereign currencies will not appear.

Looking at the state of the crypto space today, if you could go back in time, what advice would you give to yourself about engaging with the blockchain space?

Absolutely, I will tell myself to spend more time studying blockchain technology and make products like StaFi in the DeFi field so that staking derivatives will be widely used earlier. I am still a firm PoS consensus supporter, and staking will also be an area where I have pursued innovation.

Due to the pandemic, many businesses adopted a remote working model. What do you think of this, and can you combine it with traveling?

Remote work allows us to re-recognize the nature of work. Our remote methods have been an exploration, and fortunately, we are now in a stable and efficient stage. We will assign tasks to everyone, but we will not require them to be completed in a specific place. Travel plans can be added, but employees must be able to complete the tasks. If the travel takes up a lot of working time, this method won’t work.

How would you explain your project to a 10-year-old or an 80-year-old?

Deposit your money to a bank like a contract and earn higher interests while with better liquidity.

What’s your motto or favorite quote?

Nothing is impossible.

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