Blockchain technology - one step closer to mass adoption. Testnet 1

We're on the brink of a crypto revolution, with mass adoption just around the corner—get ready for a billion users in the next few years.

Today, we are exploring an interesting topic: tokenizing a living mind in Latin American trauma deterrent. This is likely one of the vehicles we will use, and I have learned a lot from it myself. The next keynote speaker will address mass adoption—are we a step closer to it or not? This is very important for us as we prepare to launch some products in the market very soon. Therefore, I am very happy to introduce Luke Stokes, the managing director of the Foundation for Interwallet Operability. The stage is yours, Luke.

Thank you. My name is Luke Stokes, and I would like to provide a little background on who I am and why I am here, to give context for what we are about to discuss today. As mentioned, I am the managing director for the Foundation for Interwallet Operability, which supports the VR protocol, a usability layer for all of crypto. I have been involved in crypto since January of 2013, almost nine years now. I hold an Ivy League degree in computer science engineering and have launched a tech company that I operated for ten years before selling. Additionally, I have been a validator on multiple chains within the ecosystem, including Steam, Hive, and EOS. I have witnessed firsthand the challenges and problems our industry faces today, which is what we will discuss.

We are currently facing an ecosystem that cannot deliver on the promises it has been making for almost ten years. Can we get the slides? Thank you. This is the diffusion of innovation—when we look at network-based technologies, similar to the internet and Bitcoin adoption, we find ourselves at a very early stage. Only 3.9% of the world is involved in this ecosystem, which indicates that we are just getting started. We have significant challenges ahead, but I believe we can overcome them.

As of 2021, we are close to the tipping point. It is inevitable that we will reach a billion users in cryptocurrency in the next three to five years. Most people struggle to comprehend this because they lack a mechanism in their brain to understand exponential growth. The law of diffusion of innovation illustrates this concept. When we hit a certain point, it becomes inevitable. Comparing our current situation to the internet, it took about seven to seven and a half years to reach a significant number of users. The curve is steeper now; more people are entering this ecosystem than ever before, and it is happening faster than it did with the internet. This rapid growth will catch many off guard, but not you, because you are here and you are early. So, congratulate yourselves again.

However, we do face very significant problems. The fees are too high, usability is lacking, and scalability is insufficient. We are not at least ten times better than the existing systems. We have made promises about becoming peer-to-peer digital cash with a decentralized internet that is private and secure, alongside smart contracts and other innovations. Yet, there are companies on the sidelines expressing interest, acknowledging that this is the future, but they cannot build on it because it simply does not work. The fees are too high, and the system is not functional enough to surpass existing technology if we do not offer substantial improvements.

So, how do we solve these issues? In the community panel today, we will discuss the importance of education. You all come to these conferences to listen to experts, to engage with people who know what is happening, and to take away meaningful insights—perhaps a piece of information that you can look up later. Today, we will provide you with something significant: three concepts—waterfall, EDM, and DAG. I will explain what these mean, why they are important, and how you can participate in solving these problems.

Starting with EDM, the Ethereum Virtual Machine, it is essential to note that most of the investment and developer attention in our industry has focused on this space. This includes all the Ethereum networks, Finance Smart Chain, and Polygon—you have likely heard a lot about these.

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The future of blockchain lies in scalability and usability, and with the Waterfall Network, we're on the brink of a breakthrough that could redefine how we interact with decentralized systems.

People know what's going on in the blockchain industry that are involved and engaged, and they want to take away something that's meaningful—some little piece of information that maybe you can just write down in Google. Later today, we're going to give you something important: three concepts—waterfall, EDM, and DAG. I will explain what that means, why it's important, how it's going to be used, and how you're going to be able to participate in solving these problems.

EDM, the Ethereum Virtual Machine, is where most of the investment in our industry has gone, and the attention of developers has focused on that space. This includes all the Ethereum network, Binance Smart Chain, and Polygon. You've heard a lot about these platforms; it's where the action is, along with all the tooling like MetaMask, Uniswap, and SushiSwap. However, it doesn't work as intended. There are platforms that have been built where they can't actually scale, and many believe that the platform is broken and doubts arise because the fees are too high. They can't support the transactions per second they need to accomplish their goals. Thus, that community is really important, but we have failed them.

The other concept is DAG, or Directed Acyclic Graph. This represents post-blockchain technology. In a blockchain, every single block leads to another block; it's all linear and can't scale effectively. We are trying to implement solutions like the Lightning Network, Ethereum 2.0, and other layer 2 solutions, which I hope can solve this issue, but I'm not entirely sure. I have made some promises to this industry, and I feel like I'm going to fail so far.

Before we can solve these problems, a DAG has the ability to produce multiple blocks at the same time without compromising anything. You still maintain decentralization. You've seen networks that have compromised decentralization; they have thousands and hundreds of thousands of nodes, yet they only operate with 20. This is not worth using at this point. It's like asking, "Why not just use MySQL?" We actually have to stick to our core principles of decentralization to provide value and solutions.

Waterfall is the program that serves as the security network system that integrates both the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). The importance of this lies in the fact that most other DAGs that exist today, and again this is post-blockchain technology, do not support smart contracts. We have a situation here, a brand new announcement made today that you are all hearing for the first time: The Waterfall Network. Here, you will be able to take the entire EVM ecosystem and run it on a high-performance, highly scalable system of a DAG.

Joining me is Sergey, who has been working with this team in Ukraine, and he is going to go over the details of what they've accomplished. Thank you, Luke.

My name is Sergey, and I will discuss the characteristics of our technology. The first characteristic is scalability. Currently, Waterfall is able to process 1,000 transactions per second, but we can cautiously claim that this is actually a very early test. We will be able to process this further, potentially reaching up to 50,000 transactions per second on a standard 100 megabit per second platform. You can join the network using MetaMask, and it is already public.

The second characteristic is usability. We believe that for certain technology to be adopted by a lot of users, it should be easy to use. A regular non-technical user should be able to execute standard functions. Currently, for example, to issue tokens on the Wikipedia network, you still need to run a smart contract. A lot of users still need to hire developers. In our case, it will be easier to do so through an initial special type of transaction. This particular functionality would be scaled to different use cases, such as bridges and other standard procedures.

The third characteristic is compatibility. We believe in standards, and something we've mentioned is already in place. We have taken a standard approach to ensure that our technology aligns with existing frameworks.

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Technology should empower everyone, not just the tech-savvy. Let's simplify and scale solutions to make a real impact on people's lives.

Users should find it easy to use the platform, ensuring that a regular non-technical user can execute standard functions. Currently, for example, to issue tokens on the Wikipedia network, users still need to run a smart contract. To create this, a simple smart contract is required, and many users still need to hire developers. In our case, it will be easier to execute this through an initial special type of transaction. This particular functionality would be scalable to different use cases, such as a bridge and other standard procedures.

Compatibility is another key aspect. We believe in standards, and something we've mentioned is already in place. We have taken a standard smart contract from Ethereum and adapted it for our network. If it works, this means that current applications on Ethereum will be very easy to migrate to our method. We believe in the future of mobile chains and can confidently say that we will be expanding in this direction further. Current applications of Ethereum will be able to work on our platform, and they are already operational on the test plan. Recently, these steps will be the subject of a workshop, showcasing our work in the test net environment.

In terms of our test net environment, we are utilizing very average servers. For example, on our service, we have two class four CPUs with four gigabits of RAM. If you check the average requirements of popular smartphones, you will see that they typically have four to eight cores and four to sixteen gigabytes of RAM. This allows us to conclude that the environment we are using is comparable to, or sometimes even lower than, popular smartphones. This aspect contributes to the centralization and can increase the power of technology. Essentially, we will be able to accept runs on different devices, which we believe is a very important quality.

Now, addressing the question of why we are doing all this: if we talk about global major retail payment providers such as Visa, Mastercard, and Linear Pay, we can note that Visa processes an average of one thousand transactions per second, with a big processing capacity of 260,000 transactions per second. If you sum this up, you will arrive at a minimum of 400 rounds of transactions per second. It is possible that on our platform, we will achieve performance measured in millions. While some of these projections are based on assumptions, our organizational tests have shown improvements in the environment. Even if, for whatever reason, performance is multiple times lower, it will still be sufficient to run these systems effectively during peak times.

Thank you so much for having me here. You can find more details on our website and in our technical paper. Over to you, thank you!

Thank you so much, Sergey. Again, if you want to find out more about Waterfall, we have a few more minutes. I will go ahead and close out some of the comments. Sergey mentioned bringing it back into context a little bit for you. I know it's a lot of technical information, and I appreciate that there are many heads looking up instead of down at their phones; it's always wonderful to see as a speaker.

This is really important because, as I said, getting to the point where you can scale to provide real-world technological solutions that actually improve human life is the goal. I got into this industry to change the world, and there are many people like me who are frustrated with what we have so far. We must solve these issues. We have governments that are eager to engage; I have been able to visit El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama, meeting with different governments who are excited about this technology. They understand this is the future and recognize the law of diffusion of innovation. They see where this is going, know it's inevitable, and want to get involved. However, they are looking at the current landscape and saying, "Okay, this is kind of difficult to use, a bit frustrating, slow, expensive, and doesn't really work." Therefore, we have to solve these problems and come up with effective solutions.

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The future of technology lies in solving real-world problems and making it accessible for everyone, not just the tech-savvy.

Improving a human life is the goal I got into this industry to achieve. I want to change the world, and there are many people like me who are frustrated with what we have so far. We have to solve this solution. I have had the opportunity to meet with different governments in El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama, and they are excited about this technology. They understand that this is the future; they get the law of diffusion of innovation and recognize that it is inevitable. However, they are also expressing concerns, stating that the current systems are difficult to use, frustrating, slow, and expensive. Therefore, we must address these problems.

I am really excited about Waterfall. I am involved in this project because I believe it is a solution that can work. Keep the concept of Waterfall in your mind; it is being announced for the first time today. The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is crucial for taking the entire ecosystem that has been trying to create new governance solutions, DeFi, and NFT platforms. Unfortunately, many of these initiatives have not worked effectively, and it has been a frustrating situation.

With Waterfall, we can integrate all of these solutions and bring them together at a very high performance level, thanks to Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) technology. You can Google these terms—EVM and DAG are readily available. It is essential that we come away from these meetings with more information than we started with, so we can inform those who matter: the decision-makers and community builders. They need to understand that there is a solution coming.

I encourage you to build on our network experience and utilize the Binance Smart Chain and other powerful networks that are changing the world. When Waterfall is ready for the world, you can bring your technologies to it. It is fully EVM compatible; in fact, it has started with the Ethereum Virtual Machine and added DAG technology. The key point is that you can produce multiple blocks at the same time instead of just one. All the layer two solutions for performance that are being considered can also work on Waterfall, which is very exciting.

This is how we can achieve millions of transactions per second. We must consider not just the billions of users coming but also the billions and billions of devices that will accompany them. These will be computers communicating with computers, and we need a platform that can scale to that volume. Thank you so much for your time and attention today. I appreciate all of you, and I look forward to talking to you. We have a booth set up, so please come and talk to us there.

I have seen a new concern regarding surgery. Thank you very much; this is Fasi 19. You are bringing us the future with 50,000 GPS. If you are there, you can take the whole market—that's the point.

Now, I would like to open the floor for questions.

Hi, my name is Raul, and I'm from India. I have a general question about decentralization, which is such an important core of Web 3.0. We often talk about decentralization, but MetaMask requires a Chrome extension, which is centralized. If Google decides to shut that off, we are back to square one. What are your thoughts on that?

I completely agree with you. We only have a minute and a half, so my answer is brief. I know people in the space who have decided, even with your protocol, that they will never do a browser plug-in because of that concern. It is a very valid point. The centralization of the gatekeepers in these decentralized ecosystems often becomes a single point that causes problems.

The challenge lies in usability. We need to balance security and decentralization with usability. This is why I also work with Field Protocol; we are trying to solve usability issues. As Sarah mentioned, being able to launch contracts is a core fundamental feature of the protocols. Currently, you often need to hire a developer to create your own token or contract. These usability improvements are crucial for our ecosystem.

While MetaMask has served us well, it raises a significant concern. We need to evolve our wallet ecosystem, which includes the APIs. Some of these APIs are centralized, and if one goes down, all decentralized platforms stop working. This raises the question: why does it work if it is decentralized? It is because we have a single API that creates a single point of failure. We must remove these vulnerabilities.

I believe it is important for our industry to recognize and be honest about our single points of failure throughout the ecosystem. We need to clearly define what they are and then innovate. Again, I invite you to participate in something brand new: Waterfall. We will be tackling these types of problems by focusing on usability, performance, and removing single points of failure.

The key is that four gigabytes of memory are essential. Simple machines can handle this; we did not conduct a test net with gigantic machines but rather with simple ones. This is how we can utilize decentralization effectively.

Thank you so much. The question on everyone’s mind is: when will you be ready? When will you be on the market? We literally just launched this, and we can discuss it more at the booth. If you have any other questions, please come to the booth, and we would be happy to talk to you. Thank you very much!

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