Thanks everyone who left their questions for the AMA! Let’s get straight to the Q&A from our Qommunity to the Qoda team.
Q: “How about launching a new project in a bear market? Is any other network adopted for Qoda L2 besides Moonbeam?”
A: A lot of projects postpone token sales or product launches during bear markets. But for us, we are convinced that those who are still here building and developing will ultimately be successful.
We’re looking to build a real DeFi project with real-world usage, not just trying to cash in on bull market hype cycles, so we are indifferent to launching in a bull or bear market.
As for networks, we are currently focused on the Moonbeam ecosystem, but because our codebase is entirely EVM, we are open to launching on Ethereum and other EVM networks in the future.
Q: “I know you are a platform for borrowing and lending, I also do your testnets. What does the Qoda icon mean? What does the design want to tell us?”
A: The logo has three meanings:
1. It is an abstract “Q”.
2. It is a Venn diagram describing free markets and orderbook exchanges. The intersection of the circles demonstrates that even imbalanced markets can clear at equilibrium.
3. The smaller circle can also represent a “cut-out” of the larger circle, demonstrating how loan markets make capital more efficient. In this case, the cut-out represents capital that needs to be borrowed, and the red part represents capital available to be lent.
Qoda is a play on the word “coda,” referencing how our work is built on top of others’ work in the crypto, DeFi, and software communities. We changed the “C” to “Q” for the reasons outlined above.
Q: “I’ve been trying to comprehend why Qoda chose lend/borrow protocol? What’s so special about lend/borrow functions that make it unique for you to choose compared to swap/pool protocol?”
A: The DeFi sector is still very young. Some services that exist today are not optimal for users and need to be improved, so we see a business reason for that. We offer solutions that will solve some of the existing problems, such as the ability to lend or borrow altcoins, fixed rates, undercollateralized borrowings for institutions, etc. This is what is lacking in existing pool-based protocols. You can read more about it in our whitepaper.
We are focusing more specifically on a hybrid undercollateralized / overcollateralized lending protocol. DEXs are already highly optimized and function reasonably well, but there is still a lot of improvement to be made in lending/borrowing, particularly in the undercollateralized lending sector. We want to focus primarily on market-determined interest rates, transparency on undercollateralized borrowing, and diversification of credit risk to lenders to undercollateralized borrowers.
Q: “Do you plan to cooperate with other projects after the release? If so, on what basis will it be carried out, security or popularity?”
A: We are working on future partnerships and will be sure to announce them to the Qommunity as they come along. For example, currently when users deposit collateral on Qoda, they are able to forward it to Moonwell Protocol to earn extra yield on their deposits.
There are several more partnerships upcoming — we will make announcements as integrations are completed. One of our objectives is to serve the DeFi community at large. We hope that other builders use Qoda’s markets to create new DApps that offer more decentralized financial services.
Q: “Almost 80% of investors have just focused on the price of tokens in short term instead of understanding the real value of the project. Can the team tell us about the motivations and benefits for investors to hold Qoda tokens in long term?”
A: The crypto market is young and volatile, so players in it adhere to different strategies. I would not call those who buy a token today and sell it tomorrow or in month investors. It is rather a strategy of traders.
At the same time, investors understand the fundamental value of the product and support its development as long as they believe in its long-term success. For this type of investors, Qoda offers the possibility of staking QODA native tokens with the following rights:
- Right to claim issuance of new QODA tokens (QODA staking rewards).
- Right to claim protocol fees, denominated in GLMR (GLMR staking rewards).
- Governance/DAO voting rights.
So, being token holders and protocol users, such investors will receive additional revenues and have the opportunity to influence business decisions.
Q: “Many projects look great only on their Whitepaper & Roadmap but face a lot of difficulties when implementing the project mission and end with failure. How does the team overcome those obstacles in project development?”
A: We have a clear vision of what we are doing and what problems we are solving. There is a testnet where you can already see how whitepaper features are implemented. You can evaluate this for yourself before launch by trying out the protocol.
Of course, the mere fact of development does not guarantee anything. We think that we have found a product-market fit, but business is always a risk. It is difficult to say in advance what circumstances beyond our control we may face, but as of now, we have a business model, a testable product, and an understanding of what to do with it:)
Enso Labs, the dev team helping to build Qoda, is a very lean team, fully doxxed, and has significant experience in software development and tradfi domain knowledge. The team has also not “cashed out” in any way and can only benefit financially when the project itself is a success. We are fully aligned, incentivized, and motivated to turn Qoda into a success.
Q: “Reflecting on the collapse of Luna, what is your strategy to build trust so that investors and potential investors truly believe forever in Qoda Finance?”
A: Qoda is a decentralized protocol you interact with only through the wallet. Our smart contracts will be verified by independent auditors. All team operations will be carried out from the official address, which will also allow monitoring of financial activity.
Our team is public, we speak at conferences organized by the Moonbeam team, and develop partnerships with other projects in the ecosystem.
One of our biggest convictions on DeFi and the focal points of the team is transparency. Looking at the collapse of centralized platforms like Celsius and FTX, one of the biggest problems is that there was no transparency on the borrowing activity, usage of funds, and overall risk exposure. Blockchain does a lot of the heavy lifting for us already in tracing where all funds are going, but we are also taking extra focus to display the relevant transparency metrics to users of Qoda so that they know exactly what risks they may be taking when using the platform.
Additionally, Qoda also implements features for fair, equitable withdrawal of funds for all users in any unfortunate case of borrower default, in contrast to the first-come, first-serve “bank run” style withdrawals on centralized platforms: https://docs.qonstant.fi/glossary-of-terms#repayment-redemption-ratio-rrr