Eric: Welcome @tstomff and @bradyasar! Thanks for taking the time to drop by here in @amaroom How are you guys?
Tudor: Hey Eric, great to be here!
Brad: Our pleasure, we are doing ok
Eric: Can you please introduce yourselves to the group
Brad: Sure thing. My Name is Brad Yasar, the COO and founder of Hyve. I have been an entrepreneur for over 30 years now which is all my life. Fell in love with decentralization and blockchain very early on and started working on Hyve for a few years now.
Eric: wow. thats quite a mountain of experience Brad
Tudor: My name is Tudor and I am the CEO of HYVE.
I started dabbling in startups quite early, to be more precise ever since highschool. In fact, most of this can be attributed to the fact that I didn’t do so alone, but rather together with our current CTO. We’ve been friends for well over 10 years and have worked together on various projects for just as long.
After working on quite a few different things from building platform and mobile apps to running an agency, we eventually settled on Blockchain full-time since 2016 and in 2017, together with Dominic I co-founder Bountyhive, on one hand as a marketing agency and on the other as a platform to run automated Bounties. It grew quickly and became a household name in that particular niche and today it numbers a portfolio of over 150 clients.
After working on Bountyhive we quickly saw a need to address various issues that couldn’t be fixed by merely upgrading what we had so we set out to build something entirely from scratch and that’s how HYVE was born.
From then to now, it’s been a long journey and it is thanks to many other people’s involvement that it has grown to what we are presenting today; even so, we believe that HYVE is merely the spark of what the future of work holds for us and as a short mention that’s always why we believe so strongly in open governance, because it’s quite hard to envision everything the future will change.
Brad: Yes i am on my 14th company Eric. You can say i like staying busy
Eric: So how did you two end in crypto? what was your first experience with crypto
Tudor: I personally first got interested in crypto back in 2013, although back then I was more of a tech enthusiast than anything else. Mined for a while and then took a break to focus on startups. Then in 2016 I basically became full-time in the industry, started Bountyhive and we arrive to today.
Brad : Mine is a fun story. I received 3 files via email in 2009 wit a CTO friend of mine saying compile these and you’ll like what you see and i did. It ended up being a BTC node, wallet and miner and my love affair with crypto started.
This was 2009. Just like Tudor, i also turn my full focus on blockchain in 2016 until then just dabbled in mining and learning about the possibilities it represented.
Eric: haha Nice friend. So in your own words, what is Hyve Works?
Brad: For us Hyve is an opportunity to fix the problems of freelancers and gig economy workers which is becoming a larger portion of the workforce globally every day.
Tudor: There are a couple of different aspects that HYVE helps solving, however, there are two which are most important.
The first one is building a unique place for people to work together using any possible form of collaboration currently in existence, while offering them a safe place to undergo those activities through decentralized disputes, encryption etc.
While the second one is aiming for the future by allowing machines to collaborate with one another as humans would, since we believe that we are very close to the point in time where this is not only a great addition but a much needed one.
Eric: So it could be described as Upwork on the blockchain. what are the key differences between Hyve and Upwork?
Brad: Well if you wanted to simplify it, you could start there but Hyve is so much more. We are solving the problems of today: high platform and transactional fees as well as long settlement times. And we are pre spring the the future of a collaboration platform by allowing human/machine blended teams on our platform
Tudor: In terms of technology all of the features of Upwork summed up together represent less than a tenth of what HYVE offers. That might sound a bit much but there are several key differences between our platform from decentralized disputes, to P2P legal agreements and encryption to sharing the fee revenue with users and open governance.
Brad: So the key difference is Upwork is a legacy platform that just brought temp agency model to online. Hyve is the future of collaborative working at a global scale.
Tudor: HYVE takes what is best from current platforms and builds on top off that to accomplish what it represents by adding our own spin on certain things.
Eric: Can you elaborate?
Tudor: Sure. First of all, we decided to share 100% of our revenue with people which is unheard of even in Blockchain and this links with the open governance model we present. HYVE as a whole is built on the basis of game theory by aligning the interests of the users with the interests of the platform.
Technically speaking, we basically took what works and adapted them in a decentralized + private manner while making it user-friendly and seamless. Most blockchain apps suffer from large delays etc; we actually redesigned the way we built most of our smart-contracts with inline-Assembly code to make them faster & shorter etc.
Additionally, we add some features that don’t exist anywhere else. To mention two of the most important we have HYVEs which are self-governed organizations, similar to a decentralized startup and we also provide DeFi integrations with most apps out there.
Eric: Are HYVEs like companies? How are they different?
Tudor: They are definitely similar, but it’s a bit more than that. HYVEs work like companies in the sense that they are self-governed, however, instead of having a simple shareholder board, any HYVE member has a say in what happens to the HYVE, regardless of how small his percentage.
Eric: so they are DAOs?
Brad: Yes, in the broader sense of the term
Tudor: In simple terms, they can be complex organisations that are as easy to use as Facebook groups. Additionally, as opposed to normal startups, HYVEs actually allow humans and robots to collaborate in a single cohesive system.
Eric: Very Interesting. When you say governance, how can people like me actually influence the platform?
Brad : Yes, Eric. Everyone has a voice proportionate to their involvement and stake
Tudor: Actually, in almost every possible way you could think of. First of all, users take care of curation (i.e. should a task be on HYVE or not?) Second of all, they take care of voting things such as adding new tokens or payment method, adding new DeFi apps etc
Eric: thats sounds pretty cool. What are the ways you can earn on HYVE?
Tudor: Third of all and most important, users can make proposals backed by tokens and then other holders can vote on them. If a proposal gets accepted then it gets implemented.
Tudor: There’s quite a few different ways to earn money on HYVE. First of all, as a normal user / HYVE member. Second of all, you can stake tokens or participate in the vault to partake in the revenue. Third of all you can be an arbiter on disputes and fourth of all you can be an agent recommending tasks to other people like a HR agent. Lastly, you can earn money as a developer through proposals.
Eric: I saw that you are partnered with Kleros? tell us about that. I will open the floor after the next reply.
Tudor: Since HYVE is fully decentralized, it made sense for our disputes to work in the same way. Especially since there have been many complaints about the centralized systems handling disputes on current centralized platform.
We are implementing Kleros with that reason in mind. However, that doesn’t mean things are exclusive; in other words, just as we can integrate several DeFi apps we can do the same for the dispute resolution module.
Community AMA
Q: I’m aware that HYVE smart contracts are deployed entirely on the Ethereum network, could you tell us the advantages this offers HYVE that is lacking in platforms where the code lives on centralized company servers?
A: Sure, that’s a great question. We can start by mentioning that an advantage would be it cannot be censored, in addition to this it’s close to impossible to take HYVE down unless someone first takes down the whole Ethereum network first. In addition the code is immutable and can be verified and this is very important to us especially since HYVE will be an open-source project.
Q: How will Hyve be able to bring down the costs for all Parties?
How will Blockchain help to solve this problem?
A: Thank you for your question. We are bringing the costs down by implementing an automated DAO approach to the platform. By allowing the the platform itself and its community to do the tasks others have to pay for we are able to reduce the fees on it to a minimum and share the value we create with the Hyve community. Blockchain technology is key here because it allows us to transacts on the platform incurring minimal fees and faster than any other settlement system in use by our competitors. This solves the two main issues that i mentioned that plague the industry now.
Q: Unspecialized employees, biased disputes, centralized governance & proprietary models are some of the problems with the current platforms and hiring agencies people use daily. Could you tell us Hyve approach to breaking these barriers so as to enable the full potential of the workforce industry?#hyveworks
A: You are completely right and it’s something we’ve given a lot of thought too as well. Regarding biased disputes we implemented a decentralized system based on jurors to avoid this. As for governance, we follow an open model where every holder has a say in how things work in regards to the platform.
As for unspecialized employees, this is a more complicated topic, however, we’ve done several things to address this issue. First of all, we have a feedback system that ensures people get properly evaluated for their work and as for proprietary models, HYVE is completely open.
Q: Hyve plans to solve the problems in Global freelance & workforce market, Can You tell me How actually Your are going to solve this?
A: Yes, as mentioned before we are solving the two problems identified earlier high platform fees that make current freelance solutions ineffective and too costly for some workers as well as work verification and payment times by using blockchain. Because we are innovating with our platform and not just replicating the existing models, we believe we are creating a much more accessible platform for work that will be the future model for collaboration.
Q: DeFi Centric, Community Governance, but your Smart contracts is on ETH blockchain. How do you meet DeFi biggest need of cross chain interactions and multiple blockchains #hyveworks
A: We are fans of practical things and our focus is on iteration, and in order to do that it has to exist on a blockchain at the beginning. This is something that is more responsibly discussed at a later stage of the project, after we have enough data to make a decision.
People will be running multiple types of nodes, like curation for ex, and it would be trivial to consolidate them into a blockchain if necessary, but we can also see how the evolution of ETH 2.0+ develops, and decide if there would even be a need for that. Let’s not forget that ETH is the biggest blockchain development platform and 99% of DeFi projects are on Ethereum so they have the biggest incentive to scale fast and securely.
Q: What is the Benefit for Holding tokens for Long term? What will HYVE bring in this Defi World?
A: Simple really. Because Hyve captures all its value creation in its tokens, in the long run all stakeholders that hold tokens will share in that value creation. Weather you are staking, using the tokens to create work opportunities, arbitrate or receive them with as payment for 0 fess, you will benefit from them. Our treasury model will also allow you to exchange your tokens easily so not only the value will be captured at the token level but also have liquidity for those we need to use it outside of our ecosystem.
Q:How does HYVE facilitate the cooperation and collaborative development within the community. If someone had an idea that would work well on HYVE , how can we get SUPPORT? #hyveworks
A: Well, Hyve catalyze cooperation and collaboration by removing the friction between parties so it will be easier to find partners on the platform for your idea.
Q: Hyve can be integrated with almost any Dapp. Which ones can’t be integrated yet? What the limitations it brings, it would be solved so any Dapp no matter its complexity can be integrated? #hyveworks
A: Any Dapp that respects the smart contract interface (similar to an API) can be natively integrated in HYVE. In other words, as long as people respect the rules set forth in the contracts which are public then anyone can integrate their Dapp in HYVE.
Q: How does Hyve provide Transparency & Safety for users?
What is the reward structure for token holders?
A: HYVE is built from the ground up to be transparent and safe, from integrating a decentralized system to offering advanced encryption so people can safely communicate with one another in the case of important data.
As for the reward structure, it’s directly proportional to the number of questions you answer.
Q: According to Statista com, Number of unemployed persons worldwide on 2020 is 174.3 millions people. This increased from the previous year (173.6 millions) because of Covid-19. How does the Hyve Work project react to it? Are freelance and workforce market industry based on decentralized technologies is is the answer to the world’s problems right now?
A: We sure hope to do our share of solving the current world problems. Since the current pandemic opened everyone’s eyes on remote work and decentralized work forces, we truly believe that Hyve will be a positive catalyst in addressing the current workforce challenges. By allowing more companies and workers to be able to work together on our platform, we will allow the decentralized workforce’s to flourish and grow larger and hopefully become more global so we democratize access to good projects and jobs for everyone.
Q: Why did HYVE choose Kleros as a solution to the issues in dispute work? With the influence of Covid-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate skyrocketed. So will it be an opportunity or challenge for HYVE?
A: First of all we chose Kleros because from the current existing systems that handle dispute resolution Kleros is by far the most technically advanced. In addition, we’ve had the pleasure of working closely with their team in implementing Kleros into HYVE which was a great help. They also have quite a large userbase in this particular niche which helps.
As for your second question, we think it’s definitely an opportunity because people have started to realize the necessity of freelancing.
Q: I know $HYVE is trying to be adopted around the world. And if it work, How have you handled the different regulations of the different countries in which #HYVE has arrived? it has been difficult?
A: We strive to be compliant in every jurisdiction we operate in so that none of our projects and stakeholders have any issue using the platform. We will take this challenge country by country as we expand. Currently we are fully compliant in all the countries we have presence in.
Q: In the freelancer world one of the most crucial points to deal with is dispute resolution: in a decentralized tech context, how does Hyve Work plan to design the dispute resolution system? How is the work between Kleros and Hyve #hyveworks
A: Kleros is natively integrated and in general decentralized dispute resolution represents a pillar of HYVE. In the future we might design our own internal system but for now Kleros provides everything that we need. I’ve answered a bit of this in the previous question as well.
Q: What problems did you face when trying to implement your product in working businesses? #hyveworks
A: We haven’t faced any problems so far. We are making the on boarding process and the UX seamless to the end user so they dont need to learn “blockchain” before using our platform however we anticipate a learning curve as less tech savvy projects start using HYVE and plan to address it in a case by case if and when they happen.
Q: For which public and sectors is HyveWorks directed? What market share do you plan to take away from your competitors? What are your perspectives on the freelancer market?
A: In the end, HYVE is aimed to become the “operating system” of work. But in the beginning we are mostly aiming towards people interested in using HYVEs and also aiming at jobs that require automated verifications and/or robot work due to our protocol.
Q: I would love to know why Hyve chose IPFS in particular for file and data storage, given the array of options amongst blockchain storage like Filecoin, Lambda, Sia, etc.?
A: First of all, Filecoin is part of IPFS (it’s basically the reward system). Second of all, we like the IPFS architecture and think it’s a great fit for us. However, if by the time of launch IPFS isn’t completely finished then we have no issues with implementing Sia or something similar as long as they’re in a better position. For now we don’t plan this, but if there’s a need our developers shouldn’t have any issues with it.
Q: From your whitepaper, the HYVE ecosystem is composed of HYVE Core, HYVE Protocol and HYVE Client. How do these functionalities interact in providing flexibility and improving user experience in the marketplace?
A: They are all components that together constitute an ecosystem. HYVE core represents the collection of smart-contracts effectively representing the back-end of the system while the HYVE client is the front-end and the protocol is the API which helps facilitate various connections to the platform itself. All in all, they are built from the ground-up to work together and as such user experience and flexibility could be said to have been taken into account as part of the whole.
Q: How does the strategy from Hyve Work team to introduce their blockchain technology for users and consumers in freelance industry. As many of them still not familiar with this kind of blockchain technology? The Inaccessibility, difficulty of using cryptos & poor payment experience, how can you solve this all?
A: We approach this challenge by simplifying the crypto experience and focusing more on the user’s experience. We don’t want want HYVE to be only usable by experienced crypto users but by everyone so we are keeping as much of the crypto in the background and making the platform Simone to use. We also anticipate the need to educate our audiences every step of the way both about our platform and transacting with crypto in general so that they can benefit from this technology to the fullest extent.
Q: What are the advantages of a decentralized version of the freelance and workforce market. Why would I, being a common worker, prefer to use HyveWorks instead of other centralized platforms?
A: Well, there’s certainly advantages to having a decentralized version, though we’ve already went through that a bit so I’ll skip it. Instead I’ll answer why it’s better for a common worker to use HYVE.
First of all, it’s the only freelancing platform in the world where you can be a part of the people earning money from the revenue it generates.
Second of all, it comes with several features that other platforms lack.
Third of all, and most important, the fees we take are on average 10x less than normal freelancing platforms which means all that money goes back to the freelancers.Q: How does the HYVE Protocol use the self-verification mechanism and what are the advantages of the AI base on your Protocol infrastructure?
Smaller (Upto 1% platform fees) as opposed to 20–30% of what you make, faster settlement times (instant upon approval of the work) as opposed to 3 to 7 days.
A: As long as a task can be objectively measured then we can verify it automatically. This can mean anything from distance, time, digital tasks such as sign-ups, platform actions etc. All of these become self-verified.
As for the second part of your question, we support AIs and robots on the platform in the same way humans can solve tasks. They can even make HYVEs together. To give the simplest example, two delivery drones can make a HYVE and cover larger distances together.Q: What is the business model of HYVE? How HYVE generates revenue for development? #hyveworks
A: When people buy assets from the vault, while they do so at an advantage because it’s a blind auction and the 2nd highest bid wins (similar to ethereum domain names auctions), they do pay some price for it nonetheless.
Those earnings are split in two. Half of it is burned irreversibly and half of it represents the actual revenue of HYVE which funds development and other necessities.
Q: Most newer DeFi platforms are just a copy paste of the existing ones. So, what things does Hyve works offer that no any other DeFi platform offers?
A: Well, first of all, HYVE is able to integrate any other DeFi platform, so that’s definitely a major difference. We’re not really restricted to going any one direction since HYVE acts as a framework for people to build upon in this case.
Q: As a decentralized task marketplace, how do we differentiate between jobs and tasks? Or are they similar?
What criteria are being used to classify them in the HYVE ecosystem?
A: There’s several criteria to differentiate tasks. Most are differentiated by 4 main variations: Verification (Human/Self-verified), Visbility (Public/Unlisted/Private), Payment and Approval (Open/Closed)
Q: I read that if you’re paying a job or task in HYVE tokens, the fee is 0%. How then does HYVE generate revenue ?
A: The fee is between 0 and 1%. It’s 0% if the entire task is paid in HYVE, 0.5% if only the fee is paid in HYVE and 1% if neither of them is paid in HYVE.
When the entire task is paid in HYVE value is generated due to HYVE being bought off the market so it self-balances. Especially due to the fact that the entire system is built on game theory. So there’s always a balance between staking, the vault and the market price. If either of them goes too high then it becomes interesting for people to spend more time on another which in turns balances the system again etc
Q: Are there any competitors for HYVE , and what are HYVE’s advantages?
A: Yes, we do have competitors, though not directly. Both centralized and decentralized platforms have been made as attempts to achieve something similar to what HYVE is doing, however, none have succeeded nor is any of them the same to HYVE; rather they are simply similar in the terms that they serve the same goal and not being based on the same technology etc.
HYVE has many advantages, whether we’re talking simply about features or technological prowess, but most importantly HYVE is a platform built by the people for the people which is why our governance is completely open and why we share 100% of fee revenue.
Right now there are no competitors to HYVE in the blockchain space. We do have traditional businesses like Fiverr and Upwork that we are competing against in a certain way but our technological solution is very different from them so we don see anyone as direct competition, more as on opportunity to innovate.
Q: On sites like Guru people now come to just outbid on jobs & outsource them to Fiverr, the result is one person can eat up all jobs, how will the Hyve Protocol help avoid this & keep it fair? #hyveworks
A: Well, this happens because there is no proper feedback system in place or that they are flawed. We’ve implemented a feedback system based on alignment of interests, whereas if you get a good rating you first need to leave feedback of your own to the one who granted it thus incentivizng people to respond. Additionally, feedbacks can be disputed on HYVE as opposed to simply having a bad feedback follow you with no evidence.
Q: As Global workforce market, Verifying Jobs and service authenticity could be a herculean task considering bottlenecks. How does Hyve Work deal with this issue and ensure only legitimate Jobs and service come in the Hyve platform?
A: That is absolutely correct and I’m glad to see someone asked that. At HYVE we realize that the power of only one person and perhaps even a team will always be limited. Facebook has already shown us that with their reporting system.
Which is also the reason why curation can be done by users; in other words each and every user of HYVE can ensure that the tasks posted on HYVE are authentic. There are several reporting systems in place and people can report them to a curator. Curators get rewarded for their work.
Q: How does HYVE eliminate waiting times, complicated processes and intermediaries as soon as the task is over for timely delivery of earnings? Can this advantage bring additional costs?
A: We use the blockchain to create a transparent workflow of job assignment, escrow of funds, verification of work and payment. Because it is an autonomous decentralised model HYVE doesn’t rely on middle man to complete a transaction between parties and using crypto payments the settlement time is almost instant. There will be no additional costs, minimal settlement times and minimal fees as a result of the technology we are building.
Payment is instant on HYVE. When a host posts a task he escrows the money for that particular task so once the task is completed payment goes through. No additional costs.
Q: There are 4players in Hyve platform:holders, agents, hosts and users. What are the steps to follow to become each one?As a Fiverr user would it be easy to start using Hyver? is it similar?
A: Holders are token holders so you simply have to buy tokens. Hosts and users are one and the same in a sense but on different sides of the equation. A user that usually solves tasks can also post them and the same goes in reverse. As for agents, they are also users but instead of solving tasks they recommend people who are a good fit. In essence, you are always in control and the result is you decide how you want to shape things. There’s really no limitation as that’s the point of HYVE, to offer a platform where people can collaborate in any way possible.
Q: Hive is a purely community-driven project. There is no CEO, no marketing manager. How do you feel about a project with no leadership and only community? What does community mean to you? Do you believe in the decentralized movement of Web 3?
A: Community is everything for any business and project and HYVE is no different. The only difference is that HYVE rewards its community by sharing the value that is created on the platform by its stakeholders.
While HYVE is indeed supposed to become 100% autonomous and community-governed, at first, we are still here to steer it in the right direction. Obviously we will not be able to do this forever nor do we intend do, however it’s a necessity in the beginning.
Now for the second part of your question, as you can imagine community means a lot to us, otherwise we wouldn’t have designed the project in such a way.
Q: COVID-19 is currently a worldwide epidemic. All parties are concerned. Many people lost their jobs. How does Hyve Work help these people? Who can use the Hyve Work market and what are the benefits of using that market?
A: Anyone can use HYVE to monetize their experience and skill set. HYVE will help job seekers by allowing them to work on more projects globally and get paid instantly upon successful completion eliminating middle man and transaction fees.
Q: Does the HYVE team have a training and guidance system for newcomers to cryptocurrency? How do you attract and reach them?
A: Yes, we plan to have clear educational materials helping both with on boarding on the platform and introduction to Cryptocurrencies for everyone who needs them.
Q: Most investors focus only on the token price in the short term instead of the real value of the project. Can #HYVE tell me the benefits for investors holding #HYVE the long term?
A: HYVE shares revenue with people every month so that means you can expect to constantly receive a return on the tokens you hold which should be an interesting factor when taking into account long-term holding. As the platform evolves the revenue we earn and distribute will also increase.
You are correct that some investor focus solely on short term gains as opposed to the value creation that happens as the underlying business gains market share and grows profitably. We do intend to capture all the value created by the platform in the tokens and have a staking mechanism so by design our tokens are designed to yield more returns in the long run than a quick buy and sell. As the platform grows and more economic activity passes through our platform the long term value of the token will reflect that hence the opportunity for long term investment.
Q: Can you tell me a bracket of percentage of Hyve can get as a commission from the salary of worker paid by the client or third party involved?
A: Between 0–1%
Q: Can you list 1–3 killer features of HYVE that makes it ahead of its competitors? What is the competitive advantage your platform has that you feel most confident about?
A:
- Global workforce
- Less than 1% platform fees
- Instant payment upon satisfactory completion of projects to the freelancers
Q: Having a fairly varied HIVE ECOSYSTEM with games, video players and more, what other types of Dapps are you trying to achieve? What is the ultimate goal of HIVE? be used on all platforms?
A: In a sense, yes. First of all, HYVE is open-source and allows other people to build on top of it. For example, let’s say you have a particular tool which makes image recognition tasks easier to solve. Well, instead of having to build a new platform from scratch you can actually build it on top of HYVE and make use of all the things we put at your disposal. Additionally, we also integrate other Dapps.
Q: many project are currently experiencing a decline due to Covid-19. Will this have an impact on your business? If so, how will HYVE team face this problem to stay on top?
A: While this is true, we are one of the very few businesses that is at the opposite end of the spectrum since more and more people are in need of finding ways to work, especially remotely and HYVE is a great option for that.
Q: What is the most ambitious goal of the project? I would appreciate if you can share with us any upcoming updates? What should the community look for?
A: Democratizing access to good projects and work for everyone.
Q: What is the roadmap for the next 6 and 12 months? What challenges are you trying to solve? What is the future direction of this project?
A: We’ll be finishing the product and launching first on testnet and then on mainnet within that timeframe. There are many more things in store for HYVE but that will come later.
Closing Remarks
Eric: Ok! what a very interesting projects @tstomff and @bradyasar
Brad: Thank you
Eric: if built, it would really empower gigsters and freelancers
Tudor: Thanks for having us Eric, it’s been great
Eric: Please invite everyone to your channels. @tstomff @bradyasar
Tudor: Everyone, thank you so much for the questions. We really appreciate how much thought you’ve put into it and we look forward to discussing more with you in the future.
You can join our telegram group here: https://t.me/hyveworks
And Twitter: https://twitter.com/join_hyve/
We’ve just gone public within the past few days but we have many things in store.
Eric: all right.
If anyone is interested to invest in their private sale. Please join @exnetworkpublic and @exnetwork to wait for further instructions.
AMA is done. thanks to all who participated!
