AMA Recap — BIFROST
The session of AMA ( Ask Me Anything ) with BIFROST was conducted on 17th Nov 2021 at 4:30 PM IST (11 AM UTC) and lasted for 1 hour.
ADMIN ROUND
I welcome you on behalf of Crypto players India team, hope you will enjoy today’s AMA session.
Very excited to have you with us.😊
Jonty|Host
Please tell us about yourself and the team working on BIFROST?
Dohyun Pak
I’m Dohyun Pak, CEO and co-founder of BIFROST, BiFi, and most recently Biport Wallet. As a brief intro on my background — I have a PhD in Financial Engineering and spent over 10 years developing and managing complex derivative products for financial institutions in both New York and Seoul. I currently also serve as a professor of mathematical finance. Jong Hyup Lee is the CTO and co-founder who leads all product’s development efforts and is in charge of charting the overall strategy for the companies. He’s an expert in blockchain technologies, software security, and programming language theory. Changhyun Yoo is the COO and co-founder, who was previously a financial software architect and derivatives trader with over 20 years of experience. He oversees the development and execution of the companies’ operations and processes. Soso, the CMO and co-founder, is one of the leading crypto influencers in Korea. His expertise in blockchain led him to found Block Crafters Capital, a blockchain-focused VC. Soso is responsible for the brand building initiatives of BIFROST, leading business development efforts for clients and partners. In 2016, we started PiLab, a research-oriented software provider, to develop blockchain applications that solve social issues and business problems. Currently, we have a passionate and talented team of 35+ and still growing rapidly.
Jonty|Host
What is BIFROST and BiFi? Please provide a detailed introduction.
Dohyun Pak
BIFROST (https://thebifrost.io/) is a multichain middleware platform that enables developers to create Decentralized Applications (DApps) on top of multiple protocols. The idea was to create an interconnected blockchain ecosystem with a universal language for all blockchains with a full development suite that includes:
- Integrated development environments
- Operational tools
- Security modules
With BIFROST, developers can create the best combination of blockchains by trying and switching to various ones — allowing them to experience true scalability in their multichain DApps.
BiFi is the first multichain DeFi powered by BIFROST. It currently offers lending, staking, and pooling for Bitcoin and assets on the Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and Avalanche network. First launched in January 2021, BiFi opened up a new era of decentralized finance. It enabled the world’s first native Bitcoin lending on DeFi by directly connecting the Bitcoin and Ethereum network. This means that Bitcoin can be utilized on DeFi without any wrapping or tokenized BTC and users can deposit BTC and borrow ERC20, or vice versa. We call this DeFi 2.0!
Jonty|Host
What is BFC bot? How to earn points through participation?
Dohyun Pak
BFC Bot is a BIFROST Telegram chatbot that helps grow blockchain communities and rewards active users for contributing to the group. Active users are rewarded with points that convert to BFC_K, a Klaytn-based BFC token. Members can earn these points by participating in community discussion, events, or inviting new members to the group. BIFROST converts these points into BFC_K every month. Our newest product Biport Wallet allows users to claim BFC_K (Klaytn-based) by swapping the token in the wallet to BFC (an ERC20, or Ethereum-based) token. This feature is only available on Biport Wallet. If you’re interested in knowing more, here’s the guide to BFC and Biport:
BFC Bot: https://docs.bifi.finance/bfc-bot/
Biport Wallet: https://docs.bifi.finance/biport-guide
With that said, I invite the community to our newest BFC India community! t.me/Bifrost_India. There is an ongoing event where you can invite friends to BIFROST India and earn $BFC and truly onboard the BIFROST ecosystem. On top of that, the BFC_K conversion event continues every month in the group so you can accumulate points and convert them to BFC every month. Here are the event details: https://t.me/Bifrost_India/82
Don’t miss out on this! 🙂
Jonty|Host
Where we can buy BFC? Also share your experience so far and Roadmap.
Dohyun Pak
In 2019, BIFROST was unveiled at the Osaka DevCon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUbGh_psFC4). A logistics platform that was built on BIFROST was able to achieve a 75% reduction in fees and 750 TPS on Ethereum, Klaytn, and Libra, through lowers cost and increased speed of DAppsIn 2020, we expanded to DeFi services with BiFi and revealed a partnership with 35 global blockchain companies and projects. This year, BIFROST’s multichain DeFi BiFi surpassed $150M in transactions. Our Total Value Locked has reached over $219 million, taking the #11 spot out of 30 in the category of Lending after Aave, Compound, CREAM, and bZx. But we’re not stopping here. We will gradually expand the range of information exchanged on these chains using BIFROST to build a multichain DeFi with collateralized loans from different chains, enabling cheaper and faster transactions while connecting digital capital markets. Connecting Bitcoin and Ethereum networks are just the tip of the iceberg. The next goal after connecting all chains is lowering the barriers of entering DeFi and building innovative platforms. We believe in finance for all and everyone has the right to manage and use their assets efficiently. Our responsibility is to build these financial services for them when we have the technology and an adequate team. BiFi X and Biport are among them and you can expect several more to come within the following year — like our NFT, Chainrunner and Biholder — in no specific order. Here is the link where you can learn about BFC and BiFi tokens and has all the exchange listings: bifi.link/s
TWITTER ROUND
As far as I know, “BIFROSTio” introduced 2 tokens which are: $BFC & $BIFI. Can you please explain what is the purpose of these two tokens? How are they used and what role do they play in the “BIFROSTio” platform? “BIFROSTio” users need to hold both tokens?
Dohyun Pak
BFC and BiFi are both ERC20-based tokens for the BIFROST ecosystem. Let me briefly explain the differences and the utility of the two:
1. BFC is the utility token of BIFROST’s multichain ecosystem. DApp developers will need to pay BFC as a fee to use the BIFROST middleware platform. Thus, BFC supports the development and interoperability of DApps across all blockchains. For example, when users lend or borrow Bitcoin on BiFi, they will need to pay 0.25% fee with BFC tokens. This is as BIFROST powers BiFi to be able to connect Bitcoin and Ethereum networks directly. This goes the same for all native chains.
2. BiFi is the governance token of BiFi protocol, creating value for all of its multichain financial ecosystem. Token holders can participate in governance and vote on proposals to accelerate and expand our ecosystem with a greater community voice.
Day by day @bfc is getting bigger making a huge success on btc lending without wrapping or bridges. But it’s not just about the tech on Pilab (bfc company). Your vision is giant for defi. Now @bfc is bringing the puzzle pieces. tell me more about chain runner?
Dohyun Pak
First of all, thank you — really appreciate this question! We can see you’re well up-to-date on our roadmap and ecosystem. To those of you who have never heard of Chainrunner (and I assume most of you haven’t), Chainrunner is one of the upcoming projects in development. The first version of Chainrunner is called Chainrunner Q. With this, you can utilize existing blockchain and DeFi use cases to optimize your strategy in one place instead of having to lend, stake, pool, deposit, migrate, etc across many different platforms. In essence, the purpose of Chainrunner is to install, use, and test BIFROST’s smart contract at a high level. Chainrunner will benefit not only advanced users, but also beginners and intermediates who are not well versed in blockchain or DeFi.
NFT and GameFi are growing very fast, does Bifrost have some barriers to entry into this marketplace? What are your plans to unlock market’s full potential, in order to compete with other NFT marketplaces like CryptoPunks, Axie Infinity, Cool Cats?
Dohyun Pak
I understand the current NFT market is competitive and fragmented, dominated by a few established players like BAYC, Cryptopunks, and Cool Cats. As exciting as NFT PFPs can be, NFTs don’t necessarily mean anything other than the fact that they are non-fungible and allow a sense of ownership for a unit of data. Some consider them to be valueless, while others can be quite investment-worthy. We are currently working to create our own NFT, which will mean something more than just a profile picture: your identity and reputation in the decentralized world. I believe this type of ownership will allow the ecosystem to utilize and foster the advancement of NFTs in a more meaningful way. In fact, for example, if you use BiFi X right now, you are issued an NFT for your leveraged position. This NFT is the proof of ownership of the funds you have deposited and leveraged on BiFi X. Biport Wallet will also be capable of supporting NFTs. In that sense, you can imagine that aggregation of a variety of NFTs will become your real-world credentials over time. Of course, our NFT holders get exclusive benefits.
COMMUNITY ROUND
Talha Vai
Security is a critical concern for users in any project with growing number of scammers. What level of security can Your project guarantee users?
Dohyun Pak
We had a lot of questions about the security of our projects, and I think it’s necessary to touch upon them as this is an important topic in this space. Security is at the forefront of our development process, as any promising project should be. We conduct thorough internal testings for all our products — and of course, audits are a must. We will never release our products until they have finished being audited by leading security firms. Our team is comprised of blockchain and security experts. BiFi’s Lending and Staking smart contracts have been audited by world-leading security firms. Since launching in January 2021, BiFi has had zero cases of hacks. You can find them in all our documentation guides. For unwrapped Bitcoin lending on BiFi, we build cryptographic proofs to verify the accuracy of transactions that occurred on Bitcoin network and verify it on-chain on Ethereum smart contracts. It may be more expensive to perform on-chain verifications, but this computational integrity technique is the most secure way thus far. BiFi Lending Audit by Theory: https://github.com/bifrost-platform/BIFI/blob/master/docs/bifrost_bifi_audit.pdf
BiFi Staking Audit by Theory: https://github.com/bifrost-platform/BiFi-staking-protocol/blob/main/docs/theori-audit-rev-2.0.pdf
Hà Thủy Trang
The BIFROST project has good growth potential but the crypto space is not in one of its best moments, can you explain to community members why they should invest in the project & participate in its long-term development?
Dohyun Pak
Our approach is “multichain” and we believe that the future is not “one chain wins all”. I understand there are many multichain projects but I’m proud to say we are one of the first. Unlike existing solutions to blockchain interoperability like Cosmos and Polkadot that created their own blockchains, BIFROST requires developers to reconfigure their DApps to the respective systems. As different blockchain mainnets provide different strengths, BIFROST takes on the approach of creating a universal language that supports all networks and L2s alike through the vision of multiple major blockchains coexisting, by combining the strengths of different blockchain solutions. BIFROST’s programming language, based on Solidity, works on continuously supporting the most promising mainnets and L2 solutions, enabling developers to simply create their applications. More people every day are wanting financial democracy and ownership in today’s economy. We are committed to creating a decentralized infrastructure that connects all capital markets and every blockchain — allowing capital and data to flow seamlessly from one blockchain to another.
Adiell
What kind of partnerships with different projects/platforms/protocols can we expect from BIFROST in the future? Could you give us some examples of how other projects can leverage BIFROST?
Dohyun Pak
Our official list of partners can be found on our website: thebifrost.io/partner. This list is non-exhaustive — there are still partners that we haven’t officially announced yet. We’re currently talking to a lot of projects for potential partnerships as well! We can’t name them specifically, but to name a few, some include different kinds of DApps like gaming that can be developed on top of BIFROST, and even non-blockchain organizations. I am confident that our ecosystem will thrive very soon.
Fred Robinson
success of a project also depends on how large the community is. Do you have plans to spread awareness to both crypto users and non crypto users in the world? Especially non-English speaking countries that may be restricted from accessing your Project?
Dohyun Pak
The community-governed ecosystem is essential to building a strong-knit decentralized network. The beginning of BDAO empowers our community members to make the protocol autonomous and transparent. Holders of BiFi can vote and implement changes to the protocol. Our AMA Global Telegram is very special — our community managers and key employees around the world are around 24/7 to build community-friendly channels and facilitate our expansion. We have over 33,000 total members all over the world just on Telegram and have plans to launch more. We’re currently working on a new Discord channel to bring exclusive news and events to the developer-centric community as well. We’ll be first announcing them on our Twitter and announcements channel on Telegram, so I advise you to keep up to date!
YCO2261
Currently, market is becoming very bullish on NFT trend. Can you share your opinion on NFT as a player in the NFT market? And does BIFROST have any plan with NFT?
Dohyun Pak
I had the honour to speak at the Busan NFT 2021 Conference in Korea a few weeks back around the topic of Metaverse, NFT, and DeFi. A long story short, this is what I’ve said: At BIFROST, we are working relentlessly to find the solution in building a better future for blockchains. Solving this is definitely not easy, but our passionate team is working hard to find and build the next-generation technology in this space. We believe multichain technology will play a huge role in improving the experience for everyone with a secure, interconnected, fast and efficient bridge. As we find these solutions and reveal them one by one (as we have succeeded thus far), we are working on various marketing strategies to showcase our innovation, and I want to say the current countdown on our website is one of them. I hope everyone can look forward to this exciting next solution.
A.R.V. Crypto
What exchanges are BFC and BiFi tokens currently trading on?
What are the borrowing and lending interest rates in Bifrost Lending services? What privileges are there in lending services for BiFi token holders to maximize our earnings?
Dohyun Pak
1. The entire list of exchanges for our token can be found here: bifi.link/s
2. Built from scratch by our in-house developers for best interest calculation, BiFi has collateralized lending, staking, and liquidity mining services. As with most lending and staking protocols, the interest rates are calculated algorithmically by the supply and demand for each asset. You can earn interest on your deposited/staked assets and BiFi tokens as a reward. For example, when you deposit BNB, you earn 10.83% interest per year (APY) on BNB. Additionally, you earn an additional 2.8% interest in BiFi tokens. As a result, you earn a net profit of 13.63% by depositing BNB. With yield farming, you can earn up 19.6% APY on BNB. Also, note that our team will consider higher reward incentives for lending and staking to help increase our protocol TVL in the future.
Hân
What problems is Project trying to solve to make it easier for Crypto users? Please let us know How evolving the roadmap is right now. What will happen this year and in the future?
Dohyun Pak
We’re trying to build better and practical use cases not yet established than the current ones, and the most notable one we can say is Bitcoin lending on BiFi. Bitcoin is the oldest and most widely held asset, but couldn’t be used in DeFi without being wrapped or tokenized like wrapped BTC. BiFi is the world’s first DeFi that connects Bitcoin and Ethereum networks directly to borrow and lend assets between these networks. We’re constantly trying to increase the value of our token use case and its overall infrastructure. First, by bringing Bitcoin to DeFi, we’re gradually expanding our ecosystem. There is a limitation to how much DeFi can grow restrained to a single chain, but within our ecosystem and through multichain connectivity, we aim to give ownership in selecting the chains to users, expand the ecosystem, and offer more innovative financial services to everyone. Our Medium post introduces our roadmap/ecosystem for BIFROST City. You can read it here: https://medium.com/bifrost/introducing-bifrost-city-f46f4d20624?source=friends_link&sk=5299bbbe9e64c74dda6dee2cdb04253b
Don’t forget to join our newest BIFROST community @BIFROST_India and participate in the ongoing event. Our CMs speak Hindi, Tamil, and English. Official event announcement: https://t.me/Bifrost_India/82.
🐦 @BIFROSTio: https://twitter.com/BIFROSTio
🐦 @BiFi_Lending : https://twitter.com/BiFi_lending
🐦 @BiportWallet : https://twitter.com/BiportWallet
🇮🇳 Telegram India: t.me/Bifrost_India
🌐 Telegram Global: http://t.me/Bifrost_Global
📢 Telegram Announcements: https://t.me/Bifrostnotice
I really appreciate the questions received from you and the community — thank you very much for inviting me, Jonty! It was a pleasure talking with all of you.
The AMA recorded many great questions from the Crypto Players India community, as well as meticulous answers from our guest Dohyun Pak from BIFROST. AMA Concluded at 5:30 pm IST.
