We had the awesome visit of B.Protocol’s team in our telegram for an AMA session on August 4th, 2021. Great questions from the community, together with very detailed responses from our guest was the perfect combination for a great session.
Thanks for joining and for your great questions!
Date: Wednesday, August 4th, 2021
Time: 2:00PM UTC
Guest: Eitan Katchka, Head of Ecosystem Development, B.Protocol
Find the AMA transcript below:
B.Protocol’s AMA on EPNS Telegram — August 4th, 2021
JAI: Awesome! Welcome Eitan Katchka @Ekatch, Head of Ecosystem Development, B.Protocol to the EPNS Community! It is a pleasure to have you with us today for an exciting AMA session. 🤩
EITAN KATCHKA: Hey all!
JAI: @Ekatch, Before we start could you please introduce yourself and go over your background so everyone in here gets to know you better?
EITAN KATCHKA: So first of all thanks Jai for having me here on the EPNS channel for this AMA.
My name is Eitan Katchka and I’m leading the ecosystem development at B.Protocol.
Before I fell down the rabbit hole of crypto, I was leading large scale community-based projects in Israel, where I live.
I started my crypto journey in early 2014 as one of the co-founders of LaZooz, a carpooling dApp that we built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain. Vitalik was even one of our advisors back then. It was one of the first DAOs, even before the technology was there to support it. Was exciting times (and still is) but we were way too early.
Then I was working with Toyota Research Institute on a PoC for a mobility service on Ethereum. It was early 2017 and that’s when I first met Yaron Velner who is the founder of B.Protocol.
Then Yaron went on to become Kyber Network’s first CTO and we met again in mid-2020 when I joined B.Protocol to lead the ecosystem development of the project.
As for B.Protocol -
B.Protocol is the Backstop liquidity protocol for DeFi, making liquidations more efficient. We will cover why this is crucial for scaling the DeFi ecosystem during this chat I believe.
Hope it’s enough for now… ;)
JAI: 2014 wow 😲
Impressive stuff @Ekatch!!
EITAN KATCHKA: Just feeling like a dinosaur …
This ecosystem develops so fast you know.
JAI: Absolutely and I am sure, community is looking forward to it as well.
EITAN KATCHKA: That’s true and that’s the beauty of it :D
JAI: Please when you’re done answering any question, you can say “DONE” @Ekatch.
EITAN KATCHKA: Sure.
JAI: Let’s move to the next segment of our AMA Session.
I hope you’re ready @Ekatch? I will be asking some questions. 🙂
Q1. Can you briefly tell our community about B.Protocol’s mission and vision and why it was launched?
EITAN KATCHKA: Sure.
B.Protocol is the Backstop liquidity protocol for DeFi lending platforms.
The project’s main goal is to offer a strong backstop for the DeFi ecosystem.
A backstop is a well-known solution in CeFi and Tradfi but is still unknown and un-used in DeFi, as we are all still early and the ecosystem is still being built. B.Protocol is doing the needed adjustments to provide a decentralized backstop which is suited for DeFi.
A quick take on Backstop -
Having a backstop, e.g. dedicated liquidity for liquidations, enables smooth and immediate execution of liquidations of unsafe vaults and positions — those who crossed the collateralization ratio/factor as it was determined by the lending platform they are using. In simple words, it means that the funds a user has deposited as collateral are no longer sufficient to keep the debt he or she has taken. If these unsafe vaults/positions are not being liquidated, they cast a real threat for the platform to become insolvent — and in DeFi it means for the users who have lent the tokens to not be able to withdraw their funds.
JAI: This sounds interesting 👀
EITAN KATCHKA: Liquidations are one of the growth engines for DeFi. And a better liquidation system is one of the key missing elements for DeFi lending platforms and margin trading systems at the moment in DeFi. It will unleash better capital efficiency for their users — Higher leverage and better collateralization factors/ratios.
Compared to CeFi systems like Binance, ByBit etc, which offer x100 to users capital, DeFi is still way behind with most platforms offer x3-x5 leverage (collateral ratios/factors of 130–150%/66–75% depending on how the platforms calculate this).
JAI: Great to know. 🔥
I completely agree with you!
EITAN KATCHKA: So, B.Protocol v1 was launched in October 2020 and has mainnet integrations with MakerDAO and Compound.
And yesterday we launched our first v2 integration with Liquity (LUSD), which offers passive APY on LUSD of about ~20% currently.
Oh, and last thing for now —
B.Protocol is governed by $BPRO token holders.
Done.
JAI: Amazing! Let’s move onto the next Question.
Q2. Can you please shed light on the major milestones B.Protocol has achieved so far and what can we expect from you guys in the future?
EITAN KATCHKA: Sure.
As I mentioned we launched in Oct 2020 and have 3 integrations live on Ethereum mainnet — MakerDAO, Compound and Liquity.
Liquity (LUSD/LQTY) is the first integration using B.Protocol v2 which enables liquidations via our novel Backstop AMM (B.AMM) design.
Users can try it here — https://app.bprotocol.org/liquity
or read more about it here — https://twitter.com/bprotocoleth/status/1422476042678251526?s=20
(I hope the links are ok here…)
B.Protocol
The decentralized backstop liquidity protocol.
Besides that, since we launched we have integrated with a few aggregators and protocols such as —
JAI: Absolutely :D
EITAN KATCHKA: Zapper, Zerion, Furucombo, DeFi Saver, DeFi Pulse, DeFi Llama and DeBank. And have insurance covered by Nsure Network, and a Bug Bounty program run by Immunefi.
You can find most of it in our new Docs page — https://docs.bprotocol.org/
Intro to B.Protocol
DeFi’ Backstop Liquidity Protocol
Pickle Finance has also integrated into our Liquity integration to offer compounding yields on LUSD and LQTY. You should check it out on their Jar page…
And just a few days ago our proposal to the Instadapp community has passed so users could soon use B.Protocol also with Instadapp’s DSA.
AND now of course we also have EPNS coming!!!
So the ecosystem around B.Protocol is growing.
We already have the next lending platform to integrate with our v2 — but this is still not officially announced so you will have to wait a bit more (but not too long… ;) )
Done.
JAI: That’s great! Let’s move onto the next question.
Q3. Can you tell us a little bit about how your experience has been in building B.Protocol and what are the advantages B.Protocol has over similar projects?
EITAN KATCHKA: Sure.
It’s been intense as the ecosystem grows so rapidly and so many new projects and protocols are coming out all the time, but it’s mainly lots of fun to take an active role in shaping this ecosystem and collaborating and integrating with so many other “money lego” protocols.
The main advantage of B.Protocol is making the DeFi ecosystem stronger and more resilient — and users who use B.Protocol make sure the lending platform they are using can handle liquidations also during sharp declines in the market.
But DeFi also comes with its incentives built in….
In B.Protocol v1 which is our integrations with Maker and Compound users actually share the liquidation proceeds made by the Backstop liquidators. As our v1 users are giving the protocol’s liquidators a priority in the liquidation process, they get in return 35–50% of the liquidators proceeds as the liquidators don’t need to compete with other liquidators and to pay high gas fees to miners (aka “gas wars”) in order to win the liquidation tx.
In v2, e.g. the integration with Liquity, users can get a PASSIVE 15–20% APY (currently) on their LUSD deposits in the Stability Pool. This is quite high for stablecoins.
This is possible thanks to the automated rebalancing of Liquity Stability Pool after liquidations are happening.
Users can also use Pickle.finance who has integrated with B.Protocol as well. In that case, users will also enjoy automated staking of LQTY, the reward token of Liquity, using the Pickle Jars for compounding yield.
Also, the community is currently discussing the next Liquidity Mining details, and some offers on the forum include rewards for new and existing users, as well as staking options for BPRO. So there is alot going on regarding advantages…
One last thing maybe — For Maker and Compound the Import process to move from the lending platforms to B.Protocol is a 1-click process.
Once you get connected with your MetaMask with the same account you are using for the original platform — an Import button pops up and all you need to do is to approve it on your MetaMask to get your funds move to be managed on B.Protocol (including any debt that you have of course).
So basically, if you are a user of Compound, Maker or Liquity, which are the platforms we support today, you have no real reason why NOT to use B.Protocol.
Done …
JAI: 👀
EITAN KATCHKA: One clarification maybe — this is not relevant for Liquity. There users need to just withdraw their LUSD and deposit it via B.Protocol
Now really done… ;)
JAI: Thanks for the clarification! ✈️
Here is the next Question :D
Q4. EPNS is building a dedicated channel for B.Protocol which will allow your users to subscribe to the B.Protocol channel to receive customized notifications to their wallets.
Can you tell us how you envision EPNS notifications playing an important role to help improve the experience for your current users, and attracting more new users?
EITAN KATCHKA: In the “non-crypto” world we are so used to getting notified on our “regular” apps — Telegram, Whatsapp, Twitter, and definitely any finance application we are using. Even my bank app sends me notifications.
But in DeFi this is still a missing piece and it’s a huge hurdle when on-boarding users, mainly those new to DeFi and crypto.
I believe getting notifications from apps where you manage your money, definitely in such a volatile market such as DeFi, is a must. And it will improve the user experience significantly.
And that’s exactly what this collaboration is all about!!
I think what users of lending platforms (which are our users as well) are mostly interested in, is the safety of their funds in the Vault. And one of the biggest fears for any lending platform user is to get liquidated…
So the first notification service we will work on is letting users get notified whenever their funds are getting close to the liquidation threshold. This will enable them to manage their position in time and to try and save it.
I believe this can bring a lot of added value to our users, and another great reason for some new users to move their funds to be managed on B.Protocol (besides all the other benefits…)
Done.
JAI: EPNS 🤝 B.Protocol
Let’s move onto the last Question of this segment.
Q5. Can you tell us how you plan to further collaborate with EPNS and what is your long-term vision for our project which will help to make us stronger and better in the DeFi space?
EITAN KATCHKA: As we start with the above pilot use case, I believe more and more use cases will come up as for where notifications are mostly needed in our system.
And of course our community of users will probably have the best ideas for that once they get to taste the benefits.
As B.Protocol gets integrated with more and more lending platforms, its notification system with EPNS might be used by users across DeFi, helping to share the vision of EPNS with more parts of the entire DeFi ecosystem.
I think there is a lot of potential for this collaboration
Done!
JAI: Brilliant, Thank you for your answers @Ekatch! We will now move to the last round which is a Live Q/A session.
Dear Community, get ready to shoot all your Questions! 🚀
I will UNMUTE the group soon and @Ekatch will pick and answer as many questions as possible but only participants with the BEST questions will be selected as winners at the end of AMA.
Are you all ready?
EITAN KATCHKA: GIF
JAI: 1… GO!! GO!!
EITAN KATCHKA: Let’s start with this one.
⛩: Community support is one of the biggest aspects of a project’s success. Most projects have programs that interact with their users. Do you have any special plans to attract and expand the community and improve the user experience?
JAI: Our chat is on MUTE again and here you go, we have got the last set of Questions from community members.
I now request @Ekatch to pick and answer the BEST Questions. This AMA is on fire. 🔥
EITAN KATCHKA: We are putting a lot of efforts on our community. Our Discord and forum are the places to get in touch with the team as well as with other B.Protocol members.
The team has no voting power in the governance — so B.Protocol is a real “Owned by the gov” project.
We are just building a Growth Squad which is built from members of the community.
KECIA HOUGHTON: How revenue is generated to sustain the project, and what plans do you have to attract more users in the future?
EITAN KATCHKA: In v1 (currently Maker and Compound integrations) the revenues are coming from sharing the liquidation proceeds with the Backstop liquidators.
In v2 there are fees for the rebalancing of Liquity’s Stability Pool and the DAO controls that switch to set the fees.
SUPERSTAR: What are the steps to become a part of your community, and start getting revenues? Where do we buy, where do we sign up? This looks like an amazing project!
EITAN KATCHKA: You can just head over to app.bprotocol.org and start using the protocol. If you are a Maker or Compound user you can just Import your existing account with 1-click as I mentioned.
To buy BPRO you can look at the regular DEXs — Uniswap v2 has some liquidity (though not alot…)
NATHANIAL MIRANDA: Q. I’m a developer, and I’m interested in contributing to B.Protocol alongside earning, Do you have any Bug Bounty to check for vulnerabilities ?
EITAN KATCHKA: Yes there is!
You can head over to Immunefi for the details
https://immunefi.com/bounty/bprotocol/
Immunefi
VProtocol Bug Bounties | Immunefi
Find bugs and vulnerabilities on B.Protocol and get paid up to $100,000.
We also have some open tasks on Gitcoin from time to time.
The bug bounty has up to $100k in bounties (for critical ones…)
LFC BOY: Can $BPRO holders have the right to submit proposal and participate in the governance of the project? What kind of project decision can they vote on?
@Ekatch
EITAN KATCHKA: There is no limit currently for submitting proposals for vote.
Most of the governance is held off-chain to enable more token holders to participate, via Snapshot.
Token holders vote on Liquidity Mining rewards as on any allocation of funds from the DAO reserve. It will also vote on future fees etc.
LORI ESPINAL: What is the utility of your native token B Protocol ? Also, What special features do you have or plan to implement that keeps you ahead of your competitors?
EITAN KATCHKA: BPRO is a purely Governance token. There are discussions in B.Protocol forum about future revenue sharing models and other mechanisms that can be put in place to add other uses to the token.
VOID: Good projects always have an experienced team behind them. Can you tell us something about your team and their experience in the market?
EITAN KATCHKA: I’ll take that as a compliment and as a question… ;)
I have introduced myself at the beginning of the AMA so you can search for that…
The founder and lead developer of B.Protocol, Yaron Velner, is the ex-CTO of Kyber Network which is one of the leading protocols in DeFi since 2017 (even before it was called DeFi…).
Yaron holds a PhD in Computer Science from the Tel Aviv University in Israel and was also one of the co-designers of the WBTC protocol.
So I think you can definitely say B.Protocol is in good and experienced hands…
LIVELY: Can you explain how is your Tokenomics Distribution? How many tokens will be minted ? And how many tokens will be locked by the team??
EITAN KATCHKA: It is all described in our Docs (docs.bprotocol.org)
But in short -
during the first 4 years since we launched (Oct 2020) 10m BPRO will be minted.
The 33% is going to the Devs. no VCs allocation were made.
1m BPRO were distributed to early users of the protocol, who used it during the first 6 months.
250k BPRO went to the first LM program that ran for 3 months.
The rest is in the hands of the DAO in the Reserve
This is taking some time to answer…
Hold on…
2 more to go…
JOHNNY METZ: I would like to know if you’ve completed any security audits? What measures have been taken to protect B.Protocol community from it?
EITAN KATCHKA: Yes.
B.Protocol was audited by Solidified both for its Maker and Compound integration.
The Liquity integration was also audited by a separate group of auditors. I can share links later but again — it is all in the Docs (docs.bprotocol.org)
LAST ONE….
MURDOCK: From where you get the project name? What does it means to you? And why did you choose this name for your project? What is your mission and vision to build this project? What do you want to achieve in the future????
EITAN KATCHKA: A good clarification is in place!
B. stands for Backstop.
So its Backstop Protocol
Some think we should have sticked with Backstop… but B.Protocol became the name. At least until we rebrand like all the big projects do… ;)
As for the vision and future plans I have shared in the AMA so you can have a look above…
Thanks everyone for an amazing AMA!!!
JAI: @Ekatch can you drop Social Media Channel Links of B.Protocol
That would be awesome!
EITAN KATCHKA:
Here is where you can find everything about B.Protocol
Website — https://www.bprotocol.org/
Discord — https://discord.com/invite/bJ4guuw
Twitter — https://twitter.com/bprotocoleth
Reddit — https://www.reddit.com/r/bprotocol/
Forum — https://forum.bprotocol.org/
Docs — https://docs.bprotocol.org/
Latest Liquity integration — https://app.bprotocol.org/liquity
JAI: Thank you for your insightful answers, @Ekatch. We highly appreciate it and this ends the last round of our AMA. 💪
Dear Community,
We will announce segment 3 winners within 4 days on our announcement channel. 🥳
Subscribe to @epnsprojectnews
EITAN KATCHKA: Thanks Jai!
Was great being here!
JAI: That’s it for our AMA guest. Let me thank @Ekatch, from the B.Protocol team for joining our chat group today and sharing insights on the project.
On behalf of the entire EPNS team and community we wish you and your team great success.
That ends the EPNS AMA with B.Protocol!
Thank you everyone for participating in this insightful AMA, we love our EPNS Fam ❤️