Here's a transcript of the AMA
jakethepanda Hey everyone. Let’s welcome Robbie @robertas from Mysterium.
robertas Hello everyone
techbytes Welcome
robertas thank you
jakethepanda Thanks for joining us Robbie. If you are ready let’s open it up.
I have a bunch of questions prepared from some members of the community. Others will have questions as well.
robertas sure, happy to be here and hope to answer some questions if you guys have any (maybe all is clear)
axente welcome
jakethepanda How would you, in a few simple words, describe the advantages of Mysterium to non-crypto people?
moobox waves
mallsbahoney thank you so much for all the great communication @robertas I've talked to you a little in your own slack and Mysterium's communication so far has been great.
boldninja welcome @robertas
robertas Mysterium is not about crypto, it just happens that crypto - enables what Mysterium is trying to achieve... so eventually we hope that end user will not have to have any crypto knowledge in order to participate (a bit long shot)...
So to answer the question - Mysterium will be a decentralized VPN, which we believe will bring benefits similar to ones Airbnb or Uber has brought to already existing ecosystems: - a highly competitive price - much better global coverage - variation (not everybody wants the same thing)
just to name a few
axente So what the connection between mysterium and crypto?
jarunik How much myst do I need to use your VPN ?
boldninja who do you think is your biggest competitor?
robertas This will be determined by the VPN providers, but we expect VPN prices to drop significantly. Currently VPN providers make over 100 times their actual cost, so you can imagine those margins to drop in a decentralized marketplace
geezee is a decentralized more safe than centralized VPN?
jakethepanda Are there any other projects that are similar to Mysterium? What makes Mysterium different?
mward Hello. Whats the price for token? It will be on ETH chain? You have a limited amount of tokens?
mallsbahoney Here's the big question: On BTCTalk, it was mentioned you guys were considering white listing certain sites to prevent your uses from committing illegal activities. Yet how would that work since the idea of this project is anonymity? Also, with the concept of public nodes, doesn't the people offering nodes put themselves at risk in case anyone on their network is doing naughty things?
jakethepanda Let’s let Robbie catch up
mallsbahoney sorry
jakethepanda no problem
robertas re Competitor: not sure about that, as the only thing similar to what Mysterium is trying to achieve will be Tor. But that is a very different product/solution. OFf course cannot rule out ingenuity of centralized VPN's... but on the other hand - we will be able to work with them in a relationship where we provide them with the node network, in a form of "platform as a service" - so not really a competition, but rather a partnership
yeah - don't know which one to answer
jarunik top down
mallsbahoney We're excited man
robertas Price: early stage (before 6mm soft cap) 1CHF = 1.2 MYST, after 6mm softcap: 1CHF = 1MYST (1CHF is almost the same as 1USD)
mward MYST is the token name, right?
robertas Yes
mward so 1 dolar 1 token
ok, thanks
techbytes Will you be expanding your team after ICO? I'm sure you guys will raise millions.
robertas re Node Risks: - yes whitelisted addresses and activities could be part of a solution protecting node operators. VPN at their nature send encrypted trafic from customer to Node, but then it un-encrypts at the exit node and goes out into the outer internet in pure text format (just like usual)... so the exit node basically can see what goes out (with the exception of https off course).
taking that into consideration - whitelisted activities might be a possible solution for node to protect themselves (just want to make sure that these white/black lists will be overseen not by us but by the community)
mallsbahoney that's a good answer
axente Is the VPN speed influenced by the Ethereum blockchain in anyway, since it is based on it?
robertas Team: if we are able to attract enough funds to develop the project - we will expand the team. We have some candidates in Berlin (and there is a great [Suspicious link removed]munity there) but we will be open to any candidates, as this will be a distributed project afterall
jakethepanda So there are no exit nodes in Mysterium?
axente Is the VPN speed influenced by the Ethereum blockchain in anyway, since it is based on it?
robertas re VPN speed and Ethereum And yes and no. Mysterium will be a combination of various technologies - native on the device Node and client softwares, talkint to each otehr via state channels, talking to blockchain, oracles, smart contracts. The system is designed to first take care of microtransactions between node and client softwares and then later to clear the payment via smart contract... thus the speed would not be affected
jakethepanda How high are the risks for someone to offer his bandwith as a VPN provider? Let’s say the consumer browses for WAREZ stuff through you as VPN provider. Does all this information channel through you? Or through a diversity of people? Can anybody relate this browsing history to you (the VPN provider)
robertas RE: Exit nodes in Mysterium: Yes there are , and over 800 already (launched MVP 3 weeks ago )
mward "so the exit node basically can see what goes out" but why this? it's not best that the decryption to take part when it hits the receiver?
mallsbahoney good question Jake, I'm also curious about data retention since the main selling point of top VPNs is they allegedly dont keep data
mward why the node needs to see that info? that's what a vpn is for... encrypted the whole way.
boldninja Will there be any kind of zero-log policy for VPN nodes?
dr10 What is your budgeting plan? E.g. If yoi hit 20 million. What u plan over five years etc.?
robertas re Node, risk, diversity:
In I'st phase - yes all the information will go through 1 node. so it will be visible lets say by a ISP provider. Thus we will prepare recomendations for each jurisdiction - how to protect yourselves best against any legal implications. Most likely - we will not suggest you running a node from your home
jakethepanda @mallsbahoney do you have questions on top of that answer?
robertas to continue : getting into Phase II - we will be working on a proprietary tunneling protocol, allowing people to connect via many different nodes, shredding and encrypting the traffic so that no single node has any meaningful data via them. But that's much further in the future
mallsbahoney not yet, I am processing it. Sorry for interrupting.
jakethepanda no problem
jarunik Do you have to hold MYST to operate a node?
mward and it is PoS? masternodes? and if YES, how many MYST do i have to hold to keep a master? (edited)
jakethepanda Do users need to install an App based on the Mysterium Network to use its decentralized VPN?
robertas To operate a node - you will have to have create an identity (which will cost) this will act as a buffer protecting against frauding customers (sort of like a reputation system, discouraging you to lose an identity with money in and a good history)
mallsbahoney another good question jake, I was going to ask how my 70 year old father would use this service
jakethepanda Thank @dr10 for these questions.
mward after how much time after the ICO ends do you plan to launch the system?
robertas App: well the protocol will be open, meaning that anyone will be able to write their own apps to use the network. Off course we will be building our own applications(client, node- for all operating systems .. ) , but probably there will be other apps as well, also once the platform will be opened up for others to develop apps on top of it, people will be able to integrate Mysterium into their existing apps (say a Uber app with Mysterium integrated into it, which automatically routes their users through encrypted nodes- providing them with more privacy)
jakethepanda Since the Mysterium Network is based on the Ethereum blockchain: If the Ethereum blockchain gets bloated by thousand of Dapps sometime in the future – will this influence the Speed of the VPN services provided by the Mysterium Network?
robertas Re budgeting:
We will not hit 20mm, because it's capped lower. Also to answer the development - we will start development right away, so we expect to have a V1 sometime within 6 months
mallsbahoney Do you think your project will be under government attack in the future to give up customer info and are you prepared to deal with this?
robertas re 70 year old father: They will use an app they downloaded. At first - one of the partners will create an app with Fiat payments in it, and later - once crypto is a common sense - we will all be able to pay with any crypto currency for the service
boldninja Will VPN pricing for end-users be in the same league as traditional VPN providers (eg. PiA, nordvpn, expressvpn, ... ) or will it cost more?
olejegcord joined #trading_altcoins
robertas Re government: most likely yes. Therefore we are incorporating in Zug, Swiss - as a foundation, to be regulated to be protected. Also we will act as an open source software developer, and what happens with this software is beyond our control, as well you have to take note that this eventually will be a forkable solution, so at that point it's way beyond our control (and governments)
nt91 What speeds will be obtained?
nt91 Can your VPN service be used to connect into my home network remotely
robertas nt91: Please specify this question a bit deeper (english is not my first)
nt91 Or isit purely for traffic
robertas re pricing: Existing VPN providers cost of service is about 2-3 cents/1GB of data (if averaged out all payments and usage) But they charge 3-5USD per same 1GB of data.. that is a hundredfold margin.
We believe in a decentralized network - the cost to user will be significantly lower than current
But this will be decided by the market, not us (edited)
Speeds: Incentivization will be key when reaching high speed service, and node operators will be incentivize to optimize for speed.
jakethepanda The identities that used the mysterium network get stored onto the blockchain. Isn’t there a danger to trace these identities back to the VPN user?
nt91 Sorry Robert let me elaborate, What I meant is the VPN Service is this for traffic routing or do you also provide a service which will allow me to connect to my home network remotely and safely
robertas yes there are if a VPN user is not careful and does reveal their identity in other ways, communicating it somewhere
@nt91 - current solution is being designed for traffic, but once that is developed, if it's feasible - there could be a version of the node, which is allows you to connect to your internal network (used personally or by companies/organizations)
Definitely for a bit later stage (edited)
nt91 What protocol is the VPN running?
mallsbahoney so lets say I'm a political dissonant or someone who likes to post anti-government memes in China, why should I use Mysterium over TOR? (edited)
jakethepanda So as I ( @dr10 ) understand within the Mysterium Network you can use Mysterium VPN by standard terms, announced by the Network itself or look out for specific services if you want to use a VPN provider in a certain location, special price etc and you message with the provider/consumer. So there is a standard service and a VPN marketplace, right?
robertas jakethepanda: That is correct
robertas also please let me remind you that the project is fully open source, so the community might see a value in adding additional parameters/functionality unforseen by us at the moment
pyrrhus Hi robertas, just on the cost of service of existing VPN providers vs Mysterium 2-3 cents presumably is just Direct Costs - what's the actual cost of acquiring a customer (marketing, etc.)? and what does the Mysterium budget look like in terms of customer acquisition forecast based on achieving maximum funding during the ICO?
robertas pyrrhus: We have so far spent minimum efforts in terms of marketing, and already have >950 Node operators and growing each day. Incentivization of running a node and providing VPN service is built in Mysterium Network. Thus, we believe then we have a lot of supply for Nodes, the price for VPN will become very attractive for end users and this will be one of key differentiators competing with established VPN providers in terms of customer acquisition. We haven't got full forecast yet, but will work on this going forward.
pyrrhus Thanks robertas, great result getting 950 operators up already
robertas Protocol:
For V1 we will do a due dilligence on all protocols and select the best one for given purpose, but eventually - all protocols will be added to the service, opening up a platform for ever better newer protocols to be included
jakethepanda What gives your token its value? The more people use your network?
robertas jakethepanda: In the I'st phase token value comes from it's usage, as at first it's going to be a utility token
But once we are able to transition - we will (once it is legally viable) - we will make MYST token as a revenue sharing one.
In both cases - the success of the network will determine the price
jakethepanda Do you need to catch up Robbie?
robertas re Political dissident: I would not suggest using Mysterium at least in Phase I for such purposes. In the early phase we will be building a decentralized infrastructure (decentralized: discovery mechanism, payment mechanism, identity management, state channels, etc... ) not working much on the tunneling protocol itself. So Mysterium will not be much more safe than existing centralized VPN's, and we will recommend to use it in much lighther use cases: like conneting to your gmail account from China, but not for trying to create a revolution...
Only in later stages once traffic is shredded and sent encrypted through many nodes at once - this will become a lot more secure network, but we can't go there before the stable foundation is built...
mallsbahoney thank you sir, good answer
jakethepanda There is a question about token value above.
Not sure where you are in the qeustions? (edited)
boldninja I can see this as a nice ARK codebased blockchain tho - you elect VPN nodes (delegates) that process blocks + tunnel data. Any delegate that is not doing job OK (disconnecting, not reliable, ...) can get replaced by other more trustworthy vpn.
each of this VPN nodes would be required to have a few relay VPN nodes
jakethepanda Will Mysterium ever be used for anything else besides VPN services?
robertas jakethepanda: most likely yes, because it will be an open network, and different app developers will be able to integrate encrypted tunneling into their applications
pyrrhus Are DPI tools like Sandvine an issue for VPN's and does Mysterium have any benefits over a centralised VPN provider in this area?
robertas pyrrhus: not sure what is DPI tools...
Mysterium has a benefit of decentralization, meaning that all traffic will not flow through an infrastructure belonging to one entity and thus making it much more difficult to obtain that information, compared to now (ISP - your traffic is an open book, Centralized VPN - your traffic is in one hands, easily obtainable )
pyrrhus Apologies @robertas, by DPI I meant Deep Packet Inspection. What I was wondering was if I were an ISP/Govt. could I simply block Mysterium's traffic at a protocol level so that customers/citizens couldn't use it? Will Mysterium traffic be obfuscated at protocol level using something like Obfsproxy or similar? (edited)
jakethepanda How many people on the team and do you and your team have references? Which projects were you and your team on before Mysterium?
robertas jakethepanda: we have our names and you can look up everyone via linkedin (I know not everyone has their profiles updated though, sorry )
robertas but all of the tem members, have been time tested, have lots of experience in their respective fields and have been known by me personally
nt91 Is there a website?
robertas nt91: off course -
https://mysterium.network/alexius89 GRC training is moving again.. chuu chuu
mallsbahoney
https://mysterium.network/alexius89 train+++
jakethepanda @alexius89 AMA topic. sorry
jakethepanda What are some of your marketing plans to make Mysterium more known in those circles who frequently use VPN services?
robertas jakethepanda: probably I am not the best person to talk about marketing, Augustas would be much better. WE have worked with various local partners who attract people in respective communities, I believe we will continue this trend
robertas I am much more product person
robertas First we will start with crypto community
nt91 Should the team be on the website?
robertas nt91: it is on the website
jakethepanda Which exchanges will the token be traded on after launch?
robertas jakethepanda: Bittrex and Liqui are the first ones to accept, but we are talking with others too. Also we will have a 2 week token lock period, after the sale. During this period we plan to make more deals with exchanges
mallsbahoney How long do you think it will take to reach Phase 2?
robertas mallsbahoney: we will start developing for phase II - in 1.5 - 2 years
robertas that's our estimate
alexius89 ohh sorry @jakethepanda
jakethepanda no probs
@robertas How many more questions can you take?
robertas this was intense
not much time left
1-2 questions please
have to come back to work
our token sale is in less thatn 24 h
jakethepanda Ok then we can wrap it up here.
mallsbahoney I'm done, thank you so much for your time. I'm very excited to invest and see your project blossom.
jakethepanda You guys can sign up for the Mysterium slack at
http://slack.mysterium.network with any other questions. (edited)
mallsbahoney thank you, you answered everything on my mind :smile:
robertas Thank you all, amazing questions, please don't run away - come back with them - as these questions help us understand the real needs
especially afther the token sale - please come and talk to us
jakethepanda Thanks @robertas for joining us Robbie. Good luck with crowdsale.
robertas as community involveent will form the future success or failure of this project
boldninja thank you @robertas and good luck tomorrow
robertas Thank you
pyrrhus Thanks @robertas interesting AMA and best of luck tomorrow
