On 26 November (Thursday) we were pleased to be joined by Mr. Lawrence Lim, Project Lead of Ramp Defi, to our very 1st AMA session at LuaSwap Telegram channel, sharing on leveraging the power of synthetic assets to empower TOMO holders with more investment options and add value to the DeFi realm.
Below is a summary of the AMA.
Host: Could you please introduce us about Ramp DeFi?
Lawrence: Sure thing! RAMP DEFI is fundamentally a staking derivatives project. What we do is to allow users on Proof of Stake chains, such as TomoChain, to collateralize their assets into a stablecoin call rUSD, while their assets are still being staked. Thereafter, rUSD can be deployed into liquidity pools to earn more yield, or be exchanged for USDT, which can be used to do trading on exchanges, or invest into new presales.
In such a scenario, users still earn staking rewards, still retain ownership of their TOMO, and is at the same time, able to mint new capital to invest into new opportunities. The staking economy is approx. USD25bn right now, based on stakingrewards.com data. So that’s USD25bn of illiquid capital locked up in staked assets that RAMP can unlock for the crypto industry.
Host: That’s interesting, so with Ramp DeFi users will be able to extract additional liquid capital without having to give up their staking rewards right?
Lawrence: Yes that’s right! Users still receive staking rewards, while using these staked assets as collateral to access liquid capital.
Q&A Section
Q: Could you please provide some info about your roadmap and how $RAMP is progressing so far? (Telegram user name @NoName_690)
Lawrence: Sure! So broadly, our first product, rStake, which controls staking rewards and wrapped token creation, will be launched in December. The minting of rUSD stablecoin and liquidity mining of rUSD/USDT will be ready in Q1 2021.
So far everything is progressing really well, and we will be launching integrations with three PoS networks for our launch. This includes TomoChain. More announcements will be shared with our community in the next 1-2 weeks!
Q: Will there be a small amount of burning when tokens are swapped? I’ve seen the graph for the broadly projected emission rate over the next 5 years but I’m wondering if there’s any counter pressure to the emissions within the tokenomics? Or is the idea that the inflation won’t be a concern because the demand for Ramp will be high enough if the project is successful in cornering mass adoption? (Telegram user name @buf10x)
Lawrence: Yes there will consistently be tokens being burned from the fees generated. The emissions in the whitepaper were written in a time where yields are extremely high. Since then, we have revised down the emissions. For example, the emissions in the current RAMP Vaults utilizes 1.3% of our total supply, spread across approximately 3 months.
At the same time, we are able to retain attractive yields for our users. Vault 1 gives yield of over 250%, and Vault 2 at 22%. You can verify it out at app.rampdefi.com. The emissions can and will be controlled to ensure strong, sustainable growth for RAMP.
Q: When users collateralize their holdings to rUSD or eUSD, their value is stored in those stablecoins, how do you generate trust in their value? Is it audited publicly? Where could we find that information? (Telegram user name @alice_wonderland12)
Lawrence: DeFi is very fast changing, and we have to constantly review and improve to make our products meaningful for users to participate. So specifically, rUSD is backed by the overcollateralization staked PoS assets. Which means that there is real value, and in event of substantial changes in asset values, liquidation can and may occur to make sure rUSD does not lose value less than 1 USD. Our smart contracts are all audited. You can check the released audits in our Github (for products that are already released such as Vaults).
So basically users holding rUSD can then borrow/exchange for fiat-equivalent stablecoins of choice (USDT/USDC/TUSD/DAI) to invest into new opportunities. Exchanging for USDT/USDC etc is one part of it, and we will also actively reach out and work with DeFi partners to get rUSD adoption in a crypto-native context, and for it to be directly deployed. For example, rUSD has real value, and can be used to buy/sell options on say, HEGIC (just as an example). So its pretty flexible on where and what it can do.
Q: Can you tell us about the motivation and benefits of investors for holding RAMP tokens in the long term? What plans do you have in place to help drive demand and scarcity of RAMP tokens? (Telegram user name @Josepysc)
Lawrence: Sure!
- Holding RAMP tokens allow you to farm RAMP tokens via our Vaults.
- At the same time, fees generated will be used to buy back and burn RAMP in the open market.
- The above can therefore create a positive economic feedback.
- RAMP holders take part in governance, and can decide the project’s direction, such as how fees can be set / distributed, how emissions can be done, and how token burning is done.
Q: The exact time when TOMO holders can collateralize their staked asset into RAMP DEFI platform to earn profits? how much % of profits holders can get?
Lawrence: TOMO holders can start depositing their TOMO into RAMP smart contracts in a couple weeks’ time. Right from here you can start to stake farm RAMP tokens. Basically, a TOMO holder who join RAMP can receive both TOMO rewards, and RAMP tokens. We utilize a 300% “stake farming multiple” to launch the TOMO/RAMP product. In summary, TOMO holders can expect higher yield with RAMP, vs just normal staking. Articles and tutorials are being prepared, and users will be guided on how this can work.
Live Q&A Section
Q: You announced voting node on IOST of Phase 1 functionality focuses on rStake - the liquid staking & cross-chain farming mechanisms. What are your expectations and what will be 2nd phase about? (Telegram user name @tolgaozek)
Lawrence: Expectations for rStake is that it will allow users to start depositing into our smart contracts, and give some measure of the assets under management in our ecosystem. Expectations for Phase 2 that manages rUSD minting is that it will be ready in Q1.
Q: If I stake tomo the tomo rewards also will act as collateral to increase my buffer ratio of being liquidated? (Telegram user name @Icewarrio)
Lawrence: The staking rewards are distributed back to the users when received, so it will not “compound” back in as collateral, unless users actively open up a new position
Q: How has RAMP DeFi managed to be attractive to investors? How does it manage to stand out among so many Blockchain projects? (Telegram user name @AyD80)
Lawrence: We are solving a problem that many of our VC investors have themselves. Many of them have investments and funds in staking programs, which if they can collateralize and extract more capital from, it can potentially increase the ROI of their deployed funds.
Q: Now have many super hackers so security, scalability, and data privacy are three aspects that are very important at enterprize level, how RAMP DEFI foundation handle these issues? (Telegram user name @jgoldner)
Lawrence: We engage security auditors, and actively work with our blockchain foundation partners to have multiple checks on the smart contracts before we release for the public.
Q: #Ramp as you move forward through your route, what is your most important next priority? Does the Ramp team have enough fundamentals (Funds, Community, ect) to achieve those milestones? ( Telegram user name @caniforne)
Lawrence: Product development, and ensuring the our users are economically incentivized with the right structures and programs that drives value for the RAMP ecosystem, are the top priorities at the moment.
Products Powering the RAMP Ecosystem
More about RAMP DEFI
Backed by world-class investors, RAMP DEFI is a global decentralized finance solution that focuses on unlocking liquid capital from staked digital assets. Using the RAMP solution, users with staked assets can continue to receive staking rewards, retain capital appreciation potential on their staked portfolio, and unlock liquid capital to invest in new opportunities at the same time.
The addressable market for staked assets today is upwards of USD25bn, and as the industry-leading solution, RAMP DEFI has a vision of unlocking USD1bn or more in “Total Value Unlocked (TVU)” for users by end 2021.
If you are interested to follow RAMP DEFI and get in touch with the project team members, you can participate and receive timely updates from the following official channels:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RampDefi
Telegram: https://t.me/rampdefiofficial
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rampdefi
Discord: https://discord.gg/WY5TU7b
Medium: https://medium.com/rampdefi