In an AMA hosted by BTSE on April 13, 2023, John Cho, Head of Marketing at the Klaytn Foundation, discussed the objectives and future aspirations of Klaytn, a blockchain platform that aims to provide high-performance, low-cost, and secure infrastructure for decentralized applications (dApps).
Klaytn Introduction
Klaytn is a Layer 1 blockchain ecosystem with its own projects and developer and retail communities. Klaytn is unique in that it was founded and funded by the Kakao Group, whose super app KakaoTalk has a 98% market share in South Korea. In 2018, Kakao explored blockchain technology to expand its services globally and found that existing Layer 1s did not meet its technical specs for a seamless Web2 experience. As a result, Klaytn was created to provide scalability, performance, and user-friendly features. Klaytn’s technology and ecosystem have been streamlined over the last four years to facilitate project onboarding and developer experience.
Klaytn By The Numbers
Cho provided some key statistics that demonstrate Klaytn’s significance in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Currently, there are around 280 live services on Klaytn, and the platform is ranked 14th in terms of TVL and on-chain overall trading volumes. Klaytn processes an average of around 400,000 transactions a day and has a daily average of 50,000 to 60,000 active addresses. These figures position Klaytn as a significant player in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Performance, Stability, and Enhanced User Experiences
Cho explained that Klaytn blockchain emphasizes stability and performance, aiming to minimize the gap between traditional Web2 services and blockchain-based Web3 applications. Boasting the lowest latency among major chains, Klaytn provides an enhanced developer and user experience. Their focus on performance and stability is reflected in their Governance Council, which includes both major crypto players and traditional companies. Klaytn has implemented core features at the protocol level since 2019, such as fee delegation and private key management, which are only now being adopted by other Layer 1 solutions. By prioritizing performance, stability, and a seamless user experience, Klaytn differentiates itself from other blockchains.
Klaytn’s Value Proposition
Cho emphasized that as a Layer 1 blockchain, Klaytn provides a comprehensive set of features, functionality, and tools for developers to create user experiences that are similar to those found in traditional Web2 applications and services. Klaytn is designed to be user-oriented and is poised to become a foundational technology layer for when blockchain technology goes mainstream.
Klaytn Tokenomics
KLAY is the native token of the Klaytn ecosystem and is used for governance, network participation incentives, and as the core digital currency within the network. Klaytn has been working hard to optimize the tokenomics of KLAY by creating value for the token at the product and technology level. Klaytn has passed governance proposals such as reducing the inflation rate by 30%, and recently announced a hard fork on April 17, which will burn 50% of the total supply of KLAY. This move is aimed at reducing the ratio between circulating market cap and TVL. The remaining 2 billion of the circulating supply will also be burned over the next three years.
Klaytn’s 2023 Roadmap
Klaytn has created a strategic framework called the Mass Adoption Trifecta to guide their roadmap for the next two, three, five, and ten years. The Trifecta consists of three key strategic pillars: sustainability, usability, and accessibility. Klaytn’s vision is to become the de facto chain once blockchain technology becomes mainstream, and the Mass Adoption Trifecta framework will help them achieve this goal. Klaytn’s roadmap is not just meta-driven or trend-driven, but based on a long-term strategic vision that they have been working on for the past four years.
Cho discussed Klaytn’s vision and strategic framework for achieving mass adoption in the blockchain industry. The mass adoption trifecta includes sustainability, verifiability, and collectiveness, with goals such as creating value for the token, robust network onboarding, and transparency of on-chain transactions. To achieve this, he discussed how Klaytn is decentralizing its governance, which is currently managed and directed by the Governance Council, an entity of both traditional and crypto players.
Klaytn plans to open up membership to the Governance Council to new outside members and increase transparency by making all KLAY expenditures from the Foundation Treasury public on-chain. Klaytn also aims to involve the community in governance decisions by moving all governance boards and proposals on-chain.
The team has been continuously expanding its regional coverage since 2019, with a diverse community already established in countries like the US, Taiwan, Germany, and Russia. Africa is also a region of interest, and they have formed partnerships on the continent. At the moment, the team is working to establish a significant presence in Vietnam, one of the biggest up and coming regions. While considering expanding their reach, they plan to focus on these regions for now.
Upcoming Upgrades to Klaytn
Cho discussed several upcoming changes and upgrades for the Klaytn ecosystem aimed at creating a more sustainable token economy, increasing transparency and community involvement, and improving the overall user experience. Some of the key changes include moving governance on-chain, introducing permissionless validators into the network, upgrading the Kaikas browser extension wallet to include native swap functionality, and burning 50% of the total supply of KLAY tokens.
Additionally, Klaytn will increase maximum transaction sizes, introduce new APIs to read governance parameters, and move all ecosystem funds on-chain. The ecosystem will also introduce a Web3 social infrastructure at a protocol level and launch a native trustless bridge between service chains and the mainnet to allow for increased liquidity access. These upgrades offer new opportunities, particularly for game partners who run their own service chains.
Klaytn will also move all of its governance on-chain starting in early May. The Kaikas browser extension wallet will also be upgraded to include native swap functionality in partnership with 1inch and Swapscanner. Klaytn’s tokenomics was updated on Monday, April 17, with a 50% supply burn to establish a more sustainable token economy. Additionally, all validators were previously operated and run by the Governance Council, but this will change.
The Future of Klaytn and the Blockchain Landscape
While the technology is ready for integration, Cho said the regulatory landscape has been holding everything back. In the US, for example, there is no consolidated policy in terms of digital assets or blockchain technology. However, there has been more interest from East Asian governments and lawmakers, with Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong showing renewed interest in leveraging blockchain technology. The regulatory framework for security tokens in South Korea and Japan is a positive sign for the industry’s future.
Partnerships & Upcoming Events
Cho hinted at upcoming partnerships for Klaytn in various verticals, including gaming companies and other Layer 1 ecosystems. However, he cannot provide any details until the partnerships are finalized. He encouraged community members to keep an eye out for announcements over the next few weeks and months. He also mentioned that Klaytn is on track to meet all its milestones for the year, as outlined in its vision.
Twitter and Discord Questions
Two Approaches to Blockchain Adoption — John Cho’s Personal Take
Cho discussed the two different tracks for approaching blockchain adoption: one for existing crypto enthusiasts and another for mainstream consumers. He believes that for blockchain technology to reach mass adoption, it will need to focus on leveraging the technology as infrastructure to address inefficiencies in existing legacy infrastructure and introducing decentralized aspects to certain services. In terms of tokens, he sees them playing a role in specific ecosystems and token economies but believes that the focus should be on interoperability and collaboration between different chains and platforms.
He emphasized the importance of infrastructure as the way for blockchain technology to reach mass adoption.
Klaytn’s Focus on Stability, Developer Experience, and Long-Term Sustainability for Mass Adoption
Cho discussed the focus on performance and stability for Klaytn since its genesis in 2019, with a latency of 2.1 seconds and an uptime of 99.98%. He highlighted the importance of developer experience and the streamlined fashion in which everything needed to build on Klaytn has been provided. Cho emphasized the project’s stability, with hundreds of people working full-time on Klaytn. While exploring new technologies, Klaytn aims to stick to its strengths of providing a fast and stable chain with the best tools for developers and user-friendly features.
Prerequisites for Mainstream Adoption of Blockchain Technology.
Cho believes that in order to onboard more mainstream users to blockchain technology, product and service level changes are needed. This includes improving the user experience and design to attract more Web2 users. He points out that gaming studios with decades of experience in the legacy gaming industry are already exploring ways to implement Web3 functionality from a user experience perspective, such as providing ownership over digital items through NFTs. At the protocol and technology level, features like fee delegation offered by Klaytn can help streamline the user experience for mainstream users. However, the key to mainstream adoption ultimately lies in service and product-level improvements.
Klaytn’s Transaction Speeds
Klaytn’s current transactions per second (TPS) is around 4,000, which is double the processing capability of Visa and MasterCard’s networks. Their block time is one second, but more importantly, they have instant finality, meaning all transactions are processed instantaneously, resulting in a low latency of 2.1 seconds. They are confident in their strong performance to handle Web2 gaming or social media services.
Challenges for Klaytn
Cho discussed the challenge of creating a sustainable and cohesive ecosystem in the current market conditions. To address this, his team has added a layer to create sustainable economics and is encouraging the use of the KLAY as the token of choice within the service. This puts less burden on projects to maintain their own token value. The team has also created ecosystem funds and processes to help developers and projects secure more runway. The hope is that conditions will improve once the market returns to a bullish state.
Klaytn’s Strategy for Maintaining a Competitive Edge
When asked about how Klaytn plans to stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive, Cho explained that in terms of competitiveness, stability is a significant advantage both from a technological and organizational perspective. Staying up-to-date with the latest technology trends and regulatory landscape is crucial but is already being done by most projects. Organizational stability, especially in a volatile industry affected by market conditions, is essential, and having the backing of a large conglomerate provides added security.
If you’re interested in keeping up with Klaytn and their latest developments, be sure to follow them on social media. You can follow their official Twitter and check out their website. They also have an active community on Telegram. Stay connected and be the first to know about new updates and events from Klaytn!
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