AMA with Kyn on Discord for Listing Postponement

Welcome everyone! We will be starting our AMA in 5mins. Thank you kindly for sending in your questions. Kyn will be here to answer them shortly!

Hey guys. Thank you so much for joining the AMA. We have collected quite a few questions by the community which are all intelligent and appropriate for the decision we have made. I do want to state that pushing back our launch is not one we wanted to make, however it is one being made in the best interest of the project and its stakeholders. And we’ll go more into the reasons for it shortly.

Thanks Kyn. Are you ready for the first question?

Let’s go for it

Q1. Can you provide more details on the specific market conditions that influenced the decision to delay the listing?

The listing process for projects is a key milestone for Minterest and all stakeholders. It marks a major shift for everyone involved and should drive significant growth for the project. It’s one we take seriously, and the goal has been to conduct it in a way where our holders benefit. While product building is much more internally managed, listings and their performance are dictated by both product quality and macro conditions.

Since February 2024, we have been closely evaluating the market launches of various projects comparable to Minterest in terms of VC backing, community size, and traction. We observed a consistent decline in performance metrics, reduced market liquidity, and waning retail demand.

Our launch partners and investors expressed similar concerns. Ultimately, our decision to push back the listing was based on our internal bi-weekly reports, which showed that even the best-performing projects in May and June struggled, with 72% trading at or below their IDO prices.
For transparency, we are sharing a dataset of over 30 launches between May and June here. I am also sharing a summary of the data below highlighting performance metrics. Frankly, the data comes across as quite bleak and is not something that we can just ignore when making strategic decisions for Minterest and its stakeholders.

The point of sharing all of this is to highlight that the decisions we make are both strategic and data driven.

And in terms of sharing the news of our decision, it was first announced to the community before we informed our institutional investors. Even if disappointing our community is a priority, along with being clear about the reasons around the moves we make.

Q2: How will you determine when market conditions are favourable enough to proceed with the listing?

We monitor the performance of larger project launches with market liquidity in the 8 figures. We look for sustained positive performance, indicating that users hold their assets.

A key indicator comes from the LaunchPads themselves, as the IDOs they conduct are great signals for these performance metrics. Most IDOs include a refund clause, which allows contributors a few days after launch to determine if they’d like to keep the tokens they have received. What they have informed us is

(1) There are far fewer participants
(2) The majority of the participants prefer not to keep the tokens after listing

Moving forward our team is researching past cycles to identify key metrics that signal healthier market conditions, which we will use alongside partner data to determine the ideal launch conditions.

We are committed to a thorough review of the market and will continue engaging in active discussions with our partners to ensure the best possible outcome for Minterest and all of you who have supported us so passionately.

Q3. What indicators are you monitoring to gauge market improvements?

There are several key factors, however, outside of what has already been mentioned, we closely monitor:

• Trading Volume
• Bitcoin Dominance
• Holding patterns

One area I found interesting is delving into the current trading volume across exchanges, a metric that holds immense significance in our analysis, as it provides a real-time snapshot of market activity.

The data currently shows a significant decline in interest, with levels close to Q4 2023, as opposed to the brief run-up we saw early this year.

Q4. How does the delay affect the current contributors to the $MINTY and vesting schedules?

All existing token holders, including Seed, Private, CAE/LBP, Advisors, and Team, will remain on the same vesting schedules as announced in our April 2024 update.

Q5. Will there be any compensation or incentives for current investors due to the delay?

Our decision to delay the listing is a strategic move meant to safeguard our stakeholders from adverse market conditions that could negatively impact the value of their token holdings.

There are other incentives coming to benefit our current stakeholders, but they are independent of this decision. More on that in the coming weeks.

Q6. Why wasn’t the community informed earlier about the potential for another delay?

Simply put, we did not intend to delay the listing. Various campaigns were underway, including with our key launchpad partner, Enjinstarter.

Yes we were still monitoring data and discussing possible outcomes. However, upon receiving the latest market data number, we made the difficult decision to postpone listing. Since the LaunchPads were currently or about to launch campaigns, we needed to tell them first. Right after, we informed the community.

I get the frustration that last-minute changes can cause. And it’s not the first time we have had to communicate a change in plans close to our deliverable date, so the reaction is absolutely understandable.

Q7. Are there sufficient funds to sustain the project through this extended pre-launch period?

Yes, we have sufficient funds to sustain the project during this period. Internal operations and expenditures are well managed. We focus on our key objectives and the resourcing required to achieve those objectives. We keep it lean while ensuring it gets the job done in being able to deliver on the product in an efficient manner.

Q8. This isn’t the first time the listing has been delayed. How can we trust that a new timeline will be adhered to?

I certainly take no pleasure in making these decisions for our team and our community. It certainly isn’t great for personal health or preventing gray hair from forming lol. That said, steering the direction of Minterest is something I do take pride in, especially being able to work alongside our talented team.

Decisions like this impact everyone involved, The commitment is to avoid high-risk scenarios and ensure the long-term success of Minterest. We have prioritised transparency and will continue openly communicating our plans even if the decision is not a popular one, like this. While we cannot guarantee precise timelines, we aim to maintain consistent and honest communication.

Q9. What impact does this delay have on the overall roadmap and milestones of Minterest?

The delay does not impact the fundamental development of the Minterest protocol. Our upcoming plans are still on track and moving forward as expected. And we do have a number of cool things coming that should support the growth of TVL on Minterest, including:

• New token markets to be listed on Minterest (official announcements coming soon)
• Brand new points system launching on both Taiko and Mantle Network to allow liquidity providers to earn more
• New product features to support exotic token markets
• New chain expansion

Though I realise the challenges on the timelines around listing, I will point out that our product delivery has been largely on track. And we are going to be making continuous pushes to drive TVL growth far higher this year.

Q10. Can you provide any third-party validation or endorsement to support the decision made.

While we stand by our decisions, we have received support from our partners as I mentioned before.

For instance, Enjinstarter posted a statement on Twitter

We informed our institutional investors after the community, so they have had less time to digest the direction. However, all replies from their end have been positive and in agreement.

Again, we don’t make decisions based on who will pat us on the back. That is no way to run a project like this. However, since a community member was curious, hopefully, the answer is sufficient.

Q11. Are there any unexpected benefits of postponing the listing in terms of Minterest growth and sustainability?

Certainly. The silver lining for pushing back listing is that it allows us to focus on growing our TVL, which is critical for increasing protocol fees and driving the buyback engine.

I was looking at the numbers this week, and what is interesting is that our fee generation is 3-5x more profitable (per dollar borrowed) than the largest lending protocols in the space.
And, as mentioned in my answer to Q9, our roadmap is geared towards TVL growth, so I’m really excited to see how high the fee capture goes. This will ultimately strengthen Minterest and our community when we eventually list.

Ok Kyn, now for some of the harder questions from the community. Be warned they are challenging…

Q12. Have you considered stepping down as CEO if you can’t deliver on your promises?

That is an interesting question.

No, I have not considered this. Not once. Though listing has been a hurdle for us, the turnaround we have made on Minterest over the last 1 year (and for those who have been with us since the early days…yes it has now been 1 full year) cannot be denied either. Can we do better? Of course, we can.

Achievements wise in June alone

• ATH of $15M TVL on Mantle Network this month,
• Top 10 by TVL and Top 5 by on-chain users on Mantle Network.
• Deployment on Taiko with a respectable TVL of $250K, considering our rewards systems are still not in place.
• Social numbers increased 20% across all channels

And then there are announcements still coming.

That said, I have no ego about holding onto this position. If there is someone else who is willing to step up and can do this job better, I will step aside in a heartbeat and support them in whatever role I am best fit to do so.

At the end of the day, I want Minterest to succeed and to reach its potential as a leading lending protocol in the space, and I want all of our stakeholders to be made whole.

Until then, I plan to stick around to push Minterest forward alongside our talented team.

Q13. How do you plan to regain the community’s trust after these repeated failures?

When I view Minterest and what we have been able to do together over the last 1 year, I do not deem it a failure at all. However, the strong sentiment is understandable if we focus on the listing piece.

From a communication perspective, we are always open to improving our approach and taking community feedback into account is not something we ignore.

However, until Minterest is able to stand on its own with a structured DAO, the team will need to be entrusted to take the major calls.

Until that happens we will continue keeping our public channel environment one that is open where the community can feel free to express their honest thoughts and opinions as opposed to what it used to be like under former leadership.

Q14. Are there any internal conflicts or issues within the team contributing to these delays?

There are no conflicts at all. Our internal team is amazing! They are the real superstars of Minterest. Perhaps a bit masochistic, if I’m honest, as they willingly stuck around through our earlier transition phase, which certainly had just a wee bit of pain involved :). But, in all honesty, nothing would move without them. They all take accountability to heart and look after one another to ensure the work gets done.

Again, to be 100% clear, any forced adjustments in the roadmap have never been due to any issues with the internal team.

Q15. How do you consider this option: find a partnership with projects such as NOT coin, Blum, Hamster Combat and other projects in telegram (TON network). These projects have gathered millions of people in their channels and now they have armies for the market! The hype goes to the TON network.

Now you’re talking games… a topic also I’m passionate about.

So, yes, we certainly have considered it. And we are in touch with at least one of the names you mention here. 

However, we need to have the right kind of collaboration to make it worthwhile. 

For Minterest, TVL is the star, and we need to focus our time and energy on anything that moves that number. 

The only demographic overlap with us, and a number of these new Telegram-based gaming projects/Meme coins is one thing — we all hold crypto assets of some sort.

Certainly, we may be able to onboard more community members, but will that effort drive significant growth in TVL? The short answer from our analysis is largely unclear and unconvincing at the moment. 

With limited resources, we will focus more of our energy to other areas, as mentioned above in Q9.

Ok thanks Kyn. How about we answer the questions in the chat, there have been a few since we started?

XabXab: The point is that here is a pattern – in June 2022, you read that right – 2 years ago, you cited market conditions as a reason for last minute delay. Now you are focussing on the reason why you delay, the excuse, I would like to talk about the pattern of last minute delays please. I would like to talk about not involving the community in these decisions ever for years please. I would like to know your reasoning why we should trust you not to keep delaying like the past 2 years. Why should we trust you when you delayed so many times last minute WITHOUT transparent communications with the community? You just inform us .. you don’t care what we want, right?

2022, wow that is a long time ago indeed. A lifetime in our space. Yes, you are right; this was around the time of Terra Luna, which led to the FTX crash. It was a terrible time for everyone.

Though current market conditions are not nearly as dire as it was then, it is still relevant as per the data we have shared with the community on our official announcement. 

No excuses, XabXab, but it is the case for why we have taken this decision. 

In terms of transparent communication, we always share how we approach Minterest strategically. When making decisions that can have a major impact on the business, input is always welcome. However, outcomes are something we have to decide for now. 

Listing itself is a multimillion-dollar exercise that would directly impact the operational runway for Minterest. For that reason, final directions have to be with the team. 

That said, we are considering putting together a larger group of core community members who we would love to be involved in the broader brainstorming session. This could be an approach we can consider moving forward to improve our relationship.

ToinkToink: Hi Kyn, you keep mentioning ”investors and VC” however, there is only 15M of supply at this time. When does the real big money come in because these investors and VCs are quite insignificant so it might be better to listen to the community that is providing liquidity rather than ”investors” with small bags.

When it comes to Mantle Network, $15M TVL is quite an achievement considering the network’s overall TVL size. For growing liquidity, I laid out some of our plans in Q9 to drive TVL growth. 

That said, would love to hear the community’s ideas on where else we can drive liquidity growth from. 100%. Feel free to share

Ok everyone, thanks for joining.
That is all for today. We appreciate your questions. Have a lovely weekend.

Thank you again, community, for the time.
Feel free to ask additional questions and we’ll get back to you. We realise it’s hard for everyone… but we’ll get through this and be stronger for it.
Just keep the communication lines open and ask.

25, June 2024