Tell us about your Company (Geode Finance) Who are you and what is your specific role in the organization?
Hi, I am Pacific from the Geode Team. I handle mostly the off-chain calculation, oracle, and technical writing stuff. At that point in time, I am writing the documentation for the contracts. However the role definitions on the development side are pretty fluid, we all have our main roles, but everyone has a part in everything to some degree. To mention briefly about Geode (we will discuss more in detail in coming questions), unlike all the vanilla staking solutions that exist in the DeFi ecosystem, Geode is an
ecosystem (in our terms “Universe”) that brings stakers and protocols together to create a more trustless and more decentralized solution to the Proof-of-Stake DeFi ecosystem.
What was your journey like to get where you are?
I have a background in computer science and economics. In 2017 I was introduced to the blockchain ecosystem by my personal interests in both of these areas. I was fascinated by the technology by then, and still, it gives me chills whenever a new technological advancement takes place in the ecosystem. Through my journey in blockchain, I have been motivated by the revolutionary aspect of blockchain. I have been thinking, “I need to be a part of this revolution”. And since then, I have been following every little development in the blockchain area. In computer science back then my main focus areas were machine learning and data science until I met the blockchain. Then my focus shifted nearly 100% to the blockchain. Since I have a background in Computer Science and I am that engaged with the blockchain, it was hard for me not to get hands-on with the development part, so here we are, building great things with this great team.
What is your company doing in the crypto space and what value do they bring to the DeFi ecosystem?
You may have noticed that Bitcoin has several mining pools that have huge hash rates, which can be harmful to the “Decentralization”. The same kind of de-decentralization is happening in staking operations in ETH2 and the other Proof-of-Stake blockchains. You need to hand out your funds to a mandatory third party which you must have to trust since there are no other viable choices. One of the core values of Geode is to eliminate this mandatory trust from the staking process by providing the stakers, with as many options as possible. Geode Finance is a universe that disrupts the vanilla staking solutions on the blockchain ecosystem. Handing out the control of the withdrawal key to a single entity is kind of scary and includes lots of risks. “Not your keys, not your coins”. So the staker does not have to trust Geode, we do not engage with their funds, Geode literally has zero access to anyone’s staked funds.
The twist here is, that the stakers no longer have to stick with a single entity to control their staked funds, they can choose who controls their funds from a variety of protocols and can distribute any possible risk according to their personal preferences. Also, anyone can change their representative (the address that holds the funds for staking) with a simple transaction. So the solution brought by Geode is maybe not to eliminate the trust involved in the staking process, but to minimize it as much as possible. The second value is the advantages of liquid staking. If you are a DeFi protocol that wants to engage with Geode, you can easily provide a liquid staking solution to your users. We already handled the painful process with
the development, so any protocol can easily be a part of the Geode Universe, with a few simple steps. For the regular stakers, liquid staking is like an inevitable option to choose since most of the blockchains have 5-10% APR for the staking rewards. In an ecosystem like DeFi, it is a secure APR, but for most regular investors it is not enough and they are locked for an amount of time. So Geode enables you to choose between different protocols to stake with utilizing dynamic withdrawals while having liquidity on your funds. That way you are not limited by the locking period.
What about cryptocurrency and the blockchain are you most excited about in the future?
As I have mentioned, I have been following every little advancement in the blockchain ecosystem, however, it is really a fast-paced one. 3-4 years ago, one could hardly imagine today’s advancements. So it would be sincere to say that I am following every little advancement with excitement and joy. But if you are asking for a specific answer, for the near future it is Geode.
Why should the average person be paying attention to cryptocurrencies and the blockchain?
I believe we are still in the early stages of the blockchain revolution. In 10-15 years, we would be in a place where no one can imagine, in terms of technological development and user adaptation. Also understanding and using blockchain technology needs a little bit of time invested and technical background to some degree. However, if an average person wants to be an early adopter and gets really
excited about the technology of the future, the internet is full of great content to learn from. Anyone can interact with the technology by simply investing a little bit of their time. So, if the average person wants to be a part of this revolution and they have at least a curiosity, the blockchain community is always welcoming them.
Why should current DeFi investors/users pay attention to what your company is doing?
Long story short, Geode, at that point in time, is serving mainly two different parties in the ecosystem. Regular investors & stakers, and protocols & validators. In Geode there are benefits for all of these parties. For the stakers, multiple choices of protocols to stake with, and liquid staking options with dynamic withdrawals (they can unstake whenever they want). For the protocols, we enable easy liquid staking solutions for them to use and provide to their users. So they can present this opportunity to their
users with easy steps, all while earning yield on treasury assets that previously sat dormant.
What is your long-term vision and where do you see Geode Finance in the coming years?
In Geode we really care about the philosophy of the blockchain. So decentralization and permissionless nature are musts. Accordingly, the long-term vision of Geode is to bring Fully-Decentralized-Operational-State to the process. You can see it on our road map. What it basically means, Geode is becoming an interface between every party in the staking process. Stakers, protocols, oracles, and validators can simply engage with Geode in a permissionless manner. This whole process of Fully-Decentralized Operation-State can bring a more decentralized staking solution to PoS blockchains. This would be the last destination of the Geode.
