- IOTA co-founder Dominik Schiener has disclosed that the upcoming mainnet launch of the Rebased Protocol would significantly increase staking participation as just 1 IOTA would be required to join.
- He also disclosed the introduction of the IOTA Gas Station to encourage user interaction without the need for the native IOTA token.
In a recent Ask Me Anything (AMA) session featuring IOTA co-founder Dominik Schiener, the Rebased Protocol was extensively discussed, with emphasis placed on its expected impact and the specific vision driving this initiative. According to Schiener, the upgrade is expected to transform the crypto industry from the concerns of volatility and uncertainty to a highly technological ecosystem with strong fundamentals.
Speaking on the Rebased Protocol, the IOTA co-founder highlighted that the initiative is underpinned by the decision to seize control in “turbulent times” through the delivery of a production-ready ledger backed by the Move Virtual Machine.
When asked about the mainnet launch date, Schiener explained that the team is “working to get it ready as soon as possible”. He also pointed out that development is in an advanced stage as the team is finalizing security audits, working on exchange integration, and engaging with custody providers.
The IOTA Staking
Just as we discussed earlier, Schiener confirmed that the Rebased Protocol would launch with jaw-dropping staking capabilities which the Annual Percentage Yield (APY) would be fixed within 10-15%. Meanwhile, just 1 IOTA is required to stake.
Further elaborating on this, the Liquid Staking Token (LST) was said to be the standout feature which would enable members to stake without necessarily locking their assets. For clarification, the IOTA co-founder hinted that while governance voting is not part of the immediate plan, it could be considered in the future.
IOTA Gas Station
Another feature to expect in this upgrade is the Gasless initiative. According to the team, this idea would be manifested through what they call “the IOTA Gas Station.” Per the merit, this was indicated to increase participation as it eliminates the need for a native IOTA token to interact. Meanwhile, a transaction fee was recently introduced to greatly improve operations and sustain the network via this upgrade, as detailed in our last news piece.
Previous Projects
Commenting on the general achievement of the ecosystem, Schiener highlighted two main flagship projects – Twin and Realize. For context, Twin was introduced to automate customs while enabling trade finance. Interestingly, it has successfully transformed supply chain goods into Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) with digital identities.
As noted in our earlier post, IOTA has significantly transformed international trade in Kenya through the introduction of the Trade Logistics Information Pipeline (TLIP). Realize, on the other hand, exists as a tokenized investment fund where holders earn dividends and use tokens as Decentralized Finance (DeFi) collateral.
Comparing IOTA to the heavyweights in the industry, including Ethereum, Solana, and Sui, Schiener highlighted that IOTA could emerge in a better position with its maximum scalability, one network, etc., all thanks to its tangible utility and Move.
Plans After the Rebased Protocol Launch
Speaking on the post-Rebase activities, the team highlighted that there would be “many small features” through protocol versions as big updates broke the applications in the past.
For the short-term goal, the team hinted that there could be a new consensus mechanism, which would be detailed in an upcoming whitepaper. For now, 50 validators were disclosed to be expected at launch in addition to scaling to 120. Also, there would be enviable security and network stability, according to the team. For the long-term, Dominik Schiener disclosed that IOTA would be built as a digital infrastructure giant that handles millions of transactions per second.
