Dr. Anbang Ruan, Trias founder and CEO, was in @Satoshi_Club on Telegram at 14:00 UTC 25th Feb for an AMA. Here is the recap of this AMA.
Q1.Trias invented DSaaS, so how is DSaaS and SaaS different? What are the benefits of DSaaS for the TRIAS ecosystem?
The main difference between DSaaS and SaaS is, obviously, with the “D”, Decentralized. Just like the difference between DApp and App. We use the “Decentrlaized” methodology to help solving the “Trust Issues”.
The reason that we need DApps is proprobaly that we don’t genueinlely trust an App, either an App on a smart phone, or as complicated as a large distributed web App. We don’t usually know for sure whether the App will behavior as expected; whether it will process our data as instructed.
The reason that we need DSaaS is similar: for companies, they need to ensure that their business logics are implemented and executed correctly and their business data, especially, customer data, are not abused or leaked; for auditors, they need a much more efficient, effective and cost-saving methods to inspect any data-accesss violations instantaneously; for end-users they need to be sure that their interactions with the SaaS provided by a third-party is trustworthy and reliable.
Certainly, the current concept of DApp may incorporate the DSaaS’s definition. But what we would like to emphasize with this new terminology is that: we cannot build a large-scale industry-ready enterprise application with the existing techs — e.g. we cannot implement the entire SaleForce on Ethereum. We need a new tech.
Q2. Most investors simply focus on the price of the token in the short term, and not on the real value of the project. Can you tell us about the motivation and advantages of an investor in a TRIAS in the long term?
I agree that there are quite a few investors focusing on the relatively short-term gains. And yes, not all of the investors understand the real value of many great projects. But I think there is nothing to blame: because it is such a fast-moving industry. And I am even a bit grateful that: even without fully understanding, there are still many investors actively in the space! Blockchain-space is a high-tech space. It is a rocket-science. If only tech-savvy investors would invest, it wouldn’t the most fast-moving industry so far.
For Trias, we are even fortunate to have a few investors who really believe in our visions, like NGC, DHVC and Reflexion (a less well-known, but it is among the first investors). We all believe that it is essential to have a global-scale of trusted communing infrastructure to support trustworthy and reliable large-scale industry-ready enterprise applications.
From the investors’ side, building techs and products for enterprise as a start, can help us to accelerate adoptions. By building DSaaS for enterprise customers, not only can we acquire the real pain-point more quickly, but also allow us to create revenues. The verified requirements and products further help us to expand the business and tech adoption. And this is why Trias didn’t raise too much from the crypto space.
And certainly, in an even longer term, we also believe that need solid techs to build Trustworthy and Reliable Intelligent Autonomous Systems, i.e. TRIAS. The market for solving the general trust issues towards machines (software and hardware systems) is beyond imagination.
Q3：Why did TRIAS aims to create New-Generation public Chain?Recently many project also have similar target, but I do believe TRIAS have special Fiture that other Public chain project don’t Have, Can You explain the fiture?
The sort-term goal of Trias is to build Decentralized Software-as-a-Service, the (DSaaS), to root trust into large-scale industry-ready enterprise applications. We think that we cannot simply migrate every component implementing a SaaS to any single existing chain, such as Ethereum, EOS or Hyperledger Fabric.
It is mainly due to the scale and complexity of the SaaS itself. For example, different components may have different security and performance requirements. The component implementing the SaaS’s user account system or financial data system may need higher security guards to protect the user passwords, personal addresses or credit card information. It can tolerate relatively low latency. Meanwhile, storage or warehouse management systems, for example, may trade security with relatively higher performance and throughput.
More importantly, it is not feasible nor practical to migrate (rewrite or even redesign) every existing enterprise software component to the current blockchains to run their smart contracts. Substantial costs will incur, not to mention the current low latency issues of different chains.
Trias’s idea is: we don’t migrate every piece of software from the old world to the new world. We build, execute, and manage all the legacy applications in a brand new way.
Trias is designed with a three-layer architecture targeting at building and supporting a DSaaS.
- The Leviatom system builds a global-span trusted computing infrastructure which ensure the genuine executions of ANY given compiled codes. This includes all the legacy codes. This is achieved by integrating the trusted computing technologies (including the TEE/SGX) and graph computing algorithms. We build a decentralized network of nodes which will constantly attesting to each other that whether the given codes are genuinely executed. All the nodes actually forms a “social network”, which allows the gossips of whether a node is “good” or “bad” to be quickly disseminated. A misbehaving node is identified very quickly within Leviatom network.
- The Prometh system builds a traceable software building framework. It utilizes distributed ledgers to track and trace any piece of binary codes back to all the source codes and building configurations, intermediate binary object and the trustworthiness of their building environment. Prometh helps identifying the misbehavior within each piece of software. It ensures a given software will behave as expected.
- The MagCarta system is a service orchestration and management platform. It connects the “good” software built by Prometh together, and distributes them to the “good” nodes in the Leviatom network. MagCarta than chains and track the data flow through these software and nodes. Hence it creates a software service with: verifiable software components, verifiable computing resource, and verifiable data flow among them.
For example, to run an entire CRM or ERP system on blockchain, we genuine have three (extremely simplified) ways: 1. we link all the machines into a Leviatom network; 2. we recompile/rebuilt all the CRM/ERP with Prometh framework; 3. we configure and deploy the Prometh-built CRM/ERP on Leviatom network with MagCarta.
In short: as oppose to port a software as smart contracts of any kinds of chains with different specific properties (security-focused or performance-focused, etc), we build, execute, and manage all the legacy codes to make it as trustworthy and reliable as smart contracts.
Q4：Adoption is a headache challenge for every blockchain projects, especially at this sensitive period of the whole market when many blockchain projects were dead since no-one uses their blockchain. What are your team’s strategies and visions on this problem to onboard more users for Trias platform?
We solve the adoption challenge with a business-oriented approach: we firstly build and run Trias-based DSaaS solutions by ourselves, and sell them to enterprises; and then, we will open our sdk/api to developer to acquire more applications, given that our current customers might have more needs; and finally we open our mining mechanisms to acquire more computing resource, given that more applications are developed and will be deployed.
Therefore, different from most public chains’ bottom-up development route of “releasing main network”-“publishing development frameworks”-“building ecosystem applications”, Trias adopts a top-down strategy of “building MagCarta ecosystem applications”-“publishing Prometh application framework”-“releasing Leviatom main network”:
At the first stage, Trias team will deeply participate, support or incubate MagCarta ecosystem applications. At this stage, the Leviatom network and Prometh framework will adopt the super-node mechanisms, and MagCarta application service providers will carry the super-node responsibilities of Leviatom and Prometh. Specifically, the early computing devices of the Leviatom network and the software system of the Prometh framework will first be provided by MagCarta application service providers. These genesis MagCarta ecosystem applications builds-up the genesis Leviatom network and Prometh software stack.
At the second stage, with multiple MagCarta applications been built, we will release the Prometh application framework and start the Prometh mining mechanism. This will firstly attract developers to build value-added software services for the existing MagCarta applications.
At the third stage, with further prosperity of the MagCarta ecosystem, we will release the Leviatom network and start the Leviatom mining mechanism. This will help finally recruiting more computing equipment to further scale the entire network.
We believe that the top-down and demand-driven development model will effectively promote the cold-start and further development of the Trias ecosystem, especially facilitated by the strong commercialization capacity of the Trias ecosystem companies.
Q5：Why does crypto space need new generation public blockchain?What is the deficiency of the traditional blockchain system we are using right now that Trias Team trying to solve/fix ?
I think if we all believe that blockchain is the next-Internet, then apparently, it is still not as ubiquitous as the Internet. So there is always the need for new techs. And, if we want to run every single piece of software on blockchains, as smart contracts, we definitely need to solve the compatibility issue: as we discussed before: rewriting all the legacy software as smart contracts is not feasible. We need a brand new way to build, execute, and manage the legacy software. And this is the key problem, the Trias team is focusing on at the moment.
Q6. Can you tell us a little more about your strategic partnership with CertiK?
The partnership with CertiK is twofold: firstly, we will be workin very closely them with have our own codes verified, and as well as the apps in our ecosystem. This will be especially challenging for Trias’s platform, as we are targeting at building the DSaaS.
Secondly, we will be working very closely in exploring the Chinese domestic market. Currently we have quite a few big customers, ranging from the financial sectors, manufacturing industry, electricity grids, local government, commodity trading etc.Our strategic partnership can also help CertiK to get more business in China.
Q7. I read that the Trias project does face some problems and uncertainties during its innovation process. Firstly, its TEE solution to data computing and privacy problems are still in the early stages of the blockchain industry, how are you going to address this?
TEE is a relatively new tech, especially the Intel SGX. But Trias’s underlying trusted computing network (the Leviatom) is not bound to TEE/SGX, that is why we propose the idea of Heterogeneous Consensus Graph (HCG). With HCG, different trusted computing techs can be used for remote attestations (a technique used for verifying the genuinely loading sequence of applications on a computing platform).
These will include SGX, but also the TPM/TPCM or ARM Trustzone.
The idea is that: firstly we need the supports from trusted hardware to “look into” what is really going on inside the loaded software (the memory space). and secondly, we cannot lock us in a specific trusted hardware, which allows the manufacturer to become the new center (like Intel for the SGX case).
So with HCG, machines equipped with different Trusted Computing techs will attest each other, and broadcast the results to their neighbors, who further reply the broadcast.
Q8. Can you tell us the motivation and benefits for investors to hold TRY token long term? What plans do you have to help drive demand and scarcity for the token?
The current business model for Trias is: we sell Trias-enabled information systems directly, and build it as replicatable use cases; and our collaborators (the Trias Alliance Companies) can then copy and sell the system in their countries or regions, as long as they stake certain level of TRY; after they managed to sell the product, they will share a bit profit by giving back certain amount of TRY for incubating more projects, or by burning the TRY directly.
So as long as more applications are building, more usage scenarios are creating, countries and regions around the world may keep copying and distributing Trias DSaaS, more staking, burning, ecosystem investing will happen. round and round.
This is why we believe in the value of TRY.
Q9. Do you plan to create new use cases for the TRY token to increase its value? If so, what will they be targeted first? Can you tell us about the motivation and benefits for investors, to keep TRY in the long run, how are you fighting inflation?
Yes. Currently we have developed a business-oriented usage for TRY, the franchiser/franchisee model. it helps a DSaaS developer to replicate it product around the world. The second step, after we have released the Prometh framework, a model for paying software components development / testing / verifying / distributing will be developed.
And finally, with the Leviatom network, TRY will be further used for sharing computing resource, implementing remote attestation / verifications to the computing nodes, and broadcasting / routing the trustworthy information among the networks.
So basics, for our visions, TRY lives in the circulation of executing, developing and managing software services, the DSaaS.
Q10. What is your long-term vision about the industry which Trias project is working at? Are you afraid some day there will be another project with more innovative technology can replace Trias?
From my vision: Trias is the Airbnb for cloud computing. put it another way, Trias builds a decentralized trusted cloud infrastructure. This actually stems from my research since 2007, my previous academic paper can also be located from our website.
For building the Airbnb for cloud, two critical trust issues need to be solved: how to trust the host, and how to trust the guest.
Leviatom solves the first issue and Prometh solves the second, and MagCarta is actually the AppStore (the DSaaS Store) for this cloud.The reason why this directly is so intriguing to me is that: it a big big market having enormous potential. Think how many applications could been enabled because the difficulties in trusting clouds, and not to mention in difficulties in trusting machines, and regarding the continuously improvements of the tech, we agree that it is a space fully of challenges.
On one hand, we are still working very closely with the academia: we have built joint laboratories with Peking University and Tsinghua University respectively, the two top universities in China. and we are working very closely with professors from the University of Oxford.
More importantly, we need helps from the community, the talents who share the vision with us!
Q11. And financially, does DSaaS behave similar to a SaaS?
Great questions: totally different. It will run with Trias’s token model.
Q12. During the previous days I was asked a lot what has happened. Trias have a partnership or an announcement? It is related to the price spike of course 🙂 Can you share with us some reasons of the previous growth?
Yes, and thanks for the attentions! I believe it is because that we have shared a few collaborations that we have had in China. One of them is with SooChow Securities, one of the top listed securities companies in China.
Q13. You said you will open our sdk/api to developer to acquire more applications, given that our current customers might have more needs. Will it be free of charge?
It will be charged with TRY.
