Based on recent events with the Binance DEX Listing Application and future development opportunities, the XIO Foundation will remain on the Ethereum blockchain for 2019. The remainder of this article will breakdown:

2:40 — Our experience with Binance DEX Listing Application

11:25 — Logic and reasoning behind our decision to focus on Ethereum 2.0

15:52 — What this means next for XIO Citizens and Token holders

If you want my personal views on this announcement with some commentary/insight along the way, click the video below:

Binance DEX Listing Experience

To set the context and understand the rest of the article, here is the current DEX listing process and system for approval.

It takes 500 BNB to Issue Your Tokens. This is due regardless if you apply to the DEX or not.

Once you have issued your token, you then must submit an additional 1000 BNB Deposit and write a formal in-depth Listing Proposal on the forum.

All voting for approval is done through Binance Chain “Validator Nodes”

At this time, Binance Chain network features 11 validator nodes, all of which have been pre-selected by Binance.

The Pitch

In late July, we were connected with a Binance team member during their efforts of growing the quality of projects on the DEX. While we were not actively looking to be listed on the DEX at the time the conversations started, we decided to continue with the discussions to learn more about the options.

During our meeting with the Binance Team member, we presented our vision has always been to launch ideas into the world with limited capital and offer an alternative solution to the traditional ICO money grabs.

The Confidence

Throughout the call, the Binance Rep was very positive and understanding of the information presented. After the meeting, we were immediately assigned a point of contact and private Telegram group with 3 other Binance Reps to help us on our integration journey.

The conversations and response time was very impressive. Any items or questions we had were normally answered within a few hours.

Based on the conversation and enthusiasm of our connections, we became extremely confident in our future Binance DEX listing. Over the following weeks/months, we used an extensive amount of development hours and resources building out a custom ERC20:BEP2 Bridge.

The Proposal

Two weeks ago, we formally submitted our listing application to the form and to the validators. Our point of contact mentioned this would be at max a 12-day process; as that is the timeframe in which validators could make their decision/vote.

Two days before the end of the application deadline, no validators voted. We messaged our contact about the concern and were told the validators would submit their votes before the deadline.

The deadline came and passed, and zero validators submitted any votes. By default, if no validators vote the listing proposal is denied and must be resubmitted for approval.

The Outcome

At this time, we were still very much confused about the situation. Did we make an error in our listing application? Did the validators forget to vote?

We spent the following days continuously reaching out for an explanation on the matter. After four days, we were given four reasons on why it wasn’t voted for.

More standalone product development Wait and see approach on the decentralized incubation platform idea given market conditions Token not having lockups giving pause to the validators due to concerns on supply shocks on the order book. Better outlook on project funds to support the team given the current market cycle.

If you would like my personal challenges/disagreements with these reasons, you can get my commentary in the video at the beginning of the article.

The Takeaways

Judging from the reasoning and responses above to our listing application, there seems to be a very clear disconnect in how Binance views the viable paths to innovation and how XIO views it.

Responses #2 and #4 reference a lack of “project funds” and “market conditions” as weaknesses to XIO.

While XIO could have gone down the traditional paths of ICO or IEO, we intentionally and strategically chose not to. Our lack of funds during the bear market is a strength to our model and only goes to solidify just how much we believe in the decentralized incubation model.

XIO is built on the belief you don’t need mass amounts of upfront capital to succeed.

XIO is built on the vision to support startups, even if they aren’t able to raise a $5M ICO.

XIO is built on the vision of consistent, transparent, and aligned economic incentives; regardless of market conditions.

Although we are open to resubmitting an application in 2020, we do not believe Binance DEX is the option for XIO at this time. For all the reasons and more, we will move forward with Ethereum to retain the core foundational values and vision of an alternative and decentralized crowdfunding system.

Sometimes a nice punch in the mouth of doubt is a good thing. We have never been more motivated to show the world how it’s done.

The Response

The item we are most disappointed with this experience has been the amount of lost time in development, unclear expectations of the listing process, and any lost trust with you, the Citizens.

Through this experience, it has become more and more clear just how important true decentralization is to the world in creating equal opportunities for startups.

While this has been a frustrating process at times, it has given us time and space to reflect on our vision and align the proper path (and blockchain) to achieve it.

In Valitik We Trust

Hello, Ethereum 2.0

The concept of a “best” blockchain is not a binary or objective discussion. There are trade-offs and advantages/disadvantages with every chain we were to choose from.

During our previous article, we mentioned the three main benefits of using Binance Chain: Cost + Speed + Liquidity

While we still believe these items are currently true, many thought leaders believe the much-anticipated launch of Ethereum 2.0 in early 2020 will provide these same benefits (Cost + Speed + Liquidity) while retaining the original decentralized nature of ETH.

Cost + Speed

As XIO is focused on distribution, cost and speed have been front of mind in everything we do. As our development roadmap gains most of its extensive development in 2020 and beyond, this sets up nicely with that of ETH 2.0.

Ethereum 2.0 is meant to help Ethereum scale, and it has two major goals:

Introduce a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, which will eliminate the need for expensive proof-of-work mining. Introduce sharding, which will improve the speed and throughput of ETH transactions.

Liquidity

While we are still excited to watch how large the Binance DEX becomes over 2020 and are open to resubmitting an application, there has been a steady decline of trading volume over the last 3 months and is not the to the level that we anticipated it would be when we began discussion back in July.

Using the Normalized Volume from CoinGecko (more accurate representation of true volume) there are currently 58 alternative exchanges with more volume than Binance DEX at this time that are now open to integration.

If this trend continues, we feel Ethereum provides much more opportunity and fewer restrictions for liquidity in the immediate future. With this, we are committing to a strong effort on getting XIO into high-quality exchanges (more on this strategy below).

Ecosystem

In addition to diversifying our liquidity options, Ethereum is by far the most mature ecosystem with 4x more developers than any other crypto ecosystem and continued exponential growth even through the bear market.

Unique ETH Address Growth

As our vision has evolved since early July from a static and centralized incubator to a dynamically changing and decentralized organization, a powerful and supportive ecosystem is very much needed to expand XIO.

Ethereum Developer Growth

One item we have gained the most clarity and commitment towards in the last month is turning XIO into an interest/lending token.

In simple terms, XIO cannot be a 100% decentralized incubator without the option to earn interest on the token. This moves our incentive and governance model from an external circuit (interest is paid by the foundation) to an internal circuit (interest is paid by borrowers).

Since the current DeFi options (Compound Finance, Dharma, etc) sit natively on Ethereum, we estimate remaining on the Ethereum Blockchain could expedite our development roadmap by 6–12 months and allow us to recruit developers at a faster pace.

compound.finance

What is Next for XIO

XIO is moving full speed ahead with the vision of launching ideas into the decentralized world; with a greater emphasis on the “decentralization” part. Here is a quick rundown of what to look out for and get excited about.

XIO Bridge Conversion Opens November 1st: There will still be an XIO Bridge Conversion, but it will be an ERC20:ERC20 Swap instead of the original ERC20:BEP2 Swap XIO Focus on High-Quality Exchanges: XIO will explore high-quality exchange listing opportunities that fit our goals and needs. Specific exchanges identified below. XIO Startups Revealed November 15th: The first XIO Incubator Startups are to be announced in November and voted on by YOU, the Citizens!

Continue reading below for insight on each of these items.

XIO Bridge Conversion Opens November 1st

Although we are not converting tokens to BEP2, there will still be a Bridge and swap you must use to receive the official XIO Tokens.

The main reason for this requirement is so we can get rid of inactive or dead wallets. When we officially did the XIO Drop to BOMB holders, we dropped them to everyone. With this, we don’t have an accurate count of our true circulating tokens for XIO. The Bridge will guarantee the only people with XIO are active holders.

The XIO Bridge will be published and opened on November 1st, with clear instructions on how to perform it. As always, you cannot send/swap tokens from an exchange.

The Bridge will be officially closed on December 15th.

XIO Focus on High-Quality Exchanges

The original stance of XIO, through its architecture, was that exchanges were not needed for the Network to succeed.

However, since the introduction of 10% Interest (APR) for incubated companies, liquidity has become a necessity for the health of the Network and for our startups to succeed.

For this reason, the XIO Foundation has chosen five of (what we believe to be) the most reputable/strategic exchanges that would help build liquidity.

Kucoin

Bittrex

DDEX

Switcheo

IDEX

If you have any thoughts or suggestions, we would be happy to discuss strategic liquidity options in our telegram.

XIO Startups Revealed November 15th

Last but not least, the much-anticipated reveal of our first two incubated startups will be revealed on November 15th.

With over 50 applicants, we have narrowed the pack down to five options, and two of these options will be revealed and open to voting.

Voting is based on the amount of XIO staked into the project during a certain time-frame. The current timeline for voting is November 15-December 1st.

These dates are subject to change. The remaining options will be revealed in the months/years to follow!

We could not be more excited about this and take the first major leap in bringing our work to reality.

Conclusion

If you have read this far, you’re exactly the type of Citizen we appreciate and want to acknowledge. Thank you for your continued support during all the obstacles/opportunities we face.

This is just the beginning for XIO. Let’s launch some startups 🚀