On Friday the 6th of September, Benjamin Jorgensen, CEO, and Mateo Gold, VP of Finance, of Constellation took part in The Daily Chain and Blockfyre’s first Community AMA based in their joint Telegram.

The session lasted for 45 minutes and featured a number of wide ranging topics related to Constellation, the USAF and future plans for the project.

Below is the full transcript of the AMA:

So obviously, the latest US Airforce news was absolutely insane and unique to this space. May I ask you from your perspective: Why do you think USAF is a good move?

BJ: The USAF was an incredible move because we aren’t proposing a blockchain PoC but instead we are solving a large problem with our DLT technology. That is important, because most blockchain PoC’s fall short because they aren’t solving an existing real world problem. Data interoperability between systems is becoming a rather increasingly big problem as we still rely on dated infrastructures.

MG: I can add that this engagement leads to a clear monetization and integration beyond the contract itself while solving an actual need

BJ:I think what you also see is the Constellation has the chance to establish standards around blockchain as a tool for data exchanges and governance of data. Constellation starts separating from the pack of projects because we don’t rely on blockchain as a financial instrument.

How far along with main net are you? Will you be able to begin the roll out according to the road map?

BJ: Yes! We are still on track. A lot of big announcements will start rolling out on the week of September 16th and we will make more announcements on the 24th.

Since the USAF is a partner, does this mean that other branches of the military could also follow suit?



BJ: Absolutely! There are also a ton of agencies within the USAF and DoD. We are just getting started. And the network runs wild. I have been amazed.



MG: The different military branches use seprata on-boarding processes. However the USAF itself is a vast organization allowing for a cross pollination once they see the application range of the technology

Will security audits be conducted prior to the mainnet launch?

BJ: We are already in talks with a few organizations to help us run a security audit. We have that on the horizon.

Have you looked at talking with NGC and Lockheed since they are tight with the government?

BJ: We actually haven’t engaged with a ton of Government contractors at this stage. There is still a lot of networking within. We have direct relationships with the government. We somewhat superseed that.

How close is the team to bringing any potential partners to the public chain?

BJ: Realistically, it will be several months as we begin experimenting with application support and an onramp for streaming data and external data sets. I have some fun in store for node operators to help bridge the gap of adoption.

You guys have said in videos that there are quite a lot of conversations yourself and the team have had with various enterprises / companies. Is the tone any different now that USAF has put their trust in you guys?

BJ: The tone is somewhat different. Public entities have very different incentives from private entities. Public entities, like the government are not driven by customer demand and monetization. They are more keen to fix a security problem than a private entity. We also are taking a unique approach to building trust with enterprise – we are writing our own play book.

Will the team be at any meetups in the near future?

MG: Wyatt will be speaking at the Hyperledger Meetup in LA next week. Another DAG meetup is coming in Minnesota as well

What is the biggest intangible that separates Constellation from other projects?

BJ: I would say application support – we will be one of the only blockchains that can integrate with existing technologies and onboard external streaming data (example – twitter firehose). Application support doesn’t mean (build dApps) it means that we provide easy integration tools for developers to work in their existing stacks. This will be powerful.

MG: simply put its streaming data validation which enables all kinds of big data applications.

Is there any other crypto projects out there that catches the dag teams eye as a great company/potential partner in the future?

BJ: Quant team. Love them. Chain Link. Love them. Parity also has a similar DNA to Constellation. There are some smart groups out there that if we combined forces, it would be lethal.

I know and I believe you don’t ask them to about listing $DAG token onto their platform, but that does happen. Your opinion on this matter?

MG: Exchange practices will require and certainly entail regulatory oversight soon. As mentioned we pick our future partners with that in mind. Some exchanges like Hotbit listed us on their own account without our approval. With the Mainnet Swap most of the ERC20 based exchanges like IDEX and exchanges with questionable reputation will quite likely not be integrating with Constellation.

Are Smart contracts available on chain after the mainnet launch or at some point later?

BJ: Smart contracts are binary logic. Not really our focus – we have a partnership building that will support this.

What does “Aligned Priorities” mean? (“Applicants will be selected based on a set of criteria that best align with the trajectory of the Constellation Network.”)

Tell us in more detail how different experience and skills will be related to the choice of candidates for the first 100 foundation nodes. What are the chances of being approved. For example. What are the chances of a person with a conditionally empty profile Github, but actively participating in the project? You choose between: experience in building open-source tools and products, or contributing to research projects, or active community member “pioneer”!?

BJ: Think of the way that our reputation model works. We have been evaluating people over the last year: where are they located, how do they spread the word, will they grow with us, do they offer meaningful support, are they technical, do they get the big vision. There is a lot that goes into this. Not everyone will be technical and have a GitHub account. We want to make this experience friendly, with a balance board of governance. I think you all will be excited to see how we establish governance and balance of the network. It is so fun. We all have been having a blast rethinking this whole universe we are creating.

How much DAG is being purchased by the USAF and at what price?

BJ: Not all of their spending (specific spending) is public information (much of it is classified). That being said, we are spending time to understand the needs of the different government agencies. We would act as custodians of any purchase (if and when they decide that). What price they purchase is not really relevant as it is more about how much they will need and how it will be exchanged with data.

The 1.6b validator tokens will be payed to node operators over the next 10 years. How will you pay node operators after that? Many years from now?

BJ: One of the things we are exploring is a rev share to node operators. We are in the early days of exploring this but that is one avenue that we would like to explore. Additionally, not all transactions are free on Constellation – there are certain thresholds that will require extra throughput. Additionally, as state channels and micro-services are spun up, it will be up to the operator to decide if they charge fees and thus create a business out of their micro-service/state channel.

We are hearing a few words about talks with Honda – given the logo in there – Is it Honda Motorcycles or Automobiles? Any chance this is related to their Formula 1 partnerships with Red Bull and Toto Rosso’s racing teams?

BJ: Lol. I didn’t know about their formula racing program. Honda is a huge organization with many groups. We are working with their emerging platforms team and are zero’ing on a use case that NO ONE will think of. It is fantastic.

(In relation to the previous Honda question) Is it related to Autonomous Vehicles?

BJ: Nope. It has to do with Energy consumption.

Would it be accurate to say that meaningful transactions inside Constellation Network will require DAG as a utility, meaning free transactions would be throttled down and not functional for enterprise use unless DAG were used for throughput?

MG: Yes that’s accurate. Any meaningful data stream processing through the network will require more throughput than is granted by the rate limit thus creating throughput tied utility for DAG. In addition the data marketplace aspects allows to attach value to data which is pretty novel in the space.

BJ: That is correct. We want to make it free for someone to send payment to someone on our network in a p2p fashion. But for streaming data, DAG will be essential. More will come out during the main net ramp up in the next few months.

How will the hello kitty guy (Rehito (Ray) Hatoyama) fits into DAG’s plans?

Great question. ANNOUNCEMENT: Next week, I am interviewing Rehito (ex-Hello Kitty CEO) about his alignment in DAG, his investor vision and thesis, and how he took a company (Sanrio – Hello Kitty) from -$300M to $6Billion in 5 years.

To join the Telegram channel for future AMAs click here.

For more Constellation content on The Daily Chain see below:

BlockFyre Coin Reviews: Constellation

Constellation Tackles Big Data and Blockchain with the US Air Force

Constellation — A Fast and Scalable Solution for the Interconnected World of the Future

BlockchainBrad – Constellation Labs with CEO & CTO



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