1. Mainnet

1. Q: Is mainnet still on track for Q1? If not, why would the creation of the additional child chains cause a delay in the release of the mainnet if child chains can be added while the mainnet is live?

A: We are pleased to inform our community that the mainnet will be launched as schedule in March, the specific launch time will be announced soon. The reasons for the delay of the mainnet launch include: 1. Huge workload for the whole Waltonchain team to launch the child chain. 2. We postpone the mainnet launch time to ensure the security of the mainnet, this way after the mainnet launch there would be no security problems and no property loss for anyone.

2. Q: How many child chains will be launched alongside Main Net? How many other child chains are being worked on in addition?

A: Right now, one child chain is launched alongside the mainnet, and several child chains will be launched further. Many projects that would like to launch child chains on Waltonchain’s mainnet have contacted us, so there is a possibility that Waltonchain will launch several child chains together with teams that have high quality projects and mature technologies.

3. Q: How soon will a Waltonchain partner use a child chain (or the parent chain) in a production environment as part of their business operations?

A: Waltonchain attaches great importance to the selection of child chains and partners. The examination of potential child chains and partners is ongoing, and the time to release the content and data on implementation to the public depends on our child chains and partner project progress. We want to be the first one to use a child chain (or the parent chain) in the production environment combined with the Internet of Things globally.

4. Q: How will the team ensure GMN holders retain their status through the transition? If the team does not currently know the private keys of a GMN, how will the team match the new private key to the correct account?

A: The mainnet, or the wallet, will be launched by the end of March, mining support included. A mining plan for GMN will be released soon. GMN and MN can mine when the mainnet and wallet are launched. During a specific period of time, the ERC20-based wallet and mainnet-based wallet will be used in parallel: GMN and MN can all enjoy the mining rewards, and WTC tokens can still be used. But the WTC gained from mining cannot be withdrawn for a certain period of time. After the mainnet launch, we will conduct tests and collect feedback to make improvements. And the ERC20 WTC token holders will be swapped to the mainnet when the tests are finished.

5. Q: What steps is the team taking to ensure a secure and successful launch? Will some components come online gradually or will all nodes launch all at once?

A: The mainnet launch is an important step for the development of Waltonchain, and our whole team have been working on the mainnet security tests for the last few months. We will publish a detailed announcement explaining the security problems of the mainnet. In the near future, we will step by step launch the PC wallet (at the end of March), the Android wallet (at the end of April) and the iOS wallet (at the end of May). After sufficient testing, the nodes will be gradually networked, new software features will be added and client terminals will be released.

6. Q: Will the launch of the Waltonchain 2.0 wallet coincide with mainnet release? If not, when is the mainchain going to launch and allow mining?

A: Yes, the launch of the Waltonchain 2.0 wallet will coincide with the mainnet release.

2.0 Mining/Staking/Masternodes

1. Q: Will you cap the hashrate for each address? If not, how can the team prevent huge server farms from mining to one GMN address?

A: We welcome more computing power to join. The Waltonchain parent chain utilizes the PoW + PoS consensus. Therefore, the method to adjust mining difficulty relies not only on computing power, but also on equity and holding time.

2. Q: I understand it requires WTC to write to the blockchain. Does it require WTC to read items as well? Do RFID readers perform transactions every time they scan an RFID?

A: Yes, it requires WTC to read items. Moreover, RFID readers perform transactions every time when an RFID tag is scanned, but a relatively small fee is required.

3. Q: Do you anticipate any challenges scaling the Waltonchain transaction fee structure to the hundreds of millions of microtransactions that may occur on a daily basis? Does Waltonchain have any plans of pursuing a feeless structure in the future?

A: The Waltonchain transaction fee is to encourage and compensate accounting nodes. In addition to the reward mechanism such as MasterNode, we will continue trying different compensation measures in the future. We will not rely on transaction fee only.

4. Q: When Guardian Masternodes were first released, was there already a pre-decided reward pool dedicated for GMN holders? If so, what amount can we expect to be set aside for Pool A, and can you explain whether the rewards for GMNs started increasing since the creation of the reward pool, or if rewards will begin increasing upon mainnet release?

A: Yes, Waltonchain has prepared 30 million WTC for mining, and we can mine as soon as the mainnet is released. There will be a separate reward pool for GMN. With regard to the GMN and MN mining incentive plan, we will issue an announcement in the near future.

5. Q: What is your best estimate for when the airdrop rewards for node holders will be given? Is the airdrop a percentage of the coins in your wallet?

A: Recently, we have released a plan to airdrop FREC for WTC holders. We plan to release another airdrop program soon. Please stay tuned for future announcements.

6. Q: Can you estimate roughly how long each mining phase will last (CPU, GPU, ASIC)?

A: We will continue to support the use of CPUs and GPUs even after the introduction of dedicated ASICs. The speed and penetration of ASICs will determine the CPU/GPU based mining method.

7. Q: Will the community be given adequate warnings before the transition of the next mining hardware, for example will there be a month or so timeframe to prepare the transition from CPU mining to GPU, and the same for GPU to ASIC?

A: Yes.

8. Q: What prevents insiders from having unfair hardware advantages (for example, using GPUs early or getting early access to the custom ASICs)?

A: To ensure the equality, we will provide access to CPU, ASIC etc. mining to all users and the team simultaneously. We will further introduce a safer mechanism.

9. Q: What are the requirements to move from CPU to GPU mining? Do you have a number of active nodes (e.g. 10k) in mind before feeling confident to move to GPU mining? Same question for the transition from GPU to ASICs mining.

A: Our team wishes to start GPU mining as soon as possible. ASIC depends on our development progress and also the network scale. There must be a sufficient number of active nodes to avoid single user dominance.

10. Q: Could you help explain why Waltonchain needs public miners when decentralization could be achieved by companies running their own nodes?

A: Decentralization is different from distribution. Our company can realize multi-node distribution. But only with public miner participation will we decrease the centralization brought about by a certain company or organization.

11. Q: By when can we expect to know what the rewards structure is for staking?

A: Our plan for staking reward includes airdrop and mining. Please stay tuned for our coming announcement on mining reward program.

12. Q: Can non-masternode holders (regular stakers) accrue seniority?

A: Anyone can earn qualification by accumulating holding time. MasterNodes only get an additional bonus within this qualification.

13. Q: If I hold a GMN on MEW, and am concerned my MEW might be compromised is there anyway of moving my coins to a new MEW without losing my GMN status?

A: Moving to a new MEW wallet will lead to the loss the GMN status. The GMN status is based on the wallet address collected at the end of the GMN campaign.

14. Q: On the subject of PoW — in the whitepaper it was stated that it is a modified-X11 algorithm, which is an energy-efficient algorithm. Can you describe the modifications? If the modified-X11 is used for PoW, How do you plan to prevent GPU mining in the first phase? What is the PoW algorithm used in the Testnet?

A: Testnet uses a modified X11. Our improvement on X11 is mainly the improvement of the calling and calculation process of 11 different hash functions to optimize computational efficiency and improve security.

15. Q: The rest of the blockchain space is moving away from the unsustainable PoW consensus mechanism driven by ASICs, what is the justification of progressively advancing towards them?

A: We do not rely on PoW entirely, but use a mixed consensus mechanism. Promotion of ASIC is to bring into play the hardware advantages of the Waltonchain team in terms of chips and integrated circuits, and to create dedicated hardware with distributed ledger capabilities for application scenarios.

16. Q: You stated that PoS would be enough to sustain the network, so if that was the case, why would there be a need for ASICs in the first place then? Why would there be a progressive mining ladder (CPU to GPU to ASICs) and how can you guarantee that Walton or big investors are not trying to gain advantage in mining centralization through that?

A: In order to utilize our technical advantages and accumulated resources in terms of hardware, we will launch dedicated hardware. Future ASICs are not just for mining, and the Waltonchain approaches profit not just through mining.

17. Q: Will we be able to test the mining software and wallet release candidates again before main net launch? Will we get to test the final version?

A: We will test the mining software and wallet again before the mainnet launch and will finish these works in the near future.

18. Q: Can you offer any guidance for getting the most out of popular hardware in each mining phase, or miners need to determine optimal settings empirically?

A: With ever-evolving and development of the Waltonchain network, we will work together with you to find out the most optimal models and settings of mining hardware and software.