Bill Gates and Reddit from topoprints

The titular question was posed by u/FlawedDemocracy on two popular Reddit blockchain communities: r/ethereum and r/ethtrader. The notion that the Matryx project might exist only in our dreams is both frightening and flattering. As per usual, Redditors offered up some thoughtful points on both sides of the argument. After a few days of organic discussion on the threads, we’ve decided to step up to the plate and answer the question ourselves: is the Matryx Token Sale too good to be true?:

Right off the bat, there’s one thing Reddit could agree on, and we do, too. u/MonkeyDenial’s comment:

I can tell you that this idea would solve so much of the red-tape issues I’ve encountered over the past year… let’s just say that a lot of big institutions have misaligned incentives. Getting grants becomes a goal rather than a consequence, and that is absolutely not conductive to proper science.

To critics and fans alike, the Matryx platform is an ideal solution to a persistent problem in our world. But the real caveat is whether or not it’s feasible. Such a question is inherent to any token purchaser’s due diligence. Many commenters alluded to the red tape Matryx is intended to subvert as an obstacle for the platform, itself. PhD candidate u/jarede312:

These people may very well have good intentions, but this project is absolutely not achievable in today’s world. I’m in a PhD program right now (biosciences) and the truth is that the people in charge of labs, funding institutions, universities, etc will never participate. Money is the driving force in academic science and the VAST majority of that money comes from the government via grants. Institutions control that money for lab investigators and the money is tightly regulated because, after all, it is taxpayer money. Suppose for a moment that there was indeed an investigator who wanted the community’s help in solving a particular problem. That investigator’s institution would NEVER allow for a bounty to be offered especially in a cryptocurrency format.

Red Tape from pandawhale

To be fair u/jarede312 is mostly correct. Money is the driving force behind all institutional innovation. The likelihood of funding institutions pivoting their models away from centuries of established norms to embrace a volatile new currency is, well, unlikely. This is the real rub of bootstrapping Matryx. u/jarede312 continues:

I would bet big money that the creators have no idea how much red tape government funded science has nor do they understand how difficult it would be to actually get legitimate bounties

We share u/jarede312’s frustration and skepticism- but only because we, too, are intimately familiar with said red tape. Matryx is based out of the University of California system, with our headquarters at UCSD: one of the top ten research universities in the world. Our advisory board is populated by huge names in traditional academia and “government funded science”: from Speculative Design Professor Benjamin Bratton, to Mark Thiemens, to world-renowned mathematician Ronald Graham, our team is as familiar with red tape as any in the world. That’s why we set out to create Matryx in the first place.

We know the obstacles we’re certain to face. Shifting established funding paradigms is going to be difficult, but not impossible. To circumvent the red tape, taxpayer dollars, and institutional bureaucracy, we’ve created the Matryx Affiliates Program. We’re reaching out to great minds around the world and placing bounties on coveted solutions, ourselves. Additionally, rather than expect “old world” organizations to purchase Matryx, we’ve chosen to afford them zero-risk opportunities to trial the Matryx platform, offering them moderate MTX grants and donations. There’s no sense walking through the red tape when you can just jump over it. Regardless of which subculture embraces Matryx first, whether it’s big corporate science or academia, the world will benefit tremendously. “If you can imagine all the amazing scientists in the world getting together to solve a human health problem as opposed to trying to solve it individually… [Matryx] seems to be an amazing platform,” says Geoff ODell, former VP of Global Operations at Novartis.

Other user’s expressed doubt, mostly surrounding our technology itself. u/PsBattle3:

Overall, it looks good from an ideological and funding standpoint, but it’s really too early to tell what will come of it.

This sentiment is only fair considering the technical intricacies inherent to any blockchain platform, especially one that is VR integrated. u/datbackup posted a string of critical inquiries that we’re happy to say we can answer assertively:

1) Why is it going to take them almost 2 years to actually make a product?…

Our roadmap is long, yes, because Matryx is truly a massive undertaking. This is a nuanced bounty system will take at least a year to bring to market. Furthermore, we intend to refine our platform design for years and decades to come. Understandably, VR-optimization is another point of concern…

2)…what does VR intrinsically have to do with this? … How is VR in any way essential to this very urgent goal? …

Molecular modeling in nano-pro

While many MTX purchasers and community members have used our VR STEM software, most have not. Our core goal at Matryx is to shatter the interfacial bottlenecks choking innovation in our world. We started pursuing this goal by designing VR interfaces for cognitive aid in tackling STEM problems. To learn more about our existing software and how it is integral to Matryx, check out our this blog posts.

3) Why does this need to be on the blockchain?… 4) If it’s worth running on the blockchain, why does it require its own token instead of just using Eth?

Finally, comes what is probably the most salient query of all: Why blockchain?

Matryx is designed not just to accelerate innovation, but also propagate it. We believe that “an open access society isn’t just ideal, it’s inevitable.” While a centralized platform could facilitate Matryx-like bounties, it simply cannot ensure the immutability and openness of a blockchain ecosystem. And for such an ecosystem to flourish, a medium of value exchange is a necessity: MTX.

As always, we welcome any and all critical discussion about the Matryx platform and philosophy. Our Twitter and Telegram are always active, and our team loves to engage with new people and perspectives. Say hello and let us know what you think.