InvArch EduSeries 5: Supercharging Developers & Empowering Innovation With OCIF.
Welcome to the InvArch EduSeries: a series of articles introducing the significance of the InvArch network, explaining its technologies, & highlighting the dire problems it solves!
We kicked things off by describing the issues of IP rights plaguing the world today in the InvArch EduSeries 1: The IP War Zone & Innovation Graveyard We Live In. We followed up by introducing the solutions to these problems in the InvArch EduSeries 2: Blockchain’s Bright Light & A Shining Future For IP Assets. We then elaborated on how InvArch will provide a powerful new vehicle for managing & transferring IP with the InvArch EduSeries 3: Web3’s Super Highway & The Future Of Transporting IP Rights. Lastly, we explore some of the most powerful features of InvArch in the InvArch EduSeries 4: The SIPA Revolution & A New Golden Age For Innovation. Moving forward with the InvArch EduSeries 5: Supercharging Developers & Empowering Innovation With OCIF, we look at how the InvArch network will revolutionize staking & set a golden standard for on-chain funding.
A review of IP Assets on InvArch:
IP & Startup Funding: A Desert Of Innovation & Dying Ideas.
Take a look around you and what you’ll find is a world full of incredible inventions, inventions that were once nothing more than ideas. Ideas are our most powerful & natural resource; they’re the start of every innovation & solution. The great thing is that people (just like you) have great ideas every day. The problem is that those ideas rarely end up thriving & becoming something real. Revolutionary ideas to make the world a better place fade away every day and never make a difference.
Let’s review by clarifying what we mean when saying an “idea.” 💡
An idea is a thought or suggestion about a possible course of action. An idea could be the course of action for realizing an initiative or how an invention should build something. Such concepts include (but are not limited to) research intentions, application designs, and creative content.
If you’ve ever thought of plans for a new type of mobile app, gasless vehicle, clothing line, video game, or any exciting gadget, then you’ve had an idea.
While there are always (and thankfully) exceptions, most of our readers likely can’t say that their idea ever becomes a reality. Not every idea is a good idea; however, the free market can be a great & quick filter when given the ability to provide a feedback response to new inventions. While this says a lot for poorly developed or marketed innovations, it still begs one question to be answered. If the world is full of these fantastic ideas, why do most of them fail to exist?
The answer is simple. Most individuals lack the skills and resources needed to realize their intellectual property & make it real.
Idea + Resources = Possible
A lack of startup finances can be an instant killer of an idea. Without capital to purchase tools, pay for labor, or spread awareness, intellectual property (IP) doesn’t have the necessary nutrients to grow into an actual product. Even if an idea’s returns & profit generation are substantial & apparent, future capital does no good in the present.
Even though most ideas typically require just a tiny amount of funding to get kickstarted, this isn’t a readily available resource, nor is it always safe to pursue.
Another pain point can be marketing and building a community around a project. Community is a critical component of innovation. Not only is a community of users required, but they also provide the ultimate filter for innovation & product success; the greater exposure to & feedback an idea can get from the world, the better. Without awareness of something’s existence, it’s difficult for an idea to take off.
Finally, securely sharing your idea must be considered with great scrutiny. Take the classic story of Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss, who had an original idea for a social platform. They had the vision, the capital, & the access to community exposure, but they lacked the technical skills to develop their IP.
They turned to a young Mark Zuckerberg, shared their idea with him, and that was the last constructive conversation they shared with him. Zuckerberg realized their idea under his name & vision, becoming the known founder of Facebook (now Meta Platforms, Inc.). Without a secure environment to disclose & develop their idea, their IP was a fully exposed & unprotected asset.
It’s easy to have a great idea, but finding the resources that are greatly needed to bring an idea to fruition are often hard to find. There must be a better way… How about this?
An environment where individuals can store their ideas.
An environment where users have access to seek funding for their IP.
An environment where ideas can be shared with the world.
An environment where community feedback drives innovation.
An environment where immutable & transparent IP attribution can exist.
An environment where IP exposure & verified identities track exposure.
The issue is that with limited technology & infrastructure in place, such an environment is challenging to provide. However, over this time, the world has witnessed the introduction & adoption of blockchain-based solutions such as smart contracts, NFTs, & DAOs. Growing on, reinventing, & improving these technologies further are the powerful innovations realized by the InvArch network.
A key and significant component of the InvArch network is the On-Chain Innovation Funding (OCIF) protocol. The OCIF protocol fuses three different fundraising methods and implements them on-chain, trustless & transparently. These methods include:
IP Staking- for community support-based fundraising,
IP Farming- for establishing price discovery, token liquidity, & user-bases
IP Donations- for community-supported & charity-funded grant initiatives.
A secure network for funding, collaborating on, & developing IP was impossible as recently as ten years ago and challenging to provide as recent as just one year ago. With the InvArch networks On-Chain Innovation Funding for IP & the eventual launch of the OCIF Center for IP, nothing is impossible anymore & a brighter tomorrow is an inevitable future!
IP Staking: The Future Of Incentivized Development.
Let’s reevaluate what we just touched on previously:
“A lack of startup finances can be an instant killer of an idea. Without capital to purchase tools, pay for labor, or spread awareness, intellectual property (IP) doesn’t have the necessary nutrients to grow into a real product.”
Tackling this barrier & alleviating funding pain points right from the start, the InvArch network introduces a blockchain-powered IP Staking feature. IP Staking allows users to propose their intellectual property (stored as an IP Set) to the InvArch network & the world, making them available to receive community feedback & network funds.
So, how exactly does this all work? In a nutshell, it is a no-barrier entry method for sharing ideas with the world & fueling funding. It provides an immediate, immutable, & transparent platform for exposure, receiving community feedback, and then receiving funding allocations based on the feedback received.
A no-barrier entry method for sharing ideas with the world & fueling funding.
InvArch builds on democratically allocating on-chain funds & integrating the practice with the process of network staking; something first showcased through an implementation known as dApp staking by the Astar network.
Instead of individuals selecting a network Collator to stake their network tokens toward in exchange for staking rewards, this process is circumvented & replaced with the practice of instead choosing a dApp (or smart contract) to stake towards.
By staking to a dApp, users allocate their voting weight (their share of network tokens compared to others) toward that project. Finally, fees generated by the network are then proportionately reallocated towards staked dApps depending on the total weight of their votes. Interested readers can read more about dApp staking on Astar below:
InvArch takes things a bit further by unleashing these funding & essential income opportunities to all intellectual property components, creative works, & app/dApp development and making them available during the earliest possible phase of production — ideas. Individuals will have the power to expose their IP & welcome funding opportunities. Still, they will also be able to retain & achieve essential income support even after their IP is realized!
Important to note: the InvArch network is a cross-chain ecosystem consisting of the InvArch Parachain (on Polkadot) & Tinkernet (on Kusama).
- The InvArch Tinkernet will be deployed as a Parachain on the Kusama network and provide an experimental “first-to-market” environment featuring incubation acceleration, collaborative development, & testing for IP Assets & dApps. IP Stakers will be able to receive funding in the form of Tinkernet’s native token.
- The InvArch Tinkernet will have a separate treasury fund that is trustlessly self-managed & regenerating by siphoning a share of TNKR from transaction fees that incur throughout the Tinkernet.
- TNKR holders can stake their tokens to the network by selecting zero to even multiple staked IP Sets. To avoid any misleading feedback from uninformed community, individuals aren’t forced to allocate reward weights toward IP Sets;
- However, for absolutely free, any & everyone who stakes their TNKR will have the power to direct funding towards IP Sets they support.
The native token of the InvArch Tinkernet is TNKR. The TNKR token is the lifeblood fueling innovation, development, & transactions on the Tinkernet Parachain. TNKR can be used to mint IP assets, staked for high-interest yields, bonded to IPTs to establish token value, vote on governance proposals, cover transaction fees, & will eventually be available to collateralize for stablecoin minting. A minimum TNKR balance is required for a user to participate in IP Staking.
- The InvArch Parachain will be deployed on the Polkadot network and will provide, among other novel features, a secure “best-to-market” environment for community-supported & battle-tested IP Assets & dApps. IP Stakers will be able to receive funding in the form of the InvArch network’s native token, VARCH.
- Like with the Tinkernet, the InvArch Parachain will also have a separate self-managed & regenerating treasury fund.
- VARCH holders aren’t forced to stake toward an IP Set just like on the Tinkernet; however, it’s important to note that only community-approved IP Sets may be listed for IP Staking.
- Different from the Tinkernet, all staked IP Sets on the InvArch Parachain receive at least a minimal share of allocated network funds. To a slighter lesser degree, community feedback still influences the deviations of reward allocations.
- Additionally, if made available to do so, as a staked IP Set on InvArch is used by the community more & more, this too influences the deviations of reward allocations. Remember, an IP Set can be examples such as smart contracts/dApps, graphic designs & content, music beats & songs, on-chain applications & software, or even a repository of a code framework.
The native token of the InvArch Parachain is VARCH. The VARCH token is the currency of innovators. VARCH experiences the same utility cases as the TNKR token on the InvArch Tinkernet, plus additional empowerments such as powering cross-chain authentication (XCA) for IP Assets & NFTS across web3. Also, VARCH holders experience other governmental authority and elect on which realized IP Sets to onboard for IP Staking rewards.
The InvArch network’s Tinkernet will provide permanent utility & service as the square one for IP incubation & acceleration. Tinkernet will be interoperable with a flourishing ecosystem of tech-advanced Parachains and be among the chaotic few to experience the most advanced feature releases in web3 before anyone else, all while acting as the experimental testing ground of the broader InvArch system.
The InvArch Parachain on Polkadot will provide the final milestone for the evolutionary process of IP & innovation, along with the most secure, stable, & tested environment possible for realized products of IP development so that they may thrive & be utilized. Proven & developed products of staked IP Sets can graduate to the InvArch Parachain. The community can also vote to onboard first-time, yet post-beta, IP Sets.
In tandem with the InvArch Parachain being the cross-chain authentication powerhouse of web3, all of these features are provided on top of the inevitable foundation for the future of the internet: The Polkadot relay.
IP Farming & IP Donations: Revolutionary Fuel For Innovation.
While IP Farming is an exciting thing for the world to look forward to, the specific preferences behind how, when, & why funds are raised are not a “one-size-fits-all” type of deal. The particular needs of entrepreneurs & innovators are diverse & transform from case to case, which is why the design of the OCIF protocol realizes the most advanced & flexible on-chain funding features ever developed.
Jointly, there are two different pathways for funding that entrepreneurs, inventors, & scholars can use instead of IP Staking. In addition to the method of IP Staking, there are two other revolutionary staking methods available for VARCH & TNKR holders to choose from if they would prefer. These staking methods are known as IP Farming & IP Donations.
IP Farming
IP Farming brings a platform to establish liquidity, user base, & decentralized governance needs for startup endeavors by allowing controlled crowdfunding campaigns to be launched & managed entirely on-chain! IP Set Owners can define a minimum & maximum range of network tokens they would like to raise, the total percentage or rate of pegged IP Tokens they will provide in exchange & the utility of those IPTs.
To protect participants in IP Farming & help provide a litmus test for successful IP development, the InvArch network scrutinizes the process of IP Farming. A minimum number of VARCH or TNKR, defined by each network, must be raised within a minimum amount of (block) time.
Additionally, to ensure transparency, security, & immutability of agreements on the InvArch network, when the IP Tokens that are available to farm on an IP Set also decentralize the governance & control of that IP Set, a minimum percentage of those tokens, which succeeds in establishing a truly decentralized body, must be allocated for community farming rewards. This is to prevent an IP Set founder from hijacking the governance & future of an IP Set against the founding terms agreed upon by its community.
During this process, when holders of the VARCH token on InvArch (& holders of the TNKR token on the Tinkernet) go to stake their tokens to the network, they can allocate some or all of their staking rewards towards a farmable IP Set of their choosing. Users can also elect to bypass staking & directly contribute towards an IP Farming campaign.
Allocated tokens are stored on-chain in a temporary lockbox. This lockbox only opens under one of the following three conditions:
1) The IP Farming hard cap is reached in the event one was set.
2) The IP Farming time expires, and at least the soft cap was raised.
3) The IP Farming time expires, and less than the soft cap was raised.
When either the first or second condition is met, the IP Tokens being farmed are then minted & allocated towards their proper destinations, which may include the founders or legal owners of an IP Set, community members who farmed the IP Set, additional addresses clarified & defined before the farming campaign, and even on-chain treasuries that exist natively within their IP Set! Simultaneously, funds earned through IP Farming are then released to their owner(s).
Suppose the third condition is met & an IP Set fails to achieve a successful IP Farming campaign. In that case, any tokens & staking rewards allocated toward it during the campaign will be returned to the addresses from which they were originally sent. This way, individuals who farm on the network don’t lose out on their staking rewards & token contributors receive a full reimbursement without the need for a third party to enforce the prudence of these processes.
IP Donations
IP Donations are the final piece of the OCIF pie. IP Farming allows users to receive a reward or payment in the form of one fungible asset to provide a different fungible asset at a particular exchange rate. IP Staking allows users to either receive or allocate rewards at no cost to one another.
IP Donations allows users to either receive or contribute towards the funding & support of on-chain grants that are funded via on-chain donations. A pure-of-heart (and possibly tax-deductible) approach to bringing philanthropy-style funding opportunities to the entire world.
Whether it is a funding proposal to support medical research initiatives on longevity, a funding request to launch a global non-profit initiative focused on providing the most robust online center for free education, or a funding request for a child seeking materials to build their science fair project, they will all have a trustless, open, & transparent platform where they can be showcased to the world & funded by its people.
So, how does this common-good opportunity work, exactly?
We thought you’d never ask!
Projects seeking an IP Donation can freely seek them. Specific information is collected from those seeking funding this way, which are likely to require (or at least be expected by the community) proof of identity that is provided using a decentralized identity solution (e.g., KILT Protocol). This way, individual donors can perform due diligence when looking into the backgrounds & legitimacy of those seeking funding.
Projects can customize their requests, also. For example, a project could seek to attain $50,000 in funding & could request these funds for immediate use. Another project could strive to raise $30,000; $10,000 to start, and then an additional $20,000 that be released after successfully delivering on their defined milestone.
A third project could seek $100,000 throughout several milestone deliveries, with no immediately available funds. A fifth project could elect not to have a fundraising cap and instead establish a permanent channel for accepting on-chain donations.
InvArch network holders who stake their tokens, along with the options for IP Staking & IP Farming, will be able to elect to utilize the IP Donations mechanism. When staking in the IP Donations model, users can allocate some or all of their staking rewards towards an IP Set & funding request that they support. Like with IP Farming, users can also elect to bypass the staking process & provide funding directly towards an IP Set. This way, donations can be either steady or instant.
Funds can are locked for as little as approximately one day before being released to an IP Set seeking IP Donations; they could be held until a certain amount is raised & only if within a certain amount of time (like with IP Farming), or funds can be locked until a development milestone is either achieved or failed.
Depending on the terms of the funding agreement, any tokens that are locked during the time of a failed fundraising attempt or a failed milestone deliverable will be returned to their original providers unless otherwise agreed to in the fundraising agreement.
Imagine the Web3 Foundation Grant program (or any other grants program); now imagine the grants program taking place on-chain. Now imagine a decentralized Web3 Foundation Grant program run by the community with flexible funding pathways & available for any to support. Whether it’s a wave of 100,000 supporters providing $1 or a single supporter interested in providing $100,000, entrepreneurs & future innovators will have untethered access to pursue these funding solutions.
Donated funds are provided to the InvArch OCIF Center, where a charitable receipt is provided in the form of an NFT for (if applicable) tax filing purposes. If funds ever get returned during a campaign, then the NFT receipt will be appended to reflect & only reflect the accurate information. Funds provided to the InvArch OCIF Center are then transparently transferred to the proper recipient address.
These funds are delivered in full by the InvArch network, but these funds can also be tracked, allowing the InvArch Parachain & Tinkernet to provide a foundation for open-source donations. What’s the significance? Ask Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, and the wealthiest person on the planet.
This one individual is apparently primed to pour $6b towards donations. That’s a larger market cap than most cryptocurrencies. What’s holding him (and others) back from following through on these donations? Trust.
Thankfully, blockchain is the trust solution. Open-source accounting & transparent charitable contributions, & donation-derived finance tracking is just around the corner. If you can describe precisely how $6B will solve world hunger on the Twitter threads above, apparently, Elon Musk will sell Tesla stock and go for it. Whether that proves true or not, one thing is evident: If people knew how their donations were being spent, then they would be more open, supportive, & willing to back more initiatives.
An immediate problem is withholding billions of dollars, but that’s okay. The InvArch network solved it, and it’s coming to a world near you soon!
The Future With OCIF: Supercharged Possibilities For Bringing Ideas To Life.
Suppose a project is interested in building a community presence, getting feedback, & establishing enough income to steadily fuel development or cover its initial startup costs without asking individuals for their money. In that case, the IP Staking is the way.
Suppose a project is interested in building a community presence and getting feedback and needs to establish a market of users, testers, and voting members or wants to decentralize their IP by offering IP Tokens in exchange for said users contributing a stake towards the project. In that case, IP Farming is the way.
If a project & its mission isn’t necessarily focused on community building, such as research & non-profit initiatives, but believes that it requires a larger amount than IP Staking can provide within a respective timeframe & are not in a position where it makes sense to establish a market for liquidity or users, then seeking IP Donations is the way.
This versatility will allow the benefits & opportunities of the OCIF protocol to fit the needs of more users, fund more projects, & have a positive impact on more people than any other network in the world!
When you build revolutionary solutions focused on empowering individuals & making a profoundly significant positive impact on the world, new worlds become possible. This is the world of tomorrow, the future that the world deserves, and it’s still only a glimpse of the days ahead. The future will be a profoundly better place for ideas, and the IP landscape will be significantly different from how it is understood today.
This is the future powered by the InvArch network.
Looking Towards The Future & The Next InvArch EduSeries.
While the INV4 protocol provides a standard & asset structure that is just as flexible as it is robust to provide the most effective vehicle possible for IP, it’s the OCIF protocol that helps bring them to life!
On-Chain Innovation Funding can sometimes get a bit overwhelming, but the short takeaways are that the in addition to the power of the following three mechanisms, they all exist on-chain & realize a new world of startup fundraising that has the ability to positively impact the globe (no big deal 🌐):
IP Staking- for community support-based fundraising,
IP Farming- for establishing price discovery, token liquidity, & user-bases
IP Donations- for community-supported & charity-funded grant initiatives.
The OCIF protocol is more than DeFi and different from the world of SIPAnomics & IP Finance. OCIF is the foundation for powering the security of web3 while empowering all of its participants, unlike any other ecosystem. With INV4 assets, this is a utility for anyone & everyone, a future cornerstone that changes the way the world works forever.
Directly empowering individuals, helping them communicate with the world in new & meaningful ways, & unlocking more efficient methods to generate real wealth in tangible ways. The INV4 protocol combined with the OCIF protocol achieves this in new ways, and with that, success for the InvArch network is an inevitable byproduct. That’s what matters and the only thing that should matter.
There’s a lot to talk about in the next chapter in our exciting saga, the InvArch EduSeries 6: Accelerated IP Development & The Tinkernet Collaborative Proving Ground. Things are about to get a little chaotic as we explore the bleeding-edge & the future experimental proving ground for IP. The beginning of every next great innovation! 💡⚙️ 🚀
