Interview with Tim Ogilvie of Staked
We asked Tim‘s opinion regarding several topics such as decentralization, incentivisation, challenges and DeFi in context of our Staking Ecosystem Case Study.
Staked operates the most secure, performant, and cost-effective block production nodes for decentralized PoS protocols on behalf of institutional investors. Our multi-tier signing and listening node architecture delivers stakeholders the ideal combination of security, scalability and decentralization.
SR: How do we ensure and incentivize further decentralization within the staking ecosystem?
TO: Make it easy for people with stake to participate. It’s technically too difficult and costly to participate in staking networks.
SR: What are the biggest challenges for Proof of Stake and Staking, that we still have to overcome or may still face?
TO: There’s a ton of experimentation going on to find the right models that balance participation, security, and economic incentives. I think the entire industry will benefit once we’ve seen how these experiments play out and we can move forward with an “optimal” version of proof of stake.
SR: What do you consider to be the most important aspects to attract delegators to your staking service?
TO: We start with rock-solid infrastructure: security and uptime are the table stakes in this business. Beyond that, our clients value the breadth of assets that we cover and the streamlined reporting across those assets.
SR: Which upcoming protocol projects are you most excited about and why? Is there a protocol no-one is paying attention to but should?
TO: I am most excited about the projects that enable cross-chain communication, as I think it’s going to really open up the design space in terms of what can get build. Cosmos and Polkadot are two of the most interesting projects here. As a “sleeper” project, I think Keep has the chance to really surprise people by enabling new functionality.
SR: How can smaller Staking-as-a-Service companies differentiate themselves from large players like exchanges providing staking services (e.g. Coinbase)? Is there a danger of centralization? Binance Staking in 2019, yes or no?
TO: All of the bigger players will offer some form of staking in 2019. The real question is how quickly they will move and how comprehensive their offerings will be. For Staked, it’s pretty simple: we’re in a race to deliver enough value to customers to carve out a long term business. I wake up every day ready to run.
SR: Currently around $6 bilion is locked in Staking. Can you ballpark this value for in one year? Currently around $0.5 billion is locked in DEFI. Can you ballpark this value for in one year?
TO: If Ethereum 2.0 launches in the next year, staking numbers will explode to >$20 billion. If not, we’ll be between $10-15 billion. I’m bullish on DeFi and expect billions will get locked up.