In January 03, PolkaWarriors community had an interesting AMA session with Dakota Barnett - Founder and Gabriel Facco De Arruda - Cofounder to introduce InvArch Network - an IP Ownership & Authentication Protocol for Web3.

“InvArch is an IP Ownership, Utility, and Authentication protocol for web 3.0. InvArch allows users to store and protect their files forever, verifying their ownership & the authenticity of their data. InvArch allows users to combine their files into interchangeable sets, and to utilize fungible & programmable tokens pegged to those sets. InvArch extends this functionality throughout the Polkadot ecosystem, and creates the world's first cross-chain authentication protocol as a result. Fractionalizing the ownership of anything, and authenticating the originality of everything.”

Twitter Question

1. Can you tell us the motivation and benefits for investors to hold $VARCH in the long term? What plans do you have to help drive demand and scarcity for the token?

Dakota Barnett:

The $VARCH token is more than just an investment. It’s the required currency for network fees accrued through applications built using the protocol, it is a representation of voting weight over the protocol’s governance, it is used for minting & authenticating Intellectual Property Files (IPFs), and is used not just for collator staking, but also for a funding mechanism that we call IP Staking. InvArch introduces very new technologies and therefore has the potential to introduce a large & robust ecosystem of entirely new dApps. Couple this together, all of the formerly mentioned utilities plus the ecosystem potential, in addition to a finite supply of 1 billion tokens. This high demand and a capped supply forecast a natural deflationary future.

2. Can you list killer features of InvArch that make it ahead of its competitors? What is the competitive advantage your platform has that you feel most confident about?

Gabriel:

InvArch actually introduces many new features to Web3, and in many ways has no true competition at this moment in time. InvArch is the first blockchain to introduce truly composable & authenticated NFTS, which we call Intellectual Property Files, or IPFs. These files can be literally anything. JPEGs, XML, Sound files, code, even smart contracts. InvArch is the first to introduce interchangeable collections of IPFs that we call IP Sets, meaning that a file can belong to one set at one moment, and if needed, belong to an entirely different set, or have a wrapped version of an IPF present in a separate IP Set. Pegged to every IP Set are fungible and completely programmable IP Tokens.

We’re introducing all of this technology at the protocol level, which means developers have the complete freedom to determine the use cases of these tokens. They can represent fractional ownership, streamlined royalty allocations, governance weight over a project, access rights to IPFs found within an IP Set, and so much more, things we haven’t even realized yet. We’re talking about the ability to not just authenticate the originality of files across Web3 using the InvArch IP Pallet Modules, but the fractional ownership of literally anything, even nodes. We introduce two funding mechanisms for something we call ‘IP Staking.’ One method has $VARCH stakers vote on how rewards, which come from a portion of network fees, should be allocated to approved IP Sets. Another method allows users to divert some or all of their staking rewards to an IP Set in return for a yield of that IP Set’s IP Tokens. This provides a bedrock for not just providing income to developers & all participants of the creative/development process but also allows a way for projects to establish liquidity for themselves. The list of killer features is, and I’m happy to say this, very exhaustive. It’s hard to pick any one thing that brings me the most confidence. I’m bullish on all of it!

3. How can the community contribute to the progress of InvArch? Do you have a Governance model? Is there an ambassador or bug bounty or contest we can assist in so as to enable further adoption?

Dakota Barnett:

Currently our main focus regarding the community is on the InvArch Ambassador Program. We currently have nearly 700 Ambassadors at this current moment, and we’re looking to add at least another 300 Ambassadors over the course of the immediate future. Anyone can learn more or apply to join by heading over to https://invarch.io/community. Things such as bounties and challenges are being discussed, and are expected to be phased into the Ambassador program over the course of the upcoming days and weeks. A broad & detailed overview of the protocol’s governance model will be shared in the upcoming & revamped version of the InvArch whitepaper.

4. How can users stay updated with this project? Are there channels, including local communities where users can get the latest updates?

Dakota Barnett:

We prioritize communicating with our community a great deal, both through regular small-talk & tech-chats through our community Discord, Keeping everyone in the loop over our Twitter account, and even by posting regular & weekly community updates over Medium & soon to be SubSocial. Anyone interested in joining our Discord community can check us out by going to (https://discord.gg/invarch). You can find us on Twitter as https://twitter.com/InvArchNetwork, our Discord link is in our bio as well. Our Medium is invarch.medium.com, and InvArch on SubSocial, or https://app.subsocial.network/5857. We’re also on LinkedIn, Telegram (https://t.me/InvArch), YoutTube, and getting ready to formally launch a Reddit as well.

5. Could you explain why an NFT ecosystem has been developed in Substrate? why prefer it rather than being directly developed on the main Eth, polygon, or Bsc network?

Gabriel:

This is pretty straightforward to answer, although it’s important to note that InvArch is so much deeper than an NFT platform. Very much deeper. What Polkadot is to other Parachains is what InvArch is to NFTs. InvArch allows for the authentication of any file, even other NFTs on other integrated chains. Interoperability, XCM, or Cross-Chain Messages, are the key features of the Polkadot relay. These are features that InvArch will be highlighting, by showcasing the significance of this technology through the designs of our own, by verifying IP across Parachains. This is also precisely why we’re not being built as an L2 project on another L1 protocol such as Binance, and especially Ethereum. While we can bridge to them, they lack a native infrastructure that features cross-chain interoperability. Not to mention gas fees on Ethereum are the antithesis of financial inclusion and access.

6. Brief the core background history that birthed InvArch? In what ways are InvArch incentivizing users in the ecosystem?

Gabriel:

The first concept of InvArch came about over 4 years ago, and the project has evolved in tandem with blockchain technology, and specifically the Polkadot tech stack. While the first concept was focused on protecting ideas, or intellectual property, and providing utility toward them as digital assets, it’s important to note that since having a full team focused on the project that it has evolved into so much more. As a team, we’ve taken InvArch, what it is, and what it can be, to entirely new heights and have pushed the bounds of the protocol beyond what anyone initially thought to be possible. InvArch quite possibly provides a foundation for what will become THE development protocol of tomorrow. It incentivizes developers directly through our IP staking mechanism, but also content creators of all varieties. It provides security through authentication. It makes things such as incentivized open-source code a pragmatic reality for the future. Fractional ownership over all things, lowering the barrier to entry. InvArch doesn’t just incentivize its users, it empowers users in nearly every sense of the word.

7. For any crypto project, 1% of its success comes from the idea itself. 99% comes down to execution. I have seen many projects fail due to the lack of skill set & understanding of how the crypto sphere works. Does InvArch have a qualified team to reach all your goals?

Dakota Barnett:

Mind you that we try our best to remain humble and avoid any sense of arrogance; however, InvArch is surrounded by a team of proven winners. Tried & true in their roles, the team is pretty amazing. Personally, I’ve worked in both politics & the private sector both at the executive level. In the private sector, I helped to scale an e-commerce company in the face of 10x customer volume within a 3-month span, securing millions of dollars in revenue for the company & leading an international & remote team within a department I designed from the ground up. Gabriel is also a Sr. Rust Engineer for Polkadex, another ecosystem project, and a very impressive one at that. He leads development on some amazing tech and brings firsthand experience developing around the Polkadot tech stack. Kresna Sucandra, our other co-founder and Lead Substrate Developer is quite possibly the most humble and expertly informed developer I’ve known. He got the jump on learning Substrate early, nearly 2 years ago, and is a massive factor behind InvArch fulfilling a Web3 Foundation Grant for the development of 3 custom Substrate Pallets, centered around IP Tokenization & utility, in just 1 month’s time. Our final Co-founder and Head of Marketing, Mindaugas Savickas, is a priceless asset to the project. In his previous roles, he’s successfully led multiple teams, projects, and raised over $12m in funds for those he worked for & with. As far as financial performance goes, Mindaugas is as sharp and impressive as they come. Stack this with our rockstar team working on the project, and our Advisors - with notable figures such as Bruno Skvorc (RMRK, Web3 Foundation), Sonja Prstec (NEAR, Web3 Foundation), & Marvin Tong (Phala Network, Phala World) helping to guide the project.

I’m very thankful, and impressed by everyone around me that is involved in bringing InvArch to life. When it comes to the technology that we're working with and building, I'm confident that there isn't a hurdle we can't overcome

8. InvArch allows people to tokenize their intellectual property by minting their files as Intellectual Property Files (IPFs). What are the similarities and differences between IPFs and NFTs?

Gabriel:

At the surface level, not much. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to NFTs; however, we are looking to make them so much more than what they’ve more or less been used for today. The most immediate difference is that IPFs & their originality are authenticated via a cross-chain validation protocol that InvArch introduces to Polkadot. This cross-chain cross-referencing mechanism isn’t like anything seen on any other NFT platform today. It’s also important to note that we’re not looking to replace other NFT platforms. One day RMRK NFTs could hypothetically be minted as IPFs using InvArch or our IP Pallet Modules on another Parachain. In that case, then RMRK NFT creators would have security within the ecosystem from other content creators essentially copying their work, whether that be as a JPEG or as a piece of in-game content in the metaverse. IPFs can be any file type, even code & smart contracts. When you go beyond this, another big difference is that the IP Set, or collection, that an IPF belongs to is possible to be interchangeable, meaning that it can be transferred and applied to other IP Sets freely. For developers, this is incredibly powerful and streamlines composable, interoperable, and cross-utility application use-cases.

In the live questions section, InvArch team did answer several short questions from the PolkaWarriors community.

1. What use case and utilities of your token? Can I do staking for passive income benefits and what else long term holders can benefitted?

Dakota Barnett:

The VARCH token is actually very powerful, and we like to think that we take staking to the next level with InvArch.

Yes, PoS, so you can stake to an InvArch collator; however, you can also stake to an IP Set. This becomes very lucrative. You can stake your $VARCH, then choose to allocate some or all of your rewards to an IP Set. In Exchange, you can get a yield of that IP Set's IP Tokens.

With InvArch, it may well be possible to fractionalize Collator Node ownership and the rewards for running a node, extending this access to both protocol influence, security, and rewards to anyone. It's an early concept, but absolutely next level tech that can fundamentally change the game.

Whether its passive income, or startup liquidity/funding, InvArch will be a powerful resource for all.

2. I am an EXPERIENCED DEVELOPER AND ETHICAL HACKER, do you have plans for HACKATHON so as to check the security of your ecosystem periodically and also invite developers to build?

Dakota Barnett:

This is an interesting question. For the first part of it regarding security, we are planning to release our first open testnet sometime in January (probably closer to the end), that would be the perfect occasion for the more technically inclined members of the community to contribute directly to the development by helping us massively test every feature of the network.

But then there's also the last part of the question regarding inviting developers to build, for this we are planning to have what we call the InvArch Builders Program, akin to what the Substrate Builders Program is for Substrate. This program would provide incentive, provide technical support, community engagement from other project builders and also funding for selected ideas from teams wanting to build on top of the InvArch ecosystem!

3. When will your tokens be listed on the exchange and which exchanges do you plan to list on in the future?

Dakota Barnett:

The $VARCH token is a special token. We're not like most other projects. Nothing against those project's token, but this is an amazing move for InvArch. See, InvArch's native token is actually minted using the Statemint chain (when it becomes permissionless). Our token will already be interoperable throughout the entire Polkadot ecosystem as a result.

The $VARCH token is being distributed via our Ambassador program, an early community sale, through our future crowdloan, the InvArch Builders Program, and as incentive to other Parachains who integrate the InvArch IP Pallet Modules.

However, we won't be pursuing listings on a CEX until right after our mainnet launch on Polkadot. Hang tight until Spring or early Summer. You can anticipate $VARCH on Huobi, Gate, and likely KuCoin at that time, but nothing has been finalized at this time.

4. Could you share some of the achievements of the InvArch Network project in the last quarter of 2021? What are the InvArch Network first quarter targets for 2022 and will 2022 be the year of the InvArch Network?

Dakota Barnett:

Awesome question!

The last quarter of 2021 was AMAZING!!! The project is still fairly young, younger than most other projects; however, we've been on a roll!

We received a Web3 Foundation Grant for the successful development of custom Substrate Pallets that realize IP tokenization. We raised $1.75m to fuel the project. We watched our Discord grow from 16 to over 10,000 members. We launched the InvArch Ambassador Program and now have nearly 700 Ambassadors in the program. It's been insane, and amazing! Truly awesome.

Moving forward into Q1 2022 -> Testnet, PR announcements around funding, technical partnerships being announced, expanding the team, our TGE, these are the main focuses.

2022 will be the year of Web3, and InvArch is going to be front and center and not a step behind any other project. It's going to be a HUGE year

5. Is your platform global or is there any restriction to certain regions?

Dakota Barnett:

InvArch isn't an application or even an L2 chain. It is an L1 Parachain, which will be a fully decentralized protocol one day. It will be available for the world to build on and use.

Applications may feature limitations and/or restrictions; however, not the InvArch protocol.

6. The crypto industry is a fast-paced industry, how flexible is your Project to change quickly and keep pace with technology trends? What is your long-term vision for the forecasting industry in which your project operates?

Gabriel:

InvArch went through some changes since we assembled the team and started working on it, the initial plans were to have a complete layer 1 solution for intellectual property tokenization and decentralized ventures that would allow users to assemble teams, gather funding and log work directly on the blockchain, we call this concept a DEV (Decentralized Entrepreneurial Venture). However after discussing internally and hearing from our advisors we decided to go back to the drawing board, we dropped the complete layer 1 plan and switched to what I'll call a Lego set layer 1 approach. Instead of providing our use case to our users we started building up our protocol as separate modules and implemented smart contract functionality, this way we give users all the pieces to build everything that's possible with InvArch. This way we can then implement our previous DEV idea as a smart contract on our own protocol, and as a bonus advantage InvArch also becomes future proof, because having all the pieces available we are not limiting the potential of the protocol to what is presently top notch blockchain technology, but instead allowing for future use cases and technologies to be built too.

7. Question about IP Ownership. How can intellectual property tokens be divided among multiple addresses or owners?

Gabriel:

This is really cool, allow me to explain: Alice is creating a time machine, she had the idea and created the schematics, so she then minted all of them as IPFs, then Alice wants to solidify the whole idea by creating an IP Set unifying all the schematics IPFs, when she call that function the system will automatically assign a new InvArch account to the IPS, create a new fungible token asset (using pallet-assets from parity), and give Alice 100% of the newly minted token assets. This token signifies ownership, the percentage you own of it in relation to the total supply is equal to your ownership. Now let's say Alice needs funding to build her time machine and Bob comes along offering the money she needs and asks for 10% ownership of the IP. Let's say for the sake of simplicity that Alice had 100 tokens, she can then send Bob 10 of those. Now Bob owns 10% of the IP. But why are these ownership percentages represented like this you may ask? Well remember that account assigned to the IP Set? That is a multi signature account, that account is the real owner of the IP Set and it can be controlled by being called by one or multiple users who own a total of at least 51% of the ownership tokens, effectively making IP Sets DAOs that somewhat mirror a shareholders system!

Follow InvArch

Website | Twitter | Telegram | Github | DMC