AMA - 13/01/24 [1 AM UTC]

1. Who are the team members and seed investors?

Seed Investors: Investment DAOs like Alfa DAO and YAM DAO. Team Members: Nitro Cartel team members and 3 additional new members focusing on U Protocol.

2. What is the seed price?

Seed Price: $5 million FDV.

3. Why was the seed raised at a higher valuation despite preferring to start lower?

The team wasn't planning to raise seed initially but did so due to DAOs' eagerness to invest and promise of BD support.

4. What is the overlap between the U protocol and NC team? Are they the same developers?

Different developers; the NC team takes more of an advisory role.

5. When will the frontend for minting uBTC be available?

The contract has been deployed, and the frontend for minting uBTC will be available soon.

6. What assets back uBTC?

uBTC aims to be the safest decentralized BTC, backed by wstETH and BTC.b.

7. Will uBTC be integrated with partner platforms?

uBTC will be available on Velodrome, Aerodrome, and Trader Joe.

8. What will uBTC be LP'd with?

uBTC will be LP'd with wBTC, ETH, and USDC.

9. Will YOU be used to bribe on Velodrome and Aerodrome?

Yes.

10. Is Stacks EVM compatible?

Stacks is not EVM compatible; Stacks uses the Clarity programming language.

11. How is BTC price tracked in the U protocol?

BTC price is tracked using an oracle.

12. Will there be yield farming for YOU?

The focus will initially be on uBTC liquidity.

13. Is ETH still used for gas in L3s?

uBTC will be used for gas in the U protocol's Layer 3.

14. Can you explain 'U Bitcoin Thunder Network: The first BitcoinFi Layer 3, deployed on Arbitrum for advanced BitcoinFi applications'?

It's a smart contract layer for decentralized BTC (uBTC) on major chains (EVM L2s, Avalanche, Solana). uBTC can be bridged to Layer 3 for NFTs, inscriptions, and DeFi applications.

15. Why has there been poor communication from the team?

The team has been focusing on development, especially on getting the app and L3 mainnet ready. Nitro Cartel will now handle more communication while the U Protocol dev team accelerates product launch.

16. Why didn't the U protocol launch on a more popular Arbitrum native platform like Camelot?

The team has been in constant talks with the Fjord Foundry team and believes LBP is an ideal price discovery model.

17. Is the dev team vesting their passports for the airdrop?

Yes, the team did not sell passports/TROVE tokens, and their vesting will be longer than for passport holders.

18. Will U Protocol and NC websites be updated after gaining traction?

Plans for U Protocol app v2 are in place, and NC is focusing on Avax deployment of GMLP.

19. Will Trove be used as collateral for U protocol?

U Protocol is currently focused solely on BitcoinFi.

20. What are the team's plans for the U protocol?

The team is focusing on building the product and L3. They acknowledged the need for better communication and promised more active engagement on Discord.

21. Is the team pseudonymous, anonymous, or doxxed?

The team is anonymous.

22. What is the team's thesis on BTCfi?

The team aims to accelerate Bitcoin payments using low gas fees and decentralized BTC, and believes that cheaper inscriptions and NFTs can be achieved on a Layer 3.

23. What is the status of the U protocol's mainnet and features?

The protocol is currently in mainnet beta, with many features still planned to be added.

24. Is there any proof of work or contract available to view?

An audit report is available at Verilog Auditing. The deployer address was also mentioned to be shared soon.

25. What is the team's approach towards collecting funds in LBP?

The U Protocol team, being Bitcoin maximalists, has not focused on collecting funds in LBP. Instead, they have been concentrated on launching the chain and app as soon as possible. The Nitro Cartel team will step up on the business development side.

26. Why have the seed funds been moved through MEXC?

Seed funds were moved through MEXC to cover expenses related to deploying the chain and the app. This movement was necessary because different partners use different chains for payments, requiring an exchange as a bridge. Some team members, due to regional restrictions, could not use other exchanges.

27. Is there a concern about the look of moving funds through MEXC, known for being dodgy?

Concerns were raised about the optics of using MEXC, known for being dubious, and about obfuscating where the funds went, especially with multiple small transactions to avoid forced KYC. The team had to use MEXC due to regional constraints faced by some team members.

28. Will YOU have a product ready to go from day one?

The team is focusing on finishing testing as soon as possible before the LBP ends and the product is in the final stages of readiness but might not be fully ready from day one.

29. Will there be incentives or rewards to encourage people to mint uBTC?

Yes, incentives will be provided to encourage minting uBTC.