Decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain have come a long way in a short time, but it can still be difficult for the uninitiated to jump into the fray. Unity Network is helping to change that by bringing DeFi to the people and making it profitable for everyone. The company does that by leveraging blockchain technology to build fast decentralized applications (dApps) that anyone can use.
Unity focuses on three pillars, helping users learn, connect to the ecosystem, and grow. And it is all done through an inclusive platform that empowers users regardless of their background or technical ability. They also understand the challenges of today’s market, which includes fear and confusion as scams and misinformation crowd the space. The following questions answered by Charles Ellingsen, CEO and Founder of Unity Network, address those issues and more.
Grit Daily: Unity Network wants to bring DeFi to the people and make it available for everyone. What do you think the largest barrier is? What is the best way to solve it?
Charles: We’ve reached a point where cryptocurrency has entered the stage of public discourse, yet this discourse is rife with misinformation, cash grabs, and a harmful lack of user education.
Cryptocurrency is currently used for speculative profits and not much else, which holds back the massive potential of the field. Users do not know whom to trust.
Web3 is built to remove the “middleman” which delegates the responsibility completely over to the user. This requires the user to be adequately educated on how to handle their own funds and digital assets.
Grit Daily: What is the most important aspect to consider when making dApps for the everyday user?
Charles: Accessibility must be prioritized! While it is good to be educated on how to manage your funds and safely navigate the crypto space, it shouldn’t be hard to use basic services and applications.
The main focus of crypto should be to give everyone the possibility to securely access money and store value. Crypto enables this because it is a never-ending, 24/7 modern stock market.
The blockchain is just a layer on top of the current internet and should be treated as just that. A dApp is most effective when the user is unaware of the blockchain technology embedded as a secure hidden layer.
In general, the user experience is one of the most important factors when it comes to software development. Focusing on user-centric, easy-to-use, beautiful design will provide a better gateway for people to start embracing the utilities of decentralized applications.
Grit Daily: How have the current market conditions affected things? Are people warier about jumping into DeFi and blockchain than before?
Charles: The market is currently experiencing a crypto crash. Many people are panicking and selling their holdings, but those who are holding strong are building a solid foundation of a long-term investment. Web3 technologies have seen tremendous growth in the past few years, but they have also seen their share of storms. In the past few months, the global crypto market cap has dropped significantly. This has led to the devaluation of cryptocurrencies and has made many people sell their holdings and panic.
With the situation surrounding Terraform Labs “Luna” and their stablecoin “UST”, the Celsius situation, and especially inflation and a possible recession people tend to have other priorities right now. Which is completely understandable. Making sure one can afford the electrical bill and mortgage is more important than investing in crypto or stocks.
On the other hand, while this crypto crash is happening, the business in web3 technology is working on the development of its infrastructure. In the bear market, Unity Network is thriving and acquires time to build behind the scenes to deliver quality products which will gain extra traction when the bull market arrives. With such a current low price point, an entry point is presenting itself for many. With the innovative developing business in web3, there is a high probability of the price of the tokens increasing in the future. As Nathan Rothschild said, “the time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.”
Grit Daily: Is there any piece of misinformation that stands out as something users need to be aware of?
Charles: Bad advice and irresponsible influencers are tricky but common challenges in the industry. Anyone can pay for an article on most of the popular news outlets, and provide whatever information they see fit. This causes a challenge for the adoption of web3 and the safety of its users.
We’ve reached a point where cryptocurrency has entered the stage of public discourse, yet this discourse is rife with misinformation, cash grabs, and a harmful lack of user education.
Cryptocurrency is currently used for speculative profits and not much else, which holds back the massive potential of the field. Users do not know whom to trust.
Because the movement of crypto assets depends so much on hopes and expectations, on FUD and FOMO and on highly engaged fan communities — often full of impressionable newbies without any financial knowledge — on YouTube influencers and professional coin shillers, on airdrops and giveaways, and lastly on celebrity endorsements. We’ve seen this with Elon Musk vs. “Doge Coin”, Elon Musk & McDonalds with their “Grime Coin” and Kim Kardashian shilling cryptocurrencies on Instagram before selling her portfolio shortly after.
It may actually be more interesting to base one’s buying or selling decisions on prediction models inherently possible with prediction market apps such as the one we have designed at Unity Network, PreSaga.
Grit Daily: Verifying who to trust seems like a challenge. How is Unity Network helping with that, or what advice can you offer those looking to get involved but unsure of who to trust?
Charles: Our goal is to be the ultimate trusted source of DeFi and blockchain information.
Unity Network is solving this with NuWit, by providing verified information to the user, to enable everyone to become confident navigating the crypto space. Everything from basic web3 knowledge to how to do their own research or spot good investments!
We’re working behind the scenes to deliver a gamified experience for our users to be able to have fun and subconsciously learn in the process.
We have very strict policies for projects who wish to communicate from our educational platform. Unity Network, along with our partners, aim to provide the people with the knowledge and tools to do their own research and properly navigate the crypto space on their own, without the need of outside influence.
Grit Daily: How do you envision DeFi education bringing real-life benefits to those involved, aside from providing a better understanding of DeFi?
Charles: It’s not just understanding what DeFi means. It’s about doing what’s in our power to make sure it will become a beneficial part of people’s lives and take away the fear, uncertainty and doubt about the cryptospace and DeFi.
We believe that DeFi is truly for everyone, and we’re committed to removing the barriers between this burgeoning field and the average person so that all of us can reap the rewards of this financial revolution.
As blockchain technology rapidly becomes more integrated with our financial lives, we believe no one should be left behind.
Grit Daily: Many crypto assets depend on expectations and the communities built around them. What is the best way to invest when those highly unstable factors come into play?
Charles: By Doing Your Own research! With the correct knowledge, bad projects are easier to spot.
First, the dApps need to have a registered company behind them.
Number two, the people behind the company need to stand for their products and be official.
Number three, whitepaper, roadmap and the code needs to be publicly accessible or audited by a reputable cybersecurity auditor.
Number four, balanced token allocation.
If all the above is in order, after doing proper research you feel this company (not token) one may find it interesting to invest in said company. A big red flag is shillers, hype and “memes”.
Focus on the technology, because loneliness is something that weak companies build their community on.
Stepping into the small-cap space is filled with risks, and people need to understand that they need to act accordingly. Putting in large amounts of money because they are promised a Lamborghini within two weeks is never a serious investment. These projects are just built on “hopium”. Sure you can earn a lot of money at certain times, but you will mostly be a paycheck for someone who entered earlier, and you’ll lose money in the long run. You could even call it a bad pyramid scheme in some cases.
Grit Daily: Can you explain how a prediction market works and how PreSaga will stand out from the crowd?
Charles: Four things make up a prediction market: a question, a set of outcomes, an end date and a resolution source.
Users participate in a market by buying shares of the outcome they believe will answer the question. Once the end date is due, one and only one of the outcomes must be the answer for the question, otherwise, the market is deemed invalid. After a market ends in a valid state, all the shares of the truthful outcome will be worth exactly 1 UNT, while the other shares will be worth 0 UNT.
Users can buy or sell shares anytime they want. In order to participate in a market, one will have to provide an address with UNT in it. The price of the shares is determined by a market scoring rule, enforced by an Automated Market Maker (AMM). This means that liquidity is ensured by the AMM and that the price of an outcome share increases if users are buying more of it or decreases if users are selling more of it.
Basically, PreSaga works like an exchange. Where you buy or sell “Yes” or “No” shares of the outcome you believe will be correct. Anything can be a market on PreSaga, unlike many of the competitors. PreSaga is not limited to price action markets or sports. If you can wage bets on it, we can deliver!
Grit Daily: How important are blockchain events when attempting to stay at the forefront of what’s happening? Are these events newcomer friendly, or are they more suited to those with a strong foundation of knowledge?
Charles: Unity Network is currently focusing on leveraging blockchain technology to build a better NFT-based ticketing system that solves major pain points and challenges with traditional ticketing systems.
EveCom is an NFT-based ticketing service accessible to everyone. It enables both private and professional event organizers to create, promote and sell NFT-based tickets for any event, physical and virtual – worldwide. EveCom is built to be secure, transparent and to reduce costs.
Spencer Hulse is a news desk editor at Grit Daily News. He covers startups, affiliate, viral, and marketing news.