While the concept of the democratic decentralized autonomous organization (DDAO) has been deployed in several projects, this hadn’t occurred until the emergence of vEmpire.
As the world moves in the direction of Metaverses, we still see the imprimatur of big tech all over the budding space.
DDAOs such as vEmpire however, can change all of that and then some.
We reached out to Dom Ryder who is the CEO at vEmpire on how exactly Metaverses should work. Here is what he had to say.
Dom Ryder CEO at vEmpire
E-Crypto News:
What is the general premise behind Metaverse tokens and protocols?
Dom Ryder, CEO of vEmpire: In most Metaverses they are essentially treated as the virtual world currency. You use them to purchase items, play games and more dependent on the Metaverse you are in.
This varies widely from protocol to protocol however with some such as Axie Infinity having separate tokens for both governance & breeding of Axies, with SLP used to reward players.
Related:7 Things Your Boss Expects You to Know About Metaverse
E-Crypto News:
How did vEmpire become a part of the ShibaSwap platform?
Ryder: So I was contacted by, what I thought was a member of vEmpire’s community at the time, who happened to be fairly interconnected within Shiba and close with some of the main, yet anonymous faces behind the protocol.
I would recommend those reading who see Shiba Inu as just another memecoin to read the article “I am Ryoshi ” published on 29th May in order to gain context as to why our protocols are in fact a very natural fit.
Shiba is building a new decentralised financial system, complete with it’s own blockchain, stable coins & of course ShibaSwap DEX (decentralised exchange).
Where and how vEmpire DDAO comes into that, is our mission to fight centralization whilst also maintaining and championing a standard to uphold as to how a protocol & DAO can be run.
Metaverse & gaming will move crypto into the mainstream, and that is why those two are the new frontier.
If we allow the old financial systems’ ways of duty to shareholder capital to win above all interests of the community then it is doomed from the outset.
This is why we are championing a new form of community voting which we feel matches the goals of true decentralization.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS2Eb-ysGOI
E-Crypto News:
What has been the impact of VEMP’s listing on ShibaSwap?
Ryder: Our listing on ShibaSwap has put us closer to our main goal of this year which is to introduce and educate the crypto and decentralised community as to how vEmpire DDAO and our concept works, and just why it is so revolutionary to the metaverse.
We are the Metaverses first Layer Two Protocol.
We are built around ALL metaverses, this gives us the unique ability to be flexible and dynamic in a moving market. We provide both staking pools for users to access profits from metaverse assets, as well as providing entertainment and gaming both on our own platform, and in whichever metaverses we feel can best serve our community.
Not being shoehorned and stuck within a virtual world of our own is a HUGE benefit.
It means that we can keep on trend, follow what’s how and add and remove Metaverse pools as the tides change.
Starlink for example, their protocol & token didn’t even exist when I began the whitepaper, but we were able to add it in our initial platform role out and now it is our most popular strategy by total value locked.
E-Crypto News:
Please, can you tell us more about democratic DAOs and how they work?
Ryder: So a normal DAO is run just like a share voting system, the more shares you hold the bigger your vote.
In crypto it is done by tokens held in wallets.
Just like how founders in a publicly listed company may hold lots of shares, a crypto projects founders and developers are likely to also do the same.
This means, and has shown time and time again that developers, founders and whales can overrule the community whenever they please.
I remember when we tried to put our vEmpire DDAO Embassy as a “point of interest” in Decentraland.
Their DAO decides these (non democratic) we had over 110 yes votes which were instantly wiped out by just one large holders no vote.
This is why our DAO is run democratically with one vote per wallet.
The only reason we have any set minimum is that having no limit leaves you liable to attacks from bots.
There is no reason however that you cannot have a fair vote system with a small minimum, and this is what we have and what we feel the industry should strive for.
E-Crypto News:
How will vEmpire change how Metaverses are perceived?
Ryder: At present the Metaverses that are free to be explored aren’t really a shining example of what the future holds.
That isn’t an insult, it is just the truth as even these protocols themselves know that their functionality is massively limited. Decentraland for example, is literally art galleries & casinos.
Neither of which take any inspiration from the fact that you are in a virtual world where anything should be possible but the best people can do at present is build stuff that you can find in the real world.
E-Crypto News:
How did vEmpire become the largest real estate holder within the Starlink Metaverse?
Ryder: Clever auction tactics & a popular staking pool!
Yes we have two of Starlinks satellites and 42 living modules as we are about to give two away.
These assets take us to I believe 18% of their Metaverse assets. STARL launched with the intention of having a decentralised Metaverse, and that’s why we have such a heavy interest.
We want to make sure that firstly they carry on in that fashion, and secondly, that we can be apart of such a great ambition as well.
Related: Metaverse Use Cases: Mining Pools And Applications
E-Crypto News:
Please, can you tell us more about the Shiboshi NFT series project?
Ryder: So we are a investor of the Shiboshi project rather than involved in it’s development, but we have taken a keen interest with 17 Shiboshis at one stage, most of which we are still holding in anticipation of an upcoming game.
They also have released with it recently the Shiboshi Social Club.
E-Crypto News:
Please, can you tell us more about official vEmpire staking pools?
Ryder: So at present we have five staking strategies; MANA, decentralands token paying 207% yield, SAND from Sandbox paying a 274% yield, AXS from Axie Infinity paying a 378% yield, STARL paying a 9% yield and Ethereum paying a 37% yield. All these primary yields are paid in VEMP.
Alongside this primary yield.
The tokens staked are used to buy, build, lease, purchase and sell NFTs, virtual property OR partake in play-to-earn games with scholars like Axie infinity.
These profits are then redistributed back to stakers as a secondary yield. 20% of all the different pools profits are gifted to VEMP stakers (VEMP when staked is called xVEMP) so all xVEMP owners will benefit from profits across any and all of our metaverse strategies.
E-Crypto News:
What do you think the future holds for the vEmpire-Shiba Inu partnership?
Ryder: We haven’t even finished all of our listing activities just yet!
We currently have special edition NFTs being sold from our collection on Opensea; vEmpire – The Founding Soldiers & there is also a potential AMA upcoming which would make us the first protocol to ever hold one within Shiba Inus social media pages.
E-Crypto News:
As Metaverses come onto the scene, how do democratic DAOs provide true decentralization?
Ryder: Democratic DAOs allow the community to have equal say with founders and developers.
They also create an environment where the community can actively challenge without fear of instant dismissal.
Related: The Metaverse: What Is It And Why Does It Matter?
E-Crypto News:
What is the significance of partnerships within the cryptocurrency space?
Ryder: It depends on the level and interaction really.
A partnership where you are just using somebody’s technology, doesn’t in reality really mean a partnership.
Partnerships where you are both actively promoting each other, blending communities, upholding the same moral values & blending communities, those are the real partnerships that are fruitful to everybody, both founders, developers and community.
E-Crypto News:
What role do you think the VEMP staking protocol will play in other projects?
Ryder: We have recently launched a small section on our website that a lot of people have missed titled Ventures.
We want $VEMP and one of our Metaverse token staking pools to be a goal which NFT, Metaverse & Gaming tokens strive for.
Just like how a community says “Wen Binance?” we want Metaverse & Gaming protocols to ask “Wen vEmpire?”. Our staking pools are brilliant for users, gamers and the protocol itself.
We are removing tokens from wallets and buying more and more assets. Increasing both token and NFT scarcity and demand.
E-Crypto News:
Do you have plans for other partnerships this year?
Ryder: Yes we have four just this week we have been speaking to!
Three of which are a minimum of 1.5 billion dollars market cap, with the other a significant gaming NFT protocol yet to launch a token. Definitely a space to watch.
E-Crypto News:
How do you think Metaverse staking will become a part of popular culture?
Ryder: I always find it hard to not sound arrogant when I say stuff like this but I have so much belief in vEmpire DDAO and our concept.
Right now you have certain protocols everybody is trying to copy, Daddy, baby, sister, Niece doge. Kitten, rabbit, hamster, pencil, next door neighbours cat INU.
And I haven’t even started on the food based swaps stealing from Pancake & UNI. Every single one of those is trying to benefit from the hype of another project. vEmpire DDAO & our concept IS that next project.
Using Metaverse token staking pools to invade other protocols, buying more and more property with the potential to even CONQUER protocols.
If a project is truly decentralised, like Decentraland claims to be, then they cannot stop us from just buying more and more land until we eventually take over the whole world.
The reason they cannot stop us is that they would have to drop their mask.
I see a day where you have rival factions battling for land and control in these metaverses, all of these mini vEmpire’s trying to carve out their own worlds within worlds, with their own agendas and causes.
And we will be there watching and making sure they are able to do so in true decentralised fashion.
E-Crypto News:
How are Metaverse tokens collateralized?
Ryder: So for a while now MANA has been a token that the lending protocol AAVE accepts as collateral for loans.
As the Metaverse and ecosystem develops, and like it already has, normal users will be priced out and I have no doubt in my mind that within ten years you will have dedicated Metaverse mortgage companies.
It may sound mad but the easiest way to speak about metaverse collateralization is to look at it’s real world examples and equivalents, because they will eventually carry over.
E-Crypto News:
What are the implications of collateralizing Metaverse tokens?
Ryder: The risks and rewards of collateralizing Metaverse tokens and assets is the same and similar to the real world.
In my old role at my venture capital firm, we would have certain levels of “Gearing” within some asset backed funds.
Gearing is essentially money borrowed against assets in a portfolio.
If you have too little cash, the implications are that you miss deals and can have poor cashflow that holds you back.
Too much gearing and you could over leverage yourself and lose assets if there were unexpected market events.
So just like in the real world, these risks need to be sensibly managed.
This is again why vEmpire was founded.
We are the first to do this, but by no means the last. We need to set the standard for the future to follow.
E-Crypto News:
What are the key drivers of growth for the vEmpire economy?
Ryder: So at present the main income is being derived from the metaverse staking pools whilst our on platform and in metaverse games are being developed.
As mentioned earlier, our NFT Collection is already on Opensea vEmpire – The Founding Soldiers is a collection of trading cards.
This game will be complete this month and provide gaming revenue alongside our virtual property & scholar management.
We also have multiple games ready to go as soon as The Sandbox Launches.
Our Ethereum strategy picks up a more generalist and earlier stage Metaverse projects like Influence.eth & Treeverse.
These assets may take a while to mature but could be HUGE in the future for our growth.
E-Crypto News:
Where do you think we are going with the introduction of Metaverses into the technology space?
Ryder: I think we are about to see a whole lot of innovation and a whole lot of regulation.
I think “Meta” is going to build quickly and lobby senselessly for regulation of decentralised Metaverses for no good reason but to further their own interests.
I also believe it will spectacularly backfire.
Like all these things we will have hype, then quiet where people shout “just a fad!” then hype again, then fad, until eventually, like bitcoin and ethereum are now, it will be accepted as normal for our time to be split from physical world to the virtual world.
E-Crypto News:
Please, can you tell us more about the dual-yield staking rewards that the VEMP token has to offer?
Ryder: See question 8, all pools viewable here v-empire digital farms and all strategies have at least two yields, the first one being paid in VEMP and the secondary yields are paid in the native token for the metaverse or token staked.
AXS is slightly different as, because scholars earn SLP, we return a triple yield. Primary as always in VEMP, but there is both a secondary in AXS, and a third in SLP.
