MAID listing on exchanges via community created foundation

Community
1

@safeapp_foundation

The problems the community is having with the Maidsafe token are quite serious as Maidsafe’s continued financing depends on our ability to maintain a market for the tokens. Things like Bisq can help a little bit, but I think they have little liquidity.

A couple of years ago a few of us here on the forum were working to form the “SafeApp foundation” ( SafeApp Foundation ICO? ) … we made steady progress, but I decided to park the project until the Safe Network reached a point of greater viability.

We did however form a board of respected forum members and at some point I hoped it could be reactivated and forward progress made.

So I am curious about the possibility of creating this new foundation ASAP and immediately using donations we would hire a respected and experienced person or entity to get the existing token listed on major exchanges (and pay the required listing fees) and to keep it going - obviously this won’t be cheap, but if the end result is that MAID is valued much higher than it is now, then it’s worth it.

After the general crisis is over then we could look at the possibility of launching an ERC-20 that we can peg to MAID and listing the new ERC-20 on multiple decentralized exchanges.

Donations and funds would be held in a multisig wallet controlled by the board which is composed of well-known forum members – I won’t list them here now as the board will likely need to be rehashed as quite a bit of time has passed.

Importantly these steps would take the worry away from the Maidsafe team.

As the SafeApp foundation idea has it’s own goals as well (see link above). I would hope that we’d be able to roll that in as value-added potential for any and all donations made. Obviously a lot of details to be worked out … before I do a poll to gauge support, I’d like some debate, what do people think? Is this too complicated? Are there any other options that don’t require Maidsafe to act?

Please read through the thread and then come back here to vote:

A couple polls to gauge community support:

How should the community proceed?

  • Do nothing, wait and see what happens.
  • Collectively research exchange options and costs and compile data, then re-poll community for next step.
  • In addition to research, go ahead and work to form community managed organization to be able to accept donations and facilitate listing Maid either omni and/or erc-20 (see other poll).

0 voters

If we are to form an organization to accept and manage donations to facilitate listing, should that be the sole focus of the organization or would it be okay to have other pro-Safe network goals as well ( assuming all not-for-profit )? Assume also that if an organization is formed and it only has the goal of getting Maid listed, it may not survive long and we might end up having to reform it later if delisting occurs again - OTOH maybe that’s not likely if we create an erc-20 and get listed on decentralized exchanges … what do you think?

  • Just have the central goal of getting the omni and/or an erc-20 token listed on a few exchanges, then wind it down, donate excess money to Maidsafe.
  • Multiple goals are okay and it’s best to create a stable long-term organization to deal with problems down the line.

0 voters

ERC-20 and/or Omni?

  • We should focus on getting the existing Omni token listed on large exchanges, and then if there is time/money we should work to create an ERC-20 solution for listing on decentralized exchanges.
  • We should only focus on creating an ERC-20 solution and listing on both centralized and decentralized exchanges and not worry about listing the Omni token.

0 voters

Thanks for your input :wink:

21 Likes
2

Well behaved exchanges do not charge listing fees or extort airdrops, if the exchange is requesting these things it should not be considered as an option.

3 Likes
3

I’m not an expert, but don’t the exchanges with the most liquidity charge a listing fee? If we aren’t aiming to be on these exchanges, then I think we are shooting ourselves in the foot and hurting the prospects of Maidsafe.

Edit: I’d also add that if people are donating to pay these fees then it should be acceptable. Perhaps this is an option that I can put into a poll later.

8 Likes
4

No. Bitfinex does not for example and it is consistently in the top 5 exchanges by liquidity.

Edit: Reference to Bitfinex statements on listing process and no-fee policy.

A spokesperson for Bitfinex told BI: “We do not charge a fee for projects to be listed on Bitfinex. We are excited to support the development of the digital token ecosystem by providing quality projects, of all sizes, with a platform through which they can build a community of supporters.”

“Through applying these rules we strive to list only the highest quality tokens which we believe have a long future, and which therefore align with the best long-term interests of our customers,” the spokesperson said. “We find that every situation is different and we do not adopt a one-size fits all approach. Moreover, all of our commercial agreements and relationships are confidential.”

4 Likes
5

I would be very interested in reading some foundation goals and operational guidelines documents, but I support the abstract idea nonetheless.

8 Likes
6

Another question: Does anyone here know of any reputable company providing a listing service?

One of the reasons I’m making this proposal is because I see this as a process that requires continual maintenance, we can’t just do a one-off raise of capital for a listing and then walk away. I think it’s clear by now that there are always going to be hoops and challenges that emerge that will need to be addressed to maintain a listing and/or add new exchanges as old one’s go bust.

If we can focus on just managing the donations/funds and hire a reputable company to deal with listings it would certainly be far less complicated and likely be more effective per money spent.

7

We had some of that worked out, but honestly, it’s been a while, so it will need to be opened up for discussion with the board again … and that previous board itself is also a big question mark for the same reason … I would hope to engage them and see how to get the ball rolling asap … but will let this thread play out for 24 hours and then do a poll to gauge general interest before proceeding.

1 Like
8

I did contact Bitbay today- Its Polish biggest exchange (many years on the market), I will let you know when/if they answer about the possibilities for listing MAID. Not too optimistic they will be open to this idea but lets see.
EDIT: I found the form which can be filled and sent to them in this case - must be done by CEO , @dirvine please take a look into this when you have a minute :
https://bitbay.net/en/news/add-your-coin-or-token-on-bitbay

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfU3Yn8ZeaP_6TVwnvTMQEkqT_b84Lg6aFdsI6LgX7J9XfcuA/viewform

4 Likes
9

Data suggests that an average project spent over $50,000 in listing fees to exchanges on the advisory list this year. This totals over $100 million stolen in 2018 via listing fees, with some exchanges making over $1 million from this alone.

From previous April 2019 Blockchain Transparancy Institute report:

During these months, we have also released over 200 full exchange reports to over 40 crypto projects enquiring about the legitimacy of the various exchanges contacting them for listing. The listing fee costs from just the wash trading exchanges in these reports totaled over 150 BTC. We are glad these reports were able to save some crypto projects from being scammed out of money that could be used for development instead.

Also see edit to my post above.

2 Likes
10

I’m quite happy if we can get MAID listed on large exchanges without paying fees … but I don’t see paying fees as theft. If a trade between two or more parties can be called theft, then all trade can subjectively be called theft. I don’t want to quibble over the term, but I don’t want people here to be biased by that view of the terminology.

There are costs involved with listing, small or large, I certainly don’t know what they all are. How an exchange chooses to cover those costs is up to them.

Are projects out there getting a raw deal with some exchanges, surely so. This is why I think it’s important that we find a reputable (and experienced!) person or company to facilitate listings - so we can be confident that we aren’t getting a raw deal.

7 Likes
11

100% in favor.

2 Likes
12

I think it is extortionate, but I feel the same way about the cost of food and a million other things.
With exchanges as with almost everything in life, you get what you pay for.
Rarely do you get anything worth value for free.

8 Likes
13

Exactly. The back door method to avoid paying things like listing fees has ended up costing this project way more than what it would have been to pay the listing fees to be on a couple high-volume exchanges.

Precisely! There are many things that I think are way overpriced. However, if there are no better low-cost options (as we’ve seen time and again with this delisting/exchange shutdown issue) then there’s no other option but to pony up and pay the price.

When the ICO was first conducted, money should have been earmarked for marketing expenses including exchange listings. This opportunity was missed once again during the recent funding exercise that was oversubscribed. There’s no use crying over spilt milk. If an independent org is what is needed to get the exchange listing and marketing support this project needs, I’m all for
it.

9 Likes
14

Nor do I, but a fee for an honest service is not what they are calling theft. They are calling out charging a fee for an exchange service that is mostly just wash trading. In other words stealing the listing fee and providing a fake market which is clearly theft. Many of the large exchanges are in that boat according to their research.

1 Like
15

Just a friendly reminder that there is a decentralized exchange with real 80m$ and growing on-chain liquidity:

Screenshot_20200214-165455
Screenshot_20200214-165455720×1440 60.3 KB

4 Likes
16

I would be open to supporting this idea, but with a few stipulations.

  1. As US resident, I would need the community to focus on getting on an exchange that is willing to support US customers. Kraken seems like the obvious choice, but it would require some dev’s (or David’s) time to interface with their team. That’s assuming they would even be willing to entertain the idea of listing MAID.
  2. I am not willing to donate from my current wallet of MAID holdings, as I do not want to dilute my current holdings, but I would be willing to send some BTC or ETH to the organization that can then exchange that for MAID on my behalf (as I have no ability to reliably exchange for MAID right now).
7 Likes
17

@wydileie

I’ll add to this that I would only be interested in an exchange that, if AML/KYC is required, does not involve the privacy intrusive practice of requiring ‘selfies’.

I am only one person (trader) however I was active trading MAID on Poloniex until they stole my property and I never returned. If you look at how MAID trading volume died on Poloniex after they began their theft, and it did not return once their ‘selfie’ nonsense was introduced, I believe I’m not alone.

The fact is that the majority of capital is unwilling to play dangerous games for yet another centralized exchange to exit scam or other.

4 Likes
18

@anon57419684 what exactly is it about the selfie that gets you so upset?

2 Likes
19

His unfortunate (but purely coincidental) resemblance to a guy on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list?

Sorry @anon57419684 :slight_smile:

6 Likes
20

:rofl:
But if they have my legal info what does a picture matter.

2 Likes