X SPACES: STRATOS COMMUNITY AMAđź”—︎
Hello everyone, it's a pleasure to have you all here for this community AMA. If you’re unable to join live, don’t worry—you’ll be able to listen to our discussion later.
Once again, we’re joined by our founder, Bin Zhu.
Thank you, Claire. I’ve reviewed all the questions people have asked, and I believe most of them have already been covered. So perhaps we can focus on answering anything that hasn’t been addressed yet. I can provide a summary at the end—how does that sound?
Yes, actually, the security camera and webcam industries are a great fit for the Stratos network. Recently, we’ve had discussions with some of our early Stratos VCs and business directors. They’ve pointed out that most security camera providers currently offer around seven days of free data storage, but if users want to store footage for a longer period, they have to pay extra.
This presents an opportunity for us to provide a more durable and cost-effective solution for the webcam industry. Implementing this wouldn’t be difficult, as we have multiple approaches. Webcam companies could simply set up an SDS node and upload their data directly to our network. Alternatively, they could use middleware—since webcams already stream video to their servers, they could easily forward that data to us for long-term storage.
It's a solid idea, and we’re actively pitching it to webcam companies. We’ve prepared a pitch deck to demonstrate why Stratos is a better solution compared to AWS, Google, or other private cloud services. Hopefully, we’ll hear back from them soon.
Thank you, Claire.
Yeah, this is a big question. It’s definitely an important topic right now because most people are using Google Drive or free versions of Dropbox—they're very convenient. For example, since I use Gmail, I can save data directly to Google Drive, and I get 5GB of free storage. Dropbox also offers free storage. In China, there are several centralized personal storage solutions similar to Dropbox, and they work well for users.
The reason centralized storage is so widely used is that people don’t really care about where their data is stored or how it’s being used. Most individual users either don’t know or don’t think about data privacy because they feel they don’t have much sensitive information to protect. As long as a service is free and convenient, people will use it.
To be honest, centralized storage is always more user-friendly compared to decentralized storage. With centralized services, users just register with an email and start using it for free. But with decentralized storage, there are extra steps—you might need a wallet, and you may need to use tokens.
Right now, about 90% of people in the world probably don’t have a crypto wallet. Many don’t know how to create one or how to keep it secure, which is still a major challenge. But in the next two to three years, that could change as people start to realize the implications of AI and data ownership.
AI can do almost anything today, and issues around content privacy and ownership are becoming more significant. People may soon start asking, “This is my content, my video—why does a big AI model know about it? How was my data used for training without my permission?” They might begin to notice that AI seems to know everything about them, from personal information to videos they’ve shared, making them feel like their privacy is fully exposed.
When AI becomes even more powerful and its capabilities become more apparent, people will likely start questioning the true cost of “free” storage. Right now, free cloud storage sounds great, but in reality, it’s not without cost. The price isn’t measured in money—it’s in the loss of ownership over your content and personal data.
When you don’t have copyright or privacy anymore, that’s when people will likely start realizing the importance of decentralized storage. It offers a way to keep data private and secure while also creating new opportunities. For example, if you have valuable data, you could sell it to AI models instead of letting them access it for free.
In that scenario, people will begin to understand that privacy and sensitive data ownership are crucial. That realization could push many to adopt decentralized storage as a better alternative. It might be the turning point when individuals recognize the need to truly own their personal data.
We’re waiting for that day, but we also need to be prepared for it.
Yeah, our team is working on several things, so let’s go through them one by one.
First, we’re developing Stratos Drive, an individual storage solution, and we’re planning to launch a campaign to invite at least 10,000 users to try it out.
How will we do this? We’ll start by modifying our official website, where users will be able to apply for a promotion code. Once they install Stratos Drive, they can enter the promotion code they received from the website. This will grant them free Ozone, which can be used to access 5GB, 10GB, or even 20GB of storage at no cost.
With this free storage, users will be able to upload, download, and share files—whether with family, friends, or business partners. This service is completely decentralized, meaning no censorship, no KYC requirements, and no third-party monitoring.
Through this campaign, we want to encourage more individuals to experience decentralized storage firsthand and compare it with traditional options like Dropbox or Google Drive.
So that’s one of the key features we’re pushing.
Another important development we’re working on is fiat payment integration.
This will allow business users or projects that don’t own or understand crypto to pay with fiat currency instead of needing to handle tokens directly. They’ll be able to pay fiat to use Stratos IPFS, but they will still require Ozone.
I noticed some misunderstandings when I posted about this on X (Twitter). Some people assumed that if users pay with fiat, there would be no need for Ozone anymore, but that’s not true. Behind the scenes, when users pay with fiat, the system will automatically convert it and prepay the required amount to their IPFS Stratos account. In the end, all traffic is still paid using Ozone, ensuring that the system remains decentralized. This just makes it more accessible for non-crypto business users.
We have a few other exciting developments, but I’ll cover those as we go through more questions.
One of our main goals is to increase the number of users trying out Stratos Drive. Getting more people to test and use the platform will help us refine and improve it further.
Another key improvement is regional optimization. When users start using Stratos Drive, they’ll notice in the settings that we’ve already integrated multiple storage regions:
- America East
- America West
- Europe
- Asia
We are actively adding more nodes in Asia, making the service more accessible and efficient—especially for users in China, Japan, and South Korea. This way, users can select the region closest to them to improve performance and ensure a smoother experience.
Our focus is on enhancing performance and expanding our user base, making Stratos Drive a strong alternative to centralized storage solutions.
Stratos Drive and Stratos Storage were already ready in early 2024, and we’ve been actively pitching the technology to projects and partners. One thing we’ve learned is that having an SDK is crucial for adoption.
Yes, we already have an SDK and fully documented technical guides that walk new developers through the process step by step.
In the end, we realized that many projects are already busy, and sometimes they’re not interested in learning something new, like the latest IBC or SDK updates from Stratos. There’s always overhead when adopting new tools—projects often need to recode or refactor their existing systems, which is a challenge.
So, instead of continuing to focus solely on developing a fully integrated SDK, we decided to work directly with the IPFS protocol. Stratos has already fully integrated IPFS into our SDS (Stratos Decentralized Storage), and as you know, IPFS is the most popular decentralized storage protocol globally. Many projects are already using it.
Rather than forcing projects to adopt a completely new SDK, we’ll allow them to use the IPFS layer directly. They don’t need to change much—just update three RPC interfaces or APIs, and they can seamlessly integrate Stratos into their system.
Looking ahead, we don’t plan to heavily invest in improving our own SDK. Instead, we’ll focus on leveraging tools that are already well-received and widely used in the industry, allowing developers to work with the familiar technologies they already trust.
So, we’re lowering the bar, not raising it. By allowing third-party projects or individual users to use Stratos without much effort, they can try it out directly without having to make any significant changes. This approach makes it easier for them to experience our platform, and we believe it’s a better way forward. We’ve learned a lot from this approach.
The fiat payment feature is something we’re actively working on, but it’s not as simple as it may seem. We’ve already applied to work with payment providers like PayPal, and we’re also exploring other options.
We still need to finalize agreements with the payment gateway providers and ensure we meet the necessary regulations for handling transactions. It’s a complex process, and although I can’t give you a specific launch date right now, we expect to have the feature ready within one or two months.
Once we have the feature, business projects will be able to pay via credit card directly. When they make a payment, they’ll receive free storage space as part of the deal. If they’re satisfied with the service, they can choose to continue with the paid plan.
So, users will always have the opportunity to try the service for free before deciding whether to continue.
At the moment, we’re focusing on two key areas:
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Individual Strato Drive Campaign: We want to launch a campaign to encourage more people to try Strato Drive for free.
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Stratos IPFS for Traditional Businesses: Another key goal is to attract traditional business users to Stratos. For instance, businesses can use our IPFS protocol for CDN services or leverage Stratos as a storage solution.
We have several strengths that make Stratos a great pitch for traditional businesses:
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Pricing: Traditional businesses often pay a premium for cloud services. For example, a business might spend $10 on AWS or Google Cloud but only pay $1 on Stratos for similar services. This offers a strong price advantage.
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Performance: Stratos IPFS provides excellent performance, especially for CDN services. When businesses upload their content to Stratos, whether it's audio, video, or other media, it can be delivered to clients almost instantly. This streamlined process makes it very convenient.
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Cost-effective CDN: Typically, CDN services can cost around $10, but with Stratos, businesses can receive the same service for just $1.
We’re already in talks with several AI clients who have both deep-tech and traditional customers. We’ve provided them with demo accounts to test the service. While it may take time—especially with traditional businesses that often take a quarter to plan—we’re seeing positive progress and are confident that we’re on the right path.
This feature will be tied to our fiat payment system, which is also still in development. Currently, when users upload data via SDS nodes or Stratos Drive, we keep the file for at least six months.
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File expiration: Each time a user accesses their file, whether to download or view it, the file’s expiration date is extended by another six months.
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File expiration scenario: If a user doesn’t access their file for six months, it may be lost, which is how Stratos storage currently works.
However, with Stratos Drive, we plan to implement a monthly renewal system, which is easier to understand for users familiar with services like Google Drive or AWS. When users pay for the service, their file’s lifetime is extended each month as long as they continue to pay.
For Stratos token payment, the file renewal period will remain every six months, but with fiat payment, users will pay on a monthly basis.
Non-payment consequences:
- If users don’t continue paying, their files may be lost after six months or more, but we cannot guarantee permanent storage. We don’t fully trust the permanent storage model that some providers offer because it often doesn't work out in the long run. Therefore, to ensure your files are always available, users will need to continue paying regularly to extend the file's lifetime.
The test network for our Decentralized Database is almost ready, but we haven’t announced a launch date yet. The reason for this is that we want to time the announcement more strategically. Currently, the market momentum isn’t favorable, and we believe that throwing out news now may not generate the impact we want. It could go unnoticed or not receive the kind of feedback we’re hoping for.
So, we’re holding off until the market conditions improve. Once we feel the timing is right, we’ll announce the launch of the test network. This decentralized database is primarily aimed at developers, not individual users. It will allow them to store and retrieve key-value data or any other type of data in a decentralized manner.
The performance will be extremely fast—retrieving data from the decentralized database should take just milliseconds, not seconds or minutes. This is a major advantage over traditional databases.
We plan to announce the test network when the marketing conditions are more favorable, and we’re confident that the launch will make a strong impact at that time.
That’s a very good idea, and we understand how useful it can be. Similar to how OneDrive from Microsoft and Google Drive allow users to synchronize their files directly with local folders, enabling seamless file access and management. This would require users to install a plugin or application on their Windows, Linux, or iOS devices.
At the moment, we haven’t planned this feature yet. However, it’s certainly something we will consider. We will add this idea to our backlog, and once we complete our current tasks, we can assess the feasibility of adding it to our future releases.
Yes, I believe most people using ChatGPT are also using other large models like X AI, GOG, and similar technologies. I’ve had conversations with them too. Sometimes, I also search for information on large models, but DeepSeek is quite similar. When we launched DeepSeek, our goal was to deploy it, and we have already done so. We’ve installed and configured DeepSeek on several Stratos nodes, and our front-end developer is working on the user interface.
Currently, DeepSeek is purely for end users. It’s similar to how you interact with ChatGPT on OpenAI. Once our UI is ready, users will be able to open a chat window directly and communicate with DeepSeek. However, the computational power behind DeepSeek is not as strong as that of ChatGPT or other large models at the moment. But users can still try it out, ask questions, and use it in the same way they would with ChatGPT. It might be slower at times, but our goal is to experiment with it. If it proves successful, we plan to scale up the server capacity to make it more powerful.
Yes, we could, but right now we need a third-party solution to implement live streaming based on our network. Live streaming is quite similar to CDN services, and we don’t have that feature directly. However, with a third party using their streaming code, we are confident they can deploy their code with SPS nodes, and we can cooperate with them. This would allow us to support live streaming directly.
It really depends. Stratos rewards are based on traffic, and these rewards are calculated every 10 minutes. For example, if in a given 10-minute window you generate a lot of traffic, but others generate even more traffic, you will receive less reward in that 10-minute period because you’re not the largest traffic generator. However, in another 10-minute window, if you are the only one generating significant traffic, you will earn much more reward in that period. So, the reward you receive is dynamic.
It really depends on the traffic volume in each 10-minute window. This is similar to Ethereum, where gas fees can fluctuate. Sometimes, gas fees are very high, and sometimes they are low. It depends on the number of transactions being packaged into the block during that time. The reward structure works in a similar way. So, it’s very hard to estimate exactly how much you’ll earn when your content reaches 100,000 views. But one thing is certain: you will earn some reward.
I don't have a cat, but I have very nice dog.
Regarding different countries and their varying regulations, the idea is that Stratos is a purely decentralized storage solution. However, we live in the real world, where different countries have different regulations. Some countries may want to block certain content, and content that is legal in one country may be illegal in another. The challenge is how to balance decentralization and a lack of regulation or censorship with the need to comply with local laws. This is the core question.
As a validator or service provider, like a storage provider, the principle is that users should be able to upload any data they want without censorship. There are no rules preventing you from doing so. However, if your data is illegal or violates regulations in certain regions or countries, what can be done? Well, there are a few options. You, as the owner of the data, can disable your own files. While no one can delete your files, you have the ability to disable them. Alternatively, you can delete your files from the Stratos network.
However, deleting a file doesn't actually remove it immediately; it will still exist on the network. When you delete a file, it is disabled, but it isn’t fully deleted until after a certain time period—likely several months. During this time, no one can access it, but it’s not completely gone yet.
If regulations affect the network, there may be a need for cooperation with the community. In the future, there could be a vote on whether a specific file should be taken offline. When we say "offline," it means the file is still stored on the network, and you can still access it, but it won’t be publicly accessible. For example, if you share a link to the file with a third party, they might not be able to access it anymore, but you, as the owner, can still retrieve it.
This feature isn’t ready yet, but if such issues arise in the future, we may need to find a way for the community to decide the best course of action. Our goal is to maintain a purely decentralized network that can’t be attacked, but we also want to be flexible enough to comply with regulations in different countries. This will likely be decided through community voting in the future.
Yes, this is always a question we face. Right now, for example, with the campaign I mentioned, we really want more users to try Stratos without needing to purchase the token. We plan to offer them free ozone as an incentive, which is one approach. Another strategy is to cooperate with a variety of KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) and partner with larger projects. This is something we’re already working on, and we aim to expand it further to bring in more users and clients.
We also want our clients and users to play a role in improving our marketing efforts by helping spread the word. That’s one of our strategies. For more traditional marketing, we aim to attract business users who will pay for our services. We can then use a portion of that cash flow for marketing activities, while another portion could be used to buy back Stratos tokens. This would help maintain the price stability of the Stratos token. This is part of our plan moving forward.
Okay, yes. As you may know, I worked at that company for eight years and played a key role in building a very large platform there. I haven’t mentioned this publicly yet, but I have already spoken with them and demonstrated what we can offer. Adult content isn't easily accessible in many regions. For users in China, for example, they are blocked from accessing such websites. If they want to view that content, they need to use a VPN.
What Stratos can offer is twofold: first, we can help lower their CDN fees; second, we can help them bypass the current restrictions they face, including breaking through regional barriers. I conducted some tests where I uploaded videos and audio files here, then shared the links with people in Europe, North America, and China. They were able to stream the content directly and smoothly.
This feature could be a way to attract more end users to their site. For us, it’s just about the network—this is the power of a decentralized system. There are two key selling points I’m promoting to them: lower costs and no censorship or KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements. With our network, they could break through regional firewalls.
I hope we can move forward and work out a solution with them. They spend a significant amount of money each year on CDN services, and if we could secure even a portion of their budget, it would be a huge win for us.
Yes, I understand. What you’re referring to is more like permanent storage. We will definitely consider that in the future. However, it’s important to note that there would be a cost associated with it. We might offer some free space for smaller, long-term storage, but for larger amounts of data, users would likely need to pay every six months. The payment could be automated, so if you forget to renew, we could potentially set up a way to automatically deduct the payment directly from your wallet using tokens.
We will definitely consider this and may add it to our backlog as a new feature for future development.
This is indeed a challenging question. The size of the network is closely tied to the price of the tokens. I know that some nodes are losing money because they have to spend time maintaining the node, as well as covering electricity and network fees. Some miners may decide to shut down their nodes, but others are more patient. For example, some people invested in Stratos when the token price was $0.50, others at $1, and now some are investing when the price is $0.04. Despite the current low price, they believe in the long-term potential of Stratos, so they choose to mine now and hold onto their tokens, hoping that the price will increase in the future.
It really depends on the miners. Some miners are still making money, while others may be losing money. It’s hard to assess the overall situation, but it mirrors the challenges faced by many other DePIN projects. This is a common situation right now.
As for building more nodes, it’s difficult at the moment because I don’t want people to lose money. For example, if someone invests $100 to set up a node but only earns $50 by the end of the month, that’s not sustainable. However, as the price of Stratos rises, especially when marketing improves or the altcoin season comes around, miners’ revenue could significantly increase. If Stratos’ token price increases from its current level to $1, $3, or even $5, miners will see much higher returns. This could cause the network to grow rapidly, with the number of nodes possibly increasing from 1,000 to 5,000 or even 10,000 within a month.
For now, though, it’s hard to encourage the community to add more nodes. I’m not actively encouraging anyone to do so at this point. Let’s wait for marketing to improve and for more individual users and business clients to join. Business clients, in particular, are very powerful. If we can onboard a company that needs a larger network—say 2,000 or 5,000 nodes—and they are willing to pay for the service fees, we can use that revenue to incentivize miners or buy back tokens to help stabilize the token price. This would indirectly benefit the miners.
So, one way to accelerate network growth is through better marketing and a higher token price. The other way is by securing strong business clients who pay for network fees, which would also support miners. Both of these approaches will help the network grow more quickly.
Actually, I’m not sure where this information came from, as it’s not accurate. The community member who said only 20% is in circulation is mistaken. Currently, over 60% of the tokens are in circulation. The only tokens that are not in circulation are those locked in the mining pool. I haven’t checked the exact figure, but I believe around 35% of tokens are locked in the mining pool for the next few years. The rest of the tokens are already in circulation.
It’s not just 20% of the tokens in circulation. We do have a significant portion of tokens held by the team and the foundation, which sometimes causes concerns in the community. Some people wonder if the price is dropping because the foundation is dumping its tokens, but I want to clarify that we have never dumped tokens from the foundation, and we have no intention of doing so. The foundation still holds all of its tokens, and we intend to keep them for the long term.
We believe that as the Stratos network grows, with more users and business clients joining, the value of our tokens will increase. For now, we have no interest in selling any of our tokens. While these tokens are technically in circulation, we’re not actively trading them at this point.
We do want to have a dedicated sales team, but right now, as we are still a small team, we don’t have the resources to build a large, highly professional sales team. However, we’re finding different ways to work around this. We’re collaborating with some agents and agencies who already have clients in mind, and we’re partnering with them on business deals. Any income generated through these partnerships is shared with the agencies.
Additionally, we have very active community members who help us reach out to traditional businesses and crypto projects. They assist by showing demos or sending pitch decks to potential clients.
Lastly, I’m actively communicating with some of our earlier Stratos VCs and partners, asking them to help us connect with projects in their portfolios. So, we’re approaching sales in three ways: first, through our community members; second, through agents and agencies that focus on traditional businesses; and third, by leveraging our solid VC partners to help us target projects in their portfolios and establish valuable connections.
Yes, we have considered it. However, it’s not as straightforward as it might seem. Listing on major exchanges like Binance, OKX, and others is not easy. People often ask me why we haven’t listed on Binance yet, and I understand their point. While being listed on a big exchange would certainly be beneficial, there are significant costs and challenges involved. Once you fully understand the implications, you can determine if it’s the right decision.
Some people challenge me on our approach, asking why we focus on organic growth. The truth is, we want to attract good business or traditional users who are willing to pay for our services. That’s the core of our organic growth. We understand the appeal of listing on an exchange, as it could potentially offer more liquidity and help more users find our token. However, allocating a significant percentage of our tokens to an exchange for listing could be problematic. We don’t want to give up too much control and risk compromising our long-term strategy.
That said, we are definitely open to listing on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), especially high-quality ones like Uniswap. We’ve been actively adding more tokens on Uniswap to improve liquidity and deepen the trading pool. We’re expanding the price range on Uniswap V3 and adding more pools, like the ETH/USDT pool, to enhance the trading experience for users.
I think we’ve covered most of the frequently asked questions and topics. Thank you again, Bin, and thank you for also raising questions and answering them. We will have the recording available for the community to listen to again. Thank you, everyone, who joined us. Do you have any closing notes?
Yes, thank you, and I didn’t expect so many questions. I really appreciate your support. I know it’s a tough time for everyone right now, and honestly, I’m a little bit disappointed with the current market situation as well. Everyone was hopeful that altcoins would see a resurgence, especially with new policies and good news, but the market has been challenging.
However, we remain hopeful. Many of my old friends and colleagues have told me, "Don’t worry, better times are ahead." They believe if it doesn’t happen by the end of this year, it will likely be early next year. So, what we need to do is keep our system online, keep improving Stratos, and get more clients. We just need to keep pushing forward until that moment comes.
You all know that in 2021, we set out to deliver a high-performance storage system, and that was our goal. But we didn’t want to stop there. We wanted people to be able to play their content online as well. We started with the IDO in 2021, and now we’ve delivered on everything we promised—our storage network is live, and people can stream videos and audios freely.
We also want to expand further, like partnering with camera companies and collaborating with Web2 content providers to improve their CDN services. We’re in talks with a company in France (though I can’t mention their name yet) that provides individual storage services. If all goes well, we could be providing them with services that they can resell to their clients. We’re really close to finalizing that deal, but we can’t share more details just yet.
Again, thank you all, and let’s look forward to better times ahead.
Okay, I can answer that. Yes, before we were announcing partnerships weekly or bi-weekly. But, there are some partners where their projects are decent, but not all partnerships have turned out to be that meaningful. So now, we’ve changed our approach. We still want to cooperate with as many projects as possible, but we want to ensure that these partnerships lead to real collaborations. It’s not just about announcing a partnership; we want to engage in campaigns and technical integrations. We can offer them free accounts to try out in our test network, and we support their technical teams to get them started.
However, if a partner is only interested in the marketing announcement and doesn’t want to move forward with any actual integration or collaboration, we don’t want to announce that partnership anymore. Some partners have told us they aren’t ready for full integration yet, and that’s fine. But when we follow up, if there’s no progress or further discussion, we realize it’s not a meaningful partnership.
Now, when a project reaches out, we’re open to working with them, regardless of whether they’re big or small, or if they have many followers or not. As long as we can see real collaboration—such as using Stratos to store data or integrating our technology—that’s when we’re happy to move forward. If they’re not ready for that yet, we’re fine with waiting until they are.
So, we’ve adjusted our strategy, which has led to fewer partnership announcements, but these partnerships should be more substantial when they do happen.
Okay, if I understand correctly, let me clarify. Stratos token has several utilities:
When you hold Stratos tokens, you can stake them with any Stratos chain validator and earn more Stratos tokens. This is one utility.
If you want to participate in the Stratos network and run your own Stratos storage node, you need to deposit 800 to 1,600 or even more Stratos tokens. This is the second utility, for miners who need to deposit Stratos tokens.
The third utility is when you generate traffic, store your data, or stream your content on Stratos. You’ll need to consume Stratos tokens. The Stratos token is converted into Ozone, which works like gas in Ethereum. So, you need to consume Stratos tokens to store or generate traffic.
Now, for third parties or traditional business users who want to use the Stratos network but don’t have the knowledge or don’t want to hold tokens in their financial accounts, they can pay with fiat currency. They can pay with USDT, USDC, or even a credit card. In that case, the fiat currency will be converted into Stratos tokens, and those tokens will be credited to their wallet. They don’t need to manage the wallet directly; the team’s system will handle the conversion for them. This approach helps lower the entry barrier, especially for traditional businesses who may want to use Stratos but prefer paying in fiat.
So, we do offer this flexibility, and the team is currently working on integrating fiat payment processing.
Thank you. Thank you everyone. Thank you for your time. Bye.