Black Ocean & EncryptClub AMA
Judy_Host of Encrypt：Just as BTC is powered by Grayscale, BlackOcean, a liquidity providing platform, is incubated by VRM. As a high-frequency quantitative trading company, VRM trades AI-based quantitative high-frequency strategies on the crypto market, and also provides exchanges with proper market-making solutions. VRM works across major trading platforms including BitMEX, OKEx, Huobi, Binance and Bithumb. It ranks as top 3 market-making institutions in the crypto space with Alamenda and Wootrade.
With the gradual maturity of blockchain technology and the improvement of the crypto market, the current bull run has formed completely different game rules from those of 2017. Exchanges and market makers, who understand the market rules better than anyone else, begins to realize the huge and low-risk revenue of on-chain liquidity pool and dark pool on DeFi ecosystem. EncryptClub has introduced at least 4 liquidity pool projects in the past 6 months, today, we will have AMA with BlackOcean, a potential terminator of this track. Andrei Grachev, VRM CEO will to introduce us the aim and vision of the BlackOcean project in details.
Welcome to EncryptClub, Andrei and Vladimir. Would you please introduce yourself to the audience?
Andrei:Hey! My name is Andrei and i’m CEO of Black Ocean and VRM companies. Since 2016 i’m in the crypto space, was a miner, investor, exchange manager and since 2018 our team and I work on VRM =) well, I’m proud to be here with you guys today)
Q1: VRM (FLY), Alameda (FTX) and Kronos （WOO) are the well-know top 3 quantitative trading companies on the current market, as the dark pool project incubated by VRM, what is BlackOcean’s strategic goal?
Andrei: Well, we believe, that a proper solution can shift the market to the next level and open new opportunities for customers and market participants. The market should grow up and we want to be a one of reasons of this growth. Our strategic goal is to serve properly wishes and request from customers and to be a partner for institutional ones. Well, we have a passion to have a 50%+ market share for our liquidity pool and 30%+ market share for our dark pool.
Q2：What is dark pool? What is liquidity pool? What’s the function of BlackOcean product?
Andrei:We are aiming to fulfill and solve customers wishes and difficulties. What is it?
First of all exchanges and trading venues need robust liquidity and execution. It’s a some kind of “a wall” for small and talented ones, because without it they are not able to serve their customers properly and have to pay to market makers. Well, this is an opportunity for Black Ocean. It solves this issues, because it provides exchanges and trading venues with an access to proper liquidity + Black Ocean pays them for order flows. It means exchanges, which are connected to Black Ocean can serve their customers with lower of zero fees, or get an additional income. It will boost the market to grow up! Well, our goal to serve 50%+ of customers on this market.
Second thing is requirments from institutional and whales. When they make bog transactions, they can move market up or down, what is their direct losses! When someone buys on DEX or CEX a big amount, like 300K$+ per trade, market reflects to it and price is jumping up. To solve this issues, Black Ocean Dark pool provides a proper electronic trading venue, which doesn’t provide anyone with market data and a public order book, what supports risk free transaction for Instituional.
Q3：There exist many solutions and projects attempting to address the liquidity issue, What is BlackOcean’s advantage when compared with them?
Andrei:First of all we are going to be partners and staing behind exchnages and trading businesses. They have requests — liquidity and execution, well — let’s provide it. Comparing other services Black Ocean doesn’t allow retail customers join to its liquidity pool, what meens its customers can keep calm about competition. For a dark pool… For now, no any cenues on the market, where an Institutional can manage its trading wishes properly, like on the tradititonal world. Black Ocean is going to be first with a real dark pool for crypto.
Q4：What is the role and function of BlockOcean token (FLY). What’s FLY’s advantage when compared with Woo and Balancer?
Andrei: What do customers need? They need an asset, which can help them to improve their relationship with a company. They need discounts, additional rebates, opprotunities of access to a venue. In general — all of them want to make more money with a company and FLy token provides customers with this opportunities:
Discounted fees for market makers and traders
Increased rebates for Liquidity pool customers
Access to uniques opportunities, such as staking, funding and a risk free passive income for retail and institutional ones
VRM also has its own VC, to invest into smart trading teams and Fly token is a tool to motivate their brilliant results/
We know, how it’s important for traders and customers to have fair and transparent burning mechanism and jf course, each business direction will spend a part of profit to buy back tokens on secondary markets and burn.
Our private sale is closed, but something is coming. If someone wants to participate, please subscribe our official channels and a web site tokenfly.co
Q5：As a project focusing on liquidity pools, how will BlockOcean manage and ensure the security of every liquidity pool?
Andrei: Of course! Customers have to be calm to about their assets, because of this goal, Black Ocean Centralized uses the sertified custody Cactus by Matrixport and Decentrazed works closely with experienced technical advisors and audit companies, such as Knownsec.
Here comes free QA session, guest can choose 1–2 lucky questions to reply.
User1: What powerful investors do you have on the project? Why do you need to invest when your team is not short of money?
Andrei: we have a lot of powerful guys on board — AC Capital、AKG Ventures、Bitmart、Blofin、Bixin Ventures, Collinstar Capital、Consensus Lab、Chain Capital、Deep Tech Ventures、DeFi Singapore、DeFi Times Capital、Encryption、Eureka、FBG、Fundamental Labs、Gate Labs、HBTC、Jackdaw Capital、LD Capital、MCVC、MXC Exchange、NGC, One Piece Capital、Parastate、Principle68, Quest Capital、RedBlock Capital、Redline Capital、Sanctum Ventures、Stillwater Research、Superchain Capital、YBB Foundation, ZBG exchange
Why? Because we have to get a real support on different markets, and there is the beat way, to attract powerful guys, who invests, and then will support us. It’s not about money, it’s more about a support.
User2: Is your business a threat to exchagnes? What is your road map? What is your goal in the following years?
Andrei: Regarding threats for exchanges — no any threats for them. Liquidity pool doesn’t serve retail costumers directly and doesn’t compete with exchanges. There is only benefits
Milestones Black Ocean is LIVE. Fly token is listed.
Non custodial decentralised dark pool is LIVE
Retail oriented services are run
List of supported assets increased up to top50
South America, African and Indian markets are connected to Black Ocean broker
Decentralized stuff moved to Polkadot
Judy_Host of EncryptClub: Thank Andrei for joining our AMA and sharing so much valuable information with us. Thank you all for watching this AMA. EncryptClub will work hard and bring more wonderful content for you in future.
