Q&A: SKALE Network

The SKALE Network will need little introduction to the majority of the REX Wire community. Announced in 2018, the project sought to offer a new way of scaling the Ethereum network—and five years later, it's over-delivering on that promise.

We caught up with the SKALE team to ask a few questions about the platform.

Overview

Q: Can you provide a brief overview of your project?

A: SKALE is the world's fastest blockchain, designed for fast, secure, user-centric Ethereum scaling. SKALE chains offer zero gas fees to end-users and have advanced features such as on-chain file storage, interchain messaging, zero-cost minting, ML/AI smart contracts, and enhanced security features.

SKALE is a fully decentralized, open source, and community-owned project.

Q: What unique features or benefits does SKALE provide?

A: SKALE is the only blockchain network capable of running an unlimited number of fast, on-demand, pooled-security blockchains with zero gas fees to end users. SKALE's modular, fast, and free blockchain architecture allows for a seamless user experience and infinite scalability, positioning to bring blockchain to the masses.

SKALE also enables developers to deploy their own interoperable EVM blockchain in minutes without sacrificing security or decentralization.

Community And Users

Q: Who are your target users and why?

A: Our target users are developers that are building accessible blockchain projects, and users who need an easy onboarding experience to blockchain. There are many blockchain solutions that already cater to the "whales" of the space. SKALE is here to make blockchain accessible to the masses.

Q: Can you tell us about the community around your project? How do you engage with them?

A: Our community is the developers of dApps on SKALE, and users of those dApps. We engage with SKALE users via contests, on social media, and other forms of content including blog posts and project updates.

Q: How do you plan to drive user adoption and growth for your project?

A: By fostering a strong developer ecosystem and user community, and by providing the best possible blockchain experience.

Project Development and Future

Q: What are the major milestones you've achieved so far?

A: Here are just a few from the past five years:

2018—SKALE Founded
Sept 2020—Token Launch
June 2020—Mainnet Launch
April 2022—SKALE V2 Launch
May 2023—$1 Billion Saved on gas fees
June 2023—On Chain Governance Proposed

I'm having fun using the @DappRadar analytics dashboard.

This is the daily transactions view where #SKALE has more transactions in the last 24 hours than Arbitrum, Avalanche, Algorand, Fantom, Flow, Immutable X, Near, and Optimismhttps://t.co/Z1yGXAd2Za pic.twitter.com/HHBZ3Pheml
— Jack O'Holleran (@jackoholleran) June 23, 2023

Market and Competition

Q: What is your strategy to capture market share?

A: Provide the most accessible and easy-to-use scalable blockchain network.

Q: How do you stay ahead of changes and innovations in the industry?

A: At SKALE, we don't chase trends or hype cycles. We rely on our technology and feedback from real-world developers to provide the best product.

Business Model and Tokenomics

Q: Can you share details about your project’s tokenomics? How is the token used within the ecosystem and what gives it value?

A: The SKL token serves four main functions:

Validating, Executing, and Securing. SKL token holders (delegators) stake their SKL tokens to validators who run nodes that make the SKALE network function by validating blocks, executing smart contracts, and securing the network.
Developer Subscription fees. Developers purchase their subscription access to SKALE chains using SKL tokens.
Rewards for Validators and Delegators. Rewards are accumulated monthly, based on fees paid by developers for chains and monthly inflation of tokens into the network.
Governance and Voting. SKL tokens will soon be used for on-chain voting, which will control all economic parameters of the SKALE Network.

Team

Q: Who are the key members in your team? Can you share a bit about their backgrounds?

A: Jack O’Holleran is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SKALE Labs. He is a veteran entrepreneur with a strong background in machine learning, artificial intelligence, security, and blockchain. Jack has been an active cryptocurrency investor and an evangelist for decentralized systems since 2013. He started working full-time in the crypto space in 2017 and has since established multiple Silicon Valley-based enterprise technology companies. He is also an Ethereum supporter and a strong believer in decentralized business models.

Stan Kladko is Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Skale Labs. Stan eats, breathes, and sleeps decentralization and cryptography. Prior to making it his life mission to help scale the blockchain, he spent many years attaining his PhD in Physics, spent 16+ years as a technology executive in Silicon Valley and has 18 years of cryptography experience. His resume includes Physics at Max Planck Institute, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Stanford. He is also an active member and contributor to the Ethereum Research Foundation.

Chadwick Strange is VP of Product at SKALE Labs. His passion is building ambitious products and exploring new technologies, and he is currently focused on building performant decentralized blockchain infrastructure. As a generalist with a career spanning various product management roles from early-stage startups to large corporations, Chadwick has a proven track record of bringing concepts to market.

Conner Murphy is Head of Sales at SKALE Labs, leading growth initiatives and supporting business operations. He’s passionate about the redistribution of resources and re-allocation of assets through blockchain technology.

Spring Dunn is Director of Marketing at SKALE Labs. Prior to this, she was the Director of Marketing at ZenLedger, a crypto tax platform.

More core members of the SKALE team can be found here.