Chris Chris 03.02.2023

Zinnia Represents the Quest for a Sustainable, Transparent, Decentralized Future — Interview with Stuart, Co-founder of Zinnia.network

How's everybody doing? This time around we are talking to —  Stuart Menzies, Co-founder of Zinnia.network

Chris: Hi there! Thanks for taking the time with me. ZinniaNetwork "Seeds The Impossible — Grows the Future" — can you unpack this slogan for us? What's your mission?  

Stuart: Hi Chris, thanks for taking the time and interest in Zinnia Network. 

Sure, the concept of Zinnia Network and the slogan "Seed The Impossible, Grow the Future" was born from the Zinnia flower grown on the International Space Station in 2016. The fact that a humble Zinnia seed bloomed into a flower proves that life can flourish beyond the confines of earth, ultimately representing something previously thought impossible and becoming a symbol of the future. 

This mirrored our ambitions of building a smart contract enabled, hybrid proof-of-work (POW), proof-of-stake (POS) blockchain run by its users, utilising a layer one decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) as its overall governance structure. 

Our Vision is "to create a decentralised future where everyone has fundamental digital ownership, security & freedom through open innovation and transparency", and our mission is "to protect and secure data for all humankind". 

To execute our mission, the Zinnia DAO will function as the ultimate on-chain governance structure for layer 1 and fund Web3 projects/tools to be built on layer 2. These tools are to be built specifically for the everyday person with a focus on protecting and securing their data for the cost of a small transaction fee. Many internet-based companies make tools for the public to use for free. However, in exchange for these free, convenient tools, our data is collected and harvested by the world's biggest companies. We desperately need internet-based privacy and the ability to prove and own our day-to-day digital interactions.   

You may ask how we expect to achieve this, so I will explain.

Zinnia's DAO is self-funded by the network, with 10% of every block reward going into its fully decentralised treasury. Project proposals are made to the DAO and voted on by its users. Successful projects that receive approval from Zinnia Network will receive funding from the treasury. Treasury funds cannot be spent without stakeholder approval.  

Chris: Can briefly explain to our readers what Web3 is and why are you betting on it?

Stuart: Web3 is the new version of the internet that will change how we interact online. However, the future of Web3 is not just about the internet; it's about how we live, work, and interact.

Web3 will transform all aspects of our lives, from how we communicate, conduct business, manage our finances and even play games. It will give people a more direct connection to their governments, financial institutions, and communities; however, this must be done with online safety and privacy in mind.

The need for Web3 has been born from the control, censorship, and centralisation of the current internet as we know it. The centralised companies currently dominating Web2, whether financial, communications, social, or gaming, essentially all fall under the same umbrella. This has caused huge issues concerning the ownership of data, its permissibility, and how it's used by the entities described above and those who buy the data. We believe that data should be owned by you and used only with your understanding and explicit permission. 

‍Blockchain was originally designed to minimise the sole ownership of financial data from transactions and redirect it back into the user's control. Since the birth of Bitcoin, the technological world has realised that not only does this technology benefit your financial world, but it is also massively important in the security of your biodata. Web3 seeks to use the original blockchain fundamentals and couple them with your everyday digital footprint to make your online experience more independent and secure. 

‍The critical component of Web3 isn't just the security of blockchain cryptography and its use cases. The issue is centralisation vs. decentralisation. Centralised companies can still use blockchain technology; however, because it is centralised, data can still be deleted, manipulated, or corrupted. 

Zinnia Network aims to delete all potential failures by completely decentralising the decision-making process over the entire network and its suite of public tools.

Chris: Nice! What are the key features you can single out that make your project truly special?

Stuart: Here is why our project is truly special:

  • Hybrid POW/POS - GPU mining and staking rewards.
  • Layer 1 DAO for all aspects of on-chain governance.
  • User friendly layer 2 for everyday users.
  • Self funded network.
  • Fully decentralised treasury.
  • Stakeholder governed.
  • Web3 focused development 
  • Provide funding to build DAO approved layer 2 tools.
  • Tokenize and create NFT’s easily from within Zinnia Terminal (core wallet) and mobile wallet. 
  • Decentralized storage (post launch)

And there is lots more on the roadmap!

Chris: What are some of your most exciting plans this year?

Stuart: We are currently pre-launch, so the most exciting aspects for us this year will be releasing the public testnet and our launch, which we estimate to be towards the end of this year. We are also excited about our airdrop and grants programme, which we will provide more details to the public closer to launch. 

Chris: Would you mind telling us the origin story? How everything started?

Stuart: Most of the team has been involved in the cryptocurrency space since 2017 and met after being community members or volunteers of earlier blockchains such as Digibyte (DGB). Our lead Developer Gary Mckee was formerly the lead developer of DGB and has been a blockchain developer since 2012. In 2018 I co-founded the digital asset exchange sequoir.com, and several of the current team worked with me on this project. 

In mid-2021, we decided to start building Web3-based tools for public utilisation. However, we quickly realised that to achieve our goals and gain everyday users, the tools would have to be free to access and super cheap to use, so a traditional business model wasn't going to work with what we wanted to offer the public. After many months of discussion and brainstorming, we concluded the best way to move forward was to build a new smart contract enabled platform. 

Not wanting to control the network ourselves and knowing we needed to build a fully decentralised and user-governed blockchain, we decided the only way forward was to use a DAO structure at layer 1. Currently, the Decred (DCR) project is the only real layer 1 DAO-governed blockchain, and the core team has some of the best developers in the world. After a deep dive into their technology and game theory, we decided to move forward with a similar governance structure. 

The result is Zinnia Network.       

Chris: Do you have an active community?

Stuart: Yes, Zinnia Network is thriving with a bustling and dedicated community that is growing organically and getting bigger by the day! With over 3,900 active members on Discord, sending on average 350 messages daily, the community is diverse, active, and passionate about the future of Web3 and blockchain technology.

Twitter has also been a critical platform for us, where we have made impressive strides in reach and engagement. Our Crew3 community has been tremendous in boosting our social media presence by completing over 180k quests ranging from TikTok videos to Twitter tasks. Crew3 is a web-based tool that allows users to join communities primarily focused on Web3 projects and earn rewards by completing tasks referred to as ‘quests.’ 

But we're not resting on our laurels. We have already put plans into action to take our social media presence to the next level by leveraging our Crew3 community to achieve even greater engagement and growth.

And this is all just the beginning for Zinnia Network, as we will kick off our go-to-market campaign just before the public testnet and launch, focusing on miners, developers, stakers, and the general public. With our multi-faceted approach to social media and innovative use of the Crew3 platform, the team here at Zinnia Network is poised to make a significant impact in the world of crypto and beyond.

Chris: Great! To wrap up — can you share your thoughts on the current state of the crypto market?

Stuart: 2022 wasn't kind for the digital asset industry due to the de-fi market crash and multiple well-known exchanges filing for bankruptcy. The good news is we believe the outcome will be a more informed and mature market in the long run. While these events are painful for many, they usually encourage new ways of thinking and innovating.  

While cryptocurrency markets are a massive part of the overall industry, blockchain technology and its associated digital assets are far more than just speculative investment assets. We need easy-to-use, open-source, blockchain-based, web-accessible tools made available for anyone to use with a familiar user experience that are practical and serve a real purpose; this is why we are building the Zinnia Network. 

Chris: Thanks for the talk. Best of luck to you guys! Where can we follow your updates?

Stuart: Thanks, it’s been a pleasure to discuss what we are doing at Zinnia Network, here are some links where your readers can access all our most up-to-date information.  

 

See Also

UK Sets Out "Robust" Standards to Regulate Crypto Following FTX Crash SunMine Proposes an Ecological Way to Mine Cryptocurrencies Through the Use of Solar Panels — Interview with Jhonatan, CEO of SUNMINE Coin Gabbar: Crypto Information Marketplace — Interview with Sudeep, Co-founder of Coin Gabbar