AMA #6 With Apollo

by Marvin Dumont

Here are questions and answers from the AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on Feb. 12, 2020. Follow Apollo’s official Telegram for more AMAs.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #1

Since you wanted questions about the new website, I have a few. Great products btw, I see the connection and interaction between all products.

You’re offering a whole ecosystem to a nation — to empower trade for consumers, merchants, business, banks and government. It has the potential to bring countries economic prosperity in a structural and transparent way. Executed properly, I see win-wins everywhere.

Apollo National Currency system

1) Is it developed in cooperation with one or more nations?

2) Will a national currency replace bills (and coins) by digital currency (Apollo Wallet)? Not everybody has a phone, hence no wallet.

Steve McCullah, Director of Business Development, Apollo

I am going to have to selectively go through your questions, for time purposes, but you have some good ones I will touch on when I can. Love the detail.

Anyway, even in Africa just about every single person has a phone, for those that don’t we will work with the government to issue NFC cards and assist with the distribution of $6 cell phones.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #2

National Currency System

You said something about hardware coming? Could you expand on that? Is it POS (Point of Sale) for merchants and/or phones for people? Or something totally different?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

We will release this information in the near future.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #3

National Currency Platform

On benefits mentioned, there’s no cost to the government to run. Is that realistic? Software needs to be developed, monitored, adjusted to new rules and regulations. Will governments pay for Apollo’s services? Is there a steady income stream for Apollo Fintech?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

Without going into too much detail, we are not just selling software but administration, hosting, etc. If chosen, with this model we make a transaction fee and this pays for the administration and expenses.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #4

Apollo Tax System

Are taxes immediately withheld from economic transactions and are immediately paid to the government, instead of via the merchant? So I’m thinking about taxes like VAT (value added tax)? Any other kind of taxes possible?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

A simple example: The government can issue a retailer a wallet to use for his store. It’s purpose is to accept payments from clients. With this wallet, the government would automatically deduct VAT for each transaction. This is a major selling point.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #5

Apollo Commodity Exchange

What kind of commodities are we talking about?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

Mostly gold and other commodities that are standardized by weight.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #6

Apollo Mineral System

There’s no cost for implementation and administration. The daily function can be administered by the Apollo Fintech staff. Can the system be customized to fit individual needs? Is there a steady revenue stream here for Apollo Fintech?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

We accept payments and remove a fee from each payment.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #7

Apollo Mineral Claim System

How does this create demand for Apollo Currency ?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

Apollo gets accepted as legal tender.

The Apollo Blockchain powering government software manages hundreds of billions of dollars.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #8

Apollo Mineral Claim System

In the screenshot on the website, I see payments in APL. Will this be part of a national currency package as well?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

It is part of a system but can be utilized separately.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #9

White Label Payment System

Does this product compete with Ripple/token XRP?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

Actually, our bank-to-bank platform is what competes with Ripplenet.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #10

White Label Payment System

All transactions are on a distributed ledger. Is this a private/permissioned ledger?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

This would be a private DLT. It offers the company the security of a DLT with many of the positives of a centralized database.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #11

White Label Payment System

What about privacy? Can anybody look up a transaction in a specific nation through the National Currency block explorer ?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

It is left up to the discretion of the government. But in most cases, with the National Currency System, only the government would be able to view the entire blockchain.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #12

Apollo Bank Network

How can payments to international banks be instant if they’re still using old systems with 3+ days settlement? What about privacy for consumers?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

It’s a private DLT. [It has] all the security of blockchain but with the privacy of a centralized database.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #13

Apollo Bank Network

Is there a revenue stream for Apollo Fintech?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

We generate revenue from transaction fees.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #14

Apollo Bank Network

Will this increase demand for Apollo currency?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

This would increase demand the same way Ripplenet created and maintains demand for XRP.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #15

Knox Exchange

1) What does “it’s an Earth shaping product” mean? World changing?

2) Knox exchange will help the unbanked with physical locations. But will they still need an app for their crypto or can they store crypto with a physical bank location?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

Smartphones are quite common in Africa as smartphone technology has gotten quite affordable. A phone to the majority of Africans is a status symbol, and something they invest money into. There are a few options we have planned, offering very affordable smart phones, NFC cards and a few more devices we will refer to later.

A good example is 50% of Zimbabweans have smartphones, but almost none of them have a bank account.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #16

Apollo Cash

Is Apollo Cash a payment system?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

Yes, this is a P2P payment system that combines many of the benefits of PayPal, Moneygram and SMS payment solutions.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #17

Apollo Cash

Transaction are registered on DLT. What about privacy for consumers?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

The DLT for Apollo Cash will not be public. It will simply replace a traditional database.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #18

Apollo Cash

Will Apollo Cash be available worldwide?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

Absolutely. Payments can be sent worldwide, but we will focus on strategic areas for physical locations and work it out.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #19

Can we expect a news flow after publishing the CEX?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

Yes, we have quite a bit coming after this.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #20

Will Apollo be quantum computing resistant?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

Quantum resistance is a major priority for us as is security in general, not just for Apollo but all products. We are working on proprietary technology for this purpose.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #21

Is Apollo pegged to any currency at the moment?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

No, but there will be stable coins and commodities pegged to tokens on the Apollo Blockchain soon.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #22

How does the debit card come into play? And will the Apollo holders, node servicers, or network receive a fee for card or SMS transactions?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

We will accept CC [credit cards] with Knox and many of our other platforms. CCs can be used for everything from buying a product to topping up their P2P account.

As far as issuing a debit card, this is also something that we are working on for our ecosystem (including Knox). But it’s not something we will have in phase one. Debit cards will draw off of the user’s balance within the universal wallet system.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #23

How do I order my card and how much will it cost?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

Card issuing will be free in the U.S. but may cost something small abroad.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #24

Will there be an application for Android and IOS regarding CEX?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

We will 100% have IOS and Android apps for Knox.

COMMUNITY QUESTION #25

At what development stage are Apollo’s new products? Are they already developed? Any release date or time frame?

Steve McCullah, Apollo

Nearly all commercial and government products are built from a base product that is completed. But from there, they are customized to the specifications of that client.

Apollo (APL) all-in-one currency combines nearly all features of mainstream cryptocurrencies into the fastest blockchain in the world. Boasting features and advancements such as the first implementation of database sharding, as well as adaptive forging, atomic swaps, two-second blocks, encrypted messaging, decentralized marketplace, decentralized exchange, decentralized applications, and decentralized file storage, Apollo stands as the most feature-rich cryptocurrency on the market. And one of the most advanced.