Cypher Talks: A Conversation with Bill Qian, Andrew Rogozov, and Sasha Plotvinov
Compiled by Cypher Capital & ChainCatcher
Cypher Talks is a series of conversations jointly launched by Cypher Capital and ChainCatcher. Bill Qian, Chairman of Cypher Capital and a board member of the TON Foundation, will be the core speaker, engaging with the most prominent projects and ecosystem builders in the industry to explore Web3 methodology.
Previously, we had the opportunity to speak with Steve Yun, President of the TON Foundation. You can read the dialogue about the creation of the “Web3 Super App Ecosystem” here. In this edition, we have invited Andrew Rogozov, founder and CEO of The Open Platform, and Sasha Plotvinov, leader of Open Builders, the team behind the popular application Notcoin.
Notcoin has rapidly taken the crypto industry by storm, boasting a total of 35 million players and 6 million active users daily, making it a “phenomenon” in the community. Andrew Rogozov, a founding member of the TON Foundation, is also the founder and CEO of The Open Platform (TOP). Sasha Plotvinov, on the other hand, leads Open Builders, responsible for creating Notcoin and other popular products on the TON blockchain.
Bill Qian, Chairman of Cypher Capital and Chief Investment Officer of Phoenix Group, hosts this interview. Together with Andrew and Sasha, we delve into the development journey of Notcoin, including rapid adoption, challenges faced, and future visions.
Bill: Could both of you share your professional backgrounds and how you entered the cryptocurrency industry?
Andrew: My curiosity about decentralized technology led me to embark on the journey into the crypto industry. Prior to founding TOP, I had a background in technology, particularly in social media platforms. I served as the CEO of VK, one of Eastern Europe’s largest social networks, where we experimented with various social engagement mechanisms. These experiences laid the foundation for the work we do today on Notcoin.
Sasha: My journey did not begin in the crypto industry. I started as a product manager at a startup in California in 2013, when I was still a designer. As the company grew from 30 employees to 1500, I felt it was time for new challenges. When Andrew and I discussed the possibility of collaborating with VK.com, it sparked our interest in exploring new opportunities. After considering various product ideas like job boards and user-friendly systems, we eventually shifted our focus to the TON ecosystem and built upon it. This decision allowed us to create a launch platform during a challenging market period, driven by our belief in the industry’s growth potential. Over time, we expanded our platform to serve a broader Telegram community, offering a comprehensive set of marketing activities, NFT minting, token sales, and community engagement tools. This transition began a year ago, marking a significant milestone in our journey.
Bill: Notcoin attracted over 35 million Telegram users in just two months, achieving significant growth. What do you think led to this rapid expansion?
Andrew: Rapid expansion can be attributed to several key factors. Firstly, a simple onboarding process – users on Telegram can start using the application without any complex verification processes. Secondly, viral spread – 94% of users were invited by others, with incentives for inviting friends and participating in teams. Lastly, leaderboards – as people enjoy competing with each other, we created a highly competitive environment. Various leaderboards within the community, teams, and invitees attracted users to engage in friendly competition, especially appealing to the most active participants.
Sasha: I agree. Simplicity and viral spread are game-changers. Users can start earning rewards with just a click of a button, making it very user-friendly. Additionally, from an educational standpoint, users can learn more about cryptocurrency through various tasks and activities, adding significant value. Integration with Telegram’s social graph also allows users to easily share and invite friends, driving the growth flywheel.
Bill: How did you decide on the name and logo for Notcoin? I noticed that the logo is similar to the Ton Foundation’s logo.
Andrew: The main concept of Notcoin was to create a more educational and accessible way to acquire Ton tokens. By using a simple click mechanism and a playful word game from “Ton” to “Not,” the project aims to attract a wider community.
Bill: What was the biggest challenge you faced when building Notcoin?
Andrew: I believe the biggest challenge was the unexpectedly massive growth, which required us to rapidly scale our infrastructure. Telegram faced limitations due to unprecedented growth, such as limits on the number of users in group chats. To address this issue, we created separate groups for different languages and utilized Telegram’s group topic feature. This allowed for more organized communication and enhanced user interaction. While growth presented challenges, it also prompted improvements to the Telegram platform. Scaling our infrastructure during this rapid expansion was the most difficult aspect. Additionally, combating bot fraud activities required complex algorithms to ensure fairness and a genuine user base.
Sasha: I’ll be honest with you; one of the biggest challenges was working for eight months without weekends, starting from displaying a QR code pointing to the Notcoin beta version at our meeting in November. The workload surged, a pile of tasks came at us, and the process was quite challenging and exhausting. Of course, we now realize the need to change the pace, improve organization within the team, and make work more rhythmic.
On the technical side, handling a large number of user requests was also challenging. We had to optimize our database, distribute workloads across servers in different countries, and minimize peak times. Some days, we started working at 8 in the morning and worked hard until 11 at night to ensure the application’s performance. Although it was tough, as a team, we learned a lot, especially since we had never dealt with such high traffic before. Now, we have the capability and experience to confidently face new challenges, which are just another feature to be resolved.
Bill: Setting up a TON-based cryptocurrency wallet for users is an important step. How does this integration benefit Notcoin?Andrew: When users first enter the crypto industry, wallets are not their top priority. Instead, they may be curious about cryptocurrency and start using it as beginners. It is important to have user-friendly tools for beginners, such as toolkits. People often start using cryptocurrency by engaging in interactive crypto features, such as interacting with specific crypto assets. Most people only start installing wallets after receiving tokens from others. Therefore, our project, Notcoin, has become one of the fastest-growing crypto applications globally by distributing tokens to millions of users and encouraging them to create wallets to store the tokens.
Users can choose from five different crypto wallets, including hosted wallets within Telegram and self-hosted wallets both within and outside Telegram. This flexibility allows users to choose the wallet that best suits their preferences. Our partners in the project have clearly seen the exponential growth in the number of users and have recognized the educational value our project holds. Emphasizing the concept of receiving the first token is a key factor in sparking curiosity and engagement in the crypto space. Notcoin’s unique distribution model, involving large ICOs for a single token in a short period of time, has contributed to its success.
Bill: What part of the project surprised both of you? Were you surprised when it reached a million users right from the start?
Andrew: I anticipated this outcome because we launched a similar project before 2019. However, we were unsure of how it would perform on Telegram due to its unique platform and diverse user base in different countries. Each country has its own way of using Telegram, some for social interactions, some for channel chats, and some for group participation. The diversity in user behavior across markets is something we had to learn and adapt to when expanding the project on Telegram, which was unexpected.
Sasha: Looking back to November, I had models and forecasting plans. Although not all my goals have been achieved yet, we are very close to meeting the planned targets. When we stopped the clicker section on April 1st, we already had 35 million users. One surprise was when we invited users to donate to Telegram, we received donations from 500,000 people, with 250,000 people donating all their tokens. This generosity encouraged us to give back and promote positive wealth creation methods that benefit everyone. By nurturing a thriving ecosystem, our goal is to achieve mutual success, avoiding users facing failure or fruitless efforts.
Bill: Notcoin is the first project to be listed on all major exchanges simultaneously. How do both of you feel about this? What advice do you have for other projects going through the token listing process?
Andrew: For us, this is an incredible milestone. Having listings on major exchanges like OKX and Binance simultaneously has provided us with immense exposure and credibility. My advice for other projects is to focus on user value rather than immediate tokenization. Take Telegram, for example, it did not monetize in the first seven years, allowing the community to grow in value. This strategy has proven to be successful, as projects can only attract exchange participation with a strong and engaged community. I believe founders should prioritize creating long-term, sustainable value for users, which will naturally attract exchange partnerships. It’s all about building something meaningful, letting value speak for itself, ultimately leading to fruitful partnerships that benefit all stakeholders.
Sasha: Building something viral on Telegram may not be difficult, but ensuring its sustainability, fairness, and transparency is the real challenge. In the long run, only projects that are sustainable and fulfill their commitments will thrive. My advice is to not only focus on “viral spread” but also on the goals and long-term vision behind the efforts. Project plans should prioritize sustainability. Test your ideas early and thoroughly, addressing any doubts or uncertainties. Proactively solve problems from the beginning and enhance project adaptability, avoiding future issues.
Bill: In terms of community culture, how do users perceive Notcoin, especially new crypto users with different cultural backgrounds and perspectives on tokens? How do users view the value of Notcoin?
Andrew: I believe Sasha has played a crucial role in shaping the project’s value and community. Notcoin prioritizes its users and community over conducting secretive token sales or seeking investors. The project’s unique approach involves a significant token distribution, making participants feel valued and connected to the community’s success. By providing rewards and incentives to encourage users to hold onto their tokens rather than selling immediately, this sense of unity and community ownership sets Notcoin apart, emphasizing the power of cryptocurrency and blockchain in empowering individuals and fostering shared success and ownership within communities.
Bill: The crypto industry changes rapidly. What is the vision for Notcoin and the TON ecosystem in the next 12 to 24 months?
Andrew: I believe Notcoin has the potential to grow tenfold, including a thriving community, expanded token holders, and more. This growth may not necessarily result in a tenfold increase in the number of users, but it could significantly impact the overall market value. As more users engage with the platform, more games and experiences will be introduced, enriching the community.
I think TON should actively attract and welcome developers to the system, providing them with comprehensive tool support. Developer tools not only provide additional incentives for developers but also benefit users participating in the ecosystem. The TON team is currently working on building an open alliance to assist all contributors and organize global events, educating builders on how to collaborate to create the next Notcoin or DeFi protocol on TON, Telegram, Mini Apps, and the ecosystem. This aligns with the focus of other blockchain ecosystems, but the unique aspect here is the combination of blockchain and the platform built on top of it sharing resources.
Sasha: The most valuable part of the ecosystem is people’s attention and time. This makes me realize that educating users and encouraging them to bring value to the ecosystem are key to its growth. In the next four years, my vision is to establish a series of effective and automated subsystems within the Notcoin ecosystem, including competitions, influencer collaborations, and governance processes. The goal is to have these subsystems seamlessly collaborate, collectively creating and attracting value within the ecosystem.
Another aspect to consider is that we realized from the beginning that the clicker feature could not sustain continuous growth and engagement in the long run. To prevent the popularity of Notcoin from declining slowly, we decided to transition from the mining phase to a more construction-focused phase, hence closing the clicker on April 1st. Our current strategy is to launch new viral social games, which promote community engagement, collaboration, and competition through leaderboards. Our first game is expected to be announced and launched in June, marking the exciting new direction of Notcoin.
