Community Q&A

Recap of the Telegram AMA with Minterest CEO, Kyn Chaturvedi

Kyn 👤 Let’s move on to the Q&A, Admin.

I assume you’ll be asking all questions verbatim as they came in from the community?

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Host 🎙️ Ok lets do that.

Yes — unfiltered.

We will be sharing every question just as they have been worded by our community. Let’s begin!

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Q1 🎙️ How do you plan to nearly 50x the TVL from today till the goal of "market fit"?

👤 We addressed this earlier so in order to save time the link to the answer.

Q2 🎙️ What are your plans and financial resources for an upcoming bear market (if there should be one after the current bull)?

👤 The strategy is built on sustainability, not market timing. Both Stablecoin yield and enterprise liquidity are relatively cycle neutral. Yields and liquidity could be impacted a bit, but not overwhelmingly so.

Alongside that we are operating lean and seeking strategic partners to strengthen our position.

Q3 🎙️ Your mod team tell us you have been too busy to drop in and update us for the last 9 months. What exact progress have you made in this time?

👤 I address this earlier, so I’ll share a link to that section above again.

On a separate but very important note ⬇️

Related to the community channels on Telegram and Discord, we’ve always aimed to maintain an open space where everyone can share their thoughts, whether supportive, critical, or neutral. The moderators allow for quite some leeway.

However, we’ve seen a number of community members repeatedly crossing the line by personally attacking our moderation team.

While we understand that some frustrations come from wanting more answers, our moderators are human beings who have responsibilities to do their best in supporting this community.

Tough questions are fair. And some may not appreciate the responses received. However, personal attacks or harassment are not acceptable.

As such, I’ve instructed the moderation team to be less forgiving on such behavior moving forward. Let’s please keep the focus on productive discussion and facts.

The Rules are available and clear. Please do review them.

I appreciate the attention on this matter related to our moderation team.

Q4 🎙️ The company is now registered in BVI. Has ownership changed? Who has majority control?

👤 The current entity structure was created during the 2023-2024 restructuring.

Ownership remains aligned with the team and key strategic stakeholders who supported the project’s continuation.

Beyond that, details around company entities are private and have no bearing on product development or the protocol’s progress. We won’t be discussing internal structuring further.

Q5 🎙️ At what point do you affirm that the project is a failure and allow people to move on at a loss?

👤 The Minterest protocol continues to operate, generate yield, and provide value to its users with $USD Millions in yield generated via its suppliers and borrowers since launch. So it’s not a failure at all.

Coming back to the the team’s runway challenges, if sustainability becomes impossible despite best efforts, we will communicate it openly and take responsible steps to close operations properly.

Q6 🎙️ If the grassroots crypto community is no longer your 'market fit', why are you stringing us along on this insane journey to onboard institutions?

👤 The goal is to expand the ecosystem, not narrow it. Institutional and enterprise participation doesn’t replace the community. It strengthens it.

Retail and enterprise liquidity can coexist. The latter creates depth and stability, which benefits all users by supporting consistent yields and longer-term growth.

Q7 🎙️ What efforts are being made to attract the public to Minterest? What partnerships, if any, were formed at the Token 2049 forum? Are the listing conditions remaining unchanged?

👤 Yes, the team has been active on the conference circuit, including at Token2049.

Our focus remains consistent across the three areas we outlined earlier.

While there, we met with existing Minterest investors and ecosystem partners, as well as several potential new collaborators exploring opportunities within those same focus areas we covered above in the AMA

These discussions are ongoing, but there’s nothing concrete to announce yet. We will share anything of relevance with the community as it comes.

The listing strategy also remains unchanged. We’ll move forward once the project reaches stable product-market fit with sufficient liquidity and financial backing to provide for a healthier listing.

Q8 🎙️ What are the reasons for avoiding TGE — the market is bullish enough otherwise the low TVL should have been worked on with great marketing before now. High time MINTY goes liquid.

👤 The decision not to list yet is based on business fundamentals, not market conditions. Also covered earlier, a token launch without sustainable TVL would result in long-term weakness.

More on this is covered and remains consistent with our PMF blog post from earlier in the year. I am quote replying so we can share the relevant posts that Admin had provided.

Q9 🎙️ How many months runway does the project have remaining without new investment?

👤 We have reduced costs and extended runway for the next few months. Funding remains limited. We are operating lean while actively seeking strategic investment partners.

I was in two minds to include this one, but in the interest of transparency here it is… Q10 🎙️ "You east European thieves and pro liars. Give back ICO money or issue token."

👤 Really, Admin?…

First, we need to address the language used here.

Referring to anyone as “east European thieves” is racist and unacceptable.

We have team members from multiple countries who have worked hard to keep this project alive despite immense challenges. Disagreement is fine, but personal or discriminatory attacks are not.

As for the facts: the current team restructured and refinanced Minterest after the original entity (Minterest Labs) went bankrupt in 2023.

No funds from the original CAE or LBP are under this team’s control.

Even then, we ran the Stack or Skip campaign in April 2024, offering CAE participants a path to reclaim their original contribution: minterest.com/stack-or-skip

That’s not something “thieves or pro liars” would do.

Q11 🎙️ After the hack, how many team members were fired from the company? Who were they, and which specific sub-teams (not just the IT team) were responsible for the incident?

👤 After the 2024 breach, several contributors transitioned out. Roles were reorganised and new oversight processes implemented.

Public post here on that: docs.minterest.com/minterest-faq/security-audits/minterest-security-incident-documentation

We will not single out individuals. Leadership took responsibility for corrections, and the focus since then has been on strengthening our internal systems to prevent such incidents from repeating.

Q12 🎙️ Given the repeated delays in the TGE without clear or justifiable reasons (please avoid terms like “short-term hype” or “market conditions,” as the project is already five years behind), were there any discussions within the management team about resignations or terminating team members, including those in management?

👤 Our reasons for the TGE stance are covered in the AMA. Quote retweeting to the blog posts again.

And yes, since we’re apparently not allowed to say “short-term hype” or “market conditions,” in our own channel, I’ll say them both anyway to emphasize those are exactly what we’re not measuring TGE on.

There were no mass resignations. Some members departed during restructuring. Leadership focused on stabilising the protocol and continuity.

Q13 🎙️ Did the company ever consider terminating the project due to unfulfilled promises after five years, especially since it was once a leading lending platform but has lost its position, and refunding investors using personal funds from the CEO and team members?

👤 We have already discussed the moments where shutdowns nearly happened in the project’s history.

Refunding investors personally isn’t possible or appropriate. The project’s funding and operations are structured through the company, not individual team members.

What we’ve done instead is keep pushing to find a sustainable path forward so that all stakeholders still have a chance at value creation, rather than a hard stop.

Q14 🎙️ Will the company establish a DAO mechanism to allow investors (the true stakeholders) to vote on Minterest’s future, rather than relying on the current slow management?

👤 Interesting idea.

So, sure. We are open to exploring a DAO to allow investors to take control, but it must include full operational and financial responsibility too.

If capable (operational experience / financial capability) community members have genuine interest in taking that on, we can discuss it in more detail.

Reach out to our moderation team if this is something of interest

For now, the focus is on stabilising operations and reaching sustainability.

Q15 🎙️ Without vague excuses, when is the TGE scheduled to take place?

👤 This is not a timeline question. It is a conditions question.

TGE is tied to PMF and sustainable TVL, not a calendar date. The target is around 50 million TVL, where the protocol can then support a healthy market.

Launching before that would be premature. Once those conditions are met, the process can move quickly.

Q16 🎙️ How many persons are in Minterests Business development team and can we meet them on events?

👤 Right now, the business development function is handled by a small core team covering partnerships, growth, investments, and ecosystem relations collectively.

You can absolutely meet members of the team at major industry events like Token2049, EthCC, and others we attend throughout the year. We do tend to focus on holding meetings rather than running through the event halls.

That said, just look for the Minterest tag if you're in attendance, we’re always happy to chat in person.