The Orchid token (OXT) will be listed on the Bitcoin.com Exchange on Wednesday, August 5th, at 10:00 am UTC with OXT/BTC and OXT/USDT trading pairs. We recently had the chance to sit down with the team of Orchid and learn more about their app and what they envision for the future.
How would you describe Orchid to someone who has never heard of Blockchain?
Orchid is an app you can download to protect your privacy when you use the Internet.
What’s the founding story behind orchid? What was the spark that made you think that this was a solution needed?
Our team consists of engineers, cryptocurrency experts, technologists, and partners dedicated to creating an Internet free of surveillance and censorship. This idea isn’t new; there are people across the globe dedicated to this cause. We believe Orchid will help the world finally create this reality.
In 2017, the Orchid co-founders started discussing ways to create an Internet free of surveillance and censorship that everyone in the world could access. With a passion for where we wanted to go and a firm idea of how to get there, we knew we needed the technological expertise and funding to make this happen.
Since then, we have grown an incredible team based in San Francisco and Berlin and launched the first incentivized, peer-to-peer privacy network in December, 2019.
What makes Orchid stand out from other VPN providers? What would you tell someone who is currently using a “standard” VPN to make them look into Orchid?
Orchid is an incentivized VPN marketplace. This differentiates us in a few key ways. First, the presence of multiple providers allows users to configure “hops” that route traffic through multiple separate nodes. This means no single provider has the whole picture of Internet activity. Second, our payments model, which includes the innovation of nanopayments, is pay-as-you-go, so users only pay for the bandwidth they use. Compared to a system like Tor, our marketplace structure means there should always be ample bandwidth available.
What do you see as the biggest threat to privacy?
Apathy. We’ve reached a point where many people understand there is a problem with Internet surveillance but don’t feel they have any viable alternative. Part of our mission is to let people know that there are tools they can use to protect their privacy when they go online.
How many people are currently using Orchid on a regular basis? Do you have business clients?
Orchid’s commitment to privacy is such that we do not have any statistics about user numbers. We don’t track or view who uses the platform.
Where would you like to be in terms of user numbers and general usage of the network this time next year?
See previous answer. Our goal is and will remain to bring Internet privacy to as many people as possible by delivering the best possible solutions in terms of both privacy and user experience.
When looking at your website, the theme is very much nature-inspired with bunnies, birds and ants. Could you explain the logic behind that?
The Internet was first conceived as a place of curiosity and free exploration. Over the decades, it has morphed into a sometimes-scary arena of surveillance and risk. We want to restore its original freedom and openness, and our motifs reflect that goal.
Considering that Orchid is a utility token, what are your thoughts on secondary trading? Does the price of the token make any difference for you?
Orchid is focused on building privacy software and doesn’t comment on token price.
Finally, what do you think about the health of the cryptocurrency industry? Is mass adoption imminent or still far off?
We don’t view this in a binary way. Crypto will take off where it meets a need. We’re seeing this around privacy, not just with Orchid but with other platforms. DeFi similarly has seen extremely strong growth. Where weaker use cases have tried to exploit the anything-goes, “Bitcoin lemonade” trends, there will be less adoption. It’s not about crypto as such, but its ability to make people’s lives better.
