The 1st SiriusPod🎙️ From Idea to Token: Building in Web3

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Siriuspad
@SiriusPad_Aug 8, 2025

The Spaces explores how four web3 projects move from idea to launch, focusing on product-market fit, token design, technical choices, compliance, community, and go-to-market. Jess hosts Naomi (Dexverse), Adi Alias (Fraction AI), Jonathan Wall (Chain Nova), and Tyler Foster (4th Block Games). Dexverse targets fragmented on-chain trading data with a chain-agnostic, real-time analytics stack and utility-first tokenomics, prioritizing quality users and multi-chain expansion. Fraction AI decentralizes AI training to reduce hallucinations, mitigate corporate bias, and generate new data via gamified adversarial prompting, with contributors earning credits ahead of TGE; they operate on Base, expanding to NEAR. Chain Nova builds a compliant, Sharia-certified L1 plus remittance wallet and exchange to connect blockchain with real-world finance, emphasizing utility-driven token demand and deep fintech/regulatory integration. 4th Block Games moves from Roblox/Fortnite to a proprietary Unreal Engine 5 FPS (Takeover) with player-owned assets; its simple token model recycles sales to buy/burn and govern the token, and it aligns with Sony Labs’ new chain while keeping its token on Ethereum. Across the board: sustainable incentives, compliance-by-design, and community co-creation drive their next-12-month roadmaps.

Serious Part Ep. 1 — From Idea to Launch: Comprehensive Summary and Notes

Session Overview

  • Host: Jess (also referred to once as Dr. Kina) opened the first episode of “Serious Part,” a series focused on how Web3 projects progress from idea to launch.
  • Market context (as referenced by the host): Noted broad crypto volatility, citing Bitcoin dropping below 115k tied to U.S. tariffs and profit-taking; framed the episode around the practical challenges of turning ideas into shipped products.
  • Guests/projects: Dexverse (Naomi), Fraction AI (Adi Alias), Chain Nova (Jonathan Wall), 4th Block Games (Tyler Foster).
  • Structure: For each project, the discussion covered the problem/why, tokenomics, tech stack/chain choice, biggest challenges, community building, launch strategy, and near-term vision (12 months).

Participants

  • Jess (Host, “Serious Part”).
  • Naomi — Dexverse.
  • Adi Alias — Head of Growth, Fraction AI. Mentions CEO Shashank (founder), Prof. Charles Elkan, and Rohan in context of research.
  • Jonathan Wall — Founder, Chain Nova.
  • Tyler Foster — CEO, 4th Block Games.

Dexverse (Naomi)

Problem & Why

  • Addresses fragmented, noisy on-chain data that leaves DEX traders with limited visibility and reliance on surface-level charts or slow dashboards.
  • Goal: Make DeFi/DEX data truly usable via real-time, multi-chain insights and actionable signals that “cut through the noise.”

Tokenomics

  • Utility- and access-driven rather than speculative: token grants premium analytics/features, early token discovery, community governance.
  • Rewards tied to engagement and data contribution, aiming for a sustainable circular ecosystem (explicitly “not a pump-and-dump”).

Tech Stack & Chain Rationale

  • Chain-agnostic, NoSQL-oriented design; built to scale across ecosystems.
  • Prioritizes fast indexing and real-time streams with custom aggregation engines, enabling multi-chain analytics without sacrificing latency/quality.

Biggest Challenges & Solutions

  • Challenge: Real-time indexing and accurate historical data collection across multiple chains; reliability and latency are critical for traders.
  • Solution: Built a proprietary aggregation layer to filter/prioritize high-signal data, improving UX speed and reducing false positives.

Community Building

  • Strategy: Quality over quantity; cultivate a core base of real traders and power users via airdrops, early access, and open alpha.
  • Engagement: Weekly analysis reports, partnerships (with “calls”/influencers), active feedback loops through Telegram; emphasis on listening and evolving with users.

Launch Strategy

  • Product launch targeted for this month; token launch planned for next year.
  • Efforts pre-launch: Simplifying the analytics UI, aligning tools with investor needs.
  • Collaborating with VCs, KOLs/community leaders on token strategy; encourages following socials for updates.

12‑Month Vision

  • Short term: Major platform update later this month to enhance functionality and UX; single dashboard for real-time DEX data, portfolio control, and one-click swapping.
  • 12 months: Integrate at least 20 chains; open API access; grow community to 100k+ users; make Dexverse the default analytics layer for decentralized trading.

Fraction AI (Adi Alias)

Problem & Why

  • Three core problems in AI today:
    • Hallucinations (e.g., misgenerated images, inaccurate outputs).
    • Company bias in centralized models (examples mentioned: Grok, ChatGPT, Gemini image outputs).
    • Scarcity of “new” data (exhausted web-scale scraping).
  • Solution: Decentralize AI training across a large, global community; between testnet and mainnet they recorded 32M training sessions. Low barrier (a phone and a connection) lets anyone train agents.
  • Benefits: Massive training reduces hallucinations; gamified agent competitions (e.g., rap battles) create novel data and drive model evolution.

Tokenomics

  • Not yet publicly disclosed; TGE “coming soon.”
  • Core principle: Contributors earn a “fraction of the intelligence” they help create. Training AI agents yields rewards (fraxes/points), translated to tokens at TGE.

Chain Choice & Rationale

  • Currently on Base; partnership with NEAR announced; multi-chain roadmap.
  • Transparency rationale: Blockchain enables open verification of training activity (open source + block explorer visibility for training counts).
  • Load considerations: On Sepolia testnet, Fraction AI once represented ~92% of network traffic; chose Base for high throughput and low fees; NEAR and other major chains to follow.

Biggest Challenges & Solutions

  • Challenge: Sourcing large-scale human participation for training; traditional labeling is tedious.
  • Solution: Gamification via “gamified adversarial prompting.” Published research led by the founder (Shashank) with Prof. Charles Elkan, Rohan, etc. Agents compete to improve; fosters evolving agents, a rarity in the field.

Community Building

  • CEO Shashank is highly responsive; Discord “ideas” channel leads to implemented community suggestions.
  • Built own “InfoFi” to reward contributions with attention points (quality-over-quantity; rewards for valuable content and engagement, not follower counts).
  • Weekly community calls (Fridays); active, game-like engagement culture.

Launch Strategy

  • TGE is upcoming (per roadmap). Prior launches include mainnet, Base mainnet, and Sepolia testnet.
  • Process: Set expectation windows (e.g., “end of month”), run countdowns (10/7-day), and deliver; reported smooth launches.

12‑Month Vision

  • Immediate: TGE; expand “Spaces” (AI training rooms) with partners.
  • Partnerships: Models/agents from partners (e.g., Sentiment Foundation’s “Bobby”) trained on Fraction AI.
  • Roadmap: More partner-specific AI spaces, TGE, nodes rollout; overall goal is growth and more opportunities for contributors to earn.

Chain Nova (Jonathan Wall)

Problem & Why

  • Mission: Close the gap between blockchain and real-world financial utility; provide fast, ethical, inclusive financial tools for billions.
  • Offering: A scalable infrastructure with multiple products — Layer 1 chain, remittance wallet, a Sharia-compliant company and a centralized exchange.
  • Target users: Emerging markets and culturally diverse communities, not only crypto-native users.
  • Institution onboarding: Bring large companies/institutions on-chain with trust, traceability, and compliance; aspire to near-instant global remittances (e.g., Western Union-like but “in seconds”).

Tokenomics

  • Utility-based and sustainability-focused (not speculation-driven).
  • Revenue (remittance/trading fees) supports buybacks and ecosystem growth.
  • No VC unlock overhang; emissions/incentives tied to adoption timelines (avoid “hype cycles”).

Tech Stack & Chain Rationale

  • Built a bespoke L1 from scratch to meet needs for speed, sovereignty, compliance, and cohesive product integration.
  • Full control over validator rules and governance; native support for RWAs.
  • Integrated design for the wallet, DEX/CEX, and other products to optimize UX and performance.

Biggest Challenges & Solutions

  • Core challenge: Navigating complex and contradictory regulations across jurisdictions while scaling.
  • Approach: Compliance from day one — Sharia certifications, KYC/AML, audits per jurisdiction; legal groundwork across LATAM, MENA, Asia. This thorough compliance posture delayed timelines but avoids later pivots.

Community Building

  • Emphasis on utility-first onboarding (remittances, ethical trading) rather than meme-driven growth.
  • Programs: Ambassador hubs, local workshops, education in native languages; university partnerships (e.g., in Jeddah) and seminars (e.g., in Spain).
  • Leverage team’s academic expertise; highlight sustainability (e.g., product with significantly lower environmental footprint) to resonate beyond crypto-native circles.

Launch Strategy

  • L1 and wallet showing strong organic growth; ~700k wallets created in last six months.
  • Security and compliance milestones prioritized; staggered/delayed events to ensure readiness.
  • What worked: Grassroots partnerships, fintech integrations, meticulous product polish.
  • What didn’t: Underestimated time for institutional onboarding; bureaucracy and licensing delays vary widely by country.

12‑Month Vision

  • Goal: Become the go-to crypto infrastructure for RWAs, remittances, and ethical trading in priority regions (MENA and beyond).
  • Targets: Reach 1M users imminently; scale L1 to ~50k TPS without bottlenecks (with headroom to upgrade); maintain utility, compliance, local trust.
  • Token plans: IEOs, private rounds/presales; target exchange listing(s) in Mexico.
  • Partnerships: Anticipated government contract announcement (name referenced as “Arnav”).
  • AI roadmap: Integrate AI (“Skynet” concept) to automate deployments, audits, token validations, and more across the stack.

4th Block Games (Tyler Foster)

Problem & Why

  • Pivoted from building maps in Roblox and Fortnite to owning IP and enabling true player-owned items.
  • Launch title: “Takeover,” a first-person shooter built in Unreal Engine 5, with player-owned skins, items, and battle passes — firmly Web3 ownership-focused.

Tokenomics

  • Simple, game-first, sales-driven model (“sales-to-earn”/SaaS-like):
    • 5% of all in-game purchases (across ecosystem titles) is used to buy the FBG token.
    • Of that, 50% is burned; 50% funds governance.
  • Governance treasury purposes may include token listing costs, acquiring game IPs to bring into the ecosystem, and other community-guided growth initiatives.
  • Design intent: Avoid play-to-earn inflation and decouple token health from gameplay exploitation; instead, tie token value directly to game sales.

Chain Choice & Rationale

  • Token: Currently on Ethereum.
  • NFTs/in-game: Building exclusively on Soneium (Sony Labs’ Ethereum L2 mainnet launched this year). If needed later, FBG may bridge to Soneium for in-game token features (e.g., skill-based wagering) via an L3 partner.
  • Selection process: Evaluated Base, Avalanche, Immutable (and others); chose Soneium for brand strength, alignment with gaming, and partner ecosystem. Expect to be Soneium’s first shooter/FPS and leverage their network effects.

Biggest Challenges & Solutions

  • Market headwinds for GameFi over the last 1–2 years; continued need to show game-first, long-term legitimacy.
  • Earlier strategy (Roblox/Fortnite) struggled to scale without large marketing budgets; pivoted to own IP/control via UE5.
  • Communication and resource reallocation through the pivot were significant internal challenges.

Community Building

  • Community is deeply integrated with the product vision.
  • Worldbuilding: Dystopian “Takeover” universe with 5 corporate factions and 3 resistance factions (examples: Legion of Ghosts, “Chicaws” fast-food faction). Players pick allegiances.
  • Engagement: Telegram faction groups; upcoming Discord guilds. Two core modes:
    • Takeover Battles: Jump-in FPS combat with special FX.
    • Takeover Factions: Persistent, metaverse-like mode; build up your faction weekly, then fight weekend “No Man’s Land” battles for rewards (tokens, NFTs) and social/map takeovers.

Launch Strategy

  • Grassroots token launch on Uniswap (no launchpad). Day 1 was chaotic due to lack of max-wallet: a sniper acquired ~30% of supply. The team spent ~2–3 weeks buying back after dumps to stabilize.
  • ATH market cap ~ $5M; currently ~ $0.5M (approximate figures shared in session). Moving forward, expects support to grow with Soneium integration.
  • Lesson learned: Implement anti-bot/max-wallet measures; grassroots can work but is high risk.

12‑Month Vision

  • Product: Closed invite alpha in 1–2 months; approach close-to-beta within 12 months, with more testers, streamers, and content momentum.
  • Funding: US-incorporated; moving from pre-seed to seed. Grants and fundraising to accelerate marketing and dev hiring.
  • Ambition: Significant scale-up in player base following capital infusion and Soneium ecosystem effects.

Cross‑Cutting Takeaways & Insights

  • Utility over hype: All guests emphasized real utility and sustainable models (analytics usability, decentralized AI training, compliant financial infra, sales-driven game tokenomics).
  • Multi-chain pragmatism: Dexverse is chain-agnostic; Fraction AI is Base-first with NEAR and others planned; Chain Nova built a specialized L1; 4th Block Games combines Ethereum for token with Soneium for NFTs/game infra.
  • Compliance and trust: Chain Nova’s compliance-from-day-one approach (Sharia, KYC/AML, audits) is a heavy lift but strategic for institutional adoption. Others highlighted transparency (e.g., Fraction AI’s on-chain training records).
  • Data and real-time performance: Dexverse’s proprietary aggregation for low-latency, high-signal analytics reflects a broader need for speed and reliability in Web3 data products.
  • Gamification and community co-creation: Fraction AI’s gamified training and 4th Block Games’ faction-based worldbuilding underscore how community participation can create value (new data, retention, and network effects).
  • Launch strategy lessons: Set expectation windows versus fixed dates (Fraction AI); invest in anti-bot/mechanisms at TGE/DEX launches (4th Block Games); product-led growth and fintech integrations drive adoption (Chain Nova); staged rollouts with UI simplification and feedback loops (Dexverse).

Key Highlights (At-a-Glance)

  • Dexverse: Shipping this month; 20-chain integration and API access within 12 months; aims to be the default DEX analytics layer.
  • Fraction AI: TGE soon; 32M+ training sessions; gamified decentralized training; multi-chain expansion; nodes on the roadmap.
  • Chain Nova: ~700k wallets in 6 months; bespoke L1; imminent 1M-user target; IEOs/presales/listings planned; AI “Skynet” tooling to automate deployments/audits.
  • 4th Block Games: Takeover (UE5 FPS) entering closed alpha in 1–2 months; Soneium partnership; simple sales-driven tokenomics with burn/governance; seed raise underway.

Closing

  • Jess wrapped by reiterating the series’ mission: open up the builders’ behind-the-scenes journeys (sleepless nights, pilots, breakthroughs) and invite listeners to continue with the next episode. Guests thanked the audience and each other.