https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmSoNY45zwfLncwz4eQgA1chvxuSMUzeTrMcDGLTpqiasP/APOLLO.jpg

1. The primary reason I came to Apollo was because of privacy. So I was disappointed when Private Ledger was removed from the updated roadmap. The current privacy features of Apollo is no doubt World-class. But as readily pointed out in the Technical Paper, Private Ledger was the final implementation that would guarantee 100% anonymity and privacy. So what's the team's final decision on implementation of private ledger? If it's still on the table, at least when should it be expected?

2. Initially Apollo was considered a DAO with the Team charged with the fulfillment of the roadmap and further development of the project. But now the Team is becoming a corporate body (a company) and hence a for-profit organization. What's the relationship between this company and the project? How's the company associated with the project? How is the company different/separate from the project?

3. Last update you gave regarding FAST APOLLO PROTOCOL was that there's just one element left for the implementation to be complete. Has this been released? I ask because it's now marked as completed on the roadmap but the effect is not visible on the blockchain. FAST APOLLO PROTOCOL is supposed to enhance Hermes blockchain with sub-seconds transactions confirmation speed. Of course we're already fast enough ATM but FAST APOLLO is beyond speed - it's the protocol that allows development of distributed exchanges among other t

Steve McCullah : Business Development Director - Apollo Currency

1. We have had to make some tough decisions on which features to prioritize. In regards to private ledger, we chose to hold off for a number of reasons, one of which is that the move to DAG will make it obsolete, as it is a post blockchain DLT and that requires it’s own solutions. We had originally considered changing the direction for Apollo to fit where we are going with Fintech, but after much deliberation we are going to work to keep Apollo’s future within our original vision.

2. The connection between the Apollo Blockchain and the new company, Apollo Fintech, is simple. As with other cryptocurrency founding companies, Apollo Fintech will hold its copyrights and IP, it will be the entity that represents it, develops it and pushes it. The biggest benefit of this is that large investors, especially those at the institutional level, place a major
emphasis on IP and the value that adds. It protects the value of the project and adds value to the managing company.

3. Yes, the majority of it has already been launched. Elements of fast Apollo are meant to work with dex transactions for example, this has been implemented. The interesting part about it is that even now our transactions are much faster than they look. Elements including the refresh rate of the front end, latency and other variables can keep the user from seeing a transaction as complete and appear as though it’s taking longer than it is. We have had a significant amount in our dev queue, but we will be releasing something in the near future that will allow the user to experience that speed by reducing the variable mentioned.

4- My AMA question please Steve.... “is there any reason why we couldn't have a small coin burn to help increase the value of #apl ?”

Steve McCullah

4- A coin burn wouldn’t help the value of APL unless those coins were in circulation already. We could burn Foundation coins but those aren’t being sold on exchanges anyway and are designated to support Apollo’s development for the long term.

5-Hi Steve thank you for doing this AMA! I was wondering if there are any updates regarding oracles for your upcoming smart contracts?

Steve McCullah :

We are working on smart contracts now. We have a new tech paper that will be launched with our big release. This will detail our approach and reveal the direction.

6- Steve...Will you be doing more video interviews with news of our updates and new direction?

Steve McCullah :

As far as me personally, we are working on a potential media plan for Africa, where certain elements are documented and released to the community.
As far as the project in general, we have quite a bit lined up. The next big media Appearance is AJ on NASDAQ early next month.

7- Who are main competitors with new strategy? Can you describe why APL will beat them out?

Steve McCullah :

I love this question, although to answer accurately requires a very complex answer.
Remember, we are releasing information on 9 new products publicly and working on others behind the scenes. These products fall into three major categories: government, commercial and consumer.
From a business standpoint, as a whole, we have competitors in a number of industries.

The thing to remember, however, is we are never going to spend resources developing a product that is not better than the best solution available at that time. Everything that we have designed has been designed in a way that improves on existing solutions. Apollo has given us a truly remarkable leg up on nearly all of our blockchain products, not just because of its speed but also sustainability. Sustainability is critical in the government sector specifically, which limits competing solutions drastically.
From a category standpoint, we have no blockchain based competitors within the government solutions category. We are the only blockchain company we are aware of that is currently designing the solutions we are designing.
On the commercial side, Ripple will be our main competitor. We are better for a number of reasons, however, all of which will be revealed with our new products.
On the consumer side, we have to obvious products that everyone knows about, such as the CEX. Regarding the exchange specifically our biggest competitors are Binance and Coinbase. We are implementing a great number of things that will make us much more attractive than either and realistically even both combined. A few of those things are physical locations, a customer service team equipped to process KYC and user requests near instantly, better UI, regional bank accounts for instant deposits and withdrawals, significantly more fiat options and much more that will be revealed soon.
I will go ahead and release the hint regarding our new product here as it ties in nicely.
As far as the overall vision, we are designing Apollo Fintech in a way that every product we add increases the overall value of all the others.
The thing that gives us the biggest advantage, and ties much of what we are doing together, is our new product, which has been confidential until now.
What Apollo has been commissioned to do with Blockchain, this new product will do for the internet. Together they will be a very powerful ecosystem providing a large number of solutions and services, both centralized and decentralized. Once we have fully finished development of both it would be easier to list who we are not in competition with than to list who we are.

Unfortunately it’s impossible to explain why we will be significantly ahead of the competition without revealing more information, but I can say there is no product on the market that is similar to the vision we have for this new product.

8-How will Fintech set us up for success ?

Steve McCullah :

If you read my previous answer you will have a rather complete answer to this question.
In summary, it adds enormous value for a number of reasons, one of which is that almost every product is tied into Apollo, so with its success comes Apollo’s success.
When we go to a government to pitch an idea for instance. Every solution we have to offer increases the chance that they will utilize our product ecosystem.

9- You've said that APL won't be used like Ethereum gas to process national currency transactions. Presumably, there will be a transaction fee. Where will those fees go (ie. to forgers holding APL, forgers holding national currency, somewhere else)?

Steve McCullah:

Fees would be in the currency itself and they would go to the forgers and node owners. It may not use Apollo for transactions fees, but it will utilize Apollo’s mainnet. What this means is that the current blockchain will power everything and each user and merchant will have an Apollo ID, along with the ability to exchange instantly to APL.

10- Should do this more often, been good to see some answers to peoples questions, rather this on a fortnight basis then the weekly updates we use to get

Steve McCullah :

We will do it once or twice a week

11- Just a little more clarification please. As regards your reply to the 1st question: do you mean that the private ledger can't work with DAG? If so, which of the current privacy features will still remain relevant after transition to DAG? Why hasn't Coin Mixing been restored since it was taken down for maintenance some months ago, or will it also become obsolete on transition to DAG consensus?

Steve McCullah :

We took coin mixing down in order to do maintenance after some complaints regarding the time it took to receive a transaction. We are in the process of improving how it functions as a whole now so that it

12-will function nearly as effectively as a private ledger. It’s in the queue and will be re-released soon! Will any of the new products that are coming out use APL coin in anyway possible, such as fees to operate or apl balance needed, if not why not ? this could of added value for apl if the products was to become a worldwide success.

Steve McCullah

Nearly all will use it or promote adoption of it and all achievements could have an effect on Apollo’s market.
If price is your main priority, then look at Ripple for example.
When Ripple signs on a new major customer, like moneygram, even though Moneygram is not utilizing XRP and instead using Ripple’s centralized technology, the value of XRP still goes up significantly. That is because the perceived value of Ripple as an organization goes up.
The same has happened in hundreds of instances, including Cardano’s MOU with Ethiopia. It has to do with agriculture, not Cardano’s coin.

13- Is there a strategy for the confidential internet product towards mass adoption? How will people know about it?

Steve McCullah :

People will know about it.. lol

14-the fees on cex will they be in apl ? can they be forged or used to cover the cost of running cex

Steve McCullah :

We will eventually have an option to pay for the fees in APL, yes.

https://apollocurrency.com/en/