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[Revoke.cash @RevokeCash]

Yesterday, we received reports of people seeing unknown approval transactions in their transaction history.

It turns out that this is a new scam where scammers use so-called gas tokens to steal money when victims revoke these "fake approvals".

[Revoke.cash @RevokeCash]

Then later today, at 21:00 UTC we'll be joining @wallet_guard to talk about security tips and staying safe in web3. If you want to keep your funds safe and are looking for security advice, make sure to tune in!

https://t.co/olAF0DQIBR

[Revoke.cash @RevokeCash]

The Revoke extension works alongside these other extensions as well, allowing you to get the benefits of both approaches 🤝

https://t.co/Q1A76x8Uuy

[Revoke.cash @RevokeCash]

Last month we added support for @BuildOnBase to our platform. With activity picking up on the network, it's important to stay safe and stay on top of your token approvals!

Stay safe cross-chain 🫡

[Moeen @Moeenxyz]

I interviewed @RoscoKalis the creator of @RevokeCash, who generously answered my questions. This discussion will be helpful for those involved in blockchain development and building and users.

RevokeCash won 73,489.50 $OP out of 30 million available for funding in #retroPGF , as announced by @optimismFND. Congratulations to the team! Let's move on to the questions.

* Your Crypto journey: Can you share the story of how you entered the blockchain and crypto space?
I got interested in crypto in 2017/2018 while I was still a student. I started building side projects while I was still a student and since graduation I've worked for several different companies in the crypto space. At the same time I've been creating a bunch of my own projects, of which https://t.co/6K2nYd6nhY is the most successful one.

* The inception of the Idea: Can you share the story of how you came up with the idea for https://t.co/CNbyh0ZYIt? Was there a specific problem or opportunity that inspired you?
I decided to build https://t.co/6K2nYd6nhY after speaking with Paul Berg, the creator of money-streaming platform Sablier, at Devcon 5 in Osaka. He gave a talk about the potential dangers of token approvals that resonated with me. Since the crypto space was a lot smaller back then, there weren't many established tools to help with that yet, which led to the creation of https://t.co/6K2nYd6nhY.

* Team Info: Can you share with how many people you started and how many people are currently on the team?
The core https://t.co/6K2nYd6nhY team is just 1 person, me. I do have a few people that help me out every now and then on a freelance basis. For example, the https://t.co/6K2nYd6nhY Exploit Checker was mostly created by my friend Dries as a freelancer.

* Early Development: Could you describe the initial stages of platform development? What were some of the challenges you faced, and how did you overcome them?
The initial version of the product was built in 3 days after Devcon 5. It was a very simple website without any real styling that just listed your token approvals with the option to revoke them. Over the time that followed I improved the project by adding more features and improving the design. At the time https://t.co/6K2nYd6nhY was still just a side project, so I didn't have a lot of time to spend on it, so development was slow. Since going full-time on https://t.co/6K2nYd6nhY in 2022 I've been able to make a lot more progress.

* Building Trust: Establishing trust is crucial in the blockchain industry. How did you approach building trust among users?
I think the biggest thing that helped with building trust is that it has been around for a long time, almost four years. So while people might not necessarily trust the platform immediately the first time they hear about it, they will hear about it a second or third time and feel more comfortable. I also think it helps that the platform is open source, so anyone can verify that it does what it says it does. Even for people without the technical skills to check themselves, the fact that it is open for other people to check gives them more confidence.

* User Adoption: What strategies did you employ to attract users and encourage the adoption of your platform? Were there any specific marketing or user acquisition tactics that worked particularly well?
We have never really employed a user acquisition strategy. The biggest way that we've attracted users is through word of mouth. People that use the platform and like it will tell their friends about it. Generally when big hacks happen, the platform gets a lot of attention and a lot of new users. For example with the SushiSwap hack last April.

* Community Engagement: Building an engaged community can be pivotal for blockchain projects. How did you foster community engagement and maintain an active user base?
For a long time I didn't do anything for community building, and it probably still isn't the strongest point of the product. But after going full-time on https://t.co/6K2nYd6nhY I created a Discord server and started engaging with people there. I also try to be responsive on the https://t.co/6K2nYd6nhY Twitter account and join Twitter Spaces and other community-organised events.

* Advice for Aspiring Founders: Lastly, what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who are considering starting their own blockchain-related ventures?
What worked well for me is to start small and build something that you can launch quickly. This will allow you to get feedback from users and iterate on the product. The first version of https://t.co/6K2nYd6nhY was built in 3 days and was very simple, but it was enough to get the ball rolling. If I had tried to build a more complex product from the start, I probably would have given up before I got to launch it.

* Educational Initiatives: Blockchain technology can be complex for newcomers. Have you undertaken any educational initiatives to help users understand and engage with your platform more effectively?
We recently launched the https://t.co/6K2nYd6nhY Learn section on the website. This is a knowledgebase with articles related to cryptocurrency and security where we try to share our domain-specific knowledge with the community. We plan to expand this a lot in the future, as I think education is one of the most important things to help people stay safe in the crypto space.

* Will you be applying for part of the 30 million OP available for retroPGF3 funding? If so, what are you building/creating that you are going to include in your retroPGF3 application?
Yes, I will be applying again with https://t.co/6K2nYd6nhY. Already we've launched a bunch of useful new features since RetroPGF 2 such as the exploit checker, signatures dashboard, knowledgebase and more. We will continue building new features and improving the existing ones.

* If you were starting from scratch with your skillset with the goal of earning retroPGF in the upcoming round, what would you do?
I would try to find an important problem that Optimism or the larger crypto community is facing and try to solve it. In the case of https://t.co/6K2nYd6nhY the larger problem is wallet security and safety. Hundreds of millions to even billions of dollars are stolen every year from hacks and scams, which indicates the size of the problem. RetroPGF is meant to reward impact, so the bigger the problem and the better the solution, the more likely you are to get funded.