Frequently asked questions

Galaxa is a global enterprise-class vendor-neutral, multi-services marketplace secured and powered by blockchain technologies, where authenticated customers can get a broad set of services, starting with storage and compute, in a manner which is well aligned with their need for continued governance and control over their environment. It connects customers to a broader set of service providers, extending controls and governance without incurring long engagement delays for legal, compliance and due diligence requirements. As with most cloud offerings, services are pay-as-you-go but with the added insurance of Proof-of-Provided-Service (PoPS) before payment is delivered.

No it is not a blockchain. It is powered and enabled by an underlying blockchain. Galaxa, is a secure, de-centralized, peer-to-peer services marketplace with no single point of failure and an immutable record of verified transactions. However, to ensure enterprise security and regulatory compliance, it also includes centralized oversight and distributed controls. Transactions on the Galaxa marketplace are powered by a permissioned blockchain-based engine and smart contracts.

All participants in the Galaxa marketplace are verified and validated as legitimate business interests. Only authenticated enterprises and individuals can participate in the marketplace. To be validated as a participant, the entity must go through stringent KYC (Know your customer)/AML (anti-money laundering) and bad actor checks. With these controls in place, participants are assured that their peers and the services are real, known and verified.

Are a subset of participants which power the marketplace itself driven through peer-to-peer, decentralized oversight and enabling services, such as service matching, proof-of-provided-service, transaction execution and logging. To achieve moderator status a participant must pass through additional checks and controls and must maintain a marketplace reputation which exceeds an established set of thresholds. While moderator empower and enable the marketplace and the transactions, they have no visibility as to the internals of the provided services or the content to which they apply.

Are a subset of participants which have a service available for consumption. To make it available they publish their offering through the marketplace service registry. To publish a service, such as computational capability or storage capacity, its characteristics and defining criteria must first be validated by the marketplace. Published services are available for any and all participants to consume. When a participant selects a published service from the registry, the service is performed directly between the participant who is paying for and consuming the service and the Provider who is offering it. The transaction which ensures service delivery and then compensates the Provider for the delivered service is driven through the blockchain which underlies the marketplace. Pricing for any service is set by the Provider.

Are a subset of participants which have one or more value-added services which they can offer for the consumption through the marketplace. They may either offer these higher order services directly, as a Provider, or they can offer them indirectly by providing their technology (their developed value-added service) to the participant for use on the marketplace.

There are three types of services offered in Galaxa:

Intrinsic services - built-in to the marketplace which empower and enable it, such as, the services registry or transaction management.
Base level services - infrastructure services (IaaS) such as compute and storage which are offered through the marketplace both for direct consumption or to provide infrastructure for Value-added services
Value-added services - providing higher order capabilities, such as Platform services (PaaS) or direct application services (SaaS), for example, a global news feed service.

All services are available to all marketplace participants.

Smart Cloud Services is an abstraction layer which simplifies service selection, subscription, delivery and management. Itremoves the complexities and intricacies of smart contracts and blockchain transactions while retaining their power and value. Smart Services, enables the Galaxa participant to tap into marketplace services through Web applications or Web APIs in a natural language format. Enterprises which are accustomed to working in fiat currencies with the concepts of purchase orders and delivery manifests can stay at that level, without needing to develop expertise in crypto-currencies, smart contract scripts or blockchain APIs.

When a participant consumes a service offered by a Provider, the payment for the service is not transferred to the Provider until verification of the service. Through algorithmic, cryptographic and observational mechanics, consensus is achieved verifying delivery of service and quality of service, then and only then is payment conferred.

Galaxa services will begin to turn up through 2019, these early services will be accompanied by the Software Developer's Kit (SDK). The full marketplace, including intrinsic and base services of compute and storage, is scheduled for delivery and launch within 24 months of the final fundraising.

By joining the Galaxa marketplace, Customers gain access to a broader set of services than those offered by any one cloud provider. Because Galaxa is a vendor-neutral marketplace, the Customer is free to choose the right services from the right providers that specifically meets their enterprise criteria. It enables the Customer to subscribe to offerings from multiple cloud providers, without lock-in. These broader service and provider selections are offered within a framework that enables the enterprise to maintain their governance, controls and regulatory compliance without the delays and costs of vendor qualification, due diligence and legals. With Proof-of-Provided Service, each Customer is secure in the knowledge that payment only occurs when the service has been delivered and verified. With reputation services, the Customer has a built-in measure of trust and capability for each Provider.

The Galaxa marketplace offers Providers a framework through which they can market their services to a global audience on an unconstrained but fair and level landscape. With services and Provider qualifications and verification, Customers are more quickly able to select their service providers and engage, significantly shortening the sales cycle. The marketplace values and verifies quality of service, enabling Providers to offer value-added services at a price of their own choosing. With reputation and Proof-of-Provided Service, Providers have the opportunity to grow business traction based on both quality and quantity.

Already involved in Galaxa as a Customer, Provider or Value-added Developer, by becoming a Moderator a participant gains an additional source of revenue. Moderators provide the engine on which Galaxa runs. By dedicating resources, compute and storage, to Galaxa, Moderators transparently enable deal-flow, ensure neutrality, and security; in return the Moderator shares in the revenues resulting from each transaction.

By participating in the Galaxa marketplace, developers gain access to a global pool of resources (Galaxa and Provider services) and a larger target market for their value-added services in both the Customers and Providers. Galaxa facilitates and supports business growth for Developer's product offerings, all within a framework that promotes ease and speed of business engagement.

To become a participant in Galaxa, you must first be vetted and verified. To begin this process, create an account at: www.galaxa.com/register

GAAX is digital security which enables investment in Galaxa. It is a security due to the privileges and characteristics with which it is associated (Howey Test on Wikipedia).

Specifically, GAAX holders have the privilege of receiving distributions based on the Galaxa marketplace fees.

Yes, there is a utility token embedded in the marketplace to manage value-flow through transactions. However, the utility token is transparent. It is abstracted away by the Smart Cloud Services layer, allowing the marketplace participants to carry on their business without the worries of blockchains and tokens. Its a role as a utility token is the means of tracking and exchanging value in the services-for-value Galaxa marketplace. Customers use GAAX to pay Providers and Value-added Developers for their services.

Holders of GAAX gain one primary benefit; revenue sharing.

Revenue sharing - periodically, with a randomized date-of-record inside the period interval, holders of GAAX are awarded a distribution which is a direct sharing in the revenues generated by transactions on the marketplace.

A Digital Security Offering (DSO) is a means whereby funds can be raised by an organization for a project through outside investment. For their funds, investors receive security in cryptographic form which is known as a digital security. These digital securities have associated rights and privileges which are bestowed upon their holders. A DSO is intended as an above-board, regulated offering, adhering to securities regulations for the jurisdictions of both the issuer and the investor. Ownership of digital securities is managed and maintained using cryptographic hashing mechanisms known as blockchains.

A Security Token Offering (STO) is the means whereby funds can be raised by an organization for a project through outside investment. For their funds, investors receive security tokens which are a digital format security. The security tokens have associated rights and privileges which are bestowed upon their holders. STO's do not necessarily adhere to securities regulations. Ownership of security tokens is managed and maintained using cryptographic hashing mechanisms known as blockchains.

An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) also known as an Initial Currency Offering (ICO), is a funding process, typically crowd-sourcing, whereby for their funds, the investor receives a proportional amount of the newly offered crypto-currency. Ownership and transactions in crypto-currencies are managed and maintained using cryptographic hashing mechanisms known as blockchains.

The fundamental difference between a DSO and an STO is the degree of compliance to regulatory constraints. In both a DSO and an STO, the digital security is deemed and treated exactly like a traditional security. Similarly, the offerings of such securities must adhere to the rules and regulations of the jurisdictions of the offering entity (the Issuer) and the purchaser (Holder). As it is commerce in a security, federal and regional securities regulations apply both for the jurisdiction of the offering organization and of the purchasers. For a DSO, the Issuer must either fully qualify for a public offering or for the exemptions which curtail and limit the offering within very specific boundaries. STO's do not always comply quite so tightly on qualifications. In either case, if the offering organization is an issuer on a public stock exchange, then they must comply with continuous disclosure regulations covering all activity with the offered securities. Investors in DSOs and STOs take comfort that the regulations and oversight are there to protect all parties in such transactions.
Contrary to DSO's and STO's, in an ICO, the presenters of the offering of the underlying tokens are making the claim that the tokens are not a security and as such commerce in such tokens is not subject to regulatory oversight. It should be noted that just because an offering claims to be an ICO does not mean the token is in fact not a security. Such offerings may come under regulatory scrutiny with potential resulting legal consequences at some time in the future. ICO's occur in an unregulated, unsupervised context, as such it is caveat emptor (buyer beware).

Any anticipated GALAXA DSO is not only an offering of an acknowledged security subject to regulatory controls. It is also an offering that is being made by an already publicly traded company. Leonovus is a reporting issuer on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada. As a reporting issuer, Leonovus and thereby Galaxa will have the requirement of ongoing public disclosure as the project and company progress. The public benefits from ongoing visibility and oversight not just during the offering but also for the duration of the project for which the funds are being raised. These requirements do not apply to most other contemporary DSOs.