Vision for a Blockchain Analytics Organisation that’s Co-Owned by its Members

Ocean Missions Founding Coop

The Blockchain Analytics Industry is Growing

As blockchain technology is adopted around the world, analysis of the structured data within public blockchains is becoming increasingly more valuable.

Blockchain analytics organisations like Chainalysis, Glassnode and Nansen have all built valuable businesses around it.

But what if we could leverage Web3 technologies to create a Blockchain analytics organisation that’s co-owned by the people who build the data sets and algorithms these organisations are built on?

A Blockchain Analytics Co-op

Co-ops have existed for decades and spanned across industries all around the world. 

They work because members share a mission and have skin in the game. A member can operate independently towards a shared goal while benefiting from being part of a larger organisation. 

The idea of a co-owned Blockchain Analytics organisation is an extension of this idea into Web3.

How can we build a Blockchain analytics co-op in Web3?

The answer lies with Ocean Protocol, an open source protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Ocean Protocol Logo with Purple Glow

At its heart, Ocean Protocol has unlocked the ability for data and algorithms to be co-owned by multiple parties.

After people, it’s the data sets and algorithms that are the most valuable assets of any analytics firm.

A blockchain analytics co-op enables the teams building these data assets to become co-owners of them. This means the rewards from owning these assets can flow directly to the creators instead of the company.

The below vision outlines how a co-owned blockchain analytics firm could be set up with Ocean Protocol. 

What is Ocean Missions?

Ocean Missions is a community of data asset creators for the Ocean Protocol ecosystem. 

Members all share a common mission, to extract valuable insights about NFTs, DeFi, Crypto and more from blockchain data. 

They also share a key idea. 

The idea that you and the team you’re working with, will get to co-own the data assets you build. 

How will it work?

Using Ocean themed metaphors we’re going to outline how a blockchain analytics co-op with members from all around the world can be built with Ocean Protocol.

Divers

Let’s start with the data professional (e.g. data scientist), or in this case a ‘diver’.

lone diver searching

Divers join the Ocean Missions community eager to seek out new information from a sea of blockchain data.

Crews

Divers meet other divers within the Ocean Missions community and form ‘crews’. These crews then seek out ‘missions’ to go on. 

Missions

These missions are simply data projects which the crew of data professionals collaborate on just like a regular analytics organisation.

The missions can be anything the crew is interested in or can foresee being valuable. Crews may decide to focus on a particular use case, or a blockchain that hasn’t been explored yet. 

Once the crew has decided upon a mission to embark on, they agree on a plan and begin collaborating remotely. 

Data Assets

When the crew completes the project they will have created valuable data sets &/or algorithms. Ocean protocol leverages the Ethereum blockchain to enable the crew to co-own these data assets with the members who built them.

512x512_community web 3 data professionals

Minting new data assets on the Ethereum Blockchain

The data assets themselves (data sets or algorithms) don’t live on the blockchain. The blockchain just gates access to these data assets through the use of data tokens. 

Your data asset can be stored wherever you and your crew decide. Data buyers can access your data asset via an encrypted URL stored on the blockchain. 

Spending a data token decrypts the data asset’s URL and unlocks access to it based on the terms set by the crew.

Crews who publish their data assets on Ocean Market can share the ownership of the initial data tokens among crew members.

Rewards generated from the buying and selling of data tokens are collected and shared among crew members automatically.

Protecting & Sharing Sensitive Information

As crews begin building data sets and algorithms, they will be able to trade usage of these with others.

If your crew is looking to embark on a mission that would benefit from the work already done by another crew, Ocean Protocol’s compute-to-data feature can be used to enable this, all while keeping sensitive information protected. 

Trade data assets 2

Demand doesn’t only come from other crews. The Ocean Missions co-operative will seek out buyers for data assets too.

In the future we foresee there being multiple crews collaborating across many different use cases and blockchains. 

The more demand there is for particular data assets, the more valuable they are likely to become as the community grows and begins building on top of them. 

Building Blockchain Islands and establishing Trade Routes

As crews go on missions and bring back more and more data assets we expect collections of data assets to begin building up around specific blockchains. 

The collection of these data assets around a particular blockchain starts to create an ‘island’.

Once these islands reach a certain level of maturity, opportunities will open up for ‘trade routes’ to emerge between islands.

These trade routes will unlock more complex missions for crews as data can be shared across multiple blockchains.

The Future Value of Blockchain Data

Blockchain data is becoming more and more valuable for both the public and private sector. 

Ocean protocol has unlocked the ability for this vision to become a reality.

If you’d like to join us on this adventure come get involved on discord or follow us on Twitter.