Delving into Masa Network: Awakening the dormant data value in Web3 and exploring the possibility of decentralized Google

After several months, the crypto market is finally showing signs of improvement.

Stablecoins flowing into the market have begun to increase, and major sectors have risen in turn. However, the recent market has not experienced a sharp retracement after Binance being fined. At the same time, Bitcoin has also continued to heat up recently, returning to the level of the April 2022 price range.

Everything seems to be clearing the way for a bull run in 2024.

With the background, it can be clearly seen that players in the market have become active once again - With high hopes for the 2024 bull market, they are engaging in marketing activities for various projects, participating in airdrops, and interacting with the community. At the same time, everyone began to look for more new Alpha projects, actively moving closer to new narratives, and hunting for new hot opportunities.

However, in the process of players actively embracing the bull-bear transition and eagerly pursuing imminent profits, they may not realize that a gold mine is being generated simultaneously: User data.

Whether it is wallet interactions, fund transfers, or browsing records and comments on social media, a large amount of behavioral data is gradually accumulated silently, and as the bull market gains momentum, this accumulation will only accelerate.

These data serve as an undercurrent, holding long-term value beyond current earnings.

Looking outside the circle, “data” has actually become the new oil.

Many large technology companies around the world, such as Google, are essentially data companies, selling users through various channels such as advertising and search engines to make profits; at the same time, in the field of AI, everyone is also scrambling to obtain large amounts of data for model training.

Today, Web3 has evolved into a rich ecosystem. However, the utilization of data value still appears to be limited compared to outside the circle.

The behavioral data of hundreds of millions of Web3 users around the world is a huge sleeping gold mine. With the unique technology of blockchain, users can control their personal data, maintain personal data privacy, and transparently trade their personal data for direct monetization.

The recently launched Masa Network is one of the explorers to awaken the value of Web3’s dormant data.

After more than a year of initial accumulation, the project has obtained 880,000 user wallet authorization data, generated 1 million SBTs, and collected a total of 7 million unique user data. Leading projects such as Polygon, QuickSwap, NEAR, and Injective have become early users of Masa products. A data network for Web3 user behavior is beginning to take shape.

Simultaneously, leveraging zero-knowledge proof technology to safeguard data privacy, developers can utilize the behavioral data of hundreds of millions of Web3 users for AI modeling. This technology also enables project parties to conduct decentralized advertising projections. Additionally, users can protect their own data while receiving token rewards for contributing data. Based on available information, it is anticipated that Masa Network’s mainnet will be launched in Q1 of the following year, and tokens will be released.

In this article, we will delve into Masa’s current products, the problems it aims to solve, and its future plans, in order to provide everyone with a clear and comprehensive understanding of the project’s value.

The user journey is more than just tasks

User data, this concept sounds abstract. You may not quickly understand how it relates to yourself.

Perhaps, we can start with a smaller, more specific and familiar scenario - doing tasks.

A common journey of a Web3 user often starts by linking his or her wallet account, then linking his or her social media account, completing various on-chain and off-chain tasks required by the project, and finally receiving rewards, such as NFT, tokens or Whitelist etc…

You can complete the above process on almost any popular task platform. Of course, Masa Network is no exception. Currently, on Masa, you can complete various tasks provided by project parties from different chains and obtain various rewards; at the same time, you can also apply for a unique Soulname (similar to a domain name) and display it to the outside world.

But in reality, behind this simple and familiar task flow, each user leaves behind a wealth of information traces. For example, when you visit a page, link your wallet, and click a button, every move you make actually creates a unique footprint.

But the information footprints of these users appear chaotic. Especially in Web3, many users operate multiple wallets at the same time for arbitrage, and the entire ecosystem is still in a fragmented stage.

Whether it is the portrait of multi-wallet users or various data scattered on-chain and off-chain, Masa Network can use its developed technology to collect, associate, and integrate large-scale user data.

This turns the originally chaotic data of hundreds of millions of Web3 users into a gold mine that can be mined. We will also introduce these specific technologies in detail later.

But here, we might as well think about a key question first, what value might these data have?

First of all, as the next bull market of Web3 is approaching, leading projects have become smarter and begun to use accurate user portraits and data analysis to attract new users and do marketing;

In the wider technology circle outside of Web3, we can all see the rise of generative AI products, which are being applied to all walks of life at an accelerated pace.

With the advent of the AI ​​era, developers’ demand for high-quality user data has exploded. In addition to the requirements for more algorithms and computing power, the current AI demand for multi-dimensional, high-quality, and global data is expected to grow exponentially.

The encryption world operates beyond national borders, allowing for globalized projects that offer economic incentives. This enables the quick, efficient, and open acquisition of a large amount of data from users in different regions, which is nearly impossible to achieve in the traditional Web2 model.

If we can collect and provide more data to developers in need of AI training, while also rewarding users for their data contributions, it will create a win-win situation. This approach goes beyond Web3 and opens up opportunities in a larger market.

This data market does look good, but despite the seemingly bright prospects, when we talk about collecting user data, a sensitive concern also arises:

What about data security and privacy? How can Masa Network ensure that data privacy is protected during the process of collecting user data? We need to prioritize both privacy and revenue. Can Masa do both?

Privacy first, profit second

In the world of Web2, large internet service providers often collect user behavior data through Cookies. Websites silently record users’ actions, which also increases concerns about data privacy.

Recently, governments in Europe and America have introduced GDPR compliance clauses regarding data privacy, which explicitly states that users can choose not to accept cookies. Large companies like Google have also started drafting plans to ban various third-party cookies. In the Web3 world, data shows that over 30% of users refuse cookies or use the Brave browser for “incognito” browsing.

As users become more and more aware of their own data privacy protection, the transparent and traceable nature of data on the Web3 chain, and the collection of data related to web browsing or interactions on the chain, will also make people feel uneasy.

In the face of this privacy anxiety, Masa Network offers a remedy called zero-knowledge proof (zkp), which provides privacy protection in all aspects of data storage, retrieval, and analysis.

Data storage: First of all, in the various data collection scenarios involved in Masa, there is the design of zkSBT. This design is based on the original SBT bound to the user address, with the added feature of zero-knowledge proof. This allows a variety of SBT-related data to be securely encrypted and stored, as long as it belongs to the same user.

Data call: Secondly, on the basis of encrypted storage, if users do not directly authorize developers to allow them to access their personal data, developers can only see the encrypted anonymous wallet data and cannot directly identify the identity or device information of the associated user.

Data Analysis: If you want to analyze a user’s personal identity information, such as their Twitter account, age, or passport number, Masa only needs to provide a simple “yes” or “no” confirmation, without revealing the user’s personal identity information to the data requester.

If you still feel that the above description is too technical, consider the following more concrete example.

A user may have visited a website, participated in social media activities, and completed asset exchanges in their wallet during these processes:

1. User behavior in different steps generates different types of data;

2. The tools provided by Masa do not use cookies that cause privacy concerns. Each unique user is replaced by a UUID (unique user ID), and each logged-in device is also encrypted to form a unique device hash. User information will be protected by an anonymous session ID and encrypted wallet address;

1. In the absence of direct user authorization, developers can only access encrypted wallet information without being able to access personally identifiable information (PII) of the user;

2. If developers want to see information that identifies the user (Personally Identifiable Information), they need to apply for authorization from the user. After making a request, the smart contract will call the ZKP verification process, which is the “yes” or “no” judgment mentioned above, without actually revealing the user’s identity data.

From this specific process, we can see that the introduction of zero-knowledge proof and related encryption technologies can facilitate the matching of data supply and demand without exposing the privacy of the data itself. Therefore, I believe that the role of the Masa Network data market is not only a data trader, but also a guardian of data. The stability of the latter determines the scale and credibility of the former.

Overall, Masa Network is primarily a data business. However, the process of data protection and the use of blockchain encryption technology set it apart from current Web2 data companies.

Use the shortest time to build the largest user data network

After the privacy issue is resolved, our next topic of interest is:

How did Masa Network obtain data from 880,000 wallets in just over a year?? At the same time, for projects and developers, what is the usage of user data collected by Masa Network?

Currently, Masa Network focuses on two main products: Masa Growth and Masa Analytics, which attract both B2C and B2B users to contribute data.

B2C product Masa Growth: Task marketing paves the way, data staking is coming

We have already demonstrated the main features of Masa Growth, where users can complete tasks, obtain rewards, and register domain names.

According to the members of the Masa Network team, the product is scheduled to launch in August 2022. As of now, the Masa Growth product alone has already acquired over 400,000 Web3 users, and has collected more than 1 million pieces of user behavior data in encrypted and ZK formats.

Under the motivation-driven approach, users prioritize the immediate benefits when completing tasks. However, from an overall perspective, these tasks seem more like a groundwork - a process of accumulating data. It is evident that the contribution and benefits of the data will be considered next.

With the launch of Masa’s mainnet in the first quarter of next year, the current Masa user page will undergo major changes. One of the most important new features is the “data staking”.

Note that this is not staking visible assets such as NFT or SBT that you hold. Here is the logic:

1. All your historical behaviors and information footprints in Masa Network will be encrypted and protected, and collected into your personal data locker - your zkSBT;

2. You can visually access these data on Masa App, and have the right to choose to “stake” some or all of the data, which means “authorization” in a proactive sense, that is, agreeing to contribute these data to organizations with data needs within a period of time set by you;

3. As a result of the data contribution, you will receive corresponding rewards, in the form of Masa tokens or stable coins of the project.

For individual users, data contribution has virtually no cognitive threshold and operational burden. As mentioned above, the information footprints of ordinary users have actually been monetized by many major Internet companies.

The same task is completed, the same operation page is used, with the addition of the option for staking. It provides a new way to monetize and profit for oneself, while ensuring privacy protection.

B2B product Masa Analytics: simple integration, opening the door to data goldmine.

For companies and organizations that want to collect user behavior data for analysis, Masa Analytics helps them uncover the mystery of Web3 users.

The Web3 data field is still in its early days, and many projects have attracted a large number of bots. The fragmented nature of the blockchain ecosystems and interfaces posed a technical challenge in unifying on-chain and off-chain data, cross-chain data, and cross-platform associations.

Many project parties are unable to answer basic questions: How many real users do I have? Which users are more valuable? What does their user persona look like? Where did my product conversion go wrong?

Judging from the name, Masa Analytics seems to be an aspiring Google Analytics competitor. The latter can track where Web2 users come to the website, their activities on the website, residence time, conversion rate and other key website performance indicators, providing an important reference for understanding users and conducting more targeted marketing.

Masa Analytics can analyze the indicators mentioned above. Websites and developers in need can integrate Masa’s Javascript tracking code or use its Typescript SDK. This will generate a cookie-free script to track user behavior on the target website, including page visits, click events, form submissions, and more.

However, due to its focus on the Web3 and emphasis on privacy, Masa Analytics differs from Google Analytics in several aspects:

• Data source. In addition to tracking similar Web2 data, Masa Analytics also places special emphasis on collecting and analyzing Web3 data. Web3 data may include blockchain transactions, wallet interactions, smart contract calls, and other interactions with decentralized applications (dApps).
• In user authentication, Masa Analytics uses blockchain addresses or Soulbound Tokens to associate user identities. These methods are directly related to the user’s Web3 identity, and can provide more accurate user data while maintaining anonymity. At the same time, Masa Analytics can associate a user Multiple belonging wallets to break through the difficulty of analyzing multiple wallets per person in Web3.
• In application scenarios, Masa Analytics can not only be used for analytics and marketing, but may also support the emerging Web3 ecosystem, such as NFT markets, DeFi platforms, and other blockchain-based applications.

It is worth mentioning that due to the ready-made SDK, enterprise organizations do not need complex development and implementation to use Masa Analytics. Instead, they can directly integrate a few simple lines of code into the website front-end to run the analysis service and monitor user behavior. the data generated.

This greatly reduces the workload for data demanders, allowing them to devote their energy to their main business without paying additional costs for analysis and statistics.

This lightweight integration method has also been favored by the project side.

For example, the well-known L2 DEX Quickswap, after integrating Masa Analytics, discovered through anonymous analysis of user behavior data that only 30% of users participating in its marketing activities connected their wallets and explored QuickSwap on the new chain.

At the same time, Quickswap can also see the proportion of users using different types of wallets through analysis, which provides a basis for it to analyze user preferences and carry out targeted marketing activities for different wallets.

Based on the data disclosed by both parties, and guided by data analysis-driven operational decisions, Quickswap compared the new activities with other activities by segmenting users based on their activities, asset values, and repetition frequencies. It was found that users using new wallets for swapping experienced a 300% increase in transaction volume.

At this point, we are back to the viewpoint raised at the beginning of the article - Awakening of dormant data, the value it brings may be far greater than hype and speculation.

Finally, we can finally straighten out the entire product logic of Masa Network and show the full picture of the data market after its mainnet goes online:

1. Using two major products, Masa Growth + Masa Analytics, Masa broke the ice in a short period of time and quickly collected 880,000 wallet users and 7 million pieces of unique data;
2. After the mainnet goes online in the first quarter of 2024, Masa will launch a decentralized data market, allowing data providers (users) to sell their behavioral data to data consumers (such as developers, enterprises, etc.) while protecting privacy;
3. Transactions in the data market ensure transparency through blockchain technology and privacy security through ZKP;
4. Users control their data through their personal data locker zkSBT and can selectively provide personal data to developers and projects who need the data;
5. Users receive economic incentives for their data contributions, such as stablecoins, blockchain native tokens MASA, etc.
6. In the data marketplace framework, Growth + Analytics functions play a role in both the supply and demand of data. The blockchain records data transactions and provides economic incentives. Users can contribute data to earn revenue, while enterprises can use tokens to access data. Additionally, Masa itself serves as the infrastructure, offering more data-driven business opportunities such as advertising and data sets needed for AI model training.

Go beyond Web3 and explore the possibilities of decentralized Google

Through Masa Network, one trend I observe is that the project is not just a separate task platform or data analysis tool, but rather, it has the grand vision to become a bigger data company.

The task platform may not be the primary focus of Masa’s business. Additionally, in the current Web3 landscape, similar projects have created intense competition, leading to a homogenization of services. Moreover, it is more beneficial to explore the larger data market and position Masa as a data company, rather than solely engaging with existing Web3 users.

What does it mean to be a data company?

I think the main business of data companies revolves around collecting data, processing data, integrating data, and utilizing data. The task platform may only be a manifestation of these links in the initial stage.

Google is already the dominant data company in Web2. So, in the field of Web3, will there be a decentralized Google that will make a difference in the data field?

Clearly, Masa Network is working in this direction.

Data is indeed an important role in an era when AI permeates every industry, but the rights and interests of user data are even more important. The former determines whether one’s data can be monetized into profits, while the latter allows one to decide independently whether s/he is willing to open the data.

Web3 has better incentives and organizational forms, enabling efficient, direct, and voluntary contribution of data from users. It also allows for faster user acquisition. If Masa Network can expand outward to meet the data needs of Web2 enterprises, especially in AI training, the market potential will undoubtedly be greater.

But to turn the vast market prospects into reality, we need to take each step carefully before going abroad.

First Quarter of 2024, Masa’s Mainnet is Coming Online. In order to incentivize more users to contribute data, the project may also have more token airdrop activities in the next 1-2 months to encourage users to use their own and partner products.

Finally, from the perspective of individual users, if you can gain more benefits while still adhering to the bottom line of data privacy, then choosing to actively pay attention and participate is certainly a reasonable choice. From an industry perspective, the more data accumulated during the participation process, the greater the possibility of connecting with more data demand parties in the future.

On the one hand, it is to pursue personal gains, and on the other hand, it is to create industry value. The two seem to be contradictory. But as free market economist Adam Smith pointed out hundreds of years ago in “The Wealth of Nations”: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest.”

It is hoped that the data needed in the new era can also build a better future under the guidance of Masa Network’s economic incentives.

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