Written by: David, Deep Tide TechFlow

After several months, the cryptocurrency market has finally shown signs of improvement.

The inflow of stablecoins into the market has begun to increase, major sectors are rising in turn, and the recent market has not seen a significant pullback following the Binance penalty incident; at the same time, Bitcoin has also been heating up, returning to the price range of April 2022.

Everything seems to be clearing the way for the bull market of 2024.

In this context, it is evident that players in the market have become active again—harboring expectations for the 2024 bull market, they have started participating in various project marketing activities, taking advantage of opportunities, claiming airdrops, and engaging in interactions. At the same time, everyone is beginning to look for more new Alpha projects, actively aligning with new narratives and hunting for new hotspots.

However, in the process of players eagerly embracing the transition between bull and bear markets and passionately pursuing current profits, they may not even realize that a gold mine is being generated simultaneously: user data.

Whether it’s wallet interactions, fund transfers, or browsing records and comments on social media, a large amount of behavioral data is quietly accumulating, and in the rhythm of the bull market, this accumulation will only accelerate.

This data is like a surging undercurrent, containing long-term value that surpasses current profits.

Looking beyond the circle, "data" has already become the new oil.

Many large tech companies globally, such as Google, are essentially data companies, profiting by selling user data through various channels like advertising and search engines; at the same time, in the AI field, everyone is scrambling to acquire large amounts of data for model training…

Web3 has evolved into a rich ecosystem today, but the utilization of data value still appears barren compared to the outside world.

The behavioral data of over a billion global users on Web3 is a sleeping giant gold mine. With the unique technology of blockchain, users can control their personal data, maintain data privacy, and transparently trade their personal data for direct monetization.

Recently launched Masa Network is one of the explorers awakening the dormant data value of Web3.

After more than a year of initial accumulation, the project has already obtained authorization data from 880,000 user wallets, generated 1 million SBTs, and collected 7 million unique user data points, with leading projects like Polygon, QuickSwap, NEAR, and Injective becoming early users of Masa's products. A data network of Web3 user behavior is beginning to take shape.

At the same time, under the premise of protecting data privacy with zero-knowledge proof technology, the behavioral data of over a billion Web3 users can be used by developers for AI modeling and allow project parties to conduct decentralized advertising, while users can receive token rewards for contributing data while protecting their data privacy. From publicly available information, Masa Network's mainnet will launch in Q1 of next year, along with the release of tokens.

In this issue, we will delve into Masa's current products, the problems it aims to solve, and future plans, providing a comprehensive and accessible understanding of the project's value.

User Journey: Beyond Tasks

The concept of user data sounds abstract. You may not quickly understand how it relates to you.

Perhaps we can start from a smaller, more specific, and familiar scenario—completing tasks.

A common journey for a Web3 user often begins with linking their wallet account, then associating their social media account, and completing various on-chain and off-chain tasks required by the project party, ultimately receiving rewards such as NFTs, tokens, or whitelists…

You can almost complete the above process on 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 receive various rewards; you can also apply for a unique Soulname (similar to a domain name) to showcase externally.

However, in reality, behind this simple and familiar task process, each user leaves behind rich informational footprints. For example, when you visit a page, link your wallet, and click a button, your every move actually contributes to a unique footprint.

Yet, these user informational footprints appear chaotic. Especially in Web3, many users operate multiple wallets simultaneously for arbitrage, and the entire ecosystem is still in a fragmented stage.

Whether it’s multi-wallet user portraits or various data scattered across on-chain and off-chain, Masa Network can utilize its developed technology for large-scale user data collection, association, and integration.

This transforms the originally chaotic data of over a billion Web3 users into a mine that can be excavated. We will provide a detailed introduction to these specific technologies later.

But here, let’s consider a key question: what value might this data hold?

First, as the next bull market in Web3 approaches, leading projects have become smarter, starting to use precise user portraits and data analysis to attract new users and conduct marketing;

In the broader tech circle outside Web3, the rise of generative AI products is evident, accelerating applications across various industries.

With the strong arrival of the AI era, the demand for high-quality user data from developers is surging. Beyond the requirements for more algorithms and computing power, the current AI's demand for multidimensional, high-quality, global data is expected to grow exponentially.

Since the crypto world is not limited by national borders, global projects combined with economic incentive behaviors can quickly, efficiently, and openly acquire large amounts of data from different users in different regions, which is nearly impossible to achieve in the traditional Web2 model;

If more data can be collected and provided to developers with AI training needs, while users can also receive rewards for their data contributions, this creates a win-win situation and also allows for a broader market perspective beyond Web3.

This data market looks promising, but beneath the seemingly bright prospects, a sensitive concern arises when we talk about collecting user data:

What about my data security and privacy? How can Masa Network ensure that user data privacy is protected during the data collection process? Can Masa achieve both privacy and profit simultaneously?

Privacy First, Profit Second

In the world of Web2, large internet service providers often collect user behavior data through cookies. Websites silently record user behavior, increasing anxiety about data privacy.

Recently, governments in Europe and the United States have introduced GDPR compliance regulations regarding data privacy, clearly stating that users can refuse cookies; companies like Google have begun drafting plans to ban various third-party cookies. In the Web3 world, relevant data shows that over 30% of users refuse cookies or use browsers like Brave to achieve "incognito" mode.

As users become increasingly aware of the importance of protecting their data privacy, the transparent and traceable nature of on-chain data in Web3 also inevitably raises concerns about collecting related web browsing or on-chain interaction data.

In response to this privacy anxiety, Masa Network offers a remedy through ZKP (zero-knowledge proof), implementing privacy protection throughout the entire process of data storage, invocation, and analysis.

Data Storage: First, in various data collection scenarios involved with Masa, there is the design of zkSBT, which adds the feature of zero-knowledge proof to the original SBT bound to the user address, allowing various data associated with SBT to be securely encrypted and stored while belonging to the same user.

Data Invocation: Secondly, based on encrypted storage, if users do not directly grant developers permission to access their personal data, developers can only see encrypted anonymous wallet data and cannot directly identify the associated user's identity or device information.

Data Analysis: If personal identity information of users, such as Twitter accounts, age, or passport numbers, needs to be analyzed, Masa only needs to provide a "yes" or "no" proof without revealing the user's personal identity information to the data requester.

If the above description still seems too technical, let’s look at a more concrete example.

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

1. Different steps of the user's behavior generate different types of data;

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

3. Without direct user authorization, developers can only see encrypted wallet information and cannot see personally identifiable information (PII);

4. If developers want to see personally identifiable information (PII), they need to request authorization from the user. After issuing the request, the smart contract will invoke the ZKP verification process, which is the aforementioned "yes" or "no" judgment, without actually disclosing user identity data.

From this specific process, we can see that the introduction of zero-knowledge proof and related encryption technologies allows for matching the supply and demand of data without exposing the privacy of the data itself. Therefore, I believe that the role of Masa Network in the data market is that of a data trader, but more importantly, a data guardian; the stability of the latter determines the scale and credibility of the former.

Overall, what Masa Network aims to do is essentially a data business, but in the process of data protection, it employs blockchain encryption technology, which is significantly different from the large data companies in the current Web2.

Building the Largest User Data Network in the Shortest Time

After addressing privacy issues, the next topic of interest is:

How has Masa Network managed to obtain data contributions from 880,000 wallets in just over a year? Additionally, what uses does the user data collected by Masa Network have for project parties and developers?

Currently, Masa Network focuses on Masa Growth and Masa Analytics, attracting both C-end and B-end users to contribute data.

C-end Product Masa Growth: Task Marketing Paves the Way, Data Staking Coming Soon

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

According to members of the Masa Network team, this product was launched in August 2022, and as of now, the Masa Growth product alone has acquired over 400,000 Web3 users and collected over 1 million various user behavior data points through encryption and zk methods.

Under the incentive-driven model, users focus on current profits when completing tasks, but overall, these tasks seem more like a groundwork—completing the data accumulation process, and the next step will clearly consider data contribution and profit.

With the mainnet of Masa launching in Q1 of next year, the current Masa user interface will also undergo significant changes, with one of the most important new features being "data staking".

Note that this does not involve staking visible assets like NFTs or SBTs; rather, it follows this logic:

1. All historical behaviors and informational footprints you have in Masa Network will be encrypted and stored in your unique information storage box—zkSBT;

2. You can intuitively see this data on the Masa App, and have the right to choose to "stake" some or all of this data, which means actively granting "authorization," agreeing to contribute this data for use by organizations with data needs during a specified period;

3. For your data contribution, you will receive corresponding rewards, which may take the form of the project's Masa tokens or stablecoins.

For individual users, data contribution essentially has no cognitive barriers or operational burdens. As mentioned earlier, the informational footprints of ordinary users have already been monetized by many large internet companies.

Completing the same tasks, using the same operational interface, the only difference is the added staking option, which provides a new way to monetize while protecting privacy.

B-end Product Masa Analytics: Simple Integration, Opening the Door to Data Gold Mines

For enterprises and organizations looking to collect and analyze user behavior data, Masa Analytics helps them unveil the mysteries of Web3 users.

The Web3 data field is still in its early stages, with many projects attracting a large number of bots. The fragmentation of the blockchain ecosystem also makes it a technical challenge to associate and integrate on-chain and off-chain data, cross-chain data, and cross-platform data.

Many project parties cannot answer basic questions: How many real users do I have? Which users are more valuable? What does their user portrait look like? At which step did my product conversion go wrong?

From its name, Masa Analytics seems to be benchmarking against Google Analytics. The latter can track where Web2 users come from, their activities on the website, time spent, conversion rates, and other key website performance metrics; thus providing important references for understanding users and conducting more targeted marketing.

Masa Analytics can similarly analyze the above metrics, and websites and developers in need can integrate the JavaScript tracking code provided by Masa or use its TypeScript SDK, which will generate a cookie-free script to track user behavior on the target website, including but not limited to page visits, click events, form submissions, etc.;

However, due to its focus on the Web3 field and greater emphasis on privacy, Masa Analytics differs from Google's data analysis services in several aspects:

• In data sources, Masa Analytics can track similar Web2 data while particularly emphasizing the collection and analysis of Web3 data. Web3 data may include blockchain transactions, wallet interactions, smart contract calls, and other behaviors interacting with decentralized applications (dApps);

• In user identity verification, Masa Analytics uses blockchain addresses or Soulbound Tokens to associate user identities, which 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 multiple wallets belonging to a user, breaking through the analytical challenges of one person having multiple wallets in Web3.

• In application scenarios, Masa Analytics can be used not only for analysis and marketing but may also support emerging Web3 ecosystems, such as NFT markets, DeFi platforms, and other blockchain-based applications.

It is worth mentioning that, due to the ready-made SDK, enterprises and organizations using Masa Analytics do not need complex development implementations; they can directly integrate a few simple lines of code into their website frontend to run analysis services and monitor the data generated by user behavior.

This greatly reduces the workload for data demanders, allowing them to focus their energy on their core business without incurring additional costs for analysis and statistics.

This convenient integration method has also been favored by project parties.

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 analyze the proportion of users using different types of wallets, providing a basis for analyzing user preferences and conducting targeted marketing activities for different wallets;

From the publicly available data of both parties, under the guidance of data analysis driving operational decisions, after segmenting users based on activities, asset value, and frequency of use, the new activities launched by QuickSwap saw a 300% increase in transaction volume for swaps using new wallets compared to other activities.

Thus, we return to the point raised at the beginning of the article—awakening dormant data may bring value far greater than speculation and hype.

Finally, we can clarify the entire product logic of Masa Network and present the full picture of its data market after the mainnet launch:

1. Utilizing Masa Growth + Masa Analytics, Masa quickly broke the ice and collected data contributions from 880,000 wallet users and 7 million unique data points in a short time;

2. After the mainnet launch in Q1 2024, Masa will introduce a decentralized data market, allowing data providers (users) to sell their behavioral data to data consumers (such as developers, enterprises, etc.) while protecting their privacy;

3. Transactions in the data market will ensure transparency through blockchain technology and ensure privacy security through ZKP.

4. Users control their data through their unique data storage box zkSBT and can selectively provide personal data to developers and project parties in need of data.

5. Users receive economic benefits for their data contributions, such as stablecoins and the blockchain-native token MASA.

6. Ultimately, in the data market, Growth + Analytics will function on both the supply and demand sides of data, with blockchain recording data transactions and providing economic incentives, allowing users to contribute data for rewards while enterprises can consume tokens to acquire data; at the same time, Masa itself, as an infrastructure, will provide more data-based services, such as datasets needed for advertising and AI model training.

Stepping Out of Web3: Exploring the Possibility of a Decentralized Google

Through Masa Network, one trend I observe is that the project is not merely creating a standalone task platform or data analysis tool, but has the vision of exploring becoming a larger data company.

The task platform may not be the core business of Masa, and in the current competitive landscape of Web3, similar projects have formed a red ocean, leading to business homogenization; more importantly, rather than competing for existing users in the Web3 circle, it is far better to step out and explore a larger data market to become a data company.

What is a data company?

I believe that the main business of a data company revolves around collecting data, processing data, integrating data, and utilizing data; the task platform may just be an early manifestation of these processes.

Google is already the data company leader in Web2, so will there also be a decentralized Google emerging in the Web3 space, making an impact in the data field?

Clearly, Masa Network is striving in this direction.

Data is undoubtedly important in an era where AI is sweeping across industries, but the rights and interests of user data are even more crucial: the former determines whether one's data can be monetized, while the latter allows individuals to decide whether they are willing to open up their data.

Web3 offers better incentives and organizational forms, enabling efficient, direct contributions of data with user consent, accelerating customer acquisition. If Masa Network can step out to meet the data needs of Web2 enterprises, especially related to AI training, the market space will undoubtedly be larger.

However, to turn the vast market prospects into reality, it is essential to take every step carefully before venturing out.

Masa's mainnet is set to launch in Q1 of next year. To encourage more users to contribute data, the project may also have more token airdrop activities in the next 1-2 months to incentivize users to use its own and partner products.

Finally, from the perspective of individual users, if one can obtain more rewards while adhering to the bottom line of data privacy, then choosing to actively pay attention and participate is certainly a reasonable choice; from the industry perspective, the more data accumulated during participation, the greater the possibility of connecting with more data demanders in the future.

On one side is the pursuit of personal profit, and on the other is the creation of industry value; the two may seem contradictory. But as the economist Adam Smith pointed out in "The Wealth of Nations" hundreds of years ago: "The food and drink we require every day do not arise from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, but from their regard to their own interest."

May the data required by the new era also build a better future under the guidance of economic incentives from Masa Network.