Swash — Research by Cryp2Gem
Cryp2Gem is a community-based research group. We are constantly researching and searching for future blockchain disruptive innovators.
Our Cryp2Gem Telegram Community group is open for everybody interested in learning and sharing knowledge about blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and trading. This article is part of our research which is intended for the community. All the feedbacks and critiques are highly appreciated.
The author of this research looks to invest in Swash but tends to stay unbiased while researching and writing. This research is not intended as a promotion and is not part of any paid promotion. Cryp2Gem strongly believes in unbiased researching, sharing knowledge and transparency even when possibly invested, which will always be stated.
This is not financial advice; anything you read should not be perceived or conveyed as financial advice. The author takes no responsibility if you choose to invest in any project to produce a research piece. Cryp2Gem solely produces research to assist the cryptocurrency community and state when invested or looking to invest. It is significant for all to do their due diligence when considering an investment.
FOUNDED: 2019, Helsinki, Finland
WEB PAGE: swashapp.io
WHITEPAPER: Swash Whitepaper — Reimagining Data Ownership
FIELD OF INTEREST: DATA
SHORT DESCRIPTION: Swash’s all-inclusive data ecosystem will enable true collaboration while unlocking unique value systems through innovative monetisation mechanisms. The communities contributing to this system are driven by the belief that people should be appreciated for the data they generate and are driven by the desire to be part of a future information economy that works in the interests of everyone without compromising on transparency, privacy or individual agency.
CHAIN: Cross-chain Ethereum/xDai (followed by BSC)
LIVE MAINNET: planned to launch until the end of 2021
DEV ACTIVITY (Github): Swash Github has five contributors active and constant code development activity from q2 2019.
Major Github repositories activity:
*data-union-solidity repository has 255 commits from 5 contributors (07/20–03/21);
*swash repository has 480 commits from 5 contributors (04/19–07/21);
*swash-ui repository has 254 commits from 5 contributors (04/19–07/21).
PRODUCTS:
*Swashapp browser extension to help you earn from your data as you surf the web with Swash. The app is available on most major web browsers. In total Swash application has 63k+ installs, 100M+ collected data points and 240k+ DATA total earnings distributed at the time of writing. Please check the latest statistics on swashapp.io.
Swash Chrome extension alone has 10k+ installs and a rating of 3,7/5;
*Data Unions — a framework that allows people to bundle and sell their real-time and historical data;
*Initial wave of platforms within the ecosystem:
-sIntelligence (business intelligence and analytics platform)
-sApps (apps and services built on Swash)
-sCompute (data computation).
Henri Pihkala, Streamr CEO: “Swash is a browser plugin that shares and sells your web behaviour data anonymously and in real-time. Most applications collect and sell user data secretly, but this is the opposite — its sole purpose is to collect data in a fully transparent, fair, and configurable way.” (source)
EXISTING CUSTOMERS AND USERS:
Swash app is available on most major web browsers. In total Swash application has 63k+ installs, 100M+ collected data points and 240k DATA+ total earnings distributed. The Swash user base has seen rapid growth lately. (swashapp.io.)
COMPETITORS & STARTUPS BUILDING WITHIN THE SAME DECENTRALIZED DATA MONETIZATION ETHOS:
We have seen solutions for private crowdsourced data monetisation in different sectors like IoT or healthcare in the past few years, but few have gotten much traction. Let’s explore who could be actual competitors and build products within the same fields as Swash.
*GeoDB. GeoDB is a peer-to-peer big data sharing ecosystem powered by blockchain technologies. An open data marketplace that creates bridges between current isolated participants aims to solve the existing inefficiencies of the enormous big data industry. GeoDB will reward any user around the world for the data they generate. Users receive GEO tokens in exchange for their anonymous data, which can later be exchanged for FIAT.
*Tapmydata. The Tapmydata solution is a framework of tools, ledger and decentralised protocol for people to reclaim their digital identity, crystallise unique, verified elements of consent in an NFT and provide a new, transparent channel for legitimate counterparties to blend data and exchange value. The Tapmydata app allows you to control your data in a simple, fast and effective way. You can use it to find out who has your data, make requests to review it, correct details, share it with those you trust and get rewards from our partners with TAP coins.
Tapmydata is not a direct competitor but a partner of Swash and Streamr and GeoDB, amongst others.
*Prometeus Stoa. Stoa is Prometeus’ decentralized framework for data monetisation and a distributed platform that allows users to buy and sell data in a secure, anonymous and decentralized way. The product is intended for individual users to share and earn value from their data, businesses and large datasets, and developers who want to create products on the Prometeus ecosystem.
*WeClock. WeClock is a self-tracking app to help you discover how much of your time and wellbeing is spent on work. All data collected by WeClock is kept locally on your device. If you choose to share it, you consciously choose who it is shared with and, thus, who sees it. WeClock, unlike most other apps, is designed for you to not only visually see the results of what is collected but also to have access to that data in a way that makes it easy to share.
*Permission. Permission.io was created to end the interruptive, exploitative advertising model that drives today’s web and gives individuals back ownership of their time and data. Permission is making it possible for you to own and be compensated for your data in Web 3.0. Permission has created the tools and the infrastructure for you to grant permission and earn from your data across the digital ecosystem.
*Datum. Datum network allows anyone to store structured data securely in a decentralized way on a smart contract blockchain. The DAT smart token enables the optional selling and buying of stored data while enforcing data usage rules set by the data owner. Datum proposes a network run on a secure smart contract blockchain that allows all users to retake control of their data.
*DIA ARTs. DIA is creating the data infrastructure powered by Autonomous Rights Tokens (ART) NFTs that enable autonomous tracking, enforcement, monetising, and managing data and data rights. Anyone can acquire or trade ART NFTs on secondary markets.
*ImagineBC. ImagineBC is a secure online community for unique content experiences that pay its users back and enable their members' data and personal information to be stored on-chain and prevent anyone but you from accessing your information.
*Unbanks. Unbanks facilitates the selling of your banking data. You permit Unbanks to access your transactional and account data from your bank. Your data will be anonymised and streamed in real-time to a data marketplace to be sold through the Unbanks platform. Unbanks removes all personal data before putting your transactional data on the market. Once the data is free of personal information, it is added to the Unbanks Data Union powered by Streamr.
*Decentr. Decentr, powered by Holochain, provides a web browsing experience that gives surfing the internet a payable value. Decentr aims to realise the full potential of a “true” data economy by building a secure, open-source platform that decentralises current centralised data exchange systems similar to how blockchain solutions decentralise digital trades, solving the data storage/sharing paradox. Decentr enhances the online browsing experience by providing a convenient “one-stop-shop” suite of features and tools, including online transactions (dPay), an immutable and secure digital ID and wallet (DecID) and decentralised communications, data sharing and social media services.
*BIGtoken. BIGtoken is a secure platform that empowers you to realise and claim the value of your digital self. BIGtoken is a consumer-managed data marketplace where people can own and earn from their data. Through a transparent platform and consumer reward system, BIG provides consumers choice, transparency and compensation for their data. The system also provides advertisers, and media companies access to transparent, verified consumer data to better reach and serve audiences.
Based on our research, we cannot find any current or upcoming products that could directly challenge Swash and their technology and end-to-end data ecosystem, allowing building Data Unions and monetisation mechanisms for sharing and earning your private data and getting micropayments incomes.
TEAM:
*Reza Naeeni, Core Contributor — Team Lead. 6 years experience in project management and business development from a Fortune 100 corporate and several startups.
*Ebrahim Khalilzadeh, Core Contributor — Technology. Ten years experience in the software security industry, responsible for security architecture design and standard adoption in SDLC.
*Mehrdad Abdi, Core Contributor — Security. Senior developer and application security expert pursuing PhD research in Computer Science.
*Chloë Diamond, Core Contributor — Marketing. Content and digital marketing specialist with over six years of experience working on technology, art, and blockchain marketing.
*Masoud Sarabadani, Core Contributor — DevOps. Experienced developer and security specialist with a background in banking and public services digital transformation.
ADVISORS:
*Bruce Pon, Founder and CEO of Ocean Protocol and BigchainDB; Global Innovator at World Economic Forum.
*Gilbert Hill, Privacy Technologist, Senior Tutor at the Institute of Data & Marketing and Co-founder & CEO at FinFlo.
*Henri Pihkala, Founder and CEO of Streamr.
*Ioana Surpateanu, CSO at DIA Association, former Co-Head of European Government Affairs, Citi.
*Mathilda Bosch, Chief Strategy at TLA, Co-Chair HBS Angels of London.
*Lety Kamp, Data & Analytics Director at Videmus Data, former Head of Data Solutions at Crunch Digital Media.
*Matt Law, Chief Strategy at Boson Protocol, Growth at Fetch.ai, Partner at Outlier Ventures and Director at Brave Bison.
*Aaron Rhodes, CEO at Wedeo and Former VP of Data Analytics at Comscore.
PARTNERS:
*Streamr. Swash built the first living Data Union back in 2019 as a technical experiment. It has since grown into one of the largest dapps with over 60,000 installs, making it the first and largest Data Union in existence. As Swash evolves, it will continue to utilise the Streamr network as the integration layer, and the Streamr marketplace will be where Swash stream data is sold.
*Ocean Protocol. Swash joined Ocean as a Day 1 Data Launch Partner of the Ocean Market, where the Swash dataset attracted over €300,000 worth of staked value at its peak. Ocean Market enables users to add liquidity to pools and buy, sell, or publish data. Moving forward, the Ocean x Swash collaboration will be enhanced by the integration of Compute-to-Data with sCompute.
Bruce Pon, Founder & CEO at Ocean Protocol: “We see that the mission of Swash aligns very closely with Ocean. It’s about getting people’s data in a way that has their consent and has the conditions of how they feel comfortable to share the data, but it also provides an economic incentive for them to do so. The ability for people to monetise their data, I think, is going to be a fundamental pillar of an emerging data economy that allows for the agency of anybody on earth.” (source)
*Chainlink. Swash will integrate a DATA/ETH Price Feed to determine who qualifies for sponsored withdrawals. They will also use Chainlink to calculate proportional contributions in data unions for fairer revenue sharing.
*1World Online. Partnership to gather transparent data insights to brands and advertisers and reach a state where individuals and businesses can equally benefit from the new data economy.
*Amasa. The collaboration will help both parties working towards aligned visions, where Swash provides users with a micro income stream in which users receive profits generated from their surfing data, and Amasa enables these users to combine their Swash income with other background streams, amplifying the value of the overall micropayments being earned.
William Birks, Amasa Co-Founder & CEO: “Swash subverts the existing data ecosystem by rewarding individuals for the value of their data while bringing high-quality, zero-party data to businesses, retaining the commercial viability of data markets. Swash enables a potential micro income stream for a global market of billions, and it’s already working, easy to use, and make rapid progress. We’re proud to partner with Swash.” (source)
*Boson Protocol. Swash partnered with Boson Protocol’s NiftyKey solution to offer the community the chance to participate in the NFT economy by converting their data earnings into ‘NFT commitment tokens.’ These commitment tokens can later be transferred in and out of non-custodial wallets or converted to physical products and services, amplifying the value opportunities for Swash members.
*Tapmydata. Collaboration to advance data ownership and work towards maximising value return for communities.
*Outlier Ventures. Part of Base Camp 3 Accelerator Summer Cohort 2020 and Diffusion Digital where Swash joined a panel on The Role of Data Unions.
*Data Privacy Protocol Alliance (DPPA). Swash is a founding member.
INVESTORS:
Amongst angel investors, Streamr and Outlier Ventures participated in the seed funding round. Other investors will be publicly announced at a later stage. Swash also received a grant from the Ocean Protocol and a small Gitcoin Grant.
TOKEN USE CASE:
The Swash ecosystem will be powered by the utility and governance token SWASH used for all transactions, incentives, subscriptions, redeeming earnings for products or staking liquidity, to purchase data via the sIntelligence platform and for SwashDao voting and governance introduced in the future.
Swash is considering a periodical token burning mechanism.
TOKEN METRICS:
TOKEN: SWASH (cross-chain ERC777 and BEP20 token)
TOTAL TOKEN SUPPLY: 1B
FULLY DILUTED MARKET CAP: $90M
INITIAL CIRCULATING SUPPLY: 5,4%
INITIAL MARKET CAP: $4,86M
TOKEN DISTRIBUTION:
9% Pre-Seed
3% Seed
5% Strategic
5% Pre-sale
5% Public
14% Ecosystem & DAO Growth
14% Community and Platform Rewards
15% Foundation
15% Founders
5% Liquidity
10% Team & Advisors
FUNDS RAISING INFO: To be announced!
The initial public sale price is planned at $0,09/SWASH at a $90M valuation.
GRANTS:
*Gitcoin Grants where they received a few small contributions in 2020.
*Ocean Protocol. As part of the Ocean Shipyard program, Swash received a funding grant and marketing and product development support from the Ocean team.
ROADMAP:
Q3 2020 — Q1 2021
● Developed and expanded the foundational building blocks of Swash architecture
● Made the Swash browser extension available on all major browsers and achieved a rapidly-growing user base
● Data that is captured through the extension is available for sale on marketplaces, such as Ocean Protocol and Streamr
● A basic dashboard was developed to present a statistical summary about the collected data, forming the basis for the sIntelligence platform
Q3 2021 — Q4 2021
● Connect directly with data buyers through marketplace integrations
● Integrate direct investment in social goods organisations into the Swash extension
● Continue integrating the Swash extension with all web browsers and getting Swash published on web stores — including Safari and mobile web browsers
● Develop the Data at Rest and Integrator layers to manage collected data before building the Query and Search capabilities
● Enhance the sIntelligence platform to present predefined reports and to add sessions and durations
● Launch the first version of Swash smart contracts to enable equal revenue distribution between sMembers
Q4 2021 — Q3 2022
● Reveal sCore services and functionality while enhancing transparency and revenue sharing capabilities
● Release the first versions of sCompute and Channel
● Migrate Swash smart contracts over to the next generation to cater to new ecosystem demands
● Develop sPortal to grant necessary control on sCompute to data scientists and sApps
● Release the next version of sIntelligence to present product category dictionaries in line with user and functionality growth
● Develop sApp infrastructure and the first version of SDK to launch the preliminary version of sApps
● Improve revenue distribution mechanisms to reach proportional sharing according to sMembers’ and sUsers’ contributions
Q2 2022 — Q4 2022
● Develop and launch sServices bot detector and the first version of Captcha
● Release the first sApps — sPoll and sRecommender
● Present sServices through sPortal to data scientists to assist them in running algorithms and selling their datasets and models on marketplaces
Q1 2023 — Q3 2023
● Implement upgrades to sPoll and sRecommender
● Deliver other sApps — sAd, sAdvisory, and sAirdrop
● Continued improvements on bot and fraud detection mechanisms
Q4 2023 — Q2 2024
● Release the second version of sAd, sAdvisory, and sAirdrop
● Establish transparency and fair revenue distribution with the final version of Swash smart contracts
● Upgrade sCompute and Data at Rest from centralised infrastructure to decentralised infrastructure, concerning broader technological developments
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Telegram (3570)
Twitter (9766)
LinkedIn
Medium
NOTES
Swash’s decentralised data ecosystem redefines how data is collected and valued by providing a simple way to passively earn, innovate, and create a fairer world and better, more equitable internet. Swash enables crowdsourced, zero-party data monetisation where individuals are rewarded for the value of their data as they surf the web. Meanwhile, data buyers, like advertisers, market intelligence and analytics companies, AI/ML innovators, brands, and researchers, can access unique consumer insights at scale and with ease from all over the web.
Swash aims to rebalance the data economy by redistributing data profits and unlocking new assets by paying people for their regular contributions while sourcing access to high-quality, diverse data straight from the user. (source)
Swash launched as a technical experiment at Mozilla Festival in 2019 to introduce the Swash app browser plugin on Streamer’s technology stack and established the world’s first Data Union.
Mozilla’s Data Futures Lab published a report where they recognise Data unions as an example of how individual control over data can be extended into formalised collective models through which constituents may receive dividends and have input into decisions about how data is used or sold. They highlight Swash, Streamr and WeClock as early adopters and builders of Data Unions Framework technology sustainable Data Futures.
Swash attended several blockchains and decentralised data solution-focused events such as the World Ethical Data Forum 2021, MyData Online 2020, ETHDenver19, and Outlier Venture’s Diffusion Digital.
Swash app browser extension helps you earn from your data as you surf the web and is available on most major web browsers. In total Swash application has 63k+ installs, 100M+ collected data points and 240k DATA total earnings distributed.
Swash is the first real-life and largest example of a Data Union. A Data Union is a framework currently built on Streamr that allows people to bundle and sell their real-time data. On its own, our data does not hold much value. Still, when combined in a Data Union, it aggregates into an attractive product for buyers to extract insights in the form of data crowd selling with the potential to generate unique data sets by incentivising trade directly from the data producers. (source)
Jamie Burke, Founder and CEO at Outlier Ventures: “We’ve seen in 2020 and 2021, a maturing of the technology stack, and it looks very likely that NFTs are the gateway drug for the mainstream to begin to adopt crypto. As a consequence, the principles of Web 3 around decentralisation, self-sovereign identity, the sovereignty of data and sovereignty of digital wealth.
As awareness is critical for adopting new technologies, decentralised solutions such as Swash have now reached the perfect equilibrium between their technical development and the openness and eagerness of individuals to embrace new solutions.
Swash is a crucial component of how we mainstream a new data economy. These kinds of killer applications allow the average person without a high technical barrier to taking back control of their data. We envision a world where everyone, regardless of their technological know-how, can access their data, join a community (cough-Data Union-cough), and collaborate with others to achieve the best solutions and opportunities. New technologies allow for a process of positive commodification, where people can turn that data into a positive commodity. The idea of Data Unions is a mighty one that people can understand, and I think a very sensible and practical way to allow for users to begin to take back control of data and to turn it into a form of revenue.” (source)
Data Unions currently run on the xDai chain, which offers bridges to Ethereum mainnet and Binance Smart Chain (BSC). Still, Swash is also exploring new ecosystems such as Polygon and BSC to enable operating Data Unions in those ecosystems.
Data Union projects data products will be available on Streamr Marketplace and others, such as Ocean Market and AWS Data Exchange. Swash intends to offer fiat on-ramps on chains of operation (e.g. Ramp).
Swash builds decentralized alternative data solutions through new incentivisation streams and a collaborative development framework that enables internet users, developers, and businesses to cultivate new realities of data ownership and value creation.
Swash Ecosystem will be comprised of the following roles/elements :
● sMember: These are people who have installed one of the Swash sCollectors and, therefore, joined the Swash Data Union to receive income from and gain control over their data.
● sCollector: Applications installed by Swash users (sMember) to capture, pool, and sell data on their behalf. The Swash browser extension is one example, but it could also be a desktop or mobile application or an independent browser.
● sCustomer: People who buy Swash data through marketplaces or subscribe to the Swash business intelligence platform (sIntelligence).
● sIntelligence: Web-based application that shows companies basic and competitive metrics about their industry sector.
● sApp: Third-party applications built on top of the Swash core (sCore). They can use computation infrastructure (sCompute) to run algorithms on customised Swash datasets and use the Swash channel service (sChannel) to interact with Swash users (Members).
● sUser: People who authorise the use of sApps. sApps may provide an added revenue stream for sUsers in exchange for their interaction with the sApp. sUsers will likely be sMembers who are invited to use sApps.
● sChannel: sApps can use Swash SDK to communicate with sMembers using the sChannel feature. They could use this feature to ask for more information from sUsers in exchange for revenue, such as polls or questionnaires.
● sClient: Companies that use sApps to pay for application services are sClients. This might include a website that publishes through a sApp or an advertiser who displays advertisements through a sApp.
● sCore: This is the term used to describe the three main elements of the underlying Swash architecture; Data Fabric, Analytics and Marketplace Module, and Applications and Services Environment.
● sChain: Swash uses a custom-built side chain called sChain to record all sCore and fuel data access control and revenue distribution.
● sPortal: Web-based application that clients can use to communicate with sCore.
● sCompute: Using sCompute, data scientists and developers can run computation tasks on Swash data without accessing or moving the dataset.
● sService: Services used by sApps and external customers. These include bot detection, captcha, and a sApp measurement service.
● sRevenue: All revenue received is shared fairly and transparently between all actors using sRevenue.
● sVault: All income from across the Swash ecosystem is received by sVault. It is from here where redistribution happens fairly and transparently using Swash smart contracts.
The core of Swash tech is data processing, and the central pillar of the Swash environment is the Data Fabric as one of the three main areas (Data Fabric / Analytics and Marketplace Module / Applications and Services Environment) of the Swash technology stack. The Data Fabric encompasses all applications, systems, networks, storage and technologies used to collect, integrate, filter, process and store data. It is here where all data is collected, integrated, filtered, processed, and stored. Raw data will be stored at the smart contract controlled Rest layer, which utilises Big Data infrastructure, while the Query layer is where datasets are created using filters on the query and search tools. Swash smart contracts enforce the access, compliance, and security policies on the requested dataset and, if everything is in order, the dataset is delivered to the consumer.
Swash will be using a compliance framework to guarantee the safety and security of all Swash data.
Analytics and Marketplace Module will process and analyse datasets through data aggregation and analytics platforms that will give in-depth results to end-users. The complete Swash environment structure can be seen in the image below.
Henri Pihkala, Founder of Streamr: “Swash is an entry point into the world of crypto and the world of decentralised technology.”
Swash is developing a complete data ecosystem with no direct competition on the market. It will allow the building of Data Unions and monetisation mechanisms for sharing and earning your private data leading to micropayments incomes. Swash is the first and largest Data Union that will help people aggregate and sell their real-time and historical data. This crowdsourcing and crowd selling mechanism will allow average users (web surfers) to take back and own their private data, monetise it and sell it on the marketplace. Businesses will be able to access quality and valuable big datasets and developers to build new data solutions. Swash started with an app web browser extension back in 2019 that helps you earn from your data as you surf the web, which already has traction with 63k+ installs, 100M+ collected data points and 240k+ DATA total earnings distributed. But Swash, led by a highly competent and experienced team that extended the Swash enviroment significantly, is building an excellent partnership network and developing a full data technology stack to mainstream a new data economy.
…installing Swash App…
