Project Review: Itheum
Web3’s Data Platform Transforming Data Ownership
Itheum is the first project that Morningstar Ventures have supported through our MultiversX Dubai Incubator. We thought it would be interesting to give you an overview of why we are so excited about them.
Why We Believe In Itheum
On our perpetual search for innovative projects for the future of web3 and DeFi, in Q3 of 2021, we came across Itheum, the first-ever metaverse data platform. We quickly realized the project’s unique vision of transforming user data into tradable assets that have the potential to redefine the $200 billion data market.
According to The Economist, data is the world’s most valuable commodity, even overtaking oil. It is at the helm of internet-based companies, and without it, web2, as we know it today, would not have existed. Data aids innovation, marketing, sales, business development, and even design, and with web3 around the corner, our dependence on data has grown exponentially.
While this is one side of the picture, the other isn’t so pretty. The collection and use of personal data have been the source of some of the world’s largest controversies. Most of the data is collected without the consent of its users and stored in centralized servers prone to data breaches. Instances of users’ data being leaked have grown and are continuing quickly. Even tech giants like Meta (Facebook) have been caught up in data leak scams and misuse, raising serious concerns about user privacy.
On the one hand, our modern world cannot progress without data, and on the other, users’ concerns are valid — this has led to a catch-22 situation that is difficult to navigate. However, with a project like Itheum coming into the picture, users will not only have full control of their data but will also have the means to benefit from sharing it. Realizing the importance of a platform like this, we have invested $1.5 million in the growth and development of Itheum’s platform.
How Itheum Is Redefining Data Trading
The advent of blockchain technology opened the scope for fully-fledged transparency in all major world industries. Itheum is a platform that uses this technology to its full potential to bring a paradigm shift in how the data market operates. It is a decentralized data trading platform for web3 that brings users and businesses onto a level playing field where users are in control of their data and can trade it with businesses of their choice.
The platform features a blockchain-based toolkit that ensures all data businesses collect is traced and accounted for. This allows data owners to constantly check what data is collected and how it is used. Moreover, they can use Itheum’s Data DEX to secure sensitive personal information in vaults and trade it only with the businesses of their choice through direct peer-to-peer trades.
For businesses, Itheum has an analytics and data collection toolkit that can seamlessly be integrated into applications and programs to collect rich, real-time data with user consent. The analytics toolkit features anonymous analytics that provides businesses with a real picture of market trends and user behavior patterns while protecting the data owners. It also allows businesses to bridge data from web2 to web3 to facilitate transparency and direct data trades.
Data NFTs are another innovative feature of the Itheum platform, and they provide a way to tokenize user data on-chain using the NFT standard. This not only provides a way for users to secure ownership of sensitive data permanently but also for both businesses and data owners to earn via data sharing. These Data NFTs, like other NFTs, are designed to generate value for their original owners whenever they’re re-traded. They add a whole new dimension to data as a commodity and redefine how it is collected and stored.
Itheum, as a platform and a whole suite of tools, can be integrated across different chains and is EVM and non-EVM compatible. A platform like Itheum is pivotal for the onset of the fourth industrial revolution and web3, both driven by data. It circumvents data privacy problems in web2 and creates a scope for a future where data can be collected and traded consensually.
Our investment in Itheum is an effort directed exactly towards this goal. We aim to contribute to Itheum expanding its horizons and bringing in multichain functionalities and NFT-Metaverse applications for the future.
The Data Safe Haven
With the importance of data only growing daily, the world has long awaited a solution to facilitate safe data transfers while allowing users to retain control of their information.
In this context, the launch of the Itheum comes as a boon to the $200 billion data market. Unleashing the full potential of blockchain, this platform is poised to bring unmatched levels of security and transparency between users and businesses and create a space for them to exchange data.
About Morningstar Ventures
Morningstar Ventures is an investment firm backing ambitious ideas by early-stage founders. Based in Dubai, Morningstar Ventures focuses primarily on the blockchain and digital assets space and is led by CEO Danilo S. Carlucci. The firm is active in token and equity investments and has a particularly strong focus on the MultiversX ecosystem.
