DeFi
Here’s why Solana-based Hivemapper thinks it can beat Google Maps – DL News
- Hivemapper aims to knock Google Maps off its perch.
- The Solana DePIN project rewards users with its Honey token.
- He has already mapped 20% of the world’s roads.
Hivemapper, a mapping project based on Solana, has big ambitions.
It wants to overtake Google Maps, the world’s largest mapping service with more than a billion monthly active users.
The blockchain newcomer says its crypto-based rewards system is central to its purpose, as the rewards create the economic incentives necessary for the project’s success.
“Without an underlying incentive, participation becomes fragmented and aimless,” said Ariel Seidman, CEO of Hivemapper. DL News.
Hivemapper rewards contributors with its Honey token, a $105 million crypto, to use the project’s dashcams to map routes.
Mappers aren’t the only participants who can earn honey. Users who verify map data submitted by volunteers are also paid in Hivemapper cryptocurrency.
Web2 services like Google Maps generally do not reward volunteers with monetary compensation, but offer non-monetary benefits related to their products and services.
DePIN Projects
Hivemapper belongs to a class of blockchain projects called DePIN, short for decentralized physical infrastructure network – a sector already present in the crypto market. 23 billion dollars strong.
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DePIN projects attempt to use blockchain technology to provide an alternative to Web2 companies whose services support the Internet in sectors such as mapping, computing and wireless.
Most DePIN projects offer token-based rewards.
Chris Newhouse, DeFi analyst at crypto trading firm Cumberland Labs, says token incentives don’t mean the project will last.
“Several newer DePIN protocols struggle to truly align economic incentives in a way that requires a token,” Newhouse already said DL News.
Seidman, however, says critics don’t understand the value of a decentralized reward system like the one Hivemapper uses.
The Hivemapper CEO explained that the system works with multiple drivers submitting vehicle-generated map data for the same region. The network then remaps and validates all of this data in real time to provide “road intelligence” to businesses.
“Hivemapper scales a self-regulated mapping ecosystem,” Seidman said.
“Coaches and drivers generate Honey rewards, and when a company buys map data, it triggers a token burn, creating an equilibrium with incentives.”
In a recent reportasset management giant Franklin Templeton said Hivemapper was one of the first to evolve in the promising DePIN sector.
But the report notes a slowdown in demand for its services.
Demand problem
“Hivemapper has had great success in increasing the number of contributors providing map data to the network, to over 60,000. However, the project has not seen the same relative growth on demand as on the supply side” , the report says.
Without significant demand for Hivemapper’s map data, contributors earning Honey tokens will only inflate the token supply.
As Kellen Blumberg, data scientist at crypto platform Flipside, previously said DL News“Incentives are useful to attract early adopters, but sustainability is crucial. »
The symbolic price of honey is down 85% from its December peak.
But Seidman says Hivemapper has the advantage over traditional competitors like Google Maps in terms of cost.
Traditional mapping is expensive, so large apps like Google Maps struggle to update their maps on a global scale, he said.
“In contrast, Hivemapper dashcams cost just a few hundred dollars and can produce street images 20 to 100 times fresher than Google’s,” Seidman said.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Osato Avan-Nomayo is our DeFi correspondent based in Nigeria. He covers DeFi and technology. To share tips or story information, please contact him at osato@dlnews.com.