BlockchainCryptoWhat would you say if you could have 100 percent ownership over your data and you can decide who you give access to? How about if you would be compensated for others accessing your data for their advertisements? Is this ideal world even realistic from a user's point of view?

Yes, but in such a new advertising world, blockchain and cryptocurrencies would have to play an important role. You probably immediately think of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency dollars, Euros, or Swiss francs, right? But cryptocurrencies are more a system of values than a local currency, generally divided into three categories:

1. Payment token: Bitcoin, for example, is a pure payment token that can only be used for payments.

2. Security tokens: Tokens are issued instead of bonds. The number of tokens purchased are shares in a company, property, or other asset. Thanks to an asset token, these values can be tokenized. Security tokens are also used when shares in companies or other values are acquired.

3. Utility tokens: Here, tokens fulfill a specific purpose and have functions that go beyond payment transactions. This type of token will play an important role in future marketing.

Utility tokens enable smart contracts and M2M processes, which can be very helpful in e-commerce. If you must buy an item and pay at the same time but are not sure whether you will get the goods, the blockchain could provide more security here. The retailer would then not receive the amount for the purchase but initially the amount would only be reserved and blocked on the blockchain. Only after the parcel has been delivered to you and upon your confirmation would the amount be released to the retailer.

Utility tokens for advertisements and tracking of your data could be transferred to marketing. You will be compensated for the advertisements with utility tokens. You decide whether you want to make your data available for advertising purposes, but you will also be compensated for this with micro amounts of the corresponding cryptocurrency. The term currency does not have the same meaning as a national currency, but rather could be compared with a value system.

In such a system, the advertiser gets the better data and knows more precisely which socio-demographic profiles viewed his advertising when and where. Of course, no data is passed on here either, only anonymized profile data is made available for targeting purposes. The difference to today is that the user alone decides what to do with his/her data and is compensated for it.

Transferred to social media, this means that you will be compensated for your posts based on their reach and interaction. If you want to keep your data secret, you can, but compensate the network with your monthly contribution in the form of the same utility token. You can choose to provide your data for a fee or to pay for its use. Wouldn’t this be fair? You can use the collected tokens to purchase products in the same way as you would with a loyalty program. You can get goods from advertisers for whom you have allowed advertising to appear at a reduced price or free of charge. Don’t you think this closes the cycle amazingly? The Brave browser or the social media platform Steem already follow this approach, but whether they can achieve the relevance of the established platforms depends on various factors. It is more likely that a completely new provider will cause a sensation and experience exponential growth. If you have the coolness of a Tiktok, then a new, completely unknown provider could well cause disruption in the advertising market.

By Daniela La Marca