AMA Recap: Swash meets GAINS Associates

Another week, another AMA!

The movement keeps growing, with more people getting to know the de-facto decentralised solution to data agency and monetisation: Swash.

This Monday, Swash joined an AMA with GAINS Associates, the world’s first decentralised VC, a community wanting to discover new companies in the Web 3 space, learn more about their solutions, and get involved.

Swash’s CMO answered an overwhelming number of questions at GAINS Associates’ Telegram channel, exploring everything from Swash’s First Wave Solutions to the future roadmap, including the upcoming Swash IDO.

Keep reading to for all the Q&As from the community and learn more about Swash.

What is the Swash project about in a few simple sentences? How long have you been working on it and what was the inspiration behind it?

Chloë:
Swash is about reimagining data ownership.

It’s an ecosystem of tools and services that enable people, businesses, and developers to unlock the latent value of data by pooling, securely sharing, and monetising its value.

• People can share their data to earn without compromising their privacy.
• Businesses can access high-quality, zero-party data in a sustainable and compliant way.
• Developers can set up and build systems within a collaborative development framework with ease.

Swash has been around for 2 years already, launching in late 2019 and building in public ever since. We’ve grown to over 60K+ users who believe in the mission and now we’re evolving Swash into a universal data ecosystem. You can read more on our website and whitepaper.

Our inspiration is simply that the current data economy is not sustainable, it relies on extractive methods and is very shady. We want to flip it on it’s head and put the individual at the centre, providing a way for people, businesses, and developers to work together in synergy.

Brilliant. Now, I know there are other companies that do something similar. What sets Swash apart from the competition?

Chloë:
In the true nature of Web 3, we see Swash as complementary to others in this space, and we’re excited to collaborate with them as we work towards a common vision. We work alongside some of the best names in the space, including Chainlink, Ocean Protocol, Streamr, and Boson Protocol, Outlier Ventures, to name a few. You can read more about our partnerships here.

Swash is unique in the sense that it’s a ‘better-than-free’ model which means that, not only is Swash free for users, it actually pays them for their contributions!

We also have a successful working product with over 60,000 users and have the potential to reach mainstream adoption — not everyone has crypto but everyone has data. One way we’ll do this is through our ‘Data for Good’ initiative, which allows people to automatically donate to their chosen social goods organisation.

The team and advisors are also some of the best in the space with proven success in the blockchain space including leading web3 founders. Our advisors include the likes of Bruce Pon, Founder of Ocean Protocol, and Henri Pihkala, Founder of Streamr, among others.

I recommend you check out this blog if you’re curious to learn more about anything I’ve mentioned so far.

Your partnerships with a lot of industry big names is quite impressive. Let’s talk about financial backing. Have you raised funds so far? If so, how did you handle them? Are you planning to do any future raises?

Chloë:
So, the only names I can mention right now are Outlier Ventures and Streamr. More information about our fundraising and IDO will be shared soon though! Our Telegram community and mailing list will be the first to know.

What role does the token play in the Swash ecosystem?

Chloë:
The Swash token will be a cross-chain utility and governance token. It will have multiple uses within the ecosystem, including:

• To Incentivise: As an incentive system, Swash tokens are used for distributing revenue to users in return for their participation in the ecosystem.
• To Transact: All data transactions across all marketplaces, platforms, and applications will be distributed in SWASH. This includes value generated within the business intelligence and analytics platform (sIntelligence), the data computation environment (sCompute), and solutions developed utilising Swash technology (sApps).
• To Multiply: People can individually and collectively contribute the value of their data to social development causes and use it for value exchange both within and outside the Swash universe, such as redeeming earnings for products or by staking liquidity.
• To Govern: Swash token holders can vote for projects they wish to see receive funding from the Swash DAO fund, decide on new roadmap developments or modifications, and to take part in token-related decisions.

With respect to your roadmap, what should we expect in the next weeks and months?

Chloë:
You can find the full development roadmap in our whitepaper, but over the coming weeks and months we’ll be mainly focused on preparing for our IDO and getting the sIntelligence platform ready! Details of the IDO will be announced very soon.

It’s a very exciting period for Swash and we’re seeing impressive traction and a lot of positive responses from the community.

Selected questions from the community on Twitter

Swash has 4 core technologies, including: Data Union, sIntelligence, and sCompute. Can you tell us more about this technology?

Chloë:
Nice one. I sure can!

Here’s a brief overview of each solution:

• Data Union: Optimising individual agency as a collective force by rewarding union members for the value of their data.
• sIntelligence: Bringing unique insights to businesses across all industries through a customisable, comprehensive web-based platform.
• sApps: Expanding the Swash ecosystem with the tools, community, and culture for building the next era of data solutions.
• sCompute: Uniting innovation with access by making on-site data computation capabilities a reality.

We’re really excited about these. You can, of course, learn more about them here and, for specifics on the technology behind them, I recommend checking out the Swash whitepaper.

Swash promises truly passive income. But how do I opt-in to be part of this performance model? In terms of the percentage of assets generated, how much can an average user earn? Is it necessary to be a Swash holder to be able to have these benefits?

Chloë:
To opt-in today, people can just install the Swash browser application. It’s available on all major browsers and takes just a few mins to get set up. Then, when the other products and services are added, you’ll be able to opt-in to the ones you want to be able to earn even more.

The price of data is difficult to answer, as the industry is notoriously shady. As Swash grows, we hope to shine light on that. Regarding what people can expect to earn, there has been research on it: Some estimate $5–10 per month, others estimate $200, some say $2000, and another says up to $24K per year! The data industry is vast and the EU Commission pegs it at around $3 trillion dollars.

The only thing that’s necessary is to install Swash and use the internet as normal. Once live, you will then receive $SWASH tokens for your contribution. Until then, you can earn $DATA tokens.

People are starting to understand that their data has value and when they use the Internet, that information is worth something. So, can you explain how you plan to attract non-crypto users to Swash to be the leading platform in this sector?

Chloë:
Great question!

Because of the way Swash works and how it’s centred around redistributing the value of data back to users, it’s important that people who are less tech or crypto-savvy can join Swash to be able to benefit. That is why we focus so much on creating a friendly, easy user experience and why we put simplicity and transparency first.

As an example, the browser extension takes only a few minutes to install and a wallet is created for you during this time, so anyone can do it and start earning straight away. For all products and services built on Swash (which you can read about here or in our whitepaper), this will be the priority.

Also, people are starting to understand that their data has value. When they use the internet, that information is worth something. And it’s worth trillions of dollars, so why shouldn’t people receive their share of it? That applies to everyone who uses the internet, not just crypto fans.

Open questions from the community on Telegram

How will an individual monetise the data rights that they have been granted by $Swash. Can they sell it to who they want?

Chloë:
The individual using Swash doesn’t have to do anything different. You’d simply install it and let it run in the background while you use the web as normal. For other solutions, like sApps, you can opt-in to earn more by completing polls and surveys, or receiving ads, for example.

As far as I know, Swash has developed a referral program that was very successful going from 5000 to 50000 in a few months. But, can you give more details about this referral program? Would this be the only marketing strategy that the Swash project will develop?

Chloë:
You’re right, this was a very successful strategy for Swash! The community grew much faster than we expected. We will be sharing some giveaways and a new type of referral system soon, so watch this space.

We have explored some other marketing strategies, such as working with our partners, getting featured in major media like Harvard Business Review, CoinDesk, and Forbes, and research and events, such as Mozilla, ODI, ETH Denver and more.

Moving forward, the Swash mailing list will be a key area where people can get the latest news on the project and our IDO. You can also follow our updates on Twitter and Telegram. We share regular blogs and Spotlight Series videos to showcase our partners and advisors. Here’s the latest one with Bruce Pon, Founder of Ocean Protocol. Swash swag is coming soon too.

I was reading the list of collaborations that you have developed so far: Chainlink, Ocean, Streamr, etc … and they are all influential partners. Does your project also have media or platforms in the field of research and information?

Chloë:
Yes, you kind find all of our media features and research mentions here! Keep an eye out for Mozilla’s research on Data Futures and the Open Data Institute’s feature on Swash as a “bottom-up data institution.”

One thing that concerns me about using Swash is how they will protect sensitive community information. Can you explain what tools or technologies they are implementing to keep all the information they have on users secure and anonymous?

Chloë:
That’s a very important topic and something we highly value at Swash. Firstly, Swash doesn’t collect anything sensitive! You’ll be asked to verify your email while installing the browser app (so we know you’re not a bot 🤖), but that won’t be used for anything else. (Although, if you do want to receive our email newsletter and be the first to receive our updates, you can sign up here!).

The kind of data Swash collects can be found in the Privacy Policy within the onboarding screens. One thing we do for trust is to be as transparent as possible. Certain UX features, such as the ‘Data’ tab within the current extension allows you to see the data that is captured and remove it before it’s uploaded if you decide not to share it. Also, there’s a toggle which allows people to switch Swash on and off for different sites, giving people more control.

Also, all data is anonymised and end-to-end encrypted before being added to the Data Union and Swash has completed a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) for the Information Commissioner’s Office here in the UK.

#Swash operates on a better-than-free model. What is the main point you really want to make from that statement?

Chloë:
Many of us know how web 2 operates with free services (such as Facebook or Google). Unfortunately, those services are free because they rely on extractive systems that don’t bring any value back to the users on the platform. Better-than-free means that, not only is Swash’s service free to individuals, it actually pays them!

About Swash:

Swash is an ecosystem of tools and services that enable people, businesses, and developers to unlock the latent value of data by pooling, securely sharing, and monetising its value.

People share their data to earn while retaining their privacy. Businesses access high-quality, zero-party data in a sustainable and compliant way. Developers set up and build systems within a collaborative development framework with ease.

Swash is reimagining data ownership by enabling all actors of the data economy to earn, access, build and collaborate in a liquid digital ecosystem for data. Stay tuned for the latest updates on the IDO. Stay tuned for the latest updates on the IDO.

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Originally published at https://swashapp.io on September 23, 2021.