Blockchain is a technology that is already revolutionizing the financial market and is also the foundation of the Bitcoin virtual currency. In short, the blockchain is a data structure that maintains a digital transaction ledger between a distributed network of entities, that uses encryption to allow each participant to add a transaction value securely without the need for a central authority or coordination.
For an easier understanding of what blockchain actually is, consider that a spreadsheet is duplicated hundreds of times across a computer network and that network is smart enough to automatically perform updates on all those spreadsheets anytime someone makes a change to the file - that is the blockchain.
This way, blockchain democratizes data sharing, monetization and analysis by removing intermediation and facilitating transactions. Benefits can still be maximized by using other technologies and applications.
This combination of technologies also allows industries to have more complete insight on several parameters, which makes it perfect for a more complete analysis. Among that data would be information such as the amount of time users spend on a website, the most preferred products, and so on.
Knowing all this, TAP Network launched its very own universal rewards platform built on top of blockchain technology. With over 250,000 partners within the network, customers can shop on them. For this alone, they receive up to 10% rewards and then, if they desire, allow access to their personal shopping-related data, for even more rewards.
For those partnering companies, detailed access to consumer data would assist in tapping the potential of data volumes, improving business, reducing risk, tailoring products, creating new monetization opportunities and ensuring a better customer experience.
On the other end, customers get a chance to finally get something in return of their personal information - something that is more and more rare these days, with big corporations like Facebook and Google clearly making their billions out of that information without their users ever receiving anything out of that pie.
TAP Network not only shows us a real-world application of the popular blockchain technology, but also brings an example of a business model in which the monetization of user data can also be beneficial to users themselves.
