DataBroker DAO Live AMA with Roderik van der Veer & Matthew Van Niekerk
Last Sunday we sat down with the founders of DataBroker DAO (CEO Matthew Van Niekerk and CTO Roderik van der Veer) and our community on Telegram to talk about the data marketplace DataBroker DAO, DTX tokens, ownership and trust. It was our first AMA in a while that sparked conversations and brought our community closer.
Q: Is DataBroker DAO generating revenue? How are funds and resources divided over SettleMint and DataBroker DAO?
Matthew: At this moment, DataBroker DAO is pre-revenue. The business model is driven by our commercial activity (data buying and selling) and, as we are still in the process of on-boarding data sellers, this revenue is yet to kick in. SettleMint is generating revenue. The cashflow is healthy.
Roderik: On a technical level the SettleMint’s middleware product, Mint, powers 90% of the DataBrokerDAO platform (or at least the new upcoming one) so incentives are aligned there.
Matthew: We are, thus, in a phase with DataBroker where SettleMint is incubating DataBroker DAO until it reaches independent and sufficient revenue generation status. Please be aware that DataBroker DAO is part of the SettleMint’s long term strategy.
Q: If big companies trespass on your technology, do you have a patent, security or a contract for that?
Matthew: We have looked into patents for our technology and based on our lawyers opinion (and that of 3 other patent lawyers) the prospect of patenting in Europe at least is not promising.
That said, given the size of the opportunity for data marketplaces in the next 5–10 years, there are sufficient opportunities for 20–30 companies with the same business model.
“The key to success is not patenting. Network effect will be much more valuable than a patent.”
Q: Tell us more about the exchange situation.
Roderik: We are highly aware of the exchange situation. Over the last two years we submitted for almost all reputable exchanges. We made sure that after the recent delist wave we kept an exchange reporting to CoinMarketCap (unsure why YoBit does not) and one with a fiat on/off ramp. Adding more will not change the low liquidity, we believe any changes in that respect will come from commercial adoption of the platform.
Q: Can you release the pilot version to the public?
Roderik: We are now working on the next commercial release version to go live at the end of October at a big event.
Q: Data transaction process generates more gas costs than other tokens, why? Is there a way to reduce gas costs?
Roderik: At the time of creating the token, best practices (like Aragon, Giveth, … for example) were to base the token on the MiniMe standard. This token stores full history, so we can get, for example, token holders at block x or y. This results in some more gas costs. Read more
Q: Does the platform include all configurations such as Sigfox, LoRa, gsm and telco (WSN) networks?
Roderik: The platform, or the piece that transmits and receives data, we call the DXC (Data eXchange Controller) in v3. DXC can handle files, tcp streams, and acts as an API gateway. Via those options, any protocol can pipe in, and depending on the customers we might add more specific connectors, like ThingsNetwork, Sigfox, etc.
Q: What is the difference between the stream sensor data and the data set in the marketplace?
Roderik: A data set is a “file” so a one-time transmission/download to the buyer. A stream is an open “pipe” where data flows through when a sensor reading happens. In v3 we are adding a third, API proxy, where the DXC is in front of existing API’s.
Q: Can we know the volume of data transactions when the data marketplace v3 goes live?
Matthew: We will take this in our discussions on the design of the upcoming update to the website. It will be interesting to add it as a feature at some point.
Q: The difference between the two configurations is simply downloading and streaming?
Roderik: Yes, also the timing of the data coming in, and the type of data: a stream can not get historical data for example, a file can.
Q1: How does DataBroker DAO relate to the MindSphere ecosystem?
Matthew: We are a MindSpere partner and conducted integration tests with their edge computing hardware together with them. It is early days for MindSphere and we are looking forward to future steps with them.
Roderik: We were able to deploy the middleware on their edge computing machines (so machines at the factory flow next to the PLC that manages the “robots”) and since the two platforms are using the same core, the way to run the DXC on an edge computer is open.
Q: Can you show us some of the designs for v3 platform?
Roderik: The current Alpha version is not functioning. The v3 version is under development. As soon as we can share something, we will! We are very excited about it. Adding experienced UX and graphic designers really ups the game.
Big thanks to everyone who joined us! Stay tuned, as there is more to come.
