How is Blockchain changing the dating industry?

“If love is free, it will be of very, very little value.” ― A.D. Aliwat, In Limbo

Blockchain technology: from the cryptocurrency world to the dating one

One of the original uses of blockchain technology was to ensure that cryptocurrency transactions could occur in a setting where they could not be forged. For crypto, that made it possible to mine and use digital currency without worrying that someone could track or steal your transactions without a lot of security failures happening first. As online dating sites started integrating newer elements of privacy, including the opportunity to pay with Bitcoin and other cryptos, blockchain utilization became more attractive to dating site operators. Before long, this technology became familiar enough that more dating sites are using it now than ever before.

Blockchain advantages

Why are so many dating sites interested in using this form of technology? Blockchain comes with many benefits in terms of data security and privacy. Suppose you know how blockchain works, essentially an uncrackable ledger that tracks activities and locks them in place on a decentralized system. In that case, you can see why it would be so attractive for dating sites to have it available to promise their clients.

For one thing, you have to consider the data security and privacy of the site users. When utilizing an online dating service on blockchain, the information they use is secured layer after layer protection. It’s not as though someone can log into your dating profile using your password to get information. Blockchain dating services require biometric data to log in and are nigh-impossible to forge things on.

Another element is trust. Dating sites can trust that their client’s information is protected on these systems because they are so hard to crack. On the customer’s side of things, they benefit immediately from knowing that their payment methods are scam and fraud-resistant.

Lastly, you have to consider the impact on matchmaking. Now, dating sites have a few ways to ensure the person’s identity is who they want to be. This creates a situation where people can join a site and scam the users. On a blockchain site, the layers of verification required to make a profile ensure that it is more trouble than it’s worth and tough to try to scam someone by stealing identities. Furthermore, dating sites can instill a balance between the number of certain kinds of people on the site to promote more successful matchmaking. Having all men on a site is the wrong way to make people happy, but allowing only women to sign up for a while can solve that problem.

How could blockchain disrupt online dating?

The prominent component is the cryptocurrency play within a network or an ecosystem. Users can transact with the dating platform itself using cryptocurrency. They can be incentivized through the platform to perform certain types of actions. For example, if you provide more data to help you find a mate, you may be rewarded in that blockchain company’s native currency (i.e., in tokens).

You could also be punished. Let’s say you flake out on showing up for a date; you could stake a coin before committing to a date. Risking a coin means you’re just letting the network hold the coin. If you don’t show up, they or your date takes the coin. Ultimately, there’s a penalty for demonstrating poor behavior on the network.

How can blockchain address fake and scammy profiles?

When validating identity, you don’t need an entire dating network to be on the blockchain. You can take any existing network (e.g., Tinder, OkCupid, eHarmony, Match.com) and integrate an identity management solution like Civic or Persona on the blockchain application as a layer to validate who people are.

With the technology today, there are many different ways to validate humans. So, users of these dating sites are less likely to be in a position where they can be scammed or deceived.

Blockchain Changing the Love Game

As if those ideal relationships are not enough, blockchain also proposes revolutionizing how online dating works by gamifying the process to ensure a perfect relationship for everyone. By leveraging its prominent component of tokens and cryptocurrency, the platform rewards users for performing commendable actions. For example, several tokens can be allocated to users to add more profile data to make a more accurate match or ensure profile authenticity. The rewards are tokens native to the platform, creating another incentive to continue using the platform.

But there’s a twist. Users could also be punished for breaking hearts, like flaking out on a date. The network could hold a certain amount of users’ coins when agreeing on a date. Consequently, when the user fails to show up, the network or even the date may take the coin. Therefore, like how blockchain could provide a reward system, it could also penalize poor behaviors on the web.

A network of matchmakers

With the gamified system, dating Dapps could accomplish a more effective matchmaking process because the incentives system could generate any actions that would bolster the success rate of finding the right person.

Birthvenue has contributed to India’s blockchain ecosystem through our enterprise solutions work and our learning and development division. We have built platforms to accommodate multiple use cases and deliver solutions through robust partnerships with industry leaders.

Reach us at Lakshay@birthvenue.co to discuss any potential ideas you might have. We will actualize those ideas for you and bring them close to fruition.

This is a post in our Medium blog, ‘Blockchain for Everyone.’

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