Itheum’s CanaryNet Explained: A Guarded Launch of Itheum’s technology into the Mainnet
Itheum aims to revolutionize the centralized data brokerage industry that exists in the world today. This goal requires building and operating “new and unique” open-source, public-good technologies and paradigms for data ownership, data, identity tokenization, and peer-to-peer data trading.
But the reality is that decentralized data brokerage technologies and concepts have never existed before — it’s an entirely new paradigm that Itheum introduced and has developed. Therefore, we need a “guarded” mainnet launch to ensure the technology is not misused or misrepresented.
This new paradigm has massive potential as it impacts everyone on earth (we all have data and can participate!), but unlike the other common web3 projects in the market, i.e., products like Defi DEXs, lending protocols, NFT projects that have had time to operate on Mainnets across various blockchains and gain some “positioning,” web3 based decentralized data brokerage is “new and unexplored” in a live mainnet setting.
Therefore, for Itheum to aim to be regulation-compliant while at the same time positioning the web3 data technology as a robust platform for global adoption, we are positioning the upcoming mainnet launch of our technology under a “CanaryNet” flag.
Let’s explore what this means to you.
Understanding CanaryNet “A Guarded Launch”
In the web2 technology world, there is a software engineering pattern called the canary deployment strategy. In canary deployment, the software is released to a “live setting” with some Guardrails to ensure it can be inspected and evolved to a final product ready for full, un-constrained usage by everyone. The idea of using a “canary” as an early warning system has a long history; long before modern technology companies used the term, coal miners carried real canaries along to find gas leaks. When these little birds — more susceptible than humans to the odorless fumes — indicated distress, it was time for the miners to get out of the mine and re-group before re-entering.
Similarly, in the web3 technology world, when a unique technology primitive is conceptualized and developed, it is best practice to launch it under “real-world” settings but constrain it under some transparent Guardrails. The “Guarded Launch” is done primarily to protect the end users interacting with the new technology, as “real-economic value” is exchanged between participants by using highly unique and original technology designs (e.g., trading data as NFTs in a Data NFT marketplace).
In summary, Itheum’s CanaryNet is a Guarded Launch of Itheum’s technology to the Mainnet, which can be used by real users and with real-economic value. CanaryNet will contain transparent “Guardrails” that protect the users in the ecosystem. Once more regulation acceptance, socioeconomic usage clarity, and technology maturity evolve around the products that are part of Itheum’s CanaryNet environment, then Itheum will obliterate the Guardrails and “sunset” the CanaryNet labeling.
FAQs to help you understand Itheum CanaryNet better.
1. What does this mean to me (as an end-user of Itheum’s technology)?
As an end-user of Itheum’s technology, it’s essential to understand what this means to you. Products like Data NFTs, and Data NFT marketplaces will operate with the same robust security guarantees and real-world economic models as any mainnet software launch. Still, they will have some transparent Guardrails that relate to the operations of the product. We will explore these Guardrails in more detail below.
2. What kind of Guardrails will be put in place at launch initially, and what types can I expect in the future?
Guardrails are some boundaries that exist around the software features. A good example of a Guardrail is “Whitelisted Data Creator Minting,” where Data Creators who want to mint Data NFTs must follow an off-chain whitelisting process. This Guardrail will be enforced at launch but eventually removed at a future date. For example, when Itheum’s Soulbound Badges are launched in the near future, web3 positive reputation obtained by Soulbound Badges will automatically whitelist new Data Creators. So off-chain whitelisting will be replaced by on-chain whitelisting and the specific Guardrail will be removed.
Here are the Guardrails that will be in place after the upcoming Mainnet launch:
1. Whitelisted Data Creator Minting
2. Time limits between new Data NFT minting
3. High Anti-Spam TAX to prevent spam minting by Whitelisted Data Creators
4. Transparent “Community Based Curation” of Data NFTs
- Spam Data NFT identification and removable
- Community channels to report malicious Data NFTs or Data Creators
- Complaint reporting and handling
- Freezing bad actors (Data Creators)
5. Max pricing ceiling per Data NFT
6. Whitelisted 3rd party NFT marketplaces. Requires 3rd Parties to :
- Support “Data Uptime checks” before trade happens to protect consumers from buying useless Data NFTs
- Fairly distribute Data Creator royalties
Guardrails can be added, removed, or updated in the future; more details on how this will be transparently done are provided below.
3. What is the Whitelisting Process Guardrail for Data Creators?
Initially, Data Creators, including individuals and organizations, must undergo a whitelisting process to vet the authenticity of the data and the publisher before the minted Data NFTs get listed on the Data Marketplace. They will need to apply through a form and answer a series of questions to determine the suitability of their data for listing on the marketplace. This process helps maintain the integrity and value of the Data NFTs and their Creators and to protect the users from malicious Data Publishers.
4. Who decides when existing Guardrails are added, removed, or updated? Will this be a transparent process?
The primary characteristic of CanaryNet is that the Guardrails should always be transparent to the end-users of Itheum technology. Ideally, all changes to Guardrails (adding new ones, removing existing ones, or changing the parameters of existing ones) would be done via “community voting” via transparent public signaling and voting process. We are working towards community DOA governance for the Itheum protocol and intend to put CanaryNet Guardrail management under the oversight of this community DAO, but this process will take some time. Until we set up a robust community DAO the Itheum team will oversee any changes to CanaryNet Guardrails — but we commit to doing this fully transparently.
Here is how we will communicate any changes to our community:
- Changes to Guardrails will be announced in our Discord channel (Community DAO > CanaryNet channels).
- A dedicated section of the Data DEX will list the active Guardrails and highlight any upcoming changes.
5. Will the CanaryNet phase end?
Once more regulation acceptance, socioeconomic usage clarity, and technology maturity evolve around the Itheum technology products that sit under the CanaryNet labeling, Itheum will “sunset” the Guardrails and eventually wholly remove the CanaryNet labeling. If the community DAO has been mobilized at this point in time, then sunsetting will be passed via a vote, or if the DAO has not yet been mobilized, the Itheum team will communicate this in advance and action it per the transparent process detailed above.
6. What happens after the CanaryNet labeling is removed? How will it impact my token “asset” holding (e.g., Data NFTs)?
As CanaryNet is still “software in mainnet,” there will be no impact on your token assets once the CanaryNet label is removed from the software products, i.e., if you had acquired or listed Data NFTs in the Data NFT marketplace using the Data DEX, then these tokens will continue to exist in their previous form and in your own crypto wallets.
Think of the CanaryNet as just a “label” for our software products that are part of the Guarded Launch parameters (similar to “beta” software labels that we are used to in the Web 2 world); it does not impact any assets created/owned by you whilst you used Itheum technology in the CanaryNet phase. The only exception to this rule is detailed in a section below, where your assets may be subject to a “DAO Based Curation’’ Guardrail that is in place to prevent fraudulent bad actor activity in the network. More information on this is given below.
7. Can you give me an example of how CanaryNet could negatively impact me?
The ultimate goal of CanaryNet Guardrails is to protect end users, but there may be situations when this may impact you. As an example, Let’s say a whitelisted Data Creator mints Data NFTs and lists these for trade in the Data NFT marketplace, and you procure some of these Data NFTs. The Data NFTs now exist in your crypto wallet as regular NFT token assets. In a future date, let’s assume that the whitelisted Data Creator becomes malicious or has their infrastructure exploited, and the Data NFT’s Data Stream (the stream of data that is linked to the Data NFT) is replaced by some malicious data. Suppose enough complaints are received from the community to signal that the Data Creator’s Data NFTs are now malicious. In that case, the Itheum team (or Community DAO) can freeze the malicious Data NFTs to prevent the malicious assets from spreading. In this case, the Data NFT you procured may be frozen or wiped, personally impacting you as you could lose the assets you had in your wallet.
But of course, is this a “worse case scenario,” as the Data Creators allowed to mint Data NFTs during CanaryNet will be vetted and identified in the Data DEX. Hence, end-users know who the Data Creators are and if they have any active or previous disputes raised against them. If any complaints are received against Data Creators which resulted in Data NFT tokens being frozen or whipped, then this will be highlighted in the Data DEX under the Data Creator profile page. Data Creators (of course) do not want this negative public reputation associated with them, so this negative reputation slashing is aimed at keeping them honest.
8. Can you give me an example of how CanaryNet positively impacts me?
As in the example above, if we have a whitelisted Data Creator who becomes malicious on a future date and their Data NFT’s Data Stream becomes corrupted or malicious, then the Guardrail comes into action to freeze the malicious Data NFTs in circulation, preventing you from being impacted by this issue. This is an example of how a Guardrail protects you as an end-user.
9. Can you give me an example of how a Guardrail will be removed?
Guardrails will eventually be removed, so let’s explore an example of this removal process. The “Whitelisted Data Creator Minting” Guardrail ensures that some vetting is done on individuals (minting Data NFTs) to make sure that they are not a “BOT account” or some bad actor who is trying to exploit the technology. Fundamentally, the whitelist process ensures the Data Creator is “vetted for reputation” before they can mint on the platform. On Itheum’s roadmap, our next product release is called Soulbound Badges, and they aim to provide a web3 native way to generate a provable reputation. Once Soulbound Badges has been launched to mainnet, we will work toward sunsetting the off-chain “Whitelisted Data Creator Minting” Guardrail and replace it with the fully open, web3-friendly Soulbound Badges feature. i.e., if you have enough Soulbound Badge reputation in your wallet, you will be whitelisted automatically.
10. As a community member, how can I give feedback on Guardrails or keep up-to-date with CanaryNet program details?
As detailed above, transparency is key to a successful CanaryNet operations phase and the CanaryNet program’s eventual “sunset”. Here is how you can be part of the CanaryNet program as a community member.
- Join our Discord and join the conversation at the DAO > CanaryNet channel. Here is where:
- Announcements will be made relating to any changes to Canarynet Guardrails.
- You can provide feedback and ask questions etc.
2. Use the Data DEX to view the actual on-chain guardrail parameters and any upcoming changes to these guardrail parameters.
CanaryNet Guarded Launch is aimed at protecting end-users
As detailed above, CanaryNet Guarded Launch is ultimately put in place to protect end-users and to position Itheum for mainstream adoption by working with regulators and other real-world entities to put in place the operational excellence required for Itheum’s technology to be used in both the web3 and web2 ecosystems.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with us on Discord in our dedicated DAO > CanaryNet channels, where we will be happy to assist you in exploring this more.
What are Data NFTs?
Data NFTs are unique datasets wrapped into non-fungible tokens, allowing for seamless validation and exchange. Tokenizing data provides benefits such as controlled exchange of data, potential royalty generation for Data Creators, and access to a wider market through primary and secondary NFT marketplace platforms.
Data NFTs are set to revolutionize data exchange by converting it into a unique asset class. This benefits data creators, consumers, and middlemen by enabling seamless packaging, trading, and verification of data ownership and accuracy. Itheum’s Data NFTs empower users to have control over their data exchange and offer potential for new, data-driven revenue streams.
What is Itheum’s Data NFT Marketplace?
The Data Marketplace is a peer-to-peer platform that allows users to discover, trade, advertise, and unlock Data NFTs using $ITHEUM tokens. Transactions between Data Creators and Data Consumers are facilitated through smart contract technology, ensuring secure and transparent interactions. The upcoming launch of Itheum’s Data Marketplace promises a revolutionary way for businesses and organizations to access high-quality data, gain valuable insights, and drive growth.
About Itheum
Itheum empowers data ownership in the Web3 and Metaverse ecosystems and creates new market value for your data. It enables this by providing “decentralized data brokerage” technology. It’s a suite of tools that facilitate high-value data to be bridged from web2 to web3 and then traded peer-to-peer. It allows for “viral adoption” via our creative “Data NFTs” (provide “inner value” to NFTs and enable royalties / limited supply), “NFMe ID” technology (a living Metaverse avatar representation of you — wrapped as an NFT and backed by personal data) and innovative Data Coalition DAOs (governance entities that bulk trade your data with your consent). It also aims to be fully privacy-preserving, regulation-friendly, and multi-chain, making it the most comprehensive core blockchain data and identity infrastructure available in the market with use cases in both the enterprise and consumer space.
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