Over the past few years, the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains have escaped obscurity and become part of the general public's vocabulary.
Now, despite crypto's volatile market history, there are hundreds of blockchains, and they are multiplying every day, accumulating new users and new use cases across industries -- a potentially worthwhile situation for any brand that believes in the future of Web3.
"Whatever industry you're into, the data is where everything starts," says Patrick Kim, CEO of SonarX, a company that indexes blockchain datasets and recently partnered with Amazon's massive cloud-computing platform AWS.
Per the partnership, SonarX's datasets are accessible to developers, enterprises and institutions for free through AWS's Open Data platform -- ultimately showcasing Amazon's confidence surrounding the potential of Web3 to transform industries, including ecommerce and consumer goods.
Before partnering, SonarX spent over a year talking with AWS, which at the time was only running datasets for two blockchains -- Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Because SonarX is able to crunch massive amounts of blockchain data -- which Kim says is multi-layered, inherently complex, and ever-growing -- AWS realized the company could help build out its blockchain data offerings.
Despite the simple description of a blockchain as a "public ledger," high quality on-chain data is "very, very hard to keep up with and manage," according to Jesse Bornstein, SonarX's global head of business.
In terms of institutions, Kim says that while "everyone's going down a different road of how complex their use cases are, from Web3 products to financial products," SonarX is providing them with on-chain data that reflects the "entire ecosystem of the blockchain."
This includes the number of users, the types of use cases, and the protocol (DeFi, gaming, NFTs etc.), for example.
These data points, Kim says, give enterprises context around anything from financial market information -- the trading activity of a specific blockchain, or the amount of transfer activity -- to valuable consumer behaviors, including which blockchain they use, how often they use it, and for what purposes.
In general, the problem SonarX is solving is scaling the use and consumption of this amount of data -- not just for the way the world looks today, but for where the world is going.
According to Bornstein, the reason AWS is investing in SonarX's datasets is intrinsic to this predictive mindset and goes beyond facilitating the trading of cryptocurrencies.
While talking with AWS, it quickly became clear to SonarX that major tech companies were starting to trust crypto and blockchain technology in a more reliable way. As a cloud provider, AWS is thinking about a bigger picture that the data will support.
"Everyone's on AWS or Google's cloud, GCP -- whether you're a one-man developer shop or a Fortune 500 company," says Kim, indicating that if a brand is trying to launch a successful, publicly adopted Web3 initiative, they are likely on AWS and will therefore be comfortable receiving this blockchain data on that platform.
If a major brand, for example, is preparing to launch a Web3 rewards program -- to be facilitated on the blockchain -- it will be able to utilize on-chain data covering hundreds of blockchains to determine which one is most suitable for their target audience and program-type.
Starbucks launched its own Web3 rewards program called Odyssey in late 2022, planning to issue NFT rewards to members who interacted with the blockchain-based platform.
But after widespread press coverage, the company decided to halt the program, as well as its connected Discord channel, in March due to a lack of consumer interest.
However, some brands are starting to reclaim the potential promise of crypto and blockchain technology. In response to Bitcoin's soaring value, high-end fashion brands and retailers are now adopting cryptocurrencies to tap into new wealth and build loyalty with crypto investors.
For example, Printemps recently became the first European department store to accept cryptocurrencies in its stores, while luxury lighter and pen maker S.T. Dupont is planning to accept crypto payments in two of its Paris stores this holiday season. Virgin Voyages has also begun accepting Bitcoin for a $120,000 annual pass for up to a year of sailing on its cruise ships.
At this stage, however, it is difficult to know whether the excitement will burn out -- as it did in 2021 during Bitcoin's initial rise.
When it comes to successful Web3 initiatives, those who are still bullish about on-chain brand-opportunities envision a reality that is not yet being utilized.
Bornstein, for example, sees "a platform where consumers can get multiple brands' rewards in the same place. And because they would all be on blockchain, brands could create economies where consumers trade their rewards."
If something like this ever came to fruition on a mass scale, Bornstein believes that it would demand the type of data mining AWS has hired SonarX to provide.