attention backed assets - princeton ethereum meetup - 19 jan 2017

AN ARCHITECTUREFOR BLOCKCHAIN MEDIA NETWORKS

Meher RoyPrinceton Ethereum Meetup, 19 Jan 2017.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

- Arthur C. Clarke -

2

= Caveman : Cellphone Us : Bitcoin?

Recall the first time you encountered Bitcoin?3

Digital gold!Global distributed

database! Duh!Rudimentary

world computer!

What is Bitcoin? 4

Fourth Incomplete Analogy

A useful system with multiple self-interested agents reliant on a software protocol& data-structure to foster cooperation between agents in equilibrium.

5

MAGIC!

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner but from their regard to their own interest.

Miners

Users

Full-Node Owners

6

Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium

Given my beliefs about the types of other agents & actions available to us; I choose that action which optimizes my expected payoff. If I deviate, I lower my expected payoff.

Miners"Given..."

Users"Given..."

Full-Node Owners"Given..."

7

Can I build a Bitcoin like system better?PoS? Sharding?

Build other systems with

same principle?Steem? MakerDAO?

8

Content Writers / Journalists

EditorsPrinters &

DistributorsReaders /

Attention PayersAdvertisers

9

10

News Corp.

Shareholders

Content Writers / Journalists

EditorsPrinters &

DistributorsReaders /

Attention PayersAdvertisers

11

Signals Calculation ofContent Rank

Ordering byrank in Newsfeed

Recency Factor

Signal Strength factor

Relevance factor

=

×

×

12

App Maker Corp.

13

Content Creators

Signal Generators

Employees, App Maker Corp.

Attention Payers

Advertisers

Shareholders

Application Maker Corp.

DB

Blockchain Technology - The Conceptual Jump 14

Distributed Infrastructure

....

.... ....

Service request

Service replyClient - Server

Blockchain(s) for storage of signals

IPFS / HTTP web for content

Blockchain based Newsfeed(s) 15

....

16End-User Interfaces to serve different tastes

First-order approximation;not exactly correct

17

App Maker Corp.

Content Creators

Signal Generators

Employees, App Maker Corp.

Attention Payers

Advertisers

Shareholders

Case I: Advertising won't exist at all in Blockchain based media

Case II: Advertising revenues routed to Content Creators

Case III: Advertising revenues routed to Signal Generators

Case IV: Advertising revenues routed to Attention Payers

Case V: Some combination

that is a sum of Cases II, III and IV

18

Content Creators

Signal Generators

Attention Payers

Advertisers

Whoever influences the order in which content appears is strongly incentivised to incorporate advertising, even if subliminal

The trade of money for influence has survived multiple tech shifts

Advertising won't exist at all 19

Advertising revenues routed to content creators (Steem)

Content, of many kinds, is ceasing to be scarce. My hypothesis is that many Blockchain media networks can be built off the back of free web content.

20

Majority of businesses we have today were

created hereattention competing

for information

We are here today

infection point

We’ll be heretomorrow

Information competing

for attention

attentionlimited by human factors

informationgrowing exponentially

competition for attentiongrowing exponentially

Challenge of Microtransactions

Tedious to keep track ofattention micropayments

Will you change your information consumption to earn $10 per year?

Challenge of Scale

21Advertising revenues routed to attention payers (Synereo?)

22Advertising revenues routed to signal generators

Gain value as they are imitated!

Scale gracefully!Determine

Newsfeed quality!

Token /Share /Asset

Attention Payers

Signal generator

"DAO"

....ContentWeb ....

23

....

Signal generator netToken: footsies

Applications

....

24Attention

Payers

Sports based SG nets

Profession based SG nets

Political SG nets

Lifestyle SG nets

25

Signal generation is expensive 26

Signal generator

netNn

Invest capital to buy tokens

Lock up tokens into unsaleable bonds

Assume risk ofprice fall, and pay

cost of capital

Assume riskof appmakers

disregarding signals

Expenses / Risks borne

Revenue model for signal generators 27

AdvertizerSignal Generator

Show methe moolah

Off-chain OTC trade

Trade usingprivacy preserving

smart contracts

Trade using prediction markets

ImplementationMake my content prominent

Incentive structure of the signalling game 28

Good signalling

More peoplefollow signals

Higher valueof signal to advertisers

Larger revenuesto signal

generators

Greater token market cap

Bigger value at risk & potential

for reward

Intrinsic Value of token (ABA)

=

-(minus)

Net present dollar value of

Monetizableattention stream

Cost to maintain (& grow)

attention stream

Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium

Given my beliefs about the types of other agents & actions available to us; I choose that action which optimizes my expected payoff. If I deviate, I lower my expected payoff.

Signal Generators"Given..."

Advertisers"Given..."

Attention Payers"Given..."

29

Concept Description

Financial Valuation model

Equilibrium concept

Upcoming Stripepaper 30

Maciej Olpinski Michael H. Goldhaber Dr. Michael Spence

Acknowledgements - intellectual 31

Steem Synereo Meme markets

Related Projects 32

BACKUP

Meher RoyPrinceton Ethereum Meetup, 19 Jan 2017.

= Caveman : Cellphone Us : Bitcoin?

Recall the first time you encountered Bitcoin?3