Masa Finance
Masa is an on-chain, composable identity solution providing an open, privacy-by-default personal data marketplace.
Website: https://masa.finance/
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Active Markets: Global
Problem Addressed
Advancements in AI are occurring at exponential rates. Continued innovation in the sector requires large amounts of high-quality, unbiased, and verifiable data to train AI models. Sufficient open and permissionless behavioral datasets for AI training do not yet exist due to big tech data silos, regulatory privacy concerns, and a lack of incentives on the part of users to provide data. Additionally, individuals and businesses lack sufficient control over the data they generate, contributing to AI training models without compensation, transparency of how those data are being used, or reassurance that misuse of sensitive information will not occur.
Project Description
Masa intends to replace the existing data pipeline model with a new, user-centric and privacy focused model using blockchain zero-knowledge (zk) proofs and homomorphic encryption, which allows computations on data without needing to decrypt it first. Masa’s vision involves a data privacy by default approach, connecting data providers (individuals, businesses) with data consumers (developers, startups, enterprises) with full privacy preservation in their zk-data marketplace. Consumers manage personal data through zk Soulbound tokens, or non-tradable identity-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The Masa zk-Oracle Network then intermediates data exchange preserving user privacy, which are then made available through Masa’s Avalanche subnet data access layer.
Business Data
Status: Active
Constituency Served: Underbanked communities, immigrants, general public
Networks: Celo, Ethereum
Known Investors: Blizzard Fund, Inception Capital, Anagram, Peer Ventures, Digital Currency Group, GoldenTree, GSR, OP Crypto, CitizenX, Lateral Capital, Unshackled Ventures, among others.
Additional References: Whitepaper
Progress to date
In the time since their 2022 launch, Masa has raised $9.2 million, with the most recent funding supporting their partnership with Avalanche. In June 2023, Masa was awarded the top position in Binance’s Most-Valuable-Builder Accelerator. The company participated in a public token sale through CoinList on March 7, 2024, raising $5 million in the first 17 minutes of the sale, ultimately raising $8,750,000 after an additional token allocation.
Business Model
Masa users are compensated in MASA tokens for providing data to the network, with the protocol generating revenue and sustaining activities through network fees for data access and services.
Traction
Since launching in August 2022, Masa onboarded over 1.3 million unique user wallets onto the network. Over 70 businesses and developers have consumed data with Masa supporting 8 blockchains currently, and plans to to expand to more in the coming months. The network boasted over 40,000 node operators in the first 18 months of its testnet launch.