H2O, the first non-pegged stable asset for the Web3 Data Economy is here

After eight busy months of hard work, the H2O team announced the launch of H2O, an important milestone for the entire Web3 Data Economy. H2O is a non-pegged and decentralized stable asset backed by OCEAN. H2O is now live on Ethereum mainnet.

Across all industries, the transformational power of data is impossible to ignore. McKinsey reports that data “can help unlock $3 trillion to $5 trillion in economic value.” The Economist writes that “The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data.” With AI mature enough to unlock the value of data, data is becoming the most important asset on the planet.

In its infancy, the Data Revolution was dominated by Big Tech. Fortunately, Web3 is beginning to capture an important share of the innovation design space, reaping the benefits of the parabolic growth of the data economy with the many in mind, instead of concentrating value in the hands of the few.

While access to data in the Web2 paradigm is gated by mega-corporations like Google, Amazon, and Meta - Web3 brings forward a new way for users and builders to level the playing field for this valuable asset.

No longer do individuals have to remain in the dark or act as passive users without rights to the value they create. It's now 2022, and Ocean Protocol has greatly matured towards realizing its vision of democratizing access to data while preserving the privacy of the ones who create it and respecting the human values of the individuals who otherwise would be considered as mere farmable assets by the Tech Giants.

H2O was conceived to be the stable asset to catalyze trading and staking of data assets within the Ocean Market and other Ocean-powered data marketplaces in the blossoming Web3 Data Economy. Using H2O reduces volatility of data prices compared to using OCEAN directly. This will benefit various users: data providers will have more predictable revenue; data consumers will have more predictable costs, and datapool stakers will have a reduced risk of impermanent loss.

In turn, these benefits will accelerate adoption and activity within Ocean data markets.

With the launch of Ocean V4 and then Ocean Data Farming (to incentivize data consume volume), Ocean Protocol will become the Schelling Point for the Web3 data economy, along with a flywheel for ever more data. This virtuous cycle will be accelerated by the H2O stable asset to benefit users further.  Therefore, H2O has an important function and mission: to become the de-facto medium of exchange in the Web3 data economy.

protocol mechanics

Poseidon is H2O’s “ungovernance” token, $PSDN. PSDN holders will help guide the protocol in setting parameters while also accruing value through surplus auctions and native emissions. 

Users who are looking for more details on the fundamentals of H2O can click the link here to read more. 

To help bootstrap liquidity for H2O, Ocean holders can utilize SAFEs - akin to vaults - where users can deposit $OCEAN as collateral to mint $H2O. 

Users can deposit your $OCEAN tokens and mint $H2O here.

Staking opportunities for PSDN will go live within 24-36 hours of the Poseidon Token Generation Event (TGE), along with LP staking rewards for the following pools: ETH/PSDN, ETH/H2O, OCEAN/H2O, OCEAN/PSDN.

For more information around the $PSDN Airdrop details for the Ocean DAO governance participants and New Order DAO stakers, click here.

A glimpse into the future

For its V2, H2O will transition to a multi-collateral model, where it will be backed by data assets in addition to OCEAN. This is a paradigm-busting idea: it’s a stable asset backed by a new asset class: data itself. With data as a trillion-dollar asset class, it positions H2O extremely well for long-term stability and increases its appeal beyond core data-oriented users to the broader DeFi ecosystem.

In short, H2O exists to accelerate the shift towards a new data paradigm: from closed to open, from volatile to stable.

“We want users and builders, data providers and data scientists, to participate in the democratization of access to data. We believe this transition alone could spark a new renaissance in many industries. The full outcome of the paradigm shift is impossible to anticipate, but we know that it will be big." said Sebastian Gomez - Business Lead at H20.

He then continued: "Data decentralization and democratization, and protecting its market participants from aggressive price volatility create a defining moment for society and we're honored to be in the eye of the storm, thankful for our community and team members that believe a new path is possible. We are aware - and excited - that these changes have the potential to change everything.” 

About H2O 

H2O is the first non-pegged stable asset for the Web3 Data Economy, with a managed float regime that serves as a medium of exchange and unit of account in decentralized data marketplaces.

To join the growing community of builders and users committed to decentralized data economies in DeFi users can visit one of H20 community channels here: https://t.co/v2hIYriDFv