Data Assetization: Building the Data Infrastructure for the Web3 World

In today's digital age, the saying "data is the new oil" has become widely known. However, in reality, most people are simply bystanders in this data revolution, rather than true participants and beneficiaries. Every day, we create content online, provide behavioral data, and even supply training materials for AI, but very few people are able to gain value in return.

Currently, 95% of AI training data globally is controlled by a handful of tech giants. These companies possess the most comprehensive "data asset pools" and are leveraging these "data walls" to define how the world operates. Meanwhile, the data infrastructure development in the Web3 world is still in its infancy. The storage cost for each GB of data on Ethereum can reach up to $900,000, while some Rollup projects often need to spend millions of dollars for temporary off-chain data storage.

This situation highlights a key question: what kind of data is truly valuable? Is it the static accumulation of files, or data assets that can be read, authorized, invoked, and traded? The answer is becoming increasingly clear: the competition of the future will no longer be about "how much data I can store," but rather "how I can use data and unlock the value of data."

Data Rights and Monetization: An Underestimated Trillion-Dollar Market

In today's highly digitalized world, everyone generates vast amounts of data every day: comments on social platforms, creative content, product usage trajectories, uploaded images and videos, and even publicly available materials inadvertently provided to AI models. However, even in the Web3 world that advocates for "user ownership" and "decentralization", truly usable, controllable, and monetizable data infrastructure is almost nonexistent. On-chain assets can be traded, combined, and incentivized, but data remains in a "siloed" state, unable to flow effectively and generate revenue.

This field faces several typical issues:

1. Developers cannot bring a large amount of data on-chain at a reasonable cost, especially when the cost of large volumes of data is extremely high under the current infrastructure.

2. Even if the data is successfully on the blockchain, it is still difficult to efficiently call and combine it; high latency and weak interfaces keep the "data usage" costs relatively high.

3. The lack of standardized data authorization and charging mechanisms prevents content creators or platform providers from establishing a credible "data goods" trading model.

The separation of storage and computation means that centralized tools or off-chain logic are still needed when using data, resulting in an incomplete data experience in Web3. These structural issues directly hinder the realization of the "data as an asset" concept. Although we often talk about "empowering data," when it comes to specific actions such as authorization, invocation, and transactions, we find a lack of an on-chain platform that can truly accommodate these needs.

Redefining the Role of On-Chain Data

Some emerging projects are attempting to address these core contradictions. Their goal is not simply to provide "cheaper storage," but to redefine the role of data on-chain from a programmable, executable, and incentivized perspective. This new approach aims to transform data from passive storage files into "on-chain native assets" that possess rules, value, and behavioral capabilities.

The core logic of this new type of data infrastructure is not just to store data, but more importantly, to release the value of the data. Their design philosophy is completely different from traditional storage protocols; it is not about creating a "cheaper hard drive," but about how to make data truly become a "behavior-capable" on-chain asset, participating in circulation, being utilized, and creating value.

The main features of this new type of infrastructure include:

1. Significantly reduce storage costs, suitable for large-scale application scenarios.

2. Support instant data reading to enhance developer experience.

3. EVM-compatible smart contract layer, lowering the development threshold.

4. Adopt a multi-ledger architecture to enhance data management flexibility.

5. Introduce programmable data and contract enforcement mechanisms to give data real "vitality".

This design transforms data from static content into a genuinely tradable, incentivized, and combinable new category of on-chain assets. It creates a complete closed loop for data from generation to circulation to monetization.

For developers, this is a low-threshold, high-efficiency tool platform; for creators, this is a trustworthy and controllable value release channel; and for the entire Web3 ecosystem, this could be the key to unlocking a new paradigm of "data as an asset."

Data Infrastructure: The New Core Battleground

In recent years, the focus of the cryptocurrency industry has mainly been on public chain performance, DeFi innovation, NFT applications, and other directions. However, with the rapid development of AI, large models, and content creation, "data," the most fundamental yet strategically valuable resource, is once again becoming the "hard currency" in the consensus of the industry.

In the context of Web3, data is not just an information record, but also the raw material for core mechanisms such as smart contract execution, AI model training, identity mapping, and content ownership verification. Data infrastructure is moving from a marginal role to the core of the industry.

This trend is reflected in multiple aspects:

• Projects focusing on "data availability" have received substantial funding.
• The "IP Chain Protocol" project is dedicated to establishing a traceable, authorized, and tradable data structure for creators' content.
• Mainstream Layer 1 faces data storage pressure and cannot meet the growing demand for data interaction.
• The number of copyright lawsuits related to AI has surged, with creators demanding compensation from platforms for the data that has been "used to train" their models.
• Multiple Rollup solutions are facing scalability bottlenecks due to the high costs of temporary data storage.

These phenomena indicate that Web3 is entering a new stage of "data as core assets," with an exponential increase in the demand for on-chain data that is "available, controllable, and liquid." However, we still lack a universal, stable data infrastructure that supports large-scale calls.

Conclusion: The Future of Data

Storage is just the starting point, not the end point. To truly unlock the value of data, a complete set of technologies and architectures around "usage rights, incentive mechanisms, and contract control" is required. The new generation of data infrastructure is building a blockchain foundation that truly transforms "data" into "assets."

From content creators to AI model trainers, from decentralized social networks to on-chain computing platforms, any Web3 product that relies on data may need to consider this new type of infrastructure. The future of data is not just about "storage", but more importantly about "how to create value and output". This process requires a blockchain specifically designed to support and realize it.