The Onchain Web3 Insights Marketplace is here to fill a pressing market need for practical Web3 research.
Have you ever had a question or research issue you needed an answer to? Don’t answer; it’s a rhetorical question. Everyone has questions they need answered — and problems that require solutions.
While a simple web search may work, entrepreneurs and business owners need reliable and trustworthy information. Getting some “answers” wrong could be financially devastating — potentially leading to layoffs, budget cuts, or the company having to shutter its doors.
How can a regular company incorporate blockchain when the research and support ecosystem isn’t there? How can researchers and their work be vetted?
Read on to discover why Onchain is launching a marketplace that serves those needing quality Web3 findings and reports — and the researchers that provide them.
Onchain: “There is a better way to do Web3 research.”
Entrepreneurs and businesses can apply solid research to solve problems by offering real-world solutions. Yet, Web3 research is plagued by a host of issues that have left those in need of answers wanting.
Academic research is often meticulous, methodical, and well sourced. Yet, far too often, academic research can be inaccessible, too narrow, unreplicable, and inattentive to reader issues.
Commercial research tends to be useful, providing practical information that startups and founders can implement. However, it may be less rigorous in terms of data collection. Commercial research also tends to support a predetermined conclusion and may be more likely to reach consensus-focused conclusions rather than major breakthroughs.
The Web research ecosystem benefits from being open-minded to independent researchers and the various methodologies they use. “Do your own research” (DYOR) is a wise Web3 mantra to consider when delving into the crypto worlds of investing, creating, or implementing.
Still, not everyone has the time — or skill — to DYOR, especially in the ever-changing blockchain sector.
While there are many great Web3 researchers, many of them are employed as in-house talent at a specific Web3 company, crypto startup, or blockchain protocol. When Web3 research is publicly available, it can be hard to validate — or even find.
For these reasons, Onchain believes that a robust Web3 research platform is needed.
Who is the Onchain Web3 Insights Marketplace for?
The Onchain Web3 Insights Marketplace is for anyone needing accurate, insightful, and community-vetted Web3 research. A platform where content is collected and community moderated may be a better choice than social media or an obscure research site. That being said, Onchain’s platform is catering to three specific groups:
Web3 entrepreneurs and companies that appreciate top-tier research
You are knowledgeable about crypto transactions, smart contracts, and blockchain protocols. Yet, the Web3 world is constantly changing, and you need up-to-date research and relevant information to implement a new crypto offering – or improve a current product.
Much of the information and “research” available caters to beginners who need to know what a smart contract is, how a crypto wallet works, or what the difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum is. But you need more in-depth research and real-time feedback.
Web3 researchers who want to contribute and make an impact
The research ecosystem is composed of the demand side — companies — and the supply side — researchers. As a Web3 researcher, you have to weigh the tradeoffs between exposure and compensation. You can post on social media for free (or minimal compensation) and maximize exposure.
Or, you can take a lucrative in-house researcher job at a crypto company. However, this research may not be distributed — affecting your ability to reach a wider audience and build a personal brand. Do you want your findings to be widely disseminated while being fairly compensated? Neither of these solutions is ideal.
Onchain wants to provide a platform that lets you make a difference, get compensated for your contributions, and validate your reputation as an insightful, high-caliber researcher. Through the marketplace’s feedback mechanisms, your work can be checked and confirmed.
It’s worth noting that you don’t need to be a professional crypto researcher. With a “citizen research” model, Onchain believes that everyone can access the research, provide their knowledge, and be compensated.
Non-Web3-focused companies that want to get onchain
You may be a startup or business owner. You see the real-world potential in blockchain and want to put it into practice. Maybe you want to receive payments or pay invoices via crypto. Maybe you want to attract top talent by offering salaries in BTC, ETH, or stablecoins. Maybe you’re interested in marketing your products/services via decentralized social media (DeSoc).
Even if implementation seems relatively simple, where do you turn for impartial advice or research? Every crypto company claims to be the “best,” “easiest,” “most secure,” or “fastest.” While they are all happy to onboard you with a tutorial or support upon payment, how do you come to a decision beforehand?
Onchain’s purpose is to bring people onchain, and this marketplace is a key part of achieving this mission.
How Onchain’s Web3 Insights Marketplace works
The initial release went live in December 2024. In order to best serve users, it will be continually updated throughout 2025. These updates will include the following key features:
- Recommendation system: Research needs to be insightful, accurate, and relevant to be useful in the real world. The recommendation system will promote high-quality content through user upvoting and the ability to “community note” (like X) inaccurate information.
- Cryptoeconomic incentives: To incentivize users, a points system will reward users for providing research and curating the platform. This will include a points system that will use Onchain’s ON token. In addition, there will be a crypto-tipping functionality (ON, ETH, LSK) and an NFT minting feature. These financial rewards are a key component of providing “feedback” to incentivize quality content and interactions.
- Onchain grants: Researchers need funding to conduct research. Through bounties and grants, Onchain will provide capital to those providing in-depth Web3 research. In keeping with their mission, funding will be directed primarily towards research with a strong potential to create real-world impacts.
The platform will feature short posts (like X), longer 600-character posts, and full research reports. One of the most innovative features of the platform is the ability for individuals to request research on a host of Web3 sectors, including: AI, DePIN, DeSci, DeSoc, DeFi, RWA tokenization, and more.
Get answers with Onchain’s research request feature
When looking for a specific Web3 answer or solution, you may come to a painful conclusion. The answer isn’t out there. Or maybe it’s a company secret, it’s behind a paywall, or you simply can’t find it with a web search query.
For many, the consumption of Web3 research is a passive affair. A company or researcher provides the research and you consume it — often with little-to-no feedback from you. With the request feature, you can ask for an answer or request an in-depth report on a specific topic. Let’s look at an example scenario:
“I would like an all-in-one solution that could handle sending and receiving crypto payments, a crypto payroll service, and the ability to automate crypto streaming payments for the tokenized IP rights my company possesses.”
From here, researchers could come up with proposals, negotiate with the requesting party, and come to an agreement. Requests can be posts, articles, or even in-depth research reports. For posts, the content is compensated through microtipping or the marketplace’s tokenomic incentives.
How to join Onchain’s research marketplace
Currently, Web3 research isn’t reliable enough, it’s not incentivized properly, and it’s often not “Web3 native” enough. Onchain’s purpose is “To bring people onchain by inspiring businesses and individuals to build real-world blockchain use cases.”
At Onchain, we adhere to our mission statement by practicing what we preach — and doing things onchain. This includes the marketplace, its NFT membership, a crypto payment option for employees, and much more.
Following the initial rollout, the Onchain Insights Marketplaces will be upgraded in stages through Q1 and Q2 of 2025 – with the final version scheduled to be released later that year.
The only way to get lifetime access to this platform is by purchasing a Founding Membership NFT. Strictly limited to 2,500, these NFTs provide a host of perks and benefits not found in the annual membership.
What are you waiting for? Go to the Web3 Insights Marketplace and try it out for yourself.
