How Digital Assets And Web3 Are Driving The ‘X To Earn’ Movement

Building the future of consumer data ownership as the CEO & Co-Founder of Surf.

I want to talk about a growing trend I see in the tech space called “X to Earn.” This is where consumers opt to exchange their personal data in different categories for compensation of some variety.

This trend has been around for a number of years now, with early versions of it being in the form of survey apps where users would fill out surveys in exchange for money. Now, this wasn’t a lot of money, but it was a start, and people were infatuated with the idea that they could earn some money for doing something as simple as filling out surveys. We can even see in this Reddit post from seven years ago that people were looking to use these platforms to earn a little extra beer money.

Since then, the “X to Earn” movement has continued to gain steam. Why? I believe there are two reasons:

1. It’s the perfect alignment of incentives. Brands want access to people’s lives and their data. Consumers want something for it and can finally get that with the “X to Earn” movement (and the best part is consumers don’t have to significantly alter their behavior).

2. Digital assets have created a direct way for consumers to be compensated in a more meaningful way.

How Digital Assests Are Involved

The “X to Earn” movement has become exponentially more popular and feasible over the last couple of years thanks to Web3 and digital assets. According to an article by Sensorium, a prominent digital metaverse company, “The rise of X-to-Earn is tied to the development of Web 3.0, the expansion of blockchain-based digital economies and important concepts such as content ownership, proof of authenticity and economic opportunity in a new digital era.”

Thanks to crypto and other digital assets, this next evolution of “X to Earn” is going to enable consumers to be rewarded for something they’re already doing every single day as opposed to having to do something new like fill out surveys. Today, they’re able to earn while doing things like gaming, learning and exercising.

Four Different ‘X To Earn’ Opportunities

The first time the idea of earning from something you’re already doing came across my radar was in 2015. I was a senior in high school competing at an international debate competition and we were up against the national team from Singapore. We were both required to present how we would enact universal basic income, and I remember Team Singapore’s proposal was based on data sharing and consumers earning from their data.

That idea, around earning from your data, has resonated with me ever since, and I’ve kept an eye out for companies trying to enter the space. Back in 2015, I could have never imagined how fast it would emerge and how many different “X to Earn” businesses and models we’d see today. There are a lot of companies popping up in this space, so let me give you somewhere to start. Here are four different “X to Earn” models and companies to take a look at:

1. Play To Earn

According to Binance, “Play-to-earn games allow users to farm or collect crypto and NFTs that can be sold on the market. By playing the game regularly, each player can earn more items or tokens to sell and generate an income.”

Example: Axie Infinity, as described by Decrypt, is “a blockchain-based game in which players purchase NFTs of cute monsters and then pit them against each other in battles. Players can earn SLP tokens during gameplay and trade them for money at an exchange.”

2. Move To Earn

Move-to-earn games reward users not for playing a video game but instead for when they physically move. This is typically done through a GPS that is connected to the app or game and rewards users for walking/running.

Example: STEPN is a fitness app that allows you to earn rewards for “walking, jogging, and running outside.”

3. Browse To Earn

Browse to earn is done either through a browser extension or a whole browser that rewards users for their browning data. Users can exchange their browsing history (usually anonymously) in return for some form of reward. Pro tip: Stack a browser extension that rewards you on top of a browser that rewards you to earn double the points.

Example: Brave Browser is a browser that by default “rips out all the creepy ads & trackers from every web page you visit.” Users then have the ability to opt in to receive curated ads from Brave and earn their cryptocurrency BAT (Basic Attention Token).

4. Learn To Earn

Learn to earn is a model that is dependent on crypto because most (if not all) of the companies that offer this reward give users cryptocurrency for learning about cryptocurrency. The more you learn, the more you earn.

Example: RabbitHole is a platform that, according to DAO Masters, “allows users to discover and use new decentralized apps (d’apps), protocols, or crypto platforms in return for cryptocurrency rewards.”

We Are Still Early

As I’m sure you hear with everything in the crypto and Web3 space, we are still incredibly early when it comes to “X to Earn” businesses. This completely changes the business equation where instead of needing consumers to add something to their lives in order to engage with your business, they can now do what they’re already doing and get value from it.

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