HomoCoin - Digital social currency

There exists a multibillion-dollar opportunity to revolutionize the personal data market and digital economy. Digital companies that capture data stand to profit from it. Data brokers, or data service providers that buy and sell information on customers, have risen as a new industry alongside big data. For businesses that capture large amounts of data, collecting data and then selling it represent opportunities for new privacy solutions and revenue streams. 

The digital social currency Homocoin will enhance privacy control and trust, transparency in a data flow, and fair distribution of digital dividends across a population. HomoCoin will provide the mechanism to trade personal data on behalf of the owner without violating the right to data protection and privacy. People will get a new income and digital tool to control the data flow through digital consent based on the digital trust ecosystem. 

• With an explosion in digital services due to the Industry 4.0 revolution, the number of digital service users is dramatically increasing. Increasing demand for the privacy and security of personal data, and restoration of a right to own and monitor personal data processing flow;
• Increasing demand for fair and transparent distribution of digital dividends to create equal and inclusive conditions for socio-economic development (decrease digital economic divide, create new income opportunities, etc.);
• Demand for a legal framework to address privacy and digital dividends issues, and protection of interests of individuals, digital companies, and governments in the pace of fast development of digital technologies.

The combination of these factors creates a rare innovation opportunity to create a company of enormous economic value and social impact. The HomoCoin for the trade of personal data and the market size of more than 288 million Internet users in the U.S. alone represents a multibillion-dollar opportunity.

HomoCoin digital social currency is designed to work as a medium of exchange wherein individual coin ownership records are stored in a ledger existing using cryptography to secure transaction records, control the creation of additional coins, and verify the transfer of coin ownership.

HomoCoin digital currency will be created when digital companies confirm personal data transactions. No personal data will be kept at the level of HomoCoin. At this level, all personal data will be converted into the HomoCoin currency to be reflected in the e-wallet of an individual. The conversion rate will be defined based on the demand of the market and the personal preferences of the owner. The wallet will be also used for notifications on personal data flow, and provision of consent to any third-party processing.

HomoCoin provides a non-fungible token (NFT) that certifies a digital currency to be unique and therefore not interchangeable in terms of privacy rights. While copies of these digital items are available for anyone to obtain, NFTs are tracked on blockchains to provide the owner with proof of ownership due to the nature of personal data to protect privacy and security rights.

The Boston Consulting Group[1] presented a study in which it estimated the economic value of personal data markets in Europe, introducing a new inventory of relevant economic sectors. Given the present market size, a presumed growth rate of 22% over the next years would yield a market of €330 Billion in 2020 with consumer benefits of €670 Billion because of reduced prices, time savings (because of self-service transactions), and the valuation of free online services.

The US-based study on Data Driven Market Economies (DDME), published by the Data Driven Marketing Institute, on the role of Individual-Level Consumer Data (ILCD) in providing marketing services, estimated the size of the ILCD market to be about $156 Billion. With a total U.S. marketing and advertising market of $298 Billion, the contribution of ILCD-based marketing added up to slightly more than 50%. The largest contribution to the economic value of DDME is related to the direct (50%) and indirect (21%) exchange of ILCDs between firms, with only some 29% related to the collection of use of ILCD within a single firm. The study indicates the relevance of DDME for stimulating technology development and realizing start-up entrepreneurship.

Business segment – a firm perspective

The monetary value of personal data is defined by assessing the monetary value of the firm that collects, aggregates, processes, stores and/or disseminates the personal data and by determining which monetary value persons attach to their data. A general feature of data is that it can be sold over and over again without loss of its intrinsic value. The copy is just as good as the original, enabling multiple offers without loss of price or value. HomoCoin will improve efficiency and trust, resulting in the higher monetary value of any digital company. There are 5,585 Digital Advertising Agencies businesses in the U.S. as of 2021, an increase of 13.1% from 2020.

Consumers segment – the individual perspective

The individual valuation could vary considerably between individuals. Firstly, people could attribute a specific monetary value to these data. This is the commercial value of personal data. Secondly, people are willing to pay to keep personal data private. The reasons for keeping these data private could vary. Data could be seen as delicate or sensitive data which people want to keep for themselves. Besides that, people might not want to have data made public because they think the economic benefits do not outweigh the disadvantages. However, the study by Eurobarometer Survey supported the existence of the endowment effect: when people feel they own their data (shown by the possibility to share in the revenues) they consider the value of their personal data higher than privacy concerns. Values provided by HomoCoin will be in the best interest of any Internet user. There is a compelling consumer segment representing over 288 million potential users in the U.S.

[1] Privacy and Identity 2014: Privacy and Identity Management for the Future Internet in the Age of Globalisation, pp 26-38

Our solution addresses the current challenge of digital equity and inclusivity in terms of personal data trade. In our opinion, digital companies are exploiting societies by trading their personal data. HomoCoin will provide a digital solution for fair trade via fair and transparent distribution of digital dividends by strengthening privacy and property rights in the digital economy. 

HomoCoin will begin integrating digital service providers and servicing clients to generate revenue in November 2022. Revenue will be generated on the commission charged for processing digital social currency between digital companies and individuals. We are planning to implement our project in two phases:

• Phase 1 includes development and pilot in Kyrgyzstan. Due to the low number of digital personal data transactions, which is 46 million a year, the breakeven point is not achievable in Kyrgyzstan within the projected 3 years. The pilot will include 1 telecommunication company, 2 government agencies, and 500 individuals. Kyrgyzstan has been defined as a suitable pilot site due to the available business contacts, resources, and infrastructure. 
• Phase 2 includes the preparation of the product for a launch in the U.S. Due to the maturity of the data market the financial projection is more optimistic. We need partners in the US.

HomoCoin's value proposition to clients and partners is:

• Technology:
  • A unique platform of digital social currency aimed to digitalize the right to use personal data for trade;
  • Technology provides secure and trusted mechanisms for personal data flow.
• Product:
  • Digital social currency aimed to ensure fair and transparent distribution of digital dividends;
  • The platform will ensure privacy control and monitor all transactions and right to trade the right.
• Marketing and Education:
  • Conferences and seminars will be delivered to raise awareness and develop digital skills (Y1 – 4, Y2 – 6), and build a strong brand.

According to our business model, HomoCoin will supplement all available products by providing security, transparency in the data flow, enhancing trust, and fair distribution of digital dividends. In the future, HomoCoin will become a new ecosystem for the development of new markets of tokenized assets to address social and economic challenges. HomoCoin is a two-sided innovation - social digital currency, and a new transformational ecosystem.

The model assumes that HomoCoin will capture 0.64%, which is 1.8 million users, of the market in year 1, growing to 1.67% by year 3. The earnings in year 1 will be at 21%, the breakeven point could be achieved in the first year. The model is justified by the fact that only one small digital service provider (~5 million users) needs to be partnered to achieve the breakeven. 

Indicators that will be used the impact: 

1) Number of subscribers (users) 

2) Volume of transactions 

3) Amount of earned revenues of users 

4) Number of companies willing to connect to Homocoin API 

5) Number of companies willing to share data

Dastan Dogoev, Founder and CEO.

Dastan is the former Digital Minister of Kyrgyzstan. During his 8-year service, he has been involved in most of the I.T. projects in Kyrgyzstan, for instance, biometric identification system, e-voting, safe city, national identity document management system, public financial management information system, and others. Before joining HKS, as a cabinet member, Dastan was responsible for developing and carrying out the government policy on digital government, digital services, and telecom. Before joining the public service, he has worked for private IT companies for 6 years.

Tatyana Shahin, pre-MBA in Digital Transformation, Business Development Officer

Tatyana is a dedicated professional with 18 years of experience in Integrated Business Communications, Strategic PR, Digital Communications, СSR, Personal Brand, Media Relations, Community management, Digital Transformation Business Strategies. Her background includes telco, banking, construction, and international donor organizations such as World Bank, UNDP, E.U. Commission, ADB, and OSCE.

Sanzhar Zhalilov, Architect and Lead developer

Dedicated professional with 20+ years of experience in developing and implementing complex I.T. solutions in Kyrgyzstan, China and Germany. Sanzhar's background includes blockchain technology, A.I., and cryptography.

To make the launch of HomoCoin in the U.S. successful, we are planning to recruit US-based CFO, CTO, and experts with U.S. regulatory expertise knowledge of state and federal privacy laws and marketing. Besides, HomoCoin is open for potential partners and business mentors to strengthen our team in creating advisory board and strengthening management team. 

The team has full commitment to diversity, equity, and inculsion. We believe that the core values of Homocoin is to give equal opportunity to everyone to be able to control and monetize their personal information. Specifically we expect that: 

1) Diverse social economic layers will receive additional earnings earnings 

2) More citizens in the developing countries will have a greater control of their data. 

3) Disadvantaged groups will have opportunity to build passive income streams.  

First of all the Solve will help us find quality investors who are willing to support paradigm shift in personal data management. We believe that callobaration with the peer teams and distinguished experts will strengthen our business project, since we are willing to work with cutting edge technologies and concepts that would change how we use data. We are seeking for mentorship to build sustainable business that would maximize our company's impact.  

As it was mentioned, we are building business that would be at the edge of technology and would introduce new paradigm of personal data management and monetization. For that we are looking for technology expertise and industry leaders who can help us better build products. We also want to improve our business model so that users could better use our services in monetizing their personal information. Given high uncertainty around digital currencies and personal data protection especially in the developing countries, we will need support on legal and regulatory matters. 

We would like to form strategic partnerships with the digital privacy rights protection leaders to promote the fair and transparent distribution of digital dividends;

Our project is a great fit to the HP Prize for Advancing Digital Equity, since it offers opportunities for users to better control their personal data. It will create additional economic opportunities in communities across the US and globally. The project also aims at improving digital literacy in personal data protection and management, and at giving more leverage to users worldwide.