As we move towards Web 3.0, a new level of Internet immersion, commonly called the Metaverse, is beginning to take shape. The effects of such high levels of augmented and virtual reality are yet to be determined. One matter in particular, that of data privacy, which has created significant controversy in the current generation of the Internet, can only be expected to compound as technologies advance. Many are questioning how such an interactive environment, likely integrating advertisement even further into our Internet experience than at present, will impact data privacy and security. As personal information such as biometric data (facial and bodily features, fingerprinting and beyond) becomes more ingrained for technology such as avatars, and the real world further blends with the virtual, companies will need to take significant precautions to uphold the trust of their users.

Skeptics of the Metaverse are fearing unparalleled levels of user surveillance once new technology is implemented. In 2021, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen told the Associated Press that the Metaverse will require “many, many more sensors in our homes and our workplaces.” Though the company pushing the Metaverse the hardest, Facebook, recently rebranded as Meta, has claimed that it will look into how it can minimize the amount of data collected, this is difficult to imagine in practice. Just 20 minutes of VR usage can generate over two million data points, including breathing patterns, walking patterns, thought, physical movement, and eye movement. Data collection without the Metaverse has already been lauded as rampant and exploitative for years – think back to the 2018 Facebook and Cambridge Analytica election scandal, the following Mark Zuckerberg Congress hearing, the testimonies of multiple whistleblowers, and beyond – and yet despite significant privacy concerns among the general public, federal regulation has lagged, with no legislation protecting consumers from current practices. Not to mention, though Meta has stated it will be investing billions into the Metaverse, in comparison, it has only allocated $50 million to metaverse privacy research. And there may be no escape: for example, Meta has introduced a virtual meeting software called Horizon Workrooms, and Haugen warns that forced participation, if people happen to disagree with such practices, places them at risk of losing their jobs. 

Though most people are not yet familiar with the concept of the Metaverse, those that are seem to be concerned. A recent survey showed that 50% of people are worried about identity issues, 47% are concerned about forced surveillance, and 45% are worried about abuse of personal data. These concerns are not unfounded – biometric data breaches, phishing attacks, and endless tracking are already netizen vulnerabilities, and will become even more so as Metaverse technology grows. 

Now more than ever, people are feeling commodified. Many are hesitant to join the Metaverse, despite the fact that it is a growing industry, with companies like Disney, Microsoft, and Epic Games announcing Metaverse plans, and even governments such as South Korea dedicating funds towards Metaverse development. Citi Global Insights states that by 2030, the Metaverse will be a $13 trillion global industry. And of course, this is all due to the value of personal data. 

If the Metaverse is not built with privacy and data security at the heart of new product architecture, disaster is sure to ensue. Furthermore, developers need to be transparent with users and potential users about their practices, while also giving people actual choices about how their data is used rather than, as we have experienced in Web 1.0 and 2.0, forcing someone to click “I agree” to pages upon pages of opaque legal jargon. Data should be encrypted and fully anonymized, with users’ rights as a priority, even over profit – something Meta reportedly does not do. 

User trust has been eroded by scandal after scandal, but not only so. Users have long been reduced to their data by companies, thus leaving them powerless and dehumanized. Implementing significant protections to and control over Metaverse data is likely to provide comfort and begin restoring the user-brand relationship. Yet, still, the profit of a soon-to-be multi-trillion dollar industry will be kept in the hands of companies. Web 3.0 does not and should not consist of only the Metaverse. One key point of Web 3.0 is the idea of an individual’s capability to participate in the data economy themselves, to get a cut out of the massive profits being generated by their personal information. Users should receive something in return, besides usage of a product, for relinquishing so much of themselves to companies. Brands who recognize this are likely to experience much more success. Compensating users for their data is undeniably a step towards a more fair future and a more equal Internet as we venture into the future.

We’re thrilled to announce a partnership with Unstoppable Domains, the leading platform for Web3 digital identity with more than 2.4 million registered NFT (non-fungible token) domains.

Through the partnership, Unstoppable Domains will provide each active Permission user with a $40 credit that can be used to purchase a multi-functional domain that serves as a digital ID and name to send and receive crypto assets – rather than using standard wallet addresses.

“Our partnership with Unstoppable Domains is one we are truly excited to share with our community,” said Thomas Shin, CEO of Permission.io. “Permission and Unstoppable Domains share the same Web3 ethos of consumer data agency and ownership. Through our new partnership, we are enabling our Permission user base a slice of the new internet, allowing them further accessibility and ease of use to a variety of activities as the Web3 economy takes shape.

Unstoppable Domains allows users to carve out their piece of Web3 (much like a Web2 domain) with the added benefits of a digital ID and wallet for sending/receiving cryptocurrency and NFTs. A flexible nomenclature allows users to create personalized domains (e.g. yourname.wallet) that are much easier to remember than the typical 30-plus character crypto wallet, creating a more seamless onboarding experience for users looking to get into the Web3 space. 

“Unstoppable Domains exists to enable user-owned, digital identity for every person on the planet,” said Sandy Carter, SVP of Business Development at Unstoppable Domains. “We’re thrilled to partner with Permission to give more people the power to own their data on Web3.”

This week, active Permission users will receive an email from Permission with a unique code, which they can use to claim their free domain on the Unstoppable Domains website. 

How do I claim mine?

If you’re an active Permission member, keep an eye on your inbox, we’ll be emailing you a unique code this week. Sign up or log into your Unstoppable Domains account and select Redeem a Gift Code from the Account drop down on the top right.

‍

Enter your code, then choose your personal NFT domain and enjoy your slice of the new Internet!

About Unstoppable Domains

Founded in 2018, Unstoppable Domains is an NFT domain name provider and digital identity platform working to onboard the world onto Web3. Unstoppable Domains offers NFT domains minted on the blockchain that give people full ownership and control of their digital identity, with no renewal fees.

With Unstoppable Domains, people can replace lengthy alphanumeric crypto wallet addresses with a human-readable name (like yourname.wallet) and log into and transact with more than 200 apps, wallets, exchanges and marketplaces. The company was named by Forbes as one of America’s Best Startup Employers in 2022.

Utility and viability allow Permission to maintain course.

As the global economy faces headwinds and the crypto market enters bear territory, Permission remains too busy building its ecosystem and use cases for ASK to be unduly distracted. During the first half of 2022, we maintained growth through a combination of internal developments, external partnerships and key executive hires. These activities add value to our core ad serving infrastructure launched in 4Q21 — Permission Ads DSP (demand-side platform).

Unlike any other ad-tech product on the market, Permission Ads enables brands to distribute a tokenized reward ($ASK) across the open web, while collecting zero-party data (i.e., data that a user volunteers to share with a brand) and incentivizing action in a way that respects the user. Advertisers can run rewarded campaigns to preferred audiences, build custom, opted-in communities and cultivate loyalty by offering value in exchange for their customers’ engagement. 

The 1-2 punch of tech and talent developments in 1H22 set the stage for us to partner with major brands in 2H22. CMOs and their agencies are eager to find alternatives to Big Tech data oligarchs while simultaneously dealing with increased consumer data protection legislation. Permission’s zero-party data platform addresses multiple pain points for brands seeking new engagement opportunities. As consumer and business adoption of cryptocurrency accelerates, we will further solidify our position as the leading advertising platform for Web3.

1Q22: sales leadership and Web3 partnershipsWe continue to recruit and attract exceptional talent to help scale web3 advertising globally. The company is also an attractive partner for like-minded Web3 projects that provide consumers with greater agency and ownership of their data.

To round out Q1 activities, we entered a partnership with Swash, a data union that rewards consumers for sharing anonymous browser data. Our shared Web3 ethos, including a vision for consumer data sovereignty, provided the foundation for this alliance. As our respective projects grow, there will be integration opportunities to cross-leverage audiences, including media activation through Permission DSP.  

2Q22 highlightsIn a move to enable greater interoperability and industry-wide adoption of Permission’s native token (ASK), we migrated away from our proprietary blockchain to Polygon. As a layer 2 scaling solution built on Ethereum, the Polygon network is used by over 100 million consumers worldwide. Our Web3 advertising platform benefits from the scalability made possible by Polygon’s lightning-fast speeds and low transaction costs. In addition, Polygon will enhance ASK utility by enabling interoperability with the Polygon and Ethereum ecosystems, including access to DeFi, staking, wallets, and more.

2H22 and beyondA continued exodus of Web2 talent to Web3 illustrates the market opportunity through a business lens, including the value proposition of being part of a once-in-a-lifetime movement. For deeper business insights, a16z’s State of Crypto report and Harvard Business Review highlight the case for being bullish and building in Web3.

Although advertising budgets may be whittled or paused temporarily in the short-term, the quest for high-quality consumer data continues to be paramount for brand success. Regardless of macro economic factors, brands and agencies are pressed for next-gen ad tech solutions that address challenges around cookie degradation, big tech data exploitation and  privacy legislation.  

Despite market turmoil, we remain focused on the addressing the ad industry’s evolving needs while staying true to the Web3 ethos of consumer data ownership. As brands struggle to improve personalization and engagement with consumers amid stricter privacy legislation, the ability to collect and unify data via customer data platforms (CDPs) is more important than ever. 

In 2H22, we will  be integrating a Permission CDP that will unify collected zero-party data and allow advertisers not only to build their own permissioned audiences, but will also allow them to tap into Permission’s proprietary audiences. The CDP implementation will be complete in the next few months and will dramatically bolster our offering, by unlocking more value for brands and agency partners that seek to maximize return on ad spend (ROAS).

The tokenization of data and other assets empowers us, flipping the script on big centralized platforms which have long extracted value from our data. With the advent of Web3, we have control over our data, including the opportunity to earn a share of its monetization. Meanwhile, the challenges that digital advertisers have faced in Web2 – particularly, the inability to track users and access critical user data at scale due to privacy regulations – will be solved by Web3 platforms – like ours – that enable advertisers to obtain consent from users by offering tokenized rewards in exchange for their engagement. Whether you view Web3 as an evolution or revolution, we have the tech and the talent to be the leading platform for Web3 advertising.

UPDATE as of June 26, 2023: The bridging period is now officially over. The Permission team would like to thank the community for their cooperation and support during this process. The bridge opened in May, 2022 and officially closed, as scheduled, on June 25, 2023. Users are no longer able to bridge their Permission Network Balance.

Please note that users with a Pending ASK balance can maintain their ASK in Pending. When withdrawn, it will be transferred via the Polygon blockchain and, as such, will automatically be withdrawn as Polygon ASK.

UPDATE as of April 24, 2023: Permission users and ASK holders who have not yet used the ASK Bridge to migrate their tokens to the Polygon network are encouraged to do so before June 25, 2023. Legacy ASK token balances will not be visible in the wallet page on June 25, 2023. After such date, no exchanges will be supporting the legacy ASK token on the Permission blockchain. Only the ASK token on the Polygon blockchain will continue to be supported by exchanges. Additionally, as the Permission Platform now runs entirely on Polygon, only the withdrawal of ASK tokens on the Polygon chain will be supported.

Please ensure your ASK is bridged to Polygon ahead of June 25, 2023.

As previously announced, Permission will be migrating ASK from our legacy blockchain to the Polygon Network. This is a one-way bridge for ASK holders to migrate their tokens to Polygon so that they may take full advantage of our upgraded infrastructure.

But before you begin, Permission users should navigate to their wallet and check their wallet balance. If your wallet balance is empty, then you don’t need to worry. Your pending ASK can safely stay where it is for as long as you want and will be able to be withdrawn directly onto the Polygon Network after the migration.

If you have ASK in your wallet balance, Permission suggests you migrate it over to the Polygon network. We cannot migrate your ASK for you, so you must do it yourself.

To get started using the ASK Bridge to the Polygon Network, first ensure that you have a MetaMask wallet – and download one if you don’t have it already – as it is necessary to use the bridge. Then, identify what kind of wallet you keep your ASK in and follow the associated instructions:

If your ASK is in a Permission wallet

This option is for Permission users who keep their ASK in their Permission wallet, which is accessible via their Permission account.

To begin:

1. Login to your Permission account. 
2. Navigate to the ASK Bridge, review the instructions provided, and click ‘Get Started.’ (Mobile users need to input the URL into the browser in MetaMask)
3. Select the ‘Continue’ button underneath the ‘Permission Wallet’ section. 
4. Click the ‘Add legacy Permission Network’ button and confirm in MetaMask, then continue by selecting ‘Next.’
5. Next, click the ‘Get Private Key’ button, which will direct you back to your Permission settings. In your Permission account settings, enter your password to reveal your private key. Select ‘next’ on the bridge when done. 
6. Then, import your private key into MetaMask. To do this, in MetaMask, click the account circle icon in the top right and select ‘Import Account.’ Then, copy and paste your private key into MetaMask and select ‘Import.’ Select ‘next’ on the bridge when done. 
7. Now, connect your wallet to the bridge using the MetaMask button provided. Then, confirm again in MetaMask. 

If your ASK is in any other wallet

This option is for ASK holders who do not have a Permission account, or Permission users who have transferred their ASK to an outside wallet.

To begin:

1. Navigate to the ASK Bridge, review the instructions provided, and click ‘Get Started.’ (Mobile users need to input the URL into the browser in MetaMask)
2. Select the ‘Continue’ button underneath the ‘Any Other Wallet’ section. 
3. (If you are using a hardware wallet, connect your hardware wallet to MetaMask at this time.)
4. Connect your wallet to the bridge using the MetaMask button provided. Then, confirm again in MetaMask. 

Once your wallet is successfully connected to the ASK Bridge 

1. Select the amount of ASK from your wallet that you would like to permanently transfer from the legacy Permission network to the Polygon network, then click ‘Review’ to continue. 
2. Review the details on the page, including the amount of ASK and your wallet address, then click “Transfer.”
3. You will be directed to a page that reflects the status of your transfer request. 
4. Now, hit the ‘Add ASK token To Polygon’ button and confirm in MetaMask. Then, click the “Add ASK” button to add the ASK token slot to your MetaMask.

If you have yet to transfer your ASK over because you can’t see it in your MetaMask:

1. Make sure you have added the legacy Permission Network and ASK token to your MetaMask wallet.

If you have transferred your ASK, but still don’t see it in your MetaMask:

1. Transfers may take up to 24 hours to complete.
2. Make sure you have added the Polygon Network.
3. Make sure you have added the ASK token placeholder to your MetaMask wallet.

Have other questions about the Polygon Migration? Check out our FAQ for answers to our most commonly asked questions. 

We have also created a video guide to walk you through the process.

Still having issues or other questions? Please contact support at support@permission.ai, and we will be glad to help you.

UPDATE as of June 26, 2023: The bridging period is now officially over. The Permission team would like to thank the community for their cooperation and support during this process. The bridge opened in May, 2022 and officially closed, as scheduled, on June 25, 2023. Users are no longer able to bridge their Permission Network Balance.

Please note that users with a Pending ASK balance can maintain their ASK in Pending. When withdrawn, it will be transferred via the Polygon blockchain and, as such, will automatically be withdrawn as Polygon ASK.

UPDATE as of April 24, 2023: Permission users and ASK holders who have not yet used the ASK Bridge to migrate their tokens to the Polygon network are encouraged to do so before June 25, 2023. After such date, no exchanges will be supporting the legacy ASK token on the Permission blockchain. Only the ASK token on the Polygon blockchain will continue to be supported by exchanges. Additionally, as the Permission Platform now runs entirely on Polygon, only the withdrawal of ASK tokens on the Polygon chain will be supported, and legacy ASK token balances will not be visible in the wallet page in your Permission account.

Please ensure your ASK is bridged to Polygon ahead of June 25, 2023.

The ASK Bridge to the Polygon network is now live and available to use.

As previously announced, Permission is migrating ASK from the legacy Permission Network to the Polygon Network. An ASK Bridge has launched today for individuals to port their ASK tokens over.

Please note, we currently recommend to using the bridge on a desktop instead of mobile device.

For those unfamiliar with Polygon, here is a useful explainer video on the Polygon Network. Permission is thrilled to be migrating to Polygon, as we strongly believe the move will accelerate our goal of empowering users worldwide to own and monetize their data. For those that hold ASK, we believe that this migration will allow us to expand the use cases for ASK by enabling interoperability with the Polygon and Ethereum ecosystems.

Overview

As an ASK holder, you are invited to transfer your ASK over to the Polygon Network so that you may continue to enjoy all of the benefits of the Permission Platform once the migration is complete. The transfer involves a swap between the legacy ASK token and ASK on Polygon at a 1:1 ratio.

To get started, simply navigate to the ASK Bridge and follow the prompts. We have also created a video guide and a set of instructions to walk you through the process.

To be clear, if your Wallet Balance is empty, then there is no need to migrate. ASK can safely stay in pending and will be able to be withdrawn directly onto the Polygon Network after the migration. Only if you currently have ASK in your Wallet Balance does Permission suggest that you migrate it over to the Polygon Network. We cannot migrate your ASK for you, so you must do it yourself.

Migration Details

Timeline

The Permission team is happy to share that the migration to Polygon has progressed smoothly. Since the migration period commenced in May, 2022, nearly all ASK holders have successfully migrated their tokens from the Permission blockchain to the Polygon network using the ASK Bridge.

Permission users and ASK holders who have not yet used the ASK Bridge to migrate their tokens to the Polygon network are encouraged to do so before June 10, 2023. After such date, no exchanges will be supporting the legacy ASK token on the Permission blockchain. Only the ASK token on the Polygon blockchain will continue to be supported by exchanges. Additionally, as the Permission Platform now runs entirely on Polygon, only the withdrawal of ASK tokens on the Polygon chain will be supported.

Exchanges

Naturally, we are aware that this migration to Polygon will affect the exchanges on which ASK is currently trading. Please note the below information is provided solely as a means of anticipating inquiries related to how the migration will impact ASK trading on various exchanges, and not as a solicitation or encouragement of exchange trading in any way:

If you hold ASK on these exchanges:

1. Bitrue
2. Gate.io

No action is needed on your part as they will migrate your ASK for you. Simply understand that when you withdraw your ASK from the exchange, you will automatically be withdrawing the Polygon version. Additionally, trading may be down for up to a week while they update the listing.

If you hold ASK on these exchanges:

1. Vitex
2. BitGlobal

At this time, these exchanges will not be supporting the Polygon ASK token. If you wish to migrate your ASK to Polygon, your ASK will need to be withdrawn to your Permission wallet or MetaMask and then use the ASK Bridge.

Getting Started With ASK On Polygon

Once you have migrated, your ASK can be used throughout the entire Polygon and Ethereum ecosystems! If you have never explored the depths of the wide world of crypto before and are wondering where to start, we have some info you may find interesting.

For starters, we have a blog on What Polygon Is & How To Use It. Next, you may find it helpful to watch this MetaMask tutorial if you aren’t already familiar with how it works.

Additionally, for a list of Polygon-supported hardware and software wallets, please visit this page.

You can also now transfer your ASK to the Ethereum mainnet using the Polygon Bridge. Instructions on how to use the Polygon bridge can be found here.

Still Have Questions?

Visit our updated FAQs regarding the Polygon migration for more information. And, if you still can’t find what you are looking for there, contact our support team.

For verification purposes, our official token contract address is: 0xaA3717090CDDc9B227e49d0D84A28aC0a996e6Ff

A new buzzword has been sweeping across current online discourse — Web 3.0. Mirroring the blockchain revolution, Web 3.0 has also been dubbed “the decentralized web.” The beginnings of Web 3.0 are already upon us. Change is coming — and fast. New innovations are sparking a shift in the balance of power on the Internet in favor of the consumer. Data ownership will no longer be confined to centralized institutions. Consumers will own and control their personal data.

Under Web 2.0, a few tech giants dominated the social arena, holding unfathomable amounts of power — and personal data — over and of the general public. Web 2.0 cemented an extreme lack of privacy in the online world. Users were forced to accept the terms and conditions offered to them if they had any desire to participate in digital social connection and stay up-to-date with their peers and within their careers.

In reality, online privacy has always been an illusion. The evolution of the digital advertising landscape ensured this, with tracking cookies and data collection leading to advertising practices that, as a baseline, require copious amounts of personal data to function. The vast majority of websites ignore “Do Not Track” requests, and the tech giants that dominated Web 2.0 all claimed to be fully compliant with the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) California Consumer Privacy Act when it was unveiled (despite the fact that it was created to reign them in) by arguing that they fell into the category of “service providers.” These circumstances left individuals totally powerless to accept the fact that their data was being collected, sold and repurchased en masse without their ability to have any say in the matter.

So how will Web 3.0 change this? One of the main tenets of Web 3.0 is to put power back into the hands of consumers. Since privacy regulation is largely ineffective and complete anonymity is clearly an illusion, we should be looking to Web 3.0 for a more practical approach — data ownership and compensation. We can expect increased transparency, more individual control over personal data and heightened personal sovereignty. The days of dehumanizing consumers are ending. People are sick of it, and companies are starting to take notice. Scandals over the past few years have caused individuals to lose trust in big tech, leaving consumers feeling powerless.

This year, Facebook reported its first ever decrease in monthly active users, leading to a 26% drop in its shares in a single day. They blamed Apple’s iOS privacy changes and decreased advertiser budgets that utilize Facebook’s services. This is no coincidence. The giant is finally faltering, thanks to its own disenchanted users. Users are at the end of their ropes when it comes to rampant data exploitation, and this is one of the main reasons the ideals of Web 3.0 have begun to roll in.

Changes have already begun to blossom. With Apple’s iOS 14.5, published analytics data showed that up to 96% of users will opt out of tracking when given the chance. The days of buying data en masse from data brokers and collectors are drawing to a definitive close. Most browsers already block tracking cookies automatically, with Google Chrome announcing their plans to deprecate the software come 2023.

Still, online privacy remains more or less a farce. The data that has been collected is still out there, and it’s not going anywhere, not while it still has value. Federal legislation regarding consumer privacy has not been passed, and neither the GDPR nor CCPA has not proven strong enough to drastically change the landscape for the big players, though the enforcement of GDPR especially has resulted in several large fines.

But as is frequently said, if the cost of noncompliance is merely monetary, then it’s not illegal — just expensive. And money is something big tech has no shortage of.

The question remains: How will businesses and advertisers be able to survive online when consumers are automatically hesitant? The manifestation of individuals taking control of their data means that brands will have to take steps and leverage new technology to create direct, long-term relationships with consumers and offer value in exchange for data.

Asking permission and compensating individuals for their data, especially when their data is being utilized to encourage spending, is a practical and reasonable approach. Consumers have long seen their data appropriated with no real benefit to them, which is part of the reason that opt-out rates are so high. However, 79% of consumers have stated they are willing to share their data in exchange for a reward. Therein lies the answer: opt-in value exchange. In Web 3.0, the reward offered may take many shapes, but in light of developing blockchain technology and growing public interest, it seems cryptocurrency will be at the forefront of the new Internet. Data marketplaces are likely to soon become obsolete. Brands that want to succeed will need to acknowledge their consumers as human and cultivate direct relationships. The recent rise in first-party consumer data platforms (CDPs) has made this increasingly evident. Asking consumers directly for permission to use their data and providing value in exchange for it is the way forward.

Web 3.0 will continue to recognize that the notion of online privacy is not reflective of reality. However, it will do this in a way that puts control back into the hands of consumers and not only recognizes but takes into account the effects of historical online data practices. Overall, this is likely to lead to increased satisfaction on both ends, of the consumer and the advertiser. Consumers feel respected and humanized, while brands are able to more effectively build relationships with their target audiences and collect permissioned, first-party data. Digital advertising in Web 3.0 will certainly be a space worth watching.

This article originally appeared on Media Village and was guest authored by Permission’s CEO Charlie Silver. Click here to view the full article.

UPDATE as of June 26, 2023: The bridging period is now officially over. The Permission team would like to thank the community for their cooperation and support during this process. The bridge opened in May, 2022 and officially closed, as scheduled, on June 25, 2023. Users are no longer able to bridge their Permission Network Balance.Please note that users with a Pending ASK balance can maintain their ASK in Pending. When withdrawn, it will be transferred via the Polygon blockchain and, as such, will automatically be withdrawn as Polygon ASK.

UPDATE as of April 24, 2023: Permission users and ASK holders who have not yet used the ASK Bridge to migrate their tokens to the Polygon network are encouraged to do so before June 25, 2023. Legacy ASK token balances will not be visible in the wallet page on June 25, 2023. After such date, no exchanges will be supporting the legacy ASK token on the Permission blockchain. Only the ASK token on the Polygon blockchain will continue to be supported by exchanges. Additionally, as the Permission Platform now runs entirely on Polygon, only the withdrawal of ASK tokens on the Polygon chain will be supported.

Please ensure your ASK is bridged to Polygon ahead of June 25, 2023.

Migration FAQs

How do I migrate my ASK in my Permission wallet?The ASK Bridge is now available for users to port their ASK to the Polygon Network. Read these Bridge Migration Instructions or watch this How-To video. 

Does this mean I can send my ASK directly to my Ethereum wallet and then port it to Polygon?No! Do not try to use the official Polygon Bridge until after you have ported your tokens over using the ASK Bridge. Only after you have swapped your legacy ASK tokens for Polygon ASK tokens using the ASK Bridge can you then use the Polygon bridge.

How do I migrate my ASK that is being held on a hardware wallet?You can connect your hardware wallet to MetaMask and then interface with the ASK bridge through MetaMask by following these instructions.

What happens to my legacy ASK on the Permission blockchain?It is burned. This is a one-way bridge, so there is no going back.

How long do I have until the migration period is over?

Please ensure your ASK is bridged to Polygon ahead of June 25, 2023.

After June 25, 2023, no exchanges will be supporting the legacy ASK token on the Permission blockchain. Only the ASK token on the Polygon blockchain will continue to be supported by exchanges. Additionally, as the Permission Platform now runs entirely on Polygon, only the withdrawal of ASK tokens on the Polygon chain will be supported. 

I can’t migrate my ASK that is stuck in pending, what do I do?Don’t worry. You can keep your ASK in pending for as long as you want, and it will be just fine during the migration.

After my ASK is bridged to Polygon, how will it be supported?For information on support for ASK and other Polygon tokens, please see Polygon’s documentation about supported hardware and software wallets, etc.

ASK On Polygon FAQs

Can I send my ASK directly from my Polygon wallet to an Ethereum wallet?No. You have to bridge ASK back to the Ethereum Network first for it to show up in your wallet on the Ethereum Network. If you send it directly to an Ethereum address, it may show up in the Polygon wallet for that address, but not all Ethereum wallets support Polygon, so be careful!

Can I transfer my ASK to the Ethereum Network?Yes! Just be sure to use the Polygon Bridge to transfer the ASK to the Ethereum mainnet before trying to send it anywhere else.

Why can’t I find my ASK in my MetaMask wallet?Chances are it is one of two things: First, make sure you are on the Polygon Network by clicking the dropdown at the top of your MetaMask and selecting Polygon Network – or click here if you don’t have the Polygon Network setup on your MetaMask yet. Second, make sure that the ASK token placeholder is added to your MetaMask account. If you continue to experience issues, please contact permission support here.

Exchanges FAQs

Please note the below information is provided solely as a means of anticipating inquiries related to how the migration will impact ASK trading on various exchanges – this is not a solicitation or encouragement of exchange trading in any way:

How do I migrate my ASK that is being held on an exchange?If you hold ASK on these exchanges:

1. Bitrue
2. Gate.io

No action is needed on your part as they will migrate your ASK for you. Simply understand that when you withdraw your ASK from the exchange, you will automatically be withdrawing the Polygon version.

If you hold ASK on these exchanges:

1. Vitex
2. BitGlobal

These exchanges will not be supporting the Polygon ASK token. If you wish to migrate your ASK to Polygon, your ASK will need to be withdrawn to your Permission wallet or MetaMask and then use the ASK Bridge.

How do I migrate my ASK that is being held on an exchange?Yes, depending on the exchange, trading may be down for up to a week while they update the listing.

General Polygon FAQs

What is Polygon?Polygon is an interoperability layer two scaling solution for building Ethereum-compatible blockchains. Polygon effectively transforms Ethereum into a full-fledged multi-chain system. This multi-chain system is akin to other ones such as Polkadot, Cosmos, Avalanche etc. with the advantages of Ethereum’s security, vibrant ecosystem and openness.

What is MATIC?The Polygon network uses the MATIC token for gas fees, governance, and staking via a proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

How do I get MATIC?MATIC may be acquired by purchasing it on exchanges, and it is available on many. You may also receive small quantities of MATIC by using a Polygon faucet.

What is Layer 2?Layer-two is a secondary framework or protocol that is built on top of an existing blockchain system. The main goal of these protocols is to solve transaction speed and scaling difficulties.‍

How does Polygon Work?Being a layer-two scaling solution, Polygon uses a Proof of Stake (PoS) system of validators for asset security, and staking is an integral part of the ecosystem. Validators on the network stake their MATIC tokens as capital collateral in order to become part of the PoS consensus mechanism. Validators receive MATIC tokens in return.

Can I use ETH to pay for transactions on Polygon?No. All transactions on the Polygon Network require MATIC to pay the gas fees. However, you will need some ETH to transfer your tokens back to Ethereum mainnet, if you wish to do so.

Do I get a new Polygon wallet address?No, your Polygon wallet address will be the same as the address that you use for your Ethereum mainnet wallet.

How long do Polygon transactions take to execute?Transactions on the Polygon Network are very fast as new blocks only take 2 seconds to confirm.

Can tokens on the Polygon Network be transferred to Ethereum?Yes. To move assets from the Polygon Network to Ethereum mainnet, just use the Polygon Bridge.

How long does it take to transfer tokens using the Polygon bridge?Bridging tokens to the Polygon Network can take around 7 minutes. Bridging tokens back from the Polygon Network can take around 6 hours. However, when bridging your ASK from the legacy Permission Network to the Polygon Network, it may take up to 24 hours.

How do I use the Polygon Network?You use it much in the same way that you use any token on the Ethereum Network, however there are a few key differences. For more information, please click here.

More questions about Polygon?Visit the Polygon FAQ page.

UPDATE as of June 26, 2023: The bridging period is now officially over. The Permission team would like to thank the community for their cooperation and support during this process. The bridge opened in May, 2022 and officially closed, as scheduled, on June 25, 2023. Users are no longer able to bridge their Permission Network Balance.

Please note that users with a Pending ASK balance can maintain their ASK in Pending. When withdrawn, it will be transferred via the Polygon blockchain and, as such, will automatically be withdrawn as Polygon ASK.

UPDATE as of April 24, 2023: Permission users and ASK holders who have not yet used the ASK Bridge to migrate their tokens to the Polygon network are encouraged to do so before June 25, 2023. Legacy ASK token balances will not be visible in the wallet page on June 25, 2023. After such date, no exchanges will be supporting the legacy ASK token on the Permission blockchain. Only the ASK token on the Polygon blockchain will continue to be supported by exchanges. Additionally, as the Permission Platform now runs entirely on Polygon, only the withdrawal of ASK tokens on the Polygon chain will be supported.

Please ensure your ASK is bridged to Polygon ahead of June 25, 2023.

Permission is proud to announce our partnership with Polygon and the migration of ASK to the Polygon blockchain.

Polygon is known as the preeminent Ethereum scaling solution, having received widespread adoption with 7,000+ Dapps and 100M+ unique users. It is fully interoperable with Ethereum and enables much faster and cheaper transaction processing than Ethereum mainnet.

The decision to migrate away from Permission’s proprietary blockchain is an important one. We are confident doing so will advance our mission of bringing data ownership and personal sovereignty to millions through a Web3 advertising system that enables advertisers to “ASK permission” and interact with users and their data on a consent basis. Moreover, the move to Polygon will significantly expand ASK accessibility by enabling interoperability with the Polygon and Ethereum ecosystems, including access to DeFi, staking, and more.

We believe that the migration to Polygon will be a very positive development for the Permission community, as it will allow us to achieve greater utility, liquidity, and decentralization as well as enable us to accelerate and expand the use cases for ASK in ways which would have been exceedingly burdensome and resource-consuming on our own blockchain.

Permission chose Polygon specifically for several reasons:

1. Security – Security is paramount for any crypto project, and Polygon is similarly dedicated to ensuring that all tokens which use their network are absolutely secure, including ASK.
2. Cheap & Fast Transactions – Another crucial point for us was that our members remain able to send their ASK quickly and for minimal gas fees, which Polygon excels at. This will also enable the Permission platform to achieve scalability. 
3. Layer 2 – Permission believes that the future of crypto is on Layer 2. By expanding to Polygon first, ASK is maximally positioned to benefit from the utility of the Layer 2 network as it grows.
4. Ease Of Integrations – Because Polygon is ERC20 compatible, it will allow us to easily integrate with nearly any wallet, exchange, or project.
5. Size Of Ecosystem – Members will now be able to experiment with ASK in many of the 7000+ apps that exist within the Polygon ecosystem, including DeFi.
6. Passionate Community – We were thrilled to see that, just like Permission, Polygon has an incredibly passionate community. This makes us all the more confident that we will receive a warm welcome as we seek to expand our ASK family.

An $ASK Bridge to the Polygon Network will be available to $ASK holders and Permission users starting in early May, 2022. Using this bridge, users may port their $ASK to the Polygon Network, and subsequently to the Ethereum network as well, if they wish. More details on the bridge will be provided as the migration approaches.

Overall, Permission intends to position ourselves alongside Polygon as the ecosystem grows, and we are excited at the prospect of the ever-increasing utility of ASK as we work to expand its interoperability within the larger crypto ecosystem. Stay tuned for more updates on this matter. 

We are excited to share the news with our community that we have created the Permission Association to be seated in Zug, Switzerland. We are thrilled that the protocol will be relocating to “Crypto Valley” and joining a vibrant blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem across Switzerland and Lichtenstein — with Zug at its epicenter.

About the Permission Association

Permission has incorporated the Permission Association (“the Association”) in order to further decentralize the Permission Platform, which includes technologies and applications that enable individuals to own, control, and monetize their data. The Permission Platform, powered by Permission’s native token, “ASK,” advances data ownership and personal sovereignty by fostering a transparent data economy and enabling a fair value exchange between advertisers and consumers.

The mission of the Swiss-based Association is to develop, empower and expand the Permission Platform in a decentralized, independent way. The Association’s objectives include providing financial and non-financial support to the Permission Platform to further expand its decentralized protocols and applications in Web 3.0.

Additionally, the assembly of the Association is able to pass resolutions on the governance decisions for the Permission Platform. Permission users can become Members of the Association and have a voice when it comes to core technology governance decisions. Permission’s goal is to further increase the level of decentralization in the future by increasing the number of Members within the Association.

Our Decision to Associate in Zug, Switzerland

Known across the globe as “Crypto Valley,” Zug has in recent years become one of the most crypto-friendly jurisdictions in the world. The Kanton of Zug’s decentralized system, favorable tax framework, stable political environment, and mature and respected regulatory infrastructure have attracted some of the world’s most well-known blockchain projects. In Zug, Permission will no doubt be well-positioned for accelerated development, networking, and financing opportunities that will support ecosystem growth.

Permission Association Board of Directors

We are honored to announce the formation of an exemplary Executive Board to serve as founding members of the Permission Association. Charlie Silver is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Permission.io and will serve as the Board President. Patrick Storchenegger is a member of the foundation council of the Ethereum Foundation and owner of PST Legal, a law firm specializing in Swiss and international tax law, corporate law, commercial law, blockchain, and beyond. Raffaela Piraino serves as the Chief Financial Officer of the Energy Web Foundation and its related entities, and has served as CEO of several successful companies. This board possesses a wealth of priceless experience and interdisciplinary knowledge that will guide the Association and its goals into a successful future.

Looking Forward

To advance the goal of further decentralizing the Permission network, the Association’s immediate initiative is to enable Permission’s migration from its proprietary blockchain (“the Permission Blockchain”) to Polygon, the preeminent Ethereum scaling solution. The migration will require that a new ASK token be issued on the Polygon blockchain, replacing Permission’s current native token on the Permission chain.

Permission’s migration to Polygon recently received regulatory clearance from the government body responsible for financial regulation in Switzerland. The Swiss regulatory authority has answered a ruling request from Permission (also known as the “No-Action letter” process) pursuant to which the ASK token classification as a utility token under Swiss law was confirmed. Therefore, Permission’s planned token swap has achieved regulatory compliance under Swiss law.

Polygon’s infrastructure and scaling solutions will be core to decentralizing and growing Permission’s platform, which allows advertisers to “ASK permission” and interact with users and their data on a consent basis. The move to Polygon will significantly expand ASK accessibility and utility by enabling interoperability with the Polygon and Ethereum ecosystems, including access to DeFi, staking, and more.

Once the migration officially commences, a bridge will be available to all ASK holders and Permission users to port their ASK to the Polygon Network.

We are immensely excited for what the future has to hold. Stay tuned, as we will soon be releasing an updated roadmap and additional details about the migration to Polygon.

Permission is delighted to announce a new partnership with Swash, a complementary Web3 project seeking to further empower and promote data sovereignty in the new age of the internet. 

The partnership between Permission and Swash will focus on ways to build and develop an innovative framework for data ownership, control and monetization, governed by the ethos of Web 3. In particular, the companies will collaborate on the development of use cases that enable an equitable value exchange between consumers, brands and data orchestrators, with the mission of helping users across the web earn from what is rightfully theirs – their data.  

Permission has created and recently launched Permission Ads, an industry-first, patent-pending, crypto rewards demand-side platform (DSP). Advertisers can now run campaigns on the open web and reward consumers with the ASK Coin for opting in and consenting to share their data. For advertisers, the platform enables them to run crypto-rewarded campaigns that build trust with their target audiences while collecting first-party, permissioned data. 

“It’s more important than ever for like-minded projects to collaborate to accelerate innovation that fosters data transparency and sovereignty in Web 3.0,” said Charlie Silver, CEO of Permission.io. “We look forward to developing these strategic partnerships and together providing solutions that will power a new phase of the data economy where the individual is in control.”

Swash is the first and largest Web3 data union, seeking to create a fair data economy that allows users to profit from their data. The Swash app allows consumers to participate in a global audience panel by sharing anonymous browser behavior in a privacy-compliant manner. Today, the Swash Data Union empowers nearly a quarter-million users to take control of their data and receive $SWASH rewards.

“The Permission-Swash alliance borrows a page from the legacy ad tech DSP-audience platform playbook,” said Seth Ulinski, Swash Ecosystem and Growth. “The key difference is consumers have agency and ownership of the data being transacted upon.”

About SwashSwash is an ecosystem of tools and services that enable people, businesses, and developers to unlock the latent value of data by pooling, securely sharing, and monetizing its value. People share their data to earn while retaining their privacy. Swash is reimagining data ownership by enabling all actors of the data economy to earn, access, build and collaborate in a liquid digital ecosystem for data.

Together, the four media, advertising, and technology industry veterans bring 100 years of experience to the company

At Permission, we’re committed to fixing the broken digital advertising model by enabling marketers to build opt-in audiences while giving users control over their personal data. This is an incredibly challenging and complex problem — one that can only be solved by leaders and innovators who thoroughly understand the digital advertising space and are eager to play a pivotal role in ushering in a privacy-first era in online advertising.

We’re incredibly excited to announce the addition of four talented media, advertising, and technology veterans to our advisory board:

1. Jason Young, who brings 30 years of experience in media, digital advertising, and adtech to Permission;
2. Kyung Kim, an innovator in the digital media space for nearly 20 years;
3. Sean Holzman, a revenue optimization specialist with nearly 30 years of experience in media and digital advertising; and
4. Son Nguyen, a technology expert and startup founder with 20 years of experience building powerful software solutions.

Adding their unique capabilities and combined 100 years of experience across the digital ad space to our already exceptional board enables us to further refine our strategic vision, achieve exponential growth, and make the ASK token the most widely used reward in digital advertising.

“We are absolutely thrilled to bring these exceptional individuals into the fold as we begin supercharging our growth and setting the example of what permission-based advertising should look like,” said Charlie Silver, CEO of Permission.io. “We look forward to taking our products, which we believe will become the foundation of Web3  advertising, to the next level with their guidance and expertise.”

Jason Young

As a 30-year veteran of the media, digital advertising, and adtech markets, Jason brings deep experience and eclectic expertise to the Permission.io advisory board. After joining publisher Ziff Davis as an intern in 1990, Jason rose through the ranks over the next 20 years, ultimately becoming the company’s CEO in 2007. In 2010, Jason founded Smart Device Media, a mobile ad network company that was ultimately acquired by Crisp Media, where Jason would go on to serve as CEO.

After a three-year stint as Chief Media Officer at Quotient Technology, a media and marketing platform, Jason worked as an adtech investor, advisor, and consultant before accepting an offer to become president of Chicory, a digital marketing platform, where he advises on company growth and expansion.

With tons of experience in developing, launching, and scaling new digital ad platforms, we look forward to leveraging Jason’s talents to further expand Permission.io’s footprint.

Kyung Kim

As a leader in the digital media community for nearly 20 years, Kyung has helped some of the world’s most prestigious brands — including McDonald’s, Heineken, State Farm Insurance, and Dell — connect with their customers on a deeper level. Throughout his career, Kyung has led media strategy and investment at some of the largest agencies in the world and independent giant Horizon Media, where he currently works as SVP of digital activation.

Prior to joining Horizon, Kyung worked as global digital director for OMD, which is part of Omnicom Group, and MediaVest, which is a Publicis subsidiary. We’re thrilled to have Kyung bring his deep knowledge of digital media to the Permission.io team.

Sean Holzman

If there’s one way to summarize Sean’s nearly 30-year career, it’s this: consistently blowing out revenue goals while driving brand recognition across highly competitive, dynamic environments. With a talent for identifying opportunities in new technologies and platforms, Sean’s strategic and creative perspective delivers show-stopping results.

After launching his career as an account executive at Paramount Pictures, Sean spent nearly a decade driving growth across hundreds of publications, websites, events, products, and TV programs at PRIMEDIA and Source Interlink Companies. From there, he became Chief Brand Development Officer and then Chief Digital Revenue Officer at Bonnier Corporation, where he led all digital revenue operations, launched new businesses, and developed key relationships with companies like Apple, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. In June 2020, he joined IRIS.TV, a video intelligence platform, as head of ad platforms.

As a member of Permission.io’s advisory board, Sean is looking forward to drawing upon his wealth of experience to bring permission-based advertising to the mainstream.

Son Nguyen

As a technology entrepreneur and founder of multiple successful fintech companies, Son knows a thing or two about scaling startups. For more than 20 years, Son has been dedicated to innovation and laser-focused on creating world-class software teams and products.

Son started his career as a systems analyst at Commerce One before joining Fish & Richardson P.C. as senior manager of software development, a position he held for more than seven years. From there, he moved to the financial services industry as director of technology at Renovate America, a fintech startup that helps homeowners finance their home improvement projects, ultimately becoming VP of technology. That experience led him to co-found Superhero Building Contractors, a home improvement service designed to match homeowners with high-quality professional contractors. In October 2019, Son became Chief Technology Officer of Ando, a fintech company that offers mobile banking services designed for a more sustainable future.

With Son on our advisory board, we’re poised to continue improving our digital solutions while unlocking the full potential of blockchain technology.

Permission is delighted to announce that the ASK digital currency will be listed on Gate.io, one of the top ten cryptocurrency exchanges globally with over ten million registered users. ASK will begin trading on Gate.io on February 17, 2022, with an ASK/USDT pairing.

The exchange offers spot, margin, futures and contract trading in addition to DeFi products through Hipo DeFi, custodial services through Wallet.io, investments through Gate Labs and its dedicated GateChain platform. Users can participate in a number of activities with ASK, including a liquidity mining rewards program where they can earn for providing liquidity for ASK. 

“It has been an exciting year for the crypto industry, and we are looking forward to having ASK be more readily available to crypto enthusiasts globally through our partnership with Gate,” said Charlie Silver, CEO of Permission.io. “ASK is the currency of permission, and we look forward to expanding ASK’s visibility while continuing our mission to empower consumers to own and earn from their data.”

Global privacy regulations, ad blockers, and ever-changing ad tech trends are calling for a new and improved advertising model-one built on consent and value exchange. Permission.io enables a global tokenized ad system whereby consumers can securely grant permission and monetize their data across the web, and marketers can build loyalty and trust while achieving better return on their ad spend.

Permission is delighted to announce a new partnership with Amasa. Aligning with Permission’s mission to empower users to own and earn from their data, Amasa is a Web 3 and DeFi platform that enables users to capture and capitalize on the wealth-building potential of micro-income streams and DeFi.

In this collaboration, Amasa users will be able to combine their Permission income with other background streams, then amplify this combined value via DeFi. Permission and Amasa will collaborate on technical integration opportunities to maximize income potential for users, and Permission looks forward to expanding its network of like-minded projects through Amasa’s Web 3 platform.

“Partnering with Amasa is right in line with our shared vision of truly empowering people to own and earn from their data – this connection serves to speed up the process for consumers who are now producers in Web 3” says Bobby Petersen, Permission’s VP of Marketing.

About AmasaBy building the world’s first micro income stream investment app, Amasa is working to inspire mass adoption of Web 3.0 platforms that reward participants for their gaming, time, energy, attention, content, data and interactions.

While traditional finance solutions offer very low or even negative interest on their savings products, the crypto industry is always coming up with new ways to earn money.

In addition to investing and trading, the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector offers an excellent alternative to generating passive income through numerous ways, such as yield farming and cryptocurrency lending.

Today, we will introduce you to staking, a popular activity both in the DeFi and broader digital asset space. Staking crypto not only allows you to put your coins to work and earn rewards but also helps secure the networks of various blockchain solutions.

In this article, we will explore what crypto staking is, how it works, where to get started, as well as the potential risks and revenue you can generate with the activity.

What Is Crypto Staking?

Crypto staking refers to the activity in which a user locks coins in a wallet for a certain period of time to secure the network of a blockchain based on a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism (or its variant, i.e., Delegated-Proof-of-Stake).

In terms of blockchain security, the network will choose a user who has staked his coins to validate the next block either randomly or by utilizing various factors (e.g., the amount of tokens staked).

In exchange for maintaining the ecosystem, users who stake their coins earn rewards, which is usually the combination of the cryptocurrency included in the block they validated and the fees associated with the transactions they processed for users.

What Is the Difference Between Crypto Staking and Mining?

It’s important to talk about the difference between crypto staking and mining. While both activities have the same purpose – to secure the network, generate new blocks, and validate transactions – they use two distinct approaches to achieve this goal.

Cryptocurrency mining is present mostly in Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchain networks (e.g., Bitcoin), where validators (called miners) are required to leverage their computational power to solve complex mathematical puzzles to validate blocks.

For this, they purchase specialized hardware (e.g., ASICs and GPUs), which they operate continuously to compete with other miners to secure the reward for each block.

The higher the hash rate (computational power) in a PoW network is, the better it can protect against both internal and external threats, such as 51% attacks and malicious nodes.

As you can see, this is a rather energy-intensive process, which the PoW consensus algorithm has been long criticized for.

On the other hand, PoS blockchains do not require validators to utilize physical hardware or computational hardware to secure the blockchain. Instead, validators lock up their coins in their wallet via staking. Simply put, they guarantee the network’s safety with their money.

While this significantly reduces the energy consumption of the blockchain, staking is a similarly efficient mechanism in protecting users as mining blocks via the PoW algorithm.

In terms of investment, staking can be a more attractive method for users as it doesn’t feature the high upfront costs of mining (where you have to purchase the equipment first to get started) while providing a more predictable revenue stream (in a similar way as a savings account or a government bond).

Furthermore, staking has a well-established infrastructure within the crypto space. As a result, plenty of services offer an easy, flexible way for users to stake their coins. This contrasts with cryptocurrency mining, which requires miners to possess the technical knowledge and skills to maintain their equipment.

How Does Crypto Staking Work?

Now that you know the basics, let’s see how crypto staking works in practice.

First, it’s important to mention that staking is present in the crypto space in two different forms.

We have already taken a look at the first, where validators lock up their coins in their wallets to secure blockchain networks based on the PoS algorithm.

The process works as follows:

1. A user deposits cryptocurrency into a supported wallet or staking service.
2. The user selects the period (e.g., one month) he/she seeks to stake coins and utilizes the service to lock them up in his or her wallet. Alternatively, some solutions allow flexible staking, where users are free to withdraw their crypto holdings at any time without a mandatory lock-up time.
3. After the lock-up period ends (or, in the case of flexible staking, the user is satisfied with the rewards), the staking provider releases the user’s coins and distributes the earnings after deducting the fees for providing the service (usually a percentage rate subtracted from the profits).
4. The user is free to withdraw, spend, or re-stake the coins to generate more rewards.

The second type, called DeFi staking, is utilized not for safety purposes, but to offer a desirable user experience on certain decentralized exchanges (DEXs) that feature non-custodial atomic swaps between cryptocurrencies.

Unlike centralized exchanges, these DeFi solutions called automated market makers (AAMs) feature an entirely decentralized process for swapping coins. However, as they lack the order books of centrally-operated services, AAMs have to acquire liquidity from their users to facilitate efficient trading.

For that reason, they incentivize their users to supply both tokens of a trading pair at a 1:1 ratio in a liquidity pool. These rewards are usually offered in the platforms’ native coins after liquidity providers (LPs) have staked a special type of cryptocurrency called LP token.

LP tokens represent the users’ share in a liquidity pool, which they can redeem at any time for the tokens they supplied to the protocol along with their rewards.

By staking LP tokens, users lock the liquidity they provided to a specific platform for a certain period. Since this is a beneficial scenario for the service provider, it makes sense for the protocol to offer staking rewards for LPs.

Now let’s see an example for DeFi staking:

1. A user connects his wallet to a DeFi AAM protocol and deposits DAI and ETH at a 1:1 ratio (1 ETH and $3,485 DAI based on October 11 prices) in the DAI/ETH liquidity pool.
2. As the next step, the protocol issues the amount of DAI-ETH LP tokens that represent the user’s share in the pool and distributes them to his or her wallet.
3. The user locks the DAI-ETH LP tokens on the protocol for 30 days to earn native token rewards from the service provider.
4. After 30 days, the user redeems the DAI-ETH LP tokens for his or her original tokens as well as to claim any staking and liquidity provider rewards (e.g., a share of trading fees from the pool).

As you can see, no matter the staking type you choose, the process is similar in both cases and rather straightforward. And, while the mechanism is utilized to achieve different goals for the platforms, it serves the same purpose for stakers: to generate profits.

How Much Staking Rewards Can I Earn?

Besides its simplicity and lack of upfront costs, staking has become so popular in the cryptocurrency industry because it’s an excellent way for users to generate a passive income.

Staking rewards vary by the coin, which can range from anywhere from 1-2% to as high as 150% annually, especially if we take compound interest into account (when you maximize your gains by continuously re-staking or reinvesting your profits along with the principal sum).

In most cases, cryptocurrencies with larger market caps offer lower annual percentage yields (APYs) than smaller coins.

For example, while Ethereum (ETH) and Cardano (ADA) features 5-6% APYs, smaller-cap digital assets like DefiChain (DFI) or the Mirror Protocol (MIR) allow stakers to earn a yearly 70-75% after their coins.

Furthermore, rewards can also vary by the platform or service you utilize for staking. For example, while Binance and Everstake offer a 5.54% APY on ADA, some pools only feature a 3-4% ratio.

The reason for the variance in rewards may be due to two factors.

First, all of these services operate staking pools where they combine the locked coins of users to increase their chances to become validators and gain rewards.

At the same time, many PoS-based blockchains choose a validator for a block based on the amount of staked cryptocurrency. This means that the larger the pool, the greater chance it has to produce blocks and the better rewards it can generate for users.

Second, the commission service providers deduct from user profits can greatly impact one’s staking rewards. While some pools operate without fees, others charge 3-12%, and there are also platforms with extraordinarily high rates (30-50%).

For that reason, it’s crucial to research both the coins and the staking providers to generate the best staking rewards.

Is Staking Crypto Safe?

In general, crypto staking can be considered a safe activity within the digital asset space. However, it definitely comes with certain risks.

Unlike crypto lending, where lenders mostly earn revenue on stablecoins – digital assets pegged to one or a basket of other financial instruments (e.g., USD, EUR) to stabilize its price movements – staking predominantly involves locking up “standard,” non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies.

For that reason, the coins you dedicate to staking are subject to the high volatility associated with the cryptocurrency asset class (especially if you stake small-cap coins). As they can increase and decrease in value in short periods, this increases the risks of stakers.

These risks increase if you choose a staking service where users must lock up their coins for a specific period as you won’t be able to liquidate your crypto holdings in the case of a sudden market crash or another price movement (even if it’s favorable).

However, if you choose a flexible staking provider with no mandatory lock-up periods, you can mitigate your risks.

That said, volatility is not the only risk that comes with staking. For that reason, you should also be aware of the following factors:

1. Counterparty risks: You can choose to stake your coins either on a centralized service where the provider stores your crypto holdings on your behalf or via a decentralized, non-custodial solution. If you choose the former, you should know that the platform is in custody of your private keys, which provide access to your coins. For that reason, you face increased risks of a loss in case of a successful hacker attack or an “internal” exit scam, unless the provider features the necessary security measures and guarantees.
2. Smart contract bugs: If you stake coins as a liquidity provider on a DeFi protocol, you should be aware of the risks of smart contract bugs. Since these platforms use smart contracts to operate, a small issue in the code can lead to grave consequences for users. Therefore, you should always ensure that you use a reputable platform that features audited smart contracts.
3. Slashing: Staking services handle all the technical parts of staking for you, including operating a blockchain node and validating blocks. However, suppose the provider is dishonest or fails to maintain a 100% uptime. In that case, some networks punish it by refusing to distribute rewards for a block or even slashing all its cryptocurrency stake. In the latter case, all users who have staked crypto via the service would lose their locked-up tokens.

Based on the above information, staking can be a high-risk activity. However, that is only true if you fail to do your own due diligence.

For example, you can significantly decrease your risks by staking your coins via a secure wallet through a reputable provider that features a long-standing history of continuous uptime and honest activity as part of a non-custodial solution.

Where to Start Staking Coins

Earlier on, we discussed the process you have to follow to stake your coins.

Now, you only need to choose the platform and method you will use to generate rewards after your cryptocurrency holdings.

For this, you can select between four different solutions:

1. Cryptocurrency exchanges: Crypto exchanges provide one of the most convenient ways to stake crypto as you don’t have to move your holdings to other wallets or platforms to generate rewards. While this can come in handy when network transaction fees are high, this is a custodial solution that involves increased counterparty risks.
2. Staking service providers:Like crypto exchanges, staking-as-a-service providers offer easy access to staking across numerous blockchains. However, these also involve custody over users’ funds.
3. Crypto wallets: Many cryptocurrency wallet providers allow their users to stake their coins directly from their wallets without an intermediary. As a result, they don’t face the counterparty risks of custodial services while offering the same level of convenience (and similar reward rates).
4. Manual staking: This is maybe the most complex method to start staking, which is a possibility for advanced users. Here, you operate your own node and stake your coins on your own. While this offers you the most freedom, it requires the necessary time and technical expertise to run your machine as well as a higher upfront investment for many blockchains (as there is usually a minimum amount validators have to meet).

It is also important to mention cold staking, where you generate a passive income via a wallet (e.g., a hardware wallet) that is not connected to the internet. For that reason, it’s probably one of the safest ways to earn revenue with the activity.

Staking: An Easy Way to Earn Rewards on Your Crypto Holdings

Crypto staking is a widely popular activity, where you can easily generate extra revenue on your digital assets without significant upfront investments.

As it only takes an initial deposit and a few clicks to get started, staking is a great way for both beginners and advanced crypto users to earn coin rewards.

At the same time, long-term investors can utilize staking to put the cryptocurrency they hold to work to maximize their profits.

In terms of risks, staking is generally a safe way to earn crypto. However, users must do their own due diligence as well as select reputable (ideally non-custodial) providers and coins with larger market capitalizations to minimize their risks.

Stories of free flights, incredible deals, and “just used my points” are common these days. And for people who aren’t into loyalty programs, those who manage to travel so much on a low budget almost have this mystical aura about them. How do they do it? What do you mean she got a free flight and 4-star hotel for nothing?

Loyalty programs are designed to get you to come back to businesses, and they can be cumbersome and draining if you’re in too many or don’t choose the right ones, but if you know how to play the game, you can save yourself thousands of dollars on purchases you would have made anyway.

One of the keys to winning in loyalty programs is staying on top of the latest offers and loyalty programs. And while points and cash back programs have dominated the space for years, we’re going to show you how to both make the most of existing loyalty programs and show you what the future of loyalty programs looks like — that way you can stay on top of things.

Let’s go!

Common Types of Loyalty Programs

Since loyalty programs are any sort of program that rewards customers for purchases, consistency, engagement, referrals, etc. There are a lot of types.

Here are a few of the most popular:

1. Points programs like credit card or hotel points
2. Subscription programs like unlimited monthly coffee, Regal Unlimited, or Amazon Prime
3. Referral programs like The Hustle’s referral system
4. Tier-based programs like Chick-fil-A
5. Cashback programs like Capital One’s Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card
6. Perks programs like Kroger’s gas discount
7. And many more!

There is an abundance of loyalty programs these days. So the trick isn’t finding them, it’s deciding which ones to use.

Why Should You Join Loyalty Programs?

When used correctly, loyalty programs save (or give) you more money than you would have had without them.

For example, if you spend $500 a month on groceries, have a credit card that gives you 2 points (worth a cent each) for every dollar spent, and pay off your credit card in full each month, you would get an automatic $10 back each month for doing exactly what you do anyway.

Or take credit card bonus fees. If you’ve been saving up for a new entertainment system that costs around $3,000, and instead of paying cash you signed up for a new credit card that had a “sign-up offer” that gives you $600 in points after spending $3,000 in the first two months, you could get $600 back on a purchase you were already going to make.

By optimizing your spending around the highest value programs whose points or rewards can be used on purchases you were already going to make anyway and strategically utilizing sign-up bonuses, you can save thousands of dollars over a few years, pay for flights, get free hotel rooms, and more.

It takes a bit of work to get set up and switch at the right times, but it’s still well worth the effort you put in.

The 6 Best Loyalty Programs You Should Consider Joining

Again, loyalty programs are designed to get you to spend more, but if you’re aware of that fact, you don’t have to.

By only joining programs that directly impact your existing spending, you can minimize the temptation to overspend / nullify the value of your rewards.

With that in mind, here are some of the best loyalty programs out there. We’ve included a diverse list — that way you could feasibly make a good decision by just going with all of these. These options are more useful when starting out than 5 different airline programs, for example.

Note: These are based off of NerdWallet’s 2021 Winners, personal experience, and other misc. research. The program details below were accurate at the time of the writing but may not remain the same.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Ideal for casual domestic flyers who like to take one other person on their trips.

While you won’t be able to fly anywhere, anytime, the rewards system of Alaska Airlines is fantastic. If you make $2,000 of purchases within 90 days, you get 40,000 bonus miles (around $440) and the Annual Companion Fare, which can drop a ticket for a friend down to $99 + fees. Add in rewards based on miles instead of cash and 3x miles for all Alaska Airlines bookings, and you can see why people love this loyalty program.

Reward Currency: Alaska Miles

Key Aspects:

1. Reward based on miles flown instead of cash spent, which rewards smarter booking choices
2. Can transfer points to Emirates and Cathay Pacific and other partners to 1,000+ destinations
3. $75 annual fee
4. 3 miles for every $1 on Alaska Airlines flights, 1 mile for $1 for all other purchases
5. Free checked bags for up to 6 guests on the same reservation
6. No foreign transaction fees

Amazon Prime

Best for frequent online shoppers who want quick deliveries.

You may not think about Amazon Prime as a loyalty program, but that’s because it is so good at what it does that it escapes the label. Amazon does everything they can to make you lose money by not being a part of Prime (assuming you shop at Amazon regularly).

From Prime video, to free shipping, to lower prices in Amazon, using Amazon and not having Prime doesn’t make any sense, and that’s the point.

Reward Currency: None

Key Aspects:

1. Free two-day shipping on Prime eligible items
2. Prime discounts
3. Early access to deals
4. Prime video streaming
5. Pay monthly at $12.99 or yearly at $119

Chick-fil-A

Good for anyone who eats Chick-fil-A more than 2x a month.

Chick-fil-A, regardless of your opinion of fast food and their enterprise, is a brilliant business. They are superb at cleanliness, timeliness, consistency, and rewarding their customers.

Their loyalty program is legendary and has some really clever mechanisms to keep you coming back. So if you get down with Chick-fil-A at least more than 2x per month, then check it out.

Reward Currency: Points

Key Aspects:

1. Three Tiers: Member, Silver Member, Red Member
2. Points are rewarded for cash spent
3. Birthday rewards
4. Has giveaways for downloading the app and signing in consistently
5. Mobile ordering through app makes pick-up easier
6. Higher levels let you give away your gifts to others
7. The higher level you are, the more points you earn per $1
8. Higher levels have more say on the menu items Chick-fil-A releases

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

A good “jack-of-all-trades” travel card for people who tend to fly on different airlines and use different hotels.

Capital One’s Venture Rewards Credit Card has been a big player in the credit card points game for a bit. The points are easy to earn and use, and you can transfer or spend your points on just about anything.

Reward Currency: Miles

Key Aspects:

1. 60,000 mile bonus after spending $3,000 in the first month (~ $600 value)
2. 2 miles per dollar spent on anything and everything
3. $95 annual fee
4. Best value when you redeem for travel

Permission

Good for anyone who wants to get paid for doing what they already do on the web.

Here’s the deal. Almost everything you do on the internet involves and leaves data, but since the dawn of the internet, YOU haven’t been paid for the use of your data. Meanwhile, huge internet companies have made massive fortunes off of your information.

Permission prescribes to a simple but radical idea: shouldn’t you get paid for your data?

And the best part? You don’t have to change any of your habits. You join Permission, and companies reward you with crypto in return for your time and attention. It’s that simple.

Reward Currency: ASK

Key Aspects:

1. A new type of loyalty program driven by crypto rewards
2. A browser extension that lets you earn crypto based on your existing searches and habits
3. Earn crypto for engaging with ads and content
4. Is expanding its reach to become the backbone of loyalty programs everywhere everywhere, making it easier and more flexible for earners to redeem across brands.

Start earning from your data (for free)

Regal Unlimited

Great for any movie buffs who see more than 2 movies a month.

This is Regal’s answer to the spectacular fall of MoviePass. For ~$20/month you can watch as many movies as you’d like and earn on concession purchases. Since movies cost between $12-15 these days, if you go to at least two movies a month, you’ll be saving money.

Reward Currency: Crown Club Credits

Key Aspects:

1. Different tiers open up more and more theaters, but the middle tier for $20/month is usually more than enough.
2. Earn credits on all purchases that can be redeemed for free tickets and food. Pay for your friends’ tickets to rack up points!
3. Unlimited movies per month, including new releases.
4. Fees can apply for booking less than an hour in advance.

How to be a Loyalty Program Pro

Here are some tricks of the trade from loyalty program pros.

Make sure the annual fees make sense for your spending.

If you aren’t going to earn more in points than the annual fee, don’t go for it. That would just mean more unnecessary bills. It’s easiest to get hit by unnecessary annual fees when you have a lot of cards, so make sure whichever ones you have you’re actually using!

Note many credit card companies will cancel or reduce your fee if you call them to cancel shortly after noticing an annual fee charge.

Ditch the cash.

The more you spend on your card, the more points you earn. Cash should become a last resort — it’s a pointless transaction!

Maximize your earnings by choosing which card to spend with on particular categories.

Some cards earn you more on food. Other more on flights. Know which cards are best spent where so you can maximize your earnings.

Choose loyalty programs that fit into your existing habits

The point of loyalty programs is to get you to spend more, but you can outwit them by only choosing cards that complement your existing spending habits. If you already fly multiple times a year, there’s no reason not to earn from them, but if you don’t already shop at Nordstrom, maybe you don’t need their card.

Get your credit score to above 720

Most loyalty programs and good credit cards with rewards require decent credit. If you aren’t above 720 yet, put the time and work in to get there before going down the loyalty program rabbit hole.

Do not go into debt over points

No points are worth suffering from the atrocious interest rates on credit cards. Whatever you do, do NOT carry a balance! This excludes particular people with good handles on leverage, but anytime you rack up interest you are cutting right back into your point profits and likely going in the red.

Take advantage of welcome bonuses

Welcome bonuses are critical to earning from rewards programs. Line up your big purchases with a new card to earn big.

Stack points

Use your best food-to-points credit card to plug into your Chick-fil-A rewards program. Use your favorite flight card for Regal Unlimited — find as many ways as you can to stack your favorite cards and programs.

Avoid opening a bunch of credit lines before big purchases

Credit card churning and loyalty programs can mean opening up more lines of credit, which can negatively affect your score. If you’re going to buy a house or car in the near future, you may want to hold off.

Respect the 5/24 rule

While not official, many credit card companies begin to be more cautious with users who open up more than 5 cards in two years (or 24 months), so it’s best practice to stay at or under this split.

Amazing Resources for Credit Card Churning

When you join multiple programs, things can get a bit confusing. Here are some tools and resources that will help you make the most of your programs.

1. NerdWallet — one of the best rewards blogs out there
2. AwardWallet — track all of your programs and points in one place
3. ThePointsGuy — amazing blog for travel point optimization

The Best Loyalty Program is a Universal Loyalty Program

The new era of loyalty programs has arrived

Imagine an internet where every single online transaction, across any brand, in any store, earns you a single type of reward currency that you can spend on more products, or trade for other global currencies (including dollars).

That is the future of loyalty programs. A world where the myriad of points, miles, cashback dollars, and rewards dissolves into a single reward currency that everyone is familiar with. One wallet, one currency, across an unlimited number of brands.

Brands will still be able to create their own unique incentives founded in this currency. And users can earn more whenever they want by engaging in specific actions encouraged by brands, like voluntarily engaging with ads or giving a company more information about themselves.

So if you’re a user who wants to get paid for your data, or a brand looking to add in the ASK cryptocurrency to your incentives, now is the time.

See what we’re all about.

The world of cryptocurrency is a bit like the Wild West. There are rumors, a lot happening underground, and occasional but increasing government interest. People are looking for gold, and companies are looking to sell the shovels.

The result is a regulatory haze and technical fog that hangs over crypto, making it a bit difficult to figure out how to earn crypto easily and reliably. We get it, and that’s why we’ve taken the time to compile a list of sound ways to earn crypto by watching videos. Those videos are usually ads, but there are some interesting projects that go beyond advertising as well.

What makes a good cryptocurrency earning app?

Here’s what we were thinking through when making our choices.

1. Reliable payouts
2. Good UX/UI
3. Good earning potential

Crypto is a rapidly evolving space, and new opportunities appear all of the time. So while we do stand by this list, it’s a good idea to keep a pulse on the crypto world through the news and social media to identify new opportunities as they arise.

And here are the most legitimate ways we’ve found to earn cryptocurrency by watching videos:

Coinbase Learning Center

Coinbase is one of crypto’s most widely used and trusted crypto exchanges. One aspect of their onboarding is the opportunity to earn crypto by learning about individual crypto currencies through their course videos. You get paid in the relevant cryptocurrency and can have it deposited directly into your coinbase wallet, at which point you can transfer or do whatever you want with it.

Their video courses cover a variety of cryptocurrencies including:

1. Clover Finance
2. The Graph
3. BarnBridge
4. AMP
5. Stellar Lumens
6. Compound
7. Balancer
8. Ampleforth Governance Token

And many more.

You can earn more than $50+ in various cryptocurrencies, so the payout is really good, but it’s ultimately a finite source. There are only so many videos, so you take a few hours, get your crypto, and get out.

If you’re new to crypto, the education is worth watching either way. It’s a complicated sector, and starting slowly and with an education-first mindset is the best way to prevent poor investments.

Try Coinbase Learning Center

Coinmarket Cap Learning Center

Another option that functions in a similar way to Coinbase is the Coinmarket Cap Learning Center. Coinmarketcap has different videos and requires you to take a short quiz afterward, but the payouts and educational value are also high.

Here are some of the courses they offer:

1. Toko Token
2. IoTex
3. SushiSwap
4. Polkastarter
5. Plasma Finance

As you’re going through these, try and see which tokens you think have the most potential. These courses are essentially ads and pitches, after all. If one seems particularly promising, you could bankall of the coins you earn from these courses and trade them for the one or few cryptocurrencies you think are most promising.

Try CoinmarketCap Learning Center

Odysee

Odysee is positioned as an answer to Youtube’s and other major information platforms’ censorship and aims to be a decentralized educational and content resource.

Creators can post their videos on Odysee without any fear of censorship, and users can earn LBRY, their token, by watching and interacting with videos. When you watch a video on Odysee, both you and the creator earn crypto. This rewards you for your data and engagement while encouraging creators to continue to release videos on Odysee.

Whether or not earning cryptocurrency on Odysee is worth your time partly depends on if you believe in the LBRY crypto itself.

This is their mission:

First and foremost, LBRY is a new protocol that allows anyone to build apps that interact with digital content on the LBRY network. Apps built using the protocol allow creators to upload their work to the LBRY network of hosts (like BitTorrent), to set a price per stream or download (like iTunes) or give it away for free (like YouTube without ads). The work you publish could be videos, audio files, documents, or any other type of file.

If you think something like LBRY could compete with (or work alongside) a service like Spotify to enable artists to earn more from their music, this could be an interesting choice.

Earn Crypto With Odysee

Permission

Permission.’s mission is to give data ownership back to the people. Broadly speaking, this means rewarding you with crypto for any online interaction that involves your data. It’s your data, after all, and if companies want to use it, they should pay you for it.

We’re just getting started with our Web 3.0 revolution, but one example of our mission in practice is our Permission.io browser extension.

The Permission.io browser extension helps you earn cryptocurrency as you surf the web. After you install the extension on Chrome, if you search for something and a relevant video ad is available, we notify you of the option to earn for interacting with that video.

For example, if you were into skateboarding and typed “new skateboards,” and a rewarded ad featuring a skateboarding apparel or board company is available, you could be notified with a video ad that essentially says, “Hey we make skateboards. Wanna check it out?” And then if you do, you earn $ASK crypto for watching the video and even more if you end up buying the board from them.

And the best part? You don’t have to change any of your existing habits. They’re non-intrusive, opt-in ads.

PlayNano Online

While somewhat polarizing due to its price and relationship to the BitGrail $195 Million hack, the Nano community is vibrant, enthusiastic, and has created many ways to earn Nano.

Nano is aimed at being a decentralized currency and hopes to eliminate middlemen that charge transaction fees and tack on other hidden costs. Imagine instant wire transfers between countries for free — that’s the type of world Nano is aiming to build.

PlayNano, specifically, is a project that lets you earn Nano by watching videos, playing games, completing surveys, and other activities.

Like the other options here, it depends on how much you believe in Nano, but if you do, then this is definitely a good option.

Earn Crypto With PlayNano

The bottom line on earning cryptocurrency by watching videos

With the exclusion of a few companies like the online exchange courses and Permission.io browser extension, earning cryptocurrency by watching videos isn’t a smooth landscape yet. Most of the payouts are very low, and you are still subject to the whims of the crypto market.

These are the best options we know of, but you should still do your research, see which cryptocurrencies you think have the best chance of succeeding, and spend your time watching videos that let you earn those currencies.