While blockchain isn’t a new technology so to speak, it has become immensely popular over the past year. Its first major applications were cryptocurrencies, which are digital assets that optimize traditional transaction methods, making them more safe and secure. Instability of the coins has kept that part of cryptocurrency from becoming a reality, but it has also attracted a wide range of tech enthusiasts and investors who have become interested in its money making possibilities.
As digital assets, cryptocurrencies have become immensely successful, with the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, hitting a value of $20,000 a token on December 17 of last year. The influx of capital into cryptocurrencies has allowed developers and fans of the technology to explore other applications of blockchain. Companies like Walmart have already adopted the technology in places like its China-based Blockchain Food Safety Alliance along with IBM and Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Other startups have used the popularity offered to the technology, thanks to crypto, to explore applications that could more rapidly have an effect on the everyday lives of people. When trying to brainstorm problems the technology can solve, any exchange of value can be a good starting place. Decentralized Ledger Technology and smart contracts allow for quicker and more secure transfer of anything from money to data.
One startup, Hicky, sees this security aspect of blockchain as exactly what the dating service industry needs. Hicky is the company bringing dating apps into the blockchain era by applying the technology to one of society’s most widely held problems.
The world of dating service applications has recently been under attack from hackers, who are able to access droves of incredibly personal information from one centralized data source. These hacks can have real life consequences, making the security issue almost as much about real life safety as it is about safety of data. Fortunately, blockchain technology offers the perfect solution to this problem. Decentralized data flow and the possibility of encryption make the technology perfect for protecting data transfers necessary in dating apps without leaving open holes for hackers.
Hicky acknowledges that while the technology is not bulletproof, it is by far the most secure way of protecting data transfers that is currently available. In additition, Hicky protects all of their data transfers with end-to-end encryption, making any information that slips through the cracks completely useless to hackers.
In addition to protecting the data of its users, Hicky also finds it incredibly important to protect their conversations. Even more personal information and data can be available in these chats, which is why the company has employed peer-to-peer encryption for all of its messaging. With blockchain technology, Hicky is poised to be the most secure dating application yet.
Hicky also sees the blockchain as perfect for dating apps as it offers the opportunity for incentive structures to create trust between users, the app, and each other. In order to make this incentive structure a reality, Hicky has developed its own HKY token as a method of using the platform. Actions are based off of the HKY token, which allows the platform to self-regulate and eliminate people who act poorly or misrepresent themselves.
Hicky initially awards users tokens upon registration for the app. When making an account, users must go through two step verification of their face in order for the app’s artificial intelligence to verify they are who they say. Next, they must record a vocal sample which helps weed out scammers who may pose as someone they are not in order to extract money out of unknowing users.
After this process, users get tokens which they can use to match with people and set up dates. In order to chat and set up a date on the Hicky platform, users must commit HKY tokens. If the experience is bad in that one person acts poorly, Hicky’s conflict resolution service will penalize them via their tokens.
Therefore, someone who consistently acts with poor behavior will not be able to use the app nearly as much as someone who is consistently pleasant. Looking beyond the app, Hicky hopes that its incentivizing of good behavior will catch on into a community outside of the app that realizes that acting nicer generally results in more pleasant experiences.
With cryptocurrencies currently powering the blockchain revolution, it is important now more than ever for investors and tech enthusiasts to keep an eye out for companies with successful applications of the technology. Blockchain technology has applications in nearly every industry, making new successes hard to track due to the sheer volume of companies.
In order for companies to stand out, they need to provide a novel application of blockchain that actually works. Hicky ticks all these boxes by creating a streamlined yet more trustworthy dating service while also providing evidence of the actual product with an app already in the app store. Hicky will definitely be a blockchain startup to watch out for as the markets grows in the coming months.
Disclosure:
The author has had a working or personal relationship with one or more companies mentioned in this article in the past. Access to mentioned company’s management and information was made through the author’s personal network. All information was vetted prior to posting.
Disclaimer:
This essay is not intended to be a source of investment, financial, technical, tax, or legal advice. All of this content is for informational purposes only.