Ponder Brings the Dating Scene to the Blockchain

In 1995, at the height of the dot-com boom, the dating scene changed forever. Based in Dallas, Texas, Match.com launched, and a new method for beginning a dating relationship was born. It turns out that people were very interested in a more direct and scientific way of meeting a suitable partner. Although it was initially met with some trepidation, Match.com now boasts more than 40 million users, and it’s joined by a plethora of other dating platforms that cater to a particular niche of online daters.

By the time Tinder showed up in 2012, the message was clear: digital dating was here to stay. As a recent study by the Pew Research Center found, “Online dating has lost much of its stigma, and a majority of Americans now say online dating is a good way to meet people.”

Of course, just because it’s popular doesn’t mean that it’s particularly effective. For example, that same Pew Research study found that 1/3 of participants have never actually been on a date with someone they met on the platform. Generic algorithms are capable enough to present users with dating options that are intriguing, but they are not effective enough to create connections that are meaningful enough to warrant an in-person relationship.

In many ways, the popularity of dating sites has worked against their effectiveness. There are significantly more men than women on dating websites, and this dynamic inspires some unsavory conduct among its participants. According to some estimates, less than 2% of the message sent by men are met with a reply, and this resulted in more than 1/3 of women feeling harassed when using an online dating platform.

In other words, while online dating has become an extremely popular and normative part of the dating experience, it is lagging behind in actual effectiveness. Fortunately, the blockchain, a transformative technology that’s come into its own in the past year, should be ready to help.

Better Connections with Blockchain

Although the blockchain is famous for its role as the accounting technology for popular cryptocurrencies, it’s capable of much more. Hundreds of unique blockchain-based platforms are being launched onto of hosts like Ethereum. These innovative companies make essential, iterative changes to the current digital landscape, and the result is a significantly better product for everyone.

For online dating, decentralized applications like Ponder are a forward-thinking technology that can make a substantial difference right now. Its features offer a significant advantage over the current offerings.

Tokenized Information Protects Everyone

Ponder is hosted on the Ethereum blockchain, and its unique ERC-20 token provides verified profiles and a balanced male-female ration. By tokenizing user information, participants can engage with confidence while knowing that their experience is authentic and trustworthy.

What’s more, having an exchangeable digital token means that users can compensate others on the platform for adding value to the experience.

Financial Incentives Improve the Process

Algorithms can be a helpful tool, but they are not the only way to facilitate introductions. The people who know us best are also uniquely adept at facilitating connections and making new introductions. Ponder provides a financial incentive for playing match-maker. Currently, Ponder has 70 thousand active users for its beta platform. 60% of the users are singles looking for dates while the other 40% are match-makers.

Using Ponder, when a match-maker initiates a successful introduction, he or she is rewarded $10. If this introduction is very successful and the couple gets married, Ponder will compensate the match-maker with an additional $1,000.

Decentralized Platforms Improve Security

Dating platforms collect droves of personal information, and they are high-value targets for hackers. After all, it’s hard to top the personal, sometimes intimate, messages that users send one another, and the private information collected to drive the match-making algorithms.

This information is much safer on the blockchain. Because it’s decentralized, the blockchain and its corresponding applications are not subject highly effective DDoS attacks and phishing scams that caused some of the most egregious hacks this year.

Nearly 20% of the online population participates in a dating platform, and that percentage increases as the user’s age decreases. As our lives become more digital-oriented, online dating will continue to proliferate, and the blockchain will help ensure that those connections are meaningful and effective. With Ponder, the real-life dating experience is digitized and incentivized, and the effects of that are good for everyone involved.

Website:https://tokensale.ponderapp.co/

Whitepaper: https://tokensale.ponderapp.co/pdf/ponder_whitepaper_en.pdf