New Rules of Data Value Distribution: How CARV is Powering Millions of Users？

Written by TechFlow

In this distinctive bull market phase, what ecosystem dynamics are users encountering?

The verdict is clear: An abundance of infrastructure solutions, but a significant deficit in real-world applications.

Infrastructure is like building shopping malls - no matter how complete the hardware is, without attracting applications that interest users, it remains empty.

The popularity of TON ecosystem mini-games this summer seems to be users' counterattack against "grand narratives": Regardless of market cycles, better participation and more tangible benefits remain users' core demands.

However, in today's fragmented attention economy, being seen by more people is itself a rare capability. While TON mini-games' simple gameplay doesn't mean simple operational logic behind them. As TON ecosystem casual game BANANA surpassed 10 million total users with DAU (Daily Active Users) exceeding 1.1 million, we've noticed a key contributor behind this success: CARV.

According to reports, BANANA successfully attracted many seed users through precise advertising placement and KOL promotion on the CARV platform. It achieved organic growth through referral mechanisms and UGC/sharing activities. Currently, over 90% of users come from organic growth channels, with CARV ID-associated accounts exceeding 1.3 million.

Such conversion and growth are undoubtedly attractive, compelling more people to learn about CARV:

As a modular identity data layer specifically designed for games and AI services, CARV drives user participation by promoting data sovereignty return to users, data privacy protection, data tokenization, and value release. Meanwhile, it uses data as a bridge to create efficient matchmaking between users and games/AI products, bringing data benefits to users while promoting game and AI development and innovation.

In fact, by providing real monetary benefits to users, CARV has sparked widespread participation through its innovation in data value distribution. Success stories like BANANA continue to unfold: Currently, CARV's ecosystem has over 900+ partnered projects, with over a million users earning substantial rewards through data sharing, social activities, game streaming, AMA meetings, and beta testing, while projects gain high-quality data and healthy traffic growth.

How exactly is this achieved? Is this model sustainable? With the project's TGE approaching, is now a good time to participate in CARV? And specifically, how should one participate?

This article aims to explore CARV and investigate the operational logic and driving factors behind its impressive achievements.

Significant Background: $50M Funding, 900+ Ecosystem Partnerships, Nearly 10M Users

Let's first look at CARV's fundamentals.

Starting with funding performance, we can see that CARV's funding achievements are impressive in terms of both amount and lineup.

According to disclosed information, CARV has completed multiple funding rounds, attracting over $50 million in total funding a significant amount for any Web3 sector.

Beyond the amount, CARV's funding lineup is even more impressive: It has attracted support from numerous crypto VCs including Tribe Capital, IOSG, ConsenSys (Metamask), and HashKey Capital, as well as Web2 giants like Alibaba. Additionally, we can see many gaming giants among the investors, such as doublejump.tokyo (developer of Japan's largest chain Oasys), Animoca Brands, MarbleX (NetMarble), IntellaX, and The Sandbox, further demonstrating CARV's recognition in the gaming sector.

Notably, CARV also attracted lead investment from Vertex Ventures, a venture capital firm under Temasek. As an investment company 100% owned by Singapore's Ministry of Finance, Temasek's investment in CARV also demonstrates the Singapore government's attention to the project.

Overall, CARV's narrative logic and future development have not only gained recognition from numerous institutions, but stronger funding/resource support also provides a more solid foundation for CARV's continued positive development.

Beyond institutions, a more important evaluation dimension comes from the ecosystem. In this aspect, we also see CARV's impressive coverage in Web3 gaming and AI sectors.

According to official statistics, CARV currently has over 900+ game and AI project partnerships in its ecosystem,not only far surpassing many popular new public chains in terms of richness (according to SolanaProject data, Solana ecosystem currently has 405 projects), but also including many well-known Web2/Web3 enterprises in terms of partnership project quality.

In the gaming sector, statistics show that CARV has established deep partnerships with hundreds of top global game studios, including but not limited to MarbleX (blockchain subsidiary of Korean mobile game developer Netmarble), Korean Web3 mobile game developer IntellaX, and blockchain games like Illuvium, Apeiron, Splinterlands, Genopets, Delysium, Drawshop Kingdom, Big Time, and Ultiverse.

In the AI sector, besides CARV's own generative AI assistant Cara, CARV's ecosystem AI project partnerships are equally stellar. We can see cooperation with Google AI, while crypto-native projects include Aethir, Inferium AI, UneMeta, Coinbase Crypto AI SDK, etc. As a data identity middleware layer, CARV will explore building a new era of data value together with AI projects in the ecosystem.

At a time when Web3 struggles to bring in incremental users, gaming and AI as two sectors closer to users are naturally attractive enough, while the diverse ecosystem choices give CARV powerful competitiveness comparable to traditional Web2 internet products.

On the one hand, CARV has a massive user base:

According to official statistics, CARV serves 10 million registered players. As CARV's multi-chain identity solution aggregating Web2 and Web3, CARV ID has exceeded 3.1 million mints on opBNB, with total CARV protocol users reaching 3.3 million. Another flagship product built on CARV protocol, CARV Play, has 2.5 million users, with mobile app downloads reaching 1.3 million.

On the other hand, CARV's ecosystem users have demonstrated exceptional engagement:

Statistics show that CARV has achieved 240 million total on-chain transactions across opBNB, Ronin, Linea, and over 40 other chains, with impressive data driving CARV Play to become "currently the largest Web3 game distribution and social platform."

Year-to-date, CARV's revenue has reached $6 million, derived from CARV ID minting and .play name service on opBNB, as well as earnings from games integrating CARV Play, Infinite Play, CARV, and BANANA mini-games.

In the node public sale held in June, CARV sold 38,000 nodes in a very short time, ultimately completing perfectly with a total value exceeding $36 million.

Additionally, in the recent airdrop activity jointly held by CARV and Binance Web3 Wallet, over 500,000 users participated within 48 hours of launch, ultimately attracting over 1.4 million users to participate enthusiastically.、

Looking at achievements to deduce causes, let's explore CARV's impressive performance drivers through dimensions such as the project's sector positioning, narrative logic, and specific implementation paths.

Harvard Elite Entrepreneurship: Focusing on Gaming and AI, Revolutionizing Data Value Distribution

A common saying in Web3 is: The essence of investment is investing in people.

This applies equally to CARV. Behind the impressive funding, CARV's strong team configuration plays an important role.

CARV Co-founder and COO Victor Y. studied at Harvard Business School and worked at McKinsey. He's also a serial entrepreneur whose previous company was acquired by a Fortune 500 company within two years. He has rich experience in venture capital, AI, consumer products, hard technology, and crypto sectors.

CARV's CTO has extensive experience in crypto, having worked on blockchain video streaming product LINO in 2017 (later acquired by TRON), participated in Cosmos project development, then joined Coinbase handling private key work, and deeply participated in L2 Base's research and implementation.

CARV's CGO, primarily responsible for growth and operations, has rich operational experience and resource accumulation in the gaming field, having worked at Tencent Games, Garena Games, Electronic Arts, and other well-known gaming companies managing core business segments. The AAA and mini-games he operated have exceeded 1 billion downloads.

CARV's genesis is inseparable from the loss of data ownership and value in the data explosion era.

According to Internet Data Center predictions, global data volume will reach 175 ZB by 2025. As the internet penetrates more life scenarios, human behavior is recorded as data, with nearly 90% of global data generated by independent individuals.

In the information flood, users generate data and should be the data owners and beneficiaries. However, as the internet penetrates more life scenarios and human behavior is recorded as data, centralized enterprises control massive user data and profit abundantly from it, while the true data creators not only suffer privacy leaks but cannot benefit from their own data.

In 2021, while studying at Harvard Business School, Victor keenly captured this pain point and began dedicating himself to building a solution that would both push data sovereignty back to users and help users say "no" to a monitored and violated world, achieving data sharing under privacy protection and gaining value generated from data circulation.

This idea quickly received response from multiple early core members including the CTO and CGO, and CARV's prototype emerged.

In the process of mining data value, CARV again discovered the enormous demand for data from gaming and AI.

On one hand, data is like a lifeline for games and AI to achieve rapid development. In the gaming industry, data analysis of player behavior can greatly improve game quality and user experience. In the AI field, data is the foundation for training and optimizing AI models.

On the other hand, gaming and AI's high demand for data also endows data with greater value. As games and AI mature, these two fields' demand for data continues to grow. This data-driven model further makes data an extremely valuable asset.

After understanding the mutual demand and achievement relationship between data and games/AI, CARV's solution for returning data sovereignty and revolutionizing data value distribution methods became clearer, namely:

CARV, as an innovative data layer solution, is dedicated to building an efficient matchmaking platform between games, AI applications and users:

For users: CARV gives users complete control over their personal data, allowing them to decide how their data is used and shared under privacy protection, and can obtain economic benefits through data sharing and trading. Users' data is no longer a passive resource, but an actively manageable asset from which users can gain tangible returns.

For games and AI applications: CARV provides access to high-quality data, allowing developers to access real data authorized by users, not only helping applications better understand user needs, but also achieving precise market positioning and user reach, thereby promoting healthy and sustainable application development.

Thus, a safe, transparent, and efficient data ecosystem has gradually unfolded.

So, with the beautiful blueprint drawn, how does CARV turn ideals into reality?

CARV: Universal Modular Identity Data Layer Focused on Gaming and AI

Specifically, CARV is building a universal modular identity and data layer for gaming, AI and more fields. To achieve data self-sovereignty for large-scale users and empower game projects and AI development through data intelligence, CARV has three main pillars to drive the virtuous cycle of users and data.

• CARV Protocol: Modular identity and data layer

• CARV Applications: Ecosystem flagship products built on CARV protocol

• CARV Labs: Achieve ecosystem prosperity through incentive initiatives, further promoting virtuous cycle of user and data growth

As a modular Identity and Data Layer (IDL), CARV protocol adopts modular design, completing data verification, identity authentication, storage, processing, model training and value distribution processes through five modules including identity layer, storage layer, computation & training layer, execution layer, and verification layer, providing underlying support for the entire CARV ecosystem.

The identity layer is CARV protocol's starting point, responsible for user identity verification and authentication.

Through supporting Web2 social login, automatic AA wallet creation and other functions, CARV further lowers user barriers, creating a smoother seamless ecosystem entry experience for users.

After joining the CARV ecosystem, users are guided to create on-chain identity CARV ID ; A significant point of interest is that CARV ID adopts ERC-7231 design, a standard proposed by the CARV team and approved with Ethereum Foundation support. Its outstanding advantages lie in verifiability, multi-position aggregation and composability, supporting multiple Web2 platforms and over 40 Web3 networks. Users' ownership, role behaviors, social relationships, past experiences etc. can all be authorized, verified and generated into digital identity and credentials. This design achieves aggregation of Web2 multi-platform and Web3 multi-chain data, enabling users to seamlessly switch between different platforms, further improving data liquidity and usage efficiency.

The storage layer is responsible for aggregating and storing user data. After data verification is completed in the identity layer, data will be aggregated and only visible to users. CARV supports multiple data storage solutions, ensuring controllable data storage costs, data security and accessibility.

The computation & training layer ensures user data is securely processed in privacy-enhancing technology. In CARV, data processing is handled by decentralized TEE node clusters, then results are published to blockchain with TEE proofs, timestamps and random numbers to prevent double attacks.

The verification layer is responsible for verifying results, including over 40,000 on-chain decentralized community nodes, ensuring user data runs in a decentralized way that meets user expectations and ensures privacy.

The execution layer ensures all data transactions are securely recorded on blockchain and verifiable, allowing participants to share rewards in a decentralized and transparent way.

CARV protocol aims to facilitate data exchange and value distribution in gaming and AI fields. After CARV token TGE, it will continue building the Identity and Data Layer (IDL), including building new consensus layer and data storage layer, and through on-chain decentralized nodes as decentralized sequencers and storage validators, to promote cross-chain information verification and ensure secure data processing.

Based on CARV protocol, CARV will build multiple flagship products, achieving efficient matchmaking between data and demands in specific scenarios while providing concrete demonstrations of how data empowers product development, generates real monetary benefits, and distributes them to users transparently.

CARV Play is a vivid example as the first launched flagship application: As a game player profile and game distribution platform, CARV Play has currently listed 900+ products and has 2.5 million players. Every day, massive users explore rich game combinations and exclusive activities through the platform, earning various rewards, physical gifts or ecosystem benefits while "having fun", while game projects can understand player needs through user participation and conduct efficient game display and information distribution, thereby building game communities.

Additionally, the recent success of TON ecosystem mini-game BANANA is inseparable from CARV's support: By fully leveraging advantages of CARV Play, CARV Protocol and CARV mobile application with over 3 million registered users, BANANA achieved precise target audience reach in a short time and viral expansion through referral mechanisms and UGC/sharing activities. Within 4 weeks of launch, BANANA reached 10 million monthly active users.

Beyond gaming, CARV has also launched corresponding products in the AI sector: Cara is a generative AI assistant built on CARV protocol. Under comprehensive privacy protection, user data can be used for artificial intelligence (AI) training. Users can receive corresponding rewards while sharing data and participating in AI training, while also experiencing AI services customized according to their unique needs and preferences.

Additionally, as key roles in developer ecosystem competition, effective ecosystem incentives centered around developers are necessary measures to promote ecosystem innovation and prosperity.

Based on this, CARV Labs launched a $50 million ecosystem accelerator program this week, further promoting user and data growth by providing rich resources and funding support for quality ecosystem projects. The program has received support from top blockchain venture funds including HashKey Capital and Consensys.

CARV Labs' most recent investment is leading game studio Telgather. Telgather is dedicated to revolutionizing game participation experiences and bringing more benefits through innovative methods like Pay&Play to Earn, Social to Earn, perfectly aligning with CARV's vision of a decentralized, player-centric gaming future. Through integrating CARV ID and personalized advertising SDK, Telgather will further provide players with true ownership of game achievements, seamless cross-game experiences and opportunities to monetize game data and earn benefits.

Their combination is not only another example of CARV as a modular identity data layer empowering game development, but will also be dedicated to pioneering a new era of Telegram games and building a powerful and vibrant ecosystem.

Additionally, CARV Labs will guide developers to explore more business model innovations, among which the most anticipated is the TG advertising network: The product aims to connect advertisers and publishers. Leveraging CARV Protocol, users sharing on-chain and off-chain data (under comprehensive privacy protection) will receive cash incentives, enabling CARV advertising network to provide advertisers with precise user acquisition and targeting services.

In the foreseeable future, CARV will attract participation from many developers who will freely explore various possibilities based on CARV protocol, injecting more driving force into CARV ecosystem growth.

Multiple Milestones Achieved, Token TGE Imminent

While historical performance merits recognition, the community's primary interest lies in future growth potential.

How is CARV's potential for continued positive development in the future?

We can glimpse this from the roadmap updated on its official website.

Technically: In Q3 2024, CARV protocol Beta version will be released, including open SDK/API access, multi-chain interoperability support, ZKP integration, etc.; By Q4 2024, the team will be dedicated to building a specialized modular blockchain supporting storage layer and execution layer.

Ecosystem-wise, besides actively seeking partnerships to continuously expand ecosystem gaming and AI footprint, another important CARV milestone is that token TGE will be conducted in H2 2024.

For any project, token TGE is an important event concerning whether the project develops in the long term, and how to better give back to the community is the highlight of token TGE.

So, facing the upcoming token TGE, should one actively participate?

The community's enthusiastic response has already given the answer.

The reasons can be divided into three parts:

First, CARV tokens have real application scenarios as value support.

As CARV ecosystem's native token, CARV has a total supply of 1 billion, serving as medium of exchange within the platform. It is both an important carrier for incentivizing users, and users can use it for ecosystem multi-chain gas fee payments and game asset purchases, or convert it to veCARV through staking, and participate in community decision-making and ecosystem activities through veCARV.

Second, from past performance, CARV has shown full respect for the community and has been quite generous.

On one hand, 50% of CARV's total token supply is equally distributed to community and nodes; On the other hand, in previous node sales, CARV launched a 6-month 100% treasury buyback plan for its first node sale buyers. Any qualified active node operators can choose to apply for 80% ETH or 100% CARV token buyback within 7 days after the 6th month ends, again fully demonstrating the project's consideration and protection of community interests.

More importantly, in CARV's open airdrop, CARV encourages users to bind accounts to achieve data aggregation while ensuring rewards are distributed to real users. Binding more accounts will receive higher scores, meaning more considerable airdrop rewards.

Additionally, CARV has launched multiple initiatives to promote fair distribution. CARV's approach to token distribution fairness operates on two fronts: Initially, through a Sybil Self-Report mechanism that offers multi-account users 15% of their allocated tokens for voluntary disclosure, with full disqualification for those who miss the reporting deadline. Furthermore, the project's collaboration with Gitcoin enhances token distribution integrity by analyzing on-chain Sybil behavior to prioritize authentic network contributors.

With such good expected returns and low participation barriers, actively participating to accumulate airdrop chips has become many community members' current choice.

How to Get Started and Participate?

Currently on the CARV airdrop page, users can switch between four chains (Ronin, opbnb, zksync era, Linea) and receive SOUL rewards through check-ins, minting CARV ID, binding accounts, inviting friends, completing game tasks, etc. SOUL can be exchanged for CARV tokens in the future, meaning more SOUL accumulated now means higher expected returns in the future.

But with snapshot approaching, time for users to do tasks and accumulate SOUL is not abundant, and community focus on gaining more CARV token benefits is placed more on nodes.

Anyone can become an independent node operator through participating in node sales. CARV Node is an important component of CARV ecosystem, responsible for validating TEE proofs to prevent system manipulation and ensure fair distribution of data value, providing a secure decentralized data environment for high-quality games and applications.

Meanwhile, 25% of CARV token supply will be allocated to node rewards, not only releasing 50% in the first year (12.5% of total supply), but token redemption time is 150 days, while investor unlock time is 6 months and team unlock time is 9 months. Node tokens unlock earlier than investor and team tokens, which fully demonstrates CARV's maximum sincerity in sharing benefits with users through node sales model.

Beyond token TGE, CARV ecosystem has various reward activities to encourage active user participation, with Infinite Play being the epitome: Users can participate in staking to earn Stake to Earn rewards, with longer staking time bringing more generous returns; can earn Vote to Earn rewards through participating in governance voting; can also accumulate experience points through completing different game tasks to earn Play to Earn rewards, truly experiencing the charm of data sovereignty and decentralized autonomous community while enjoying gaming fun.

What's more, previously, CARV jointly launched Ecodrop pt 1 additional airdrop activity with multiple quality projects in ecosystem including Revolving Games, InfiniGods & Valhalla Foundation, XPLA, OVERTAKE, Aethir etc., receiving widespread community support with $2 million worth of rewards distributed to actively participating users.

Currently according to official blog post, CARV Ecodrop pt 2 activity is coming soon. This time CARV has also partnered with six quality ecosystem game projects including Space Mavericks, Lazy Games, Super Champs, Goat Gaming, Terminal, BeraSig. Participants can share $500,000 worth of additional rewards through actively participating in game interactions and completing related tasks. Beyond token TGE, participating in

CARV Ecodrop pt 2 is also a good way to deeply explore the ecosystem and earn more rewards.

Conclusion

In today's era of digital waves sweeping the globe, data is an eternal business. While Web2's privacy leaks and giant monopolies create increasingly acute contradictions, Web3 solutions aimed at returning data ownership to users' hands, protecting user privacy, and promoting fairer distribution of data value will inevitably stand out.

Looking at the project itself, CARV's fundamentals are very solid. Not only are the team configuration and funding lineup extremely strong, but the gaming and AI sectors targeted by the project also sufficiently match its development needs and user preferences as a modular identity and data layer. Additionally, the project's narrative appeal cannot be underestimated - by revolutionizing the way data value is distributed and providing real monetary benefits, this undoubtedly attracts more users' attention and participation.

Currently, the project has accumulated considerable momentum in the community, laying a good foundation for its future development. Particularly driven by BANANA project's success, CARV Protocol has attracted more attention. With the upcoming Token Generation Event (TGE) and the steady achievement of key milestones, CARV is positioned to unleash its flywheel effect – catalyzing explosive growth across its product offerings, ecosystem partnerships, and user base.