Zap Store: Access Oracles That Bring Real-World Data to Smart Contracts

Written by cryptoresearch | Published 2018/03/13
Tech Story Tags: blockchain | cryptocurrency | ico | ethereum | investing

TLDRvia the TL;DR App

Blockchain technology has, and will continue to, transform the way in which many industries are structured and how the processes within these industries are conducted. In many instances the blockchain is used to remove the actions of a middleman, who may conduct, assist with, or oversee a transaction between two parties, and one field in which the utilization of blockchain is in its infancy, is the monetization of data.

The Zap store will allow any user to become an oracle by building a peer-to-peer ecosystem in which all types of data can be made available to those interested. Such a platform essentially crowd sources the most qualified, and enthusiastic parties to share the information required to develop the Dapps and smart contracts need to make the system function efficiently, it will also

create the opportunity to monetize the data complied by any device linked to the Internet of Things (IoT)

Zap aims to achieve this goal by following three core objectives:

Build a secure Source Agnostic Oracle Networkā€Šā€”ā€ŠAnyone with useful data should have the opportunity to become and oracle in order to share their information without other interested parties. Zap will incorporate blockchain technology, smart contracts and Dapps to handle off-chain processes, to create such a platform.

Incentivize Oracle Creation and Curationā€Šā€”ā€ŠTo maintain the network and facilitate growth, ZAP will reward users for helping to create, support and/or use an oracle.

Fuel Development of Next-Gen Embedded Dappsā€Šā€”ā€ŠDapps form the backbone of off-chain processes tied to the blockchain through smart contracts. They are a vital part of the Ethereum ecosystem and the Web 3.0 paradigm, and are still in their infancy when it comes to unlocking their full potential. Zap gives the power of creation to the user, who, through monetizing data will enable a whole new generation of Dapps covering a wide range of abilities.

These decentralized apps provide oraclized data upon which smart contracts can make decisions. However, in order for Dapps and smart contracts to gather data and complete processes off-chain, users must contribute this off-chain data manually, and the Zap oracle marketplace is the solution.

The Zap Ecosystem

Zap is built upon a provider-subscriber model administered by the ZapMarket contract, which acts as a registry for data bids and asks. It allows peers to communicate with each other so that providers can monetize information and subscribers can receive it.

Users interact with the blockchain and Zapā€™s fundamental subsystems using Web3 and IPFS, which is integrated into a common client. And the transaction process is facilitated using a set of contracts that are administered to the provider and seller:

Provider

Ā· Real time datafeed

Ā· Ethereum address registered with ZapMarket contract

Ā· IPFS keypair public key with ZapMarket contract

Ā· Data encryption public key registered with ZapMarket contract

Ā· Quantity of ZAP bonded to the ZapMarket contract

Subscribers

Ā· Ethereum address registered with ZapMarket contract

Ā· IPFS public key registered with ZapMarket contract

Ā· Data encryption on public key registered with ZapMarket contract

Ā· Quantity of ZAP bonded under an existing provider in the ZapMarket contract

In addition to these contracts the architecture also features an Oracle-bonding mechanism that generates access tokens when users bond Zap tokens to a particular oracle in order to subscribe to its data feed, encrypted peer-to-peer data feeds that monetize information via the ZapMarket contract, an off-chain oracle data proxy deployed by the ZapDataProxy contract and a Merkling of oracle event request and has anchoring to validate historical data; a service provided by the Zap network.

Zap Token

Transactions on the Zap platform will be paid for with the Zap Token, an Ethereum token that will be used to monetize data feeds and/or gain the rights to access such data.

In order to introduce several economic factors, the team chose not to set up payments in a direct peer-to-peer manner, instead they designed in depth smart contracts and launch the first mechanism for bonding oracles to the network.

This structure of the ecosystem acts as a refinement tool, and incentivizes the discovery and publicity of potentially useful data, as well as utilizing many of the same economic incentives as prediction markets.

Smart contracts allow funds to be held in escrow, they also allow for third parties speculators to insert themselves into the ecosystem by bonding to oracles. Instead of providing or searching for data, these speculators are rewarded based on their ability to locate and bond to oracles that become useful in the future.

Inspired in part by Simon de la Rouviereā€™s writings on curation markets, bonding gives users access tokens that are use to query an oracle, or destroyed to release Zap back to the user. The amount of Dots generated from one token will be determined by a price/supply curve delineated by the data provider.

Using this novel approach The Zap store is working toward becoming the premier provider of data for smart contracts.

Real World Applications

The team sees the platform being put to real-world application by the finance industry, real estate, and shipping to name just a few.

Insurance companies may be able to develop self-actuating insurance policies that can execute pay outs if/when certain predetermined factors have been met.

Real estate companies may be able to gather important data such as real-time heat maps of specific areas, smart contracts are also able to automatically execute transfer of ownership, as well as rights, rules and regulations for rentals.

Shipping companies can benefit greatly from the implementation of smart contracts to track shipments, inventory and economic activity. They can be used to verify shipments and payments can be held in escrow until shipments are completed. In addition, the shipping industry is known for the sheer magnitude of data it produces, some of which is already been utilized by much of it goes to un analyzed. The shipping industry could monetize this data as an oracle to other to help better determine market trends.

The public beta web and mobile applications are already available on GitHub and are functioning on the Ethereum testnet. Based on feedback from the community the team has refined the oracle creation process, which leaves much of the variables up to the end user, allowing for a truly free market for data and oracles.

Valuable Information

Coin NameĀ : Zap Store (ZAP)

Total SupplyĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Š520,000,000 ZAP

Pre Ico PriceĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Š2000 ZAP per ETH

Ico PriceĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Š1 ZAP = 0.85 USD

Social Media Information

Facebook

URLĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Šhttps://www.facebook.com/officialzapstore/

LikesĀ : 2,540 likes and 2,610 followers

How Many Posts / Updates In The Last 7 DaysĀ : -1 post

Twitter

URLĀ : https://twitter.com/ZapOracles

FollowersĀ :1,286 followers

How Many Tweets / Retweets In The Last 7 DaysĀ : 3 posts

Telegram

URLĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Šhttps://twitter.com/ZapOracles

UsersĀ : 751 members

Telegram Admins

User Name: @acpzap

User name: @Gynezyz

User Name: @benyoung

User Name: @bitcoin_for_sale

Reddit

URLĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Šhttps://www.reddit.com/r/ZapStore/

ReadersĀ :315 readers

Youtube

URLĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Šhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj53uS32K8UwQCytBwPqmtg

SubscribersĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Š667 subscribers

Medium

URLĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Šhttps://media.zapproject.org/

FollowersĀ : 415 followers

How Many Updates In The Last 7 DaysĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Špost

LinkedIn

URLĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Šhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/zap-store/

FollowersĀ : 1,301 followers

How Many Updates In The Last 7 DaysĀ : 3 posts

GitHub

URLĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Šhttps://github.com/zapproject

How Many Updates In The Last 7 DaysĀ :1 post

Staff / Team Info

NameĀ : Nick Spanos

TitleĀ : Team Leader

NameĀ : Nick Allen

TitleĀ : Product Director

NameĀ : Ben Young

TitleĀ : Creative Director

LinkedInĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Šhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/benyoungnyc

NameĀ : Tom St Laurent

TitleĀ : Technical Director

NameĀ : Hamdan Azhar

TitleĀ : Data Scientist

LinkedInĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Šhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/hamdanazhar/

NameĀ : Rani

TitleĀ : Compliance Advisor

LinkedInĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Šhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/oto-rem-s%C3%BCvari-1a5351ab/

NameĀ : Steven Geros

TitleĀ : Lead Blockchain Architect

NameĀ : Kumail

TitleĀ : Senior Web Developer

NameĀ : Marc Proferes

TitleĀ : Editorial Director

NameĀ : Kasper Abildgaard Svendsen

TitleĀ : Head of Business Development

NameĀ : Eric Dixon

TitleĀ : Strategy & Legal Advisor

NameĀ : Emil Lassen

TitleĀ : Business Development

NameĀ : Sean Scappaticci

TitleĀ : Community Manager

NameĀ : Sean Scappaticci

TitleĀ : Community Manager

NameĀ : John Leelike

TitleĀ : Blockchain Strategist

NameĀ : Andy Goldstein

TitleĀ : Metal

NameĀ : Jonathan Heyman

TitleĀ : Advisor

NameĀ : Danny Zaterman

TitleĀ : MIT

NameĀ : Matt Hollander

LinkedInĀ :ā€Šā€”ā€Šhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-hollander-23b07b8/

NameĀ : Alex Dziejma

TitleĀ : Advisor

NameĀ : Peter Mikkelsen

TitleĀ : Nordic Blockchain Association

Company AddressĀ :

Zug, Switzerland


Published by HackerNoon on 2018/03/13