Data has been subject to much debate and controversy. From Facebook to Google, tech giants have been criticized for their use or rather misuse of users’ data. The blockchain technology gained popularity because it provides an alternative to corporate behemoths that have dominance over many industries. One of the important use cases of the blockchain technology is in preserving and protecting data. Ocean Protocol is a platform designed to empower users through their data. Let’s delve more into what ocean Protocol is and how it works!

What is Ocean Protocol? 

Ocean Protocol was founded by Bruce Pon and Trent McConaghy in 2017. The network is supported by a non-for-profit organization based in Singapore, Ocean Protocol Foundation, as well as a decentralized autonomous organization, OceanDAO. The native cryptocurrency of the network, OCEAN, is a multipurpose token. It is the governance token as well as the token used to validate datatokens. 

It is built on top of Ethereum’s blockchain; hence, enjoying the security and decentralization the blockchain offers. Ocean Protocol stores data sets that can be accessed through specialized tokens called “datatokens”. The platform also facilitates the exchange between those in need of data and those storing the data – all the while ensuring the data stays secured and in the hands of the data owners. It also empowers researchers and startups to utilize the data. Data is stored in a decentralized manner by linking up people who have extra computational resources to store data. It also has a marketplace, Ocean Market, where data tokens are available publicly.

Ocean Protocol works through three key agents: providers, consumers and marketplaces. Providers mint datatokens to sell off the access for off-chain datasets. Consumers purchase datatokens and redeem access to data sets. Marketplaces connects providers and consumers. 

Future outlook of OCEAN 

OCEAN Protocol has been declining steadily in the weekly timeframe after a brief price rally. At the time of writing, OCEAN stands at a price level of $0.61. The price of the cryptocurrency has declined by 5% in the past twenty-four hours while the trading volume has sunk by 16%. The future outlook of the cryptocurrency is bullish. Ocean Protocol is considered to be an integral part of Gaia-X’s Future Mobility Project and is contributing towards the development of data infrastructure in Europe. 

According to the estimates of Wallet Investor, the cryptocurrency is expected to be operating at a price level of $1.29 in a year’s time and reach towards $3.58 in five years’ time. Digital Coin Price suggests similar price projections. Per their estimates, Ocean Protocol is expected to close the year at $0.95 and operate at $2.22 by 2026.