It’s a brave new world — one of new digital tools, APIs for everything from NSFW photo scans to full representations of human cells and for the first time ever, a globally connected digital economy. New markets are emerging, and new opportunities are being seized — by some.
But what about all the things the free and open internet promised humanity? What about equal access? What about trust and safety?
In the commercial world’s quest for fortune and glory, privileged players have transferred and consolidated power; while individuals and small teams have seen little progress.
In this new digital terrain, engineers across the globe face overwhelming obstacles that come in the form of technical barriers, security concerns, legal and financial complexity and monetization challenges.
On the surface, it seems that what developers around the world have been after — a truly inclusive, level playing field — has been lost.
For example, an individual Mexican software developer who has created the world’s best AI for identifying cancer in medical scans will have a very difficult time realizing any value for their contribution without an enormous amount of time, energy and money spent to provide and monetize his or her API. Just to get started, there would be costly overhead of an identity and subscription management infrastructure, legal contracts with multiple entities, payment in local currency that might not be stable, security risks to mitigate, payment tracking and a litany of people to hire including: accountants, attorneys and a sales team. And if this developer relied on an API or series of APIs created by different developers, in different countries, the challenges become exponentially more difficult and potentially, impossible to overcome.
That’s not so free and open, is it?
But we’re optimistic. We have a new vision. We’ve drawn the blueprint, and we’re committed to the path.
It’s clear to us that developers need a decentralized economic OS, a global operating system for commerce that’s easy, transparent, and stable. This will allow developers across the globe to get their fair share of the estimated $2.2 trillion API market.
We envision a web without borders, without intermediaries and without stifling bureaucracy. In short, we believe in everything the decentralized future promises and we’re committed to doing our part to make it a reality: starting with the Open Rights Exchange (ORE) Protocol for API developers and consumers.
The ORE Protocol, a complete, open source API Rights Management solution for developers who want to launch, monetize and buy API products. We’re removing barriers to market and enabling API collaborators — from individual engineers to small teams and startups — to compete fairly with multinational corporations. With a global API marketplace on the blockchain, developers everywhere are able to go to market, collaborate and get paid!
Here’s how it works.
The Open Rights Exchange (ORE) Protocol creates a win-win environment for all parties. For API providers, the ORE Protocol is an open-source, complete API Rights Management solution on the blockchain that operates as a virtual “start-up in a box”. For API consumers, the ORE Protocol creates a single standard for easier implementation, tested and verified APIs, and since APIs are built more easily end cost to the consumer will be much lower.
Our first focus: API Providers
The value for API developers is six-fold. From instant payment to blockchain security to frictionless interoperability, the ORE Protocol multiplies opportunities for collaboration and global commerce. Here are the six primary benefits:
API Monetization
Get paid fairly for your code. The ORE Protocol makes pay-as-you-go transactions possible for low fees. No banks, no credit cards and no foreign exchange fees.
Blockchain Security
Stop storing personal identifiable information. ORE Protocol provides security with less overhead — no access control lists to secure and manage.
Stable Payment
Set it and forget it. ORE Protocol protects developers from the volatility of global currencies, providing API buyers and sellers with secure transactions that are instant and transparent.
API Chaining
Chain APIs together without losing scalability or security. Easily combine APIs while still ensuring payments are instant and fair for each developer.
Reduce Startup Costs
No attorneys, no accountants and no sales team necessary. The ORE Protocol provides complete, open-source API Rights Management in elegant and efficient code.
Easy install
One line javascript install using our Node.js library. Get up and running with the benefits of the blockchain and Smart Contracts without learning Solidity.
Our commitment
We are building these tools to provide world-class capabilities to developers everywhere, to allow anyone with great code to easily monetize their work and to ensure that the value created by the decentralized community is accrued by the people doing the work. This is the promise of decentralization and AIKON is committed to making that dream a reality.
Special thank you to all of the blockchain community who have come before us, it’s because of you that we are able to contribute these missing links to this worldwide movement and shared vision of decentralized digital commerce.
Let’s build this future together.
To learn more about our Open Rights Exchange Protocol, read the ORE Protocol Medium post from our Chief Product Officer, Marc Blinder, and join us to chat about the project on Telegram.