INOC is a blockchain-based company that is building the next generation of the internet – Web3. Founded in 2021 by serial entrepreneurs Vignesh Sundaresan and Anand Venkateswaran, INOC aims to bring true ownership, control and financial benefits of the internet back to the users.
What does INOC stand for?
INOC stands for “Internet In Our Control”. The name represents the company’s vision of giving users more control over their online data and digital assets. Currently, large tech companies control much of the internet and monetize user data without providing compensation. INOC wants to disrupt this model by enabling a more decentralized web.
What is INOC’s mission?
INOC’s mission is to build an open and decentralized internet that puts users first. The current internet landscape is dominated by a few large tech giants that control much of the online infrastructure and extract value from user data. INOC wants to shift this power dynamic and enable a fairer digital economy.
Specifically, INOC aims to:
- Give users ownership of their own data and digital assets
- Provide users a direct financial stake in the applications and services they use
- Develop an open and transparent decentralized internet infrastructure
- Support developers building Web3 apps with user benefits baked in
Who is behind INOC?
INOC was co-founded by serial entrepreneurs Vignesh Sundaresan and Anand Venkateswaran. Both founders have extensive experience building successful companies and working at the cutting edge of technology.
Vignesh Sundaresan
Vignesh Sundaresan is an Indian-born technology entrepreneur now based in Dubai. He is likely best known for purchasing the famed “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” NFT artwork by Beeple for $69.3 million in 2021, setting a new record price for digital art. The historic auction brought NFTs into the mainstream.
Sundaresan has founded multiple technology companies including BitAccess, Hivemind Capital Partners, and Portkey Technologies. He is an early investor and advisor to many blockchain and crypto startups. His vision for INOC is to fulfill the true potential of Web3.
Anand Venkateswaran
Anand Venkateswaran is an entrepreneur who previously founded multiple companies in ecommerce, digital media, and emerging technology. He successfully exited his video technology company Vplay Sports to Twitter in 2017.
Venkateswaran is an expert in digital product development and leveraging artificial intelligence. At INOC, he provides technology leadership and oversees building decentralized internet infrastructure for the next generation of the web.
How does INOC work?
INOC is building a full stack of decentralized internet technologies powered by blockchain and crypto-economic incentives. The stack consists of:
- Decentralized infrastructure protocols for computing, storage, bandwidth, identity, etc.
- Developer platforms and tools to build Web3 apps
- User-facing applications for decentralized social media, marketplaces, gaming, etc.
Key components of the INOC tech stack include:
Component | Description |
---|---|
ION | ION is INOC’s utility token that powers the network. It aligns incentives between users, developers, and other network participants. |
Open Index | Open Index is a decentralized search engine alternative to Google that respects user privacy. |
INOC Drive | Decentralized file storage similar to Dropbox but users retain ownership and control. |
INO Chat | INO Chat is decentralized messaging that gives users control over their communications data. |
By leveraging blockchain, cryptography, and peer-to-peer networks, INOC aims to build Web3 alternatives to today’s centralized web services. Users retain ownership of their data and earn rewards for their participation and contributions to the network.
What Web3 products is INOC developing?
INOC is actively building a number of Web3 products across social, marketplace, gaming, identity, search, cloud storage, and other categories. Some key products in development include:
Decentralized Social Media
INO Life – A social media platform that gives users ownership of their data and connections. INO Life is decentralized and transparently operated.
Digital Marketplaces
INO Bazaar – A peer-to-peer ecommerce marketplace where users can buy and sell goods and services without centralized intermediaries.
Blockchain Gaming
INO Play – A gaming ecosystem that allows users true digital ownership of in-game assets. Developers can build games with asset portability across titles.
Digital Identity
INO ID – A self-sovereign identity that eliminates centralized intermediaries. Users control their personal data and identity attributes.
Decentralized Search Engine
Open Index – A transparent search engine that doesn’t track users or sell data to advertisers. Results are ranked algorithmically based on relevance.
Along with these products, INOC is developing the underlying decentralized protocols and tools needed for a user-centric internet. This includes advances in blockchain scalability, storage, communication, cryptography, AI, IoT, and more.
What is special about INOC’s approach?
There are several unique aspects to INOC’s approach to building a decentralized internet:
- Full stack focus – INOC is focused on the full technology stack from infrastructure protocols up to consumer-facing applications.
- User experience – The products are designed around ease of use and mainstream adoption beyond just crypto native users.
- Speed and scalability – The network utilizes innovations like sharding, off-chain computing, and hardware optimizations to achieve scale.
- Sustainability – INOC uses proof-of-stake, renewable energy, and other features to build a sustainable decentralized network.
- Cooperative model – Platform governance and incentives align developers, users, node operators, and other actors to cooperate decentralized.
INOC aims to combine decentralization with a familiar user experience. This helps onboard millions of users into a fairer internet that resolves problems like centralized control over user data and lack of interoperability.
How can users earn with INOC?
There are several ways INOC enables users to earn value from participating on the network:
- Staking rewards – Users can earn staking yields on the ION token by collateralizing the network.
- Microtasks/bounties – Users can complete microtasks and claim bounties for small jobs that benefit the network.
- Airdrops – Loyal users may receive token airdrops for using the products and providing value to the ecosystem.
- Platform fees – On platforms like INO Bazaar, users can earn a share of marketplace fees from transactions.
- App revenues – If users contribute work to apps on INOC like content, code, etc. they can earn a share of revenues.
- Advertising/sponsorships – Users can opt-in to view ads or sponsorships and earn rewards for their attention on apps.
By aligning incentives through crypto-economics, INOC aims to bootstrap an ecosystem where value flows more directly to the users who help build it. Users transition from being product to owners.
When will INOC products launch?
INOC launched in 2021 and is actively developing its technology stack and products. Here is the estimated timeline for mainnet launches:
Product | Estimated Launch |
---|---|
ION Token | Q2 2022 |
INO Drive | Q3 2022 |
Open Index | Q4 2022 |
INO Chat | Q1 2023 |
INO Life | Q2 2023 |
INO Play | Q3 2023 |
INO Bazaar | Q4 2023 |
This timeline is estimated based on the current development roadmap. INOC is focused on iterating quickly based on user feedback to build the most decentralized user-owned internet.
Conclusion
INOC represents an ambitious vision to decentralize power over the internet and return ownership to users. By leveraging innovations like blockchain, crypto-economics, and cooperative structures, INOC aims to build Web3 alternatives to today’s centralized web services.
Execution remains key, as bringing decentralized products mainstream with smooth user experiences remains challenging. But INOC’s talented team and thoughtful approach of starting with infrastructure building blocks differentiates them from many other players in the Web3 space.
If successful, INOC could spearhead the user-owned internet of the future. One where regular users reap the rewards instead of only large corporations. The potential to unlock greater creativity, fairness and positive network effects through alignment of incentives makes INOC one of the most interesting new blockchain projects out there.