Benzinga | Dec 7, 2020 12:04PM EST

How Token Incentives Can Support The Sharing Economy

The sharing economy is big business. Statista estimates that the total value of the sector will hit $335 billion by 2025, up from $15 billion in 2014. The internet has made it far easier for asset owners and users to connect, opening up a world of potential for all parties. Idle assets no longer need to remain idle or unused, as long as there is a way to connect these people.

The most commonly cited examples of the sharing economy are spare rooms and car sharing, but there are countless others. In practically all instances of the sharing economy, the necessary bridge between idle assets and potential users is a platform that can bridge the two. In the case of spare rooms, the most famous example is Airbnb, in the case of car sharing, Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER).

What about the spare processing power of your laptop or PC? In this instance, there is no single industry goliath that dominates the industry. Now Gather network is aiming to change that with its novel cloud computing solution incentivized by the GTH token.

Gather Benefits All

Gather is a cloud computing network that provides publishers with an opportunity to monetize their site through token incentives. Users who visit a Gather-enabled site are asked if they would like to opt-in. Should they choose to do so users then lend their excess processing power to the Gather network while they consume the content held onsite. This provides content creators with an alternative means to monetize their content, and web users with a non-intrusive means to monetize their web usage.

To make this possible, and for everyone to earn from the Gather ecosystem, the network is supported by the GTH token. The GTH token will have a number of uses within the network from governance, to the staking of tokens, and for the purpose of running a Gather node.

Gather nodes are the backbone of the network. Staking 250,000 GTH and running a node provides income in the form of GTH tokens. The yearly reward is up to 100% in the case of the first 80 nodes, decreasing to around 40% by node number 200. The creation of 200 nodes on the network would naturally tie up increasing numbers of tokens into the staking program. By 200 nodes the number of staked tokens would be equivalent to 30% of the first year's circulating supply of GTH. This mechanism helps to lock value into the ecosystem, creates a price floor for GTH, and ensures that the all-important token velocity is kept low.

It won't simply be those who have the deep enough pockets to run nodes who will be eligible to earn income on their GTH tokens however, as stakers at all levels will also be able to do so. In this instance, users can lock their GTH tokens into wallets and earn more GTH on what they have locked.

Clients who use Gather to compute for them will also be helping to reduce the overall supply of tokens. Around 20% of the earnings from clients will be filtered into a GTH buyback and burn scheme, creating a healthier circular economy.

To make the sharing economy work the incentives must be properly aligned, and to make a sharing economy work with tokens, the tokens incentives must reward holders for engaging in activities beneficial for the network. In the case of the Gather token stakers and node operators are well rewarded for participation. Meanwhile, the circulating supply of Gather will eventually diminish thanks to its buy back mechanism. All of this points to an ecosystem in which the incentives have been created to drive the price of the token. Thanks to GTH the next big niche in the sharing economy could be cloud computing.

Disclaimer: Please consult your financial advisor before investing in any cryptocurrencies as they are volatile and pose risks for the average investor. This post is informational in nature and does not constitute financial advice. The writer has a personal relationship with the Gather team and used this relationship to source insights for this article.