State of the Market

Past Pitfalls of Centralization

History teaches that centralization of power in the private, public and government sectors over time leads to natural corruption of good intentions. For example, social media which provides an amazing ability to connect human voices is now controlled by a handful of private companies who effectively control public discourse. The internet was born from a decentralized network consensus and grew into a unified extension of human consciousness; however; the centralization of social media walled gardens threatens the good intentions of the internets’ creators.

Decentralization… A New Hope?

Decentralized networks can now be built using blockchain technology. Blockchain will do to the financial system what the Internet did to the Media. Blockchain is driving the evolution of the internet. It is a movement that combines innovations in technology with a revolution in social organization.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchains have the potential to change the world, however; it is not a usable technology as measured by consumer product standards. Today in crypto, the wallets used are developer-focused tech-savvy applications such as MetaMask which are a gateway to interact with NFTs, Staking, Swapping and DeFi.

Overcoming UX Obstacles to Scale Crypto to the Massses

While crypto wallets are big business, MetaMask’s current valuation is $7 billion, these applications are not accessible to the average consumer. 1.7 billion people globally are unbanked so there is a massive audience to be tapped into, however; most blockchains and cryptocurrencies do not target the average individual or merchant nor consider how to onboard them into the crypto economy.

• Ohai Objective: Build a consumer friendly user experience similar to what consumers experience in web 2.0 in order to be able to onboard large communities.

Opportunities to Help the Unbanked

We want to empower the unbanked and others communities who have little to no access to the financial system. For example, remittances - payment made from one person to another person, with both individuals located in different countries - are a critical global cash flow for raising economic prosperity and are larger than foreign direct investment (FDI) and larger and more persistent than official development aid (ODA). Current money transmitters systems are archaic, centralized and unscalable. The COVID-19 pandemic marked a double-jeopardy for remittance senders and receivers, who rely on diaspora populations around the world to send money to their family and loved ones. According to the World Bank Group, COVID-19 reduced the volume of remittances in 2020 by more than $200 billion due to a global economic slowdown.

• Ohai Objective: Help fulfill the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to lower global remittance costs to 3% from the stubbornly high 7% average costs - an elusive target short of leveraging uncommon coalitions, technology and building partnerships.

A Social Good Platform

Today, social media is even more centralized than the financial industry was prior to the creation of Bitcoin. A handful of private companies effectively control public discourse, and earn monopoly profits off of content that they don't even create. Meanwhile, the creators who actually produce this content are underpaid, under-engaged, and under-monetized thanks to an outdated ads-driven business model.

In addition to all of this, the ads-driven business model also forces social media companies to keep a walled garden around content created on their platforms, preventing external developers from innovating or building apps on top of it, and giving users and creators no choice but to continue using apps that solely they control.

• Ohai Objective: Help to scale crypto into mainstream adoption through a social wallet that can move money instantly without fees around the world. A governance system for online and offline communities. A social wallet that holds users financial, multimedia and other data.