Since the inception of the Internet, people have been contributing content and personal services across the web for no financial payout. Consider content contribution sites like Facebook and Quora; individuals who spend time answering questions or crafting thoughtful replies to threads do not receive rewards for their contributions. However, without individual participation, these platforms would lose their value.

Across job marketplace sites like Fiverr or Upwork, individuals have the opportunity to offer their services; yet, the listing sites ultimately maintain control of these agreements hence the overhead fees siphoned away from project budgets.

Luckily, the rise of blockchain technologies is altering the status quo and empowering the individual participant and content creator through financial incentives. As a technology aimed at actualizing global, decentralized, peer-to-peer transactions, many emerging blockchain platforms build incentivization directly into their architectures.

Pay-to-participate blockchain platforms are mutually beneficial for both the organization behind the platform and the end user. For the organization, offering monetary rewards for participation naturally piques interest levels in new platforms, and can subsequently spark true evangelism to boost the platform’s clout within the ever-growing blockchain landscape. And for the users, it’s always nice to receive recognition and compensation for efforts.

If you’re looking to receive compensation for site participation and content creation efforts, here are a few emerging blockchain platforms you should check out:

OPP Open WiFi

We all depend on WiFi access to stay connected to our colleagues, friends, and family members. When WiFi is unavailable or (worse) not free, irrational anger ensues. Most smartphone owners already pay for internet access and data bandwidth every month, and the idea of having to pay additional amounts for access in a coffee shop or airport terminal sparks outrage. Most smartphone owners do not come close to using their monthly bandwidth allowance; this means that in many instances, smartphone owners do not reach bandwidth capacity for the connection services they pay for and are forced to pay for access when they’re on-the-go.

OPP Open WiFi has developed a solution to these worldwide WiFi frustrations; their blockchain-based platform allows mobile users to tap into the unused data of local Hotspot Hosts–anyone who opts-in and offers up their unused bandwidth in exchange for cryptocurrency compensation.

Storm Token

Brands need consumer input to stay relevant and ensure that their service and product offerings align with consumer expectation. But convincing consumers to take time out of their busy schedules to work with marketing teams and answer long survey questions is not easy–unless compensation is offered.

Storm Token is a mobile platform that pays users for their participation in micro-tasks like brand surveys and product trials. Storm token, however, takes the micro-task participation model a step further by gamifying each task to maintain user interest and participation levels.

Sharpe Capital

Every organization across every vertical relies on industry analysis and intelligence reports to better understand how they can update their brand or product offering. But conducting independent research and comprehensive consumer surveys is costly and time-consuming. Sharpe Capital’s intelligence platform takes a new approach to insight aggregation by crowdsourcing financial intelligence and predictions; platform users receive Ether payments for their contributions.

Brave

The team behind Brave recognizes the broken structure of the traditional web publishing ecosystem; intrusive and irrelevant ads bombard audiences, publisher revenues are down, and advertisers are not high engagement nor do they have significant conversion rates. Brave’s platform aims to redesign this landscape, empowering audiences, advertisers, and publishers simultaneously. By opting into Brave’s browser, users enjoy a less obtrusive web experience, devoid of fraudulent advertisers, while advertisers receive stronger targeting insights, and publishers receive crypto payments for maintaining user attention spans. The platform runs on a proprietary cryptocurrency called BAT; within this equation, end users are rewarded with BATs for their attention when viewing ads within the Brave browsing environment.

By cutting out intermediaries, more blockchain-based organizations have the opportunity to incentivize and reward users for their participation and loyalty. The rise of blockchain also signifies the emergence of a new web landscape that elevates users’ statuses and creates solutions with their involvement and ownership in mind.