FOR MAKERS: FAIR DISTRIBUTION OF REWARDS

We propose a new economic model for funding and sustaining the software that runs the world. This model distributes rewards fairly among the creators of the software and the open-source communities supporting them. In this decentralized software market, a buyer of applications enters into a direct deal via smart contracts, which coordinate a diverse network of software development teams, cloud hosting providers, and app coin-backed protocols. The buyer offers to cover all the material costs of running the app, as long as the cost is directly linked to the usage. The buyer will also pay a royalty that is split between those who developed the software, as a reward for initially creating and continuously supporting all the components making up that particular application. In this arrangement, the application software can be considered economically sustainable, since every buyer covers his or her costs and the software does not deplete the limited resources (like venture capital or token sale proceeds). The software developers are rewarded through a reward pool, based on properly designed incentives that lead to improvements of the software over time.

FOR USERS: COHESIVE USER EXPERIENCES

Our model is based on blockchain technology, which presents us with a rare opportunity: We can break down the silos of apps defining the tech world today, in order to produce a Cohesive User Experience (CUE), which establishes a flexible design paradigm that can orchestrate all the moving parts in the user’s digital life. With the fluidity of token-backed applications, we can move beyond the one-icon-per-app business arrangement of the current mobile and cloud world. Yet, for blockchain-backed applications to gain mass market adoption, we need to bridge the gap between the power of blockchains and the convenience of the cloud. Cardstack’s application framework and token mechanisms combine the new possibilities provided by smart contracts, while leveraging the incredible global scale and cost efficiency of cloud computing, to deliver this user experience. Our technology puts the power of decentralization into real-world use and demonstrates how a crypto-driven economy, backed by current blockchain protocols, can enrich the world in an equitable manner. Blockchain needs a “full stack” application framework to reach mainstream users: Cardstack.