What Is Whole Earth Coin?

Whole Earth Coin (WEC) is a native token of a decentralized, play-to-earn gaming ecosystem called the Whole Earth Coin project. Players monetize in the Whole Earth Coin project while collecting or sharing infrastructure and environmental data. The project is a product of the Whole Earth Foundation (WEF). WEF aims to develop a social change in infrastructure management through public participation using blockchain technology. WEC is on a mission to democratize infrastructure management.

As per the whitepaper, there is a growing issue of ageing infrastructure. The service providers governing these infrastructure assets miss out on adequate maintenance and renewing the facilities they manage. Upon examining the problem, two essential characteristics specific to public infrastructure become apparent:

• Imbalanced access to information between citizens and service providers;

• The lack of incentive among parties to contest the current status.

To address this problem, WEF proposes to utilize the Whole Earth Explorer (WEE) platform to connect information providers and infrastructure service providers. The connection happens by providing access to a database containing detailed information about their infrastructure. The ecosystem is designed to facilitate communication and collaboration. Citizens support the database and maintain the underlying infrastructure in addition to holding access to data. A commonly shared limit among existing environmental databases is the slow renewal of information. The WEE platform expects to address slow renewal issue by crowdsourcing data collection.

Participants earn a blockchain-based token, WEC, to provide high-quality data as a reward for participation. The earning enables an open marketplace that allows for the efficient exchange of essential data. WEC tokens are ERC20 tokens based on the Ethereum blockchain. Users receive WEC tokens for their contributions to the WEE database regarding ageing infrastructure in their communities. WEC tokens enable traders to allocate capital to environmental sustainability efforts, ultimately fostering infrastructure management.

History of Whole Earth Coin

Takashi Kato and Daiki Moriyama are the ​cofounders of the project. Takashi is also the cofounder and CEO of Fracta Inc, and previously, he was a cofounder and CFO of SCHAFT, the humanoid robotics startup. Daiki started his career at the Boston Consulting Group. Daiki has also served as an advisor for technology startups at Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support, contributing to the firm’s expansion.