Speaking of data marketplaces, one important thing many projects overlook is that data from separate data sources can be mixed and combined, allowing to take a more insightful look into familiar information and reveal something new. In fact, through this process of cross-pollination of data, it's possible to create multiple data products valuable for different categories of customers. Naturally, the platform needs to have a special group of participants, whose main purpose is to analyze existing data sources and, by aggregating and connecting them, produce new and unique datasets. Another crucial characteristic of a respectable data marketplace is the presence of mechanisms, ensuring the quality and provenance of data, as well as guaranteeing that data isn't altered on its way to the customer. The latter is something that most of the blockchain based data trading platforms normally include. Although, often such platforms just provide a link between data suppliers and data consumers, not trying to add any value to the information they obtain. This is what makes Quadrant project standing out because the core of its concept is integrating separate datasets into a unified structure, making it possible to draw any kind of insights by combining information from different sources.

In project's terminology, integrated data structures are called Constellations, which are comprised of Stars - initial raw datasets. A category of platform's participants, called Nurseries, are responsible for the formation of Stars and Constellations, providing the initial flow of quality information into the system. Then another group, called Pioneers, take steps to verify the ownership and provenance of data. Within the platform, they can be seen as reliable data suppliers. The third category of platform users, Elons, take a deeper look into the resources the platform has, looking for ways to maximize their potential through the creation of new products and services. At this stage, they use a combination of multiple data sources to retrieve knowledge relevant to specific requests or specific demand. Finally, a special group of participants, Guardians, ensures that the platform is not compromised, protects it from actions of malicious actors and guarantees that all the operations are conducted, according to the platform's rules and principles.

One of the interesting aspects of the Quadrant platform architecture is its use of Proof-of-Authority consensus mechanism. The PoA is considered a better alternative to Proof-of-Stake. One of the main problems of PoS algorithm is that it doesn't take into consideration the fact that for different users the same amount of staked money might mean a different level of involvement. For example, if I stake 1 ETH on some decision, while I have 100 ETH in my wallet, it's essentially not the same stake for somebody who has 2 ETH overall. In this regard, PoS favors wealthier users, which leads to the erosion of the egalitarian principle of blockchain. What's worse, it's likely to end up in the situation when all the network decisions are made by a small group of people with the maximum amount of money. Proof-of-Authority uses a different approach. In this case, the thing at stake is user's reputation. And reputation is something that doesn't depend on how much money a participant has. To participate in the voting process user needs to have a confirmed identity. There are three key principles related to the identity. First, it has to be true, in other words, the system using PoA needs to have a mechanism of verification, guaranteeing that everyone in the system is, indeed, who he claims he is. The second requirement is that identity and eligibility for participating in network decisions have to be hard to obtain. In this case, users will have a strong incentive to act responsibly. Finally, the third principle is that the procedure of identity verification should be the same for everybody, which would guarantee the clarity of network rules and its integrity. Indeed, anybody who spent efforts to get a verified identity and the right to vote would likely value it. And, considering that one unscrupulous action is enough to ruin a hard-earned reputation forever, it can be said with a high level of certainty that nobody would risk it for the sake of possible momentary gain. This makes Proof-of-Authority algorithm a more reliable mechanism of reaching blockchain network consensus than PoS.

Also, speaking of Quadrant project in the context of its reliance on PoA consensus, it's worth mentioning that verified user identities is another important factor, making a data trading platform more trustworthy.

Starting from June 26, 2018, Quadrant will conduct a token sale, aiming to distribute 40% of its total supply of 1,000,000,000 eQuad tokens. The hard cap of the sale is $20,000,000 USD

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Authored by: faragly (@popeye_the_sailor)