San Francisco-based dashcam maker and decentralized mapping service provider Hivemapper issued Solana-based token HONEY to reward dashcam users for contributing driving data and road imagery on Friday Hong Kong time, according to a press release shared with Forkast.

See related article: Software firm Spexi raises US$5.5 mln to develop Flow blockchain-based drone imagery platform 

Fast facts

  • Motorists can earn crypto by uploading road images recorded by a specialized dashcam provided by Hivemapper. In April, Hivemapper raised US$18 million in a funding round led by Multicoin Capital to launch its blockchain network.  
  • Each camera costs US$549, and the company has so far sold over 5,500 dashcams across 66 countries. The crypto rewards are non-fixed and will be adjusted according to market demand, said Hivemapper’s white paper.
  • Hivemapper’s blockchain network explorer shows the map started with its first contributor on Nov. 1, and it has 15 contributors as of Friday 10 a.m. Hong Kong time.
  • Hivemapper, which hopes to rival Google Street View with lower-cost images, updates street view maps 24 times as frequently as Google Street View, according to Hivemapper.
  • The company sells the road images, each kilometer of road image costs US$1 to obtain, the company’s pricing page shows.
  •  “Maps are a critical aspect of today’s global economy and technology infrastructure, yet only a handful of the largest technology companies control the US$300 billion market,” said Ariel Seidman, CEO and cofounder of Hivemapper.

See related article: X-to-Earn: Eat, sleep, do almost anything for pay in crypto