Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has introduced “info finance,” a new concept aimed at transforming how information is captured, validated and shared across multiple sectors.
In his recent blog post, “From Prediction Markets to Info Finance,” Buterin explores how blockchain technology could help aggregate, organize and distribute insights more effectively.
According to Buterin, “Info finance is a discipline where you (i) start from a fact that you want to know, and then (ii) deliberately design a market to optimally elicit that information from market participants.”
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Prediction markets as a data source
Buterin advocates for prediction markets as a way to collect insights about future events. He highlights platforms like Polymarket, where users bet on outcomes to generate data-driven insights.
“Predicting the election is just the first app,” he explained, emphasizing the extent to which prediction markets can provide the public with valuable insight into public expectation without media influence or sensationalism.
Buterin summarized info finance as a three-sided market:
“[…] bettors make predictions, readers read predictions. The market outputs predictions about the future as a public good (because that’s what it was designed to do).”
Prediction market fundamentals in effect. Source: Vitalik Buterin
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Trustless through blockchain and AI
Buterin’s concept of info finance centers around using blockchain and artificial intelligence to foster transparent information-sharing and reward participants for accurate predictions. He believes blockchain scalability and low transaction fees could make info finance tools widely accessible.
The Ethereum co-founder sees this approach as the answer to solving the trust issues in the industry.
With the integration of AI, Buterin suggested that “even if subsidies are required, the size of the subsidy per question becomes extremely affordable. “AI changes that equation completely, and means that we could potentially get reasonably high-quality info elicited even on markets with $10 of volume,” he said.
Related: Saylor’s comments on big bank BTC custody are ‘batshit insane’ — Buterin
ETH breaks $3,000
Buterin’s vision for “info finance” and prediction markets arrives in tandem with the Ether (ETH) price surging above $3,000 over the last seven days after Donald Trump won the United States presidential election.
Graph showing the increasing price of ETH over seven days. Source: CoinMarketCap
The ETH price has increased by 21.67%, breaking the overhead resistance faced of $2,800 and exceeding the $3,000 price level for the first time since March.
Venture capitalist Henrique Centieiro stated on Nov. 8 that the supply crunch and rising demand for ETH could trigger a rally for the asset as it enters “scarcity mode.”
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