Abridged version reproduced with permission. Originally published October, 29 2024 by Grit Daily.

DrumWave unveiled its dWallet platform and Data Savings Account, marking a potential paradigm shift in how individuals and businesses control and monetize personal data.

After seven years of under-the-radar R&D, the launch comes at a crucial moment when the global data monetization market, valued at $3.4 billion in 2023, is projected to surge at 25.8 percent CAGR through 2030. However, consumers are unable to profit from the value of the data they generate. Yet despite U.S. consumers spending an average of $3,300 annually on devices, internet, mobile plans, and streaming services, they’ve remained unable to capture any meaningful value from the data they generate through these services. 

“It’s all about autonomy,” explains André Vellozo, CEO and founder of DrumWave. “Today, our money is in the bank, and our data is in the cloud. We control our money, deciding when and how to use it. But with data, we’re powerless—it’s held in someone else’s cloud, where others profit from it, sometimes even against our interests. We are all data-poor and need to become data-rich.”

Breaking the Data Value Chain to Benefit All

The newly launched dWallet platform represents a fundamental shift in the data economy, enabling both individuals and companies to contribute data and begin accumulating wealth from their daily digital footprint. For the first time, personal data can be transformed into a tangible asset with real monetary value.

Brittany Kaiser, newly appointed as DrumWave’s Chief Evangelist, emphasizes the platform’s transformative potential: “For years, I’ve been saying that the most valuable asset in the world, our data, has been harvested, collected, modeled, and monetized — just to sell products to us — but nobody has come up with a solution to address the root of the problem yet. With the dWallet platform, a visionary solution now exists to bring all the players in the ecosystem together in a way that fundamentally respects data ownership.”

Technical Innovation Meets Huge Market Opportunity

Behind DrumWave’s consumer-friendly interface lies a sophisticated technical infrastructure. 

The platform addresses crucial challenges in the data economy, including data sovereignty, fragmentation, custody, and valuation.

Laura Bermudez, DrumWave’s CTO, highlights how the new, first-of-its-kind solution establishes new standards for data management: “Most platforms struggle with data integrity and provenance, but DrumWave establishes a new standard for data management. We validate data authenticity while providing unprecedented ways to combine data from multiple sources and industries.”

The open, cloud-based architecture supports seamless integration for data agents and developers while maintaining security and controlled access to data in its original location. This technical foundation, protected by multiple patents, transforms data from a cost center into a profit center for businesses while enabling new consumer opportunities.

“By partnering with DrumWave, companies can now join and help grow a new data ecosystem, attracting consumers who increasingly value data ownership,” notes Germán Scipioni, Chief Product Officer at DrumWave. “Businesses will gain a triple advantage: offering value-added products and services, attracting the next generation of data-savvy users, and creating new revenue streams.”

As the financial industry grapples with the intersection of technology and consumer rights, DrumWave’s launch represents a potential solution to one of the digital age’s most pressing challenges: returning data ownership — and its value — to the individuals and businesses that generate it.

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