Oyster

Despite the exponential growth of the internet, mechanisms for monetizing web content have remained stagnant. Advertisements intrude on privacy, distract from the intended content, and break design continuity in websites. Due to a general disregard and negative sentiment towards online advertisements, ad blockers have become mainstream. They have become so mainstream that content publishers are pushing back by blocking and limiting viewers from content if ad blockers are detected. Publishers are losing either a large amount of money from ad blockers, or a large amount of viewers from ad block retaliation mechanisms. Therefore the entire advertising scene gradually morphed into an ineffective, inefficient and intrusive ordeal without foresight and wholistic solution deployment.

In parallel, there is currently no storage service that is both convenient and private. If you choose convenience, then you are opting for a standard cloud storage company which precludes privacy and anonymity. Closed source software means you can never truly take what they say for granted. If you choose privacy, then you will seldom find an accessible and straight forward web interface with a simple ‘upload’ button.

The Oyster Protocol is a true two-birds-one-stone proposition. The Protocol introduces a radically different approach to getting content publishers and content consumers to reach equilibrium and cooperation. As a consequence, anyone with a web browser can store and retrieve files in a decentralized, anonymous, secure, and reliable manner.