
InfoFi: Data and Finance in Web3
1. What is InfoFi? Exploring the Information Finance Model in Web3
InfoFi is a model of financializing information in the Web3 space, where data, attention, and social influence of users are considered valuable assets that can be traded. Similar to previous models like DeFi (decentralized finance) or GameFi (games combined with finance), InfoFi combines "Information" and "Finance" to create economic mechanisms based around information and data.
The goal of InfoFi is to turn intangible elements such as data into economic assets, allowing contributors of information to receive value and creating a transparent market for trading information.
2. Why is InfoFi Gaining Popularity in 2025?
The rise of InfoFi is no coincidence. In the Web3 context, we are witnessing an overwhelming amount of information. Users are no longer lacking information but are facing data overload. Traditional tools like Google or technical platforms like Dune and Nansen are too complex and not suitable for average users.
InfoFi emerges as a solution to cut through the noise, helping users access the relevant information they need quickly without having to manually search. AI and natural language models (NLP) like ChatGPT and Gemini play a crucial role in enabling InfoFi to process unstructured data and provide valuable insights.
3. The Development of InfoFi Thanks to AI and Founders' Vision
The development of artificial intelligence (AI) in 2023-2024 has significantly accelerated the growth of InfoFi. AI helps transform raw data into valuable information, ranging from community comments and DAO discussions to in-depth analytical articles. This creates opportunities for combining blockchain, AI, and data, making InfoFi a promising model.
With the vision of platform founders like Vitalik Buterin, InfoFi is becoming an important intersection of data, collective intelligence, and finance.
4. InfoFi and the Attention Market: Data and Attention as Assets
While InfoFi and the Attention Market both consider data and user attention as assets, they serve different purposes. The Attention Market focuses on user attention and rewards those who attract the most attention, while InfoFi broadens the scope to include the entire data ecosystem, from on-chain information to off-chain data.
Projects like Polymarket and Kaito clearly illustrate the development of InfoFi, where information, signals, and interaction behaviors can create tradable data markets.
5. Notable Projects in the InfoFi Ecosystem
Some notable projects like Bubblemaps and Kaito are laying the foundation for InfoFi. Bubblemaps provides a blockchain data visualization tool in the form of a bubble map, allowing users to track wallet behavior and relationships between entities in a project.
Kaito, through the "Yaps-to-Earn" model, combines information and rewards, allowing users to earn tokens by creating valuable content. However, this also presents risks of being "gamed" and manipulating the rating systems.
Despite the challenges, InfoFi is opening new opportunities for Web3, helping transform data into assets and creating new markets for trading information.