Hivemapper starts issuing crypto-tokens for vehicle dashcam footage

Nov 3 (Reuters) – Drivers around the world from Thursday can generate cryptocurrency by installing a dashcam and sharing images with a San Francisco startup that aims to capture some buyers of street-level images away from Alphabet Incs (GOOGL. O) Google.

Hivemapper Inc, which announced $18 million in funding from investors in April, said it has so far sold more than 5,500 dashcams in 66 countries. As drivers register road signs and shop fronts, they create tokens that Hivemapper called Honey.

Hivemapper CEO Ariel Seidman said U.S. rules restrict him from discussing how and when honey can be used.

“I wish I could tell you,” he said. “There is real value being created and that will be reflected in the token.”

The move mirrors projects like wireless data provider Helium that seek to encourage mass participation by leveraging blockchain, or other Web3 technologies, as advocates call them. While some investors like Hivemapper-backed Multicoin Capital are bullish on Web3 efforts, skeptics worry about currency speculation and fraud.

With its network of cameras, Hivemapper also poses privacy concerns. Seidman said the company blurs faces and signs, encrypts location data, anonymizes users and disavows surveillance.

Google licenses images from a managed fleet of camera-equipped vehicles. Hivemapper wants to match Google’s quality and undercut it on price.

Google did not respond to a request for comment.

By comparison, Mapillary, acquired by Meta Platforms Inc ( META.O ) in 2020, encourages people to take photos through phones and dashcams, but without compensation.

Mapmaker HERE, which is partly owned by German car manufacturers, evaluates Hivemapper’s images for potential use, including for updated speed limit data. European rules since July have required speed warnings inside cars.

In tests in Manila, Hivemapper covered 95% of roads in six months and updated 75% of the data monthly.

One early customer is Shreveport, Louisiana, which pays about $7,000 for full coverage in its borders from dashcams on garbage trucks, said the city’s chief technology officer, Keith Hanson. He called it an inexpensive way to help respond to resident complaints.

Reporting by Paresh Dave; Editing by Leslie Adler

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