The Block Media is conducting interviews with CEOs of promising companies, startups, and project representatives as a New Year's plan for 2023.

 It is a plan to meet leaders who will stand out in the digital asset and blockchain technology market and listen to their vision.

In the fourth series, we met Tracer CEO Jacob at his office in Seoul. Tracer gets high praise for "clearly identifying the problems of the existing ME2 model and coming up with a specific business model (BM)" at the Web3 Pitching Competition hosted by the Block Media last month.

Tracer is a company that won first place in the Block Festa 2022 Web3 Startup Pitching Contest. 

Q: Why Web 2.9 Move to Earn (M2E) startup?

A: Tracer is an M2E company that solves Web 2 problems with Web 3. It is a service that allows users to start with financial motivation but eventually runs for health.

Tracer solves Web 2 problems with Web 3 methods. In other words, it complements Web 2 and Web 3.

There are three problems with Web 2--the inability to invest in the initial product, the failure to find a startup PMF (Product Market Fit), and the high cost of acquiring customers.

Web 2 users cannot invest in early products even if they want to invest with affection. Investing in unlisted companies is possible when companies of about Series B or C are listed in the Angel League, and the units are extensive, making it difficult for individual investors to invest.

There is crowdfunding, but initial investment must be made possible for the final user ownership. We can solve this problem with Web 3, and this is because users can freely invest in Web 3.

Q: Please be specific.

A: It happens for startup PMF because we can't find the customer's needs.

In Web 2, communication with customers is one-way, making it difficult to understand customer needs. For Web3, since two-way communication with consumers is possible, we can reflect the voice of customers (VoC). 

You can have two-way communication on Discord and receive VoC for free. In Web2, you can naturally solve the things that can be obtained only by providing gift icons.

For Web 2, customer acquisition costs are high, and growth is slow. Web3 can solve this problem because of its rapid growth.

Q: There are criticisms that Web3 is fiction.

A: Of course, there are also problems with Web 3. Web 3 users only see the future value, and it exits if it is low by self-judgement of the future value scale. Web 2 capabilities are necessary so people can see and use current values without leaving.

Web 3 must be based on trust because inflation is quickly reflected in the tokenomics or reward system. To this end, Tracer is working hard to provide a logical reward structure.

It is difficult for Web 3 investors to predict future sales, and the volatility of coin price fluctuations is too significant to predict, so Web 2 is additionally necessary for financial stability.

Tracer was the first to mix Web 2 and Web 3 in the M2E model. It is to compensate for the disadvantages and combine the advantages.

Q: Why is it necessary to switch from Web 2 games to Web 3 games?

A: There are two practical and ideal reasons for existing Web 2 famous game companies to move to Web 3.

The practical reason is that Web 3 customers are more valuable than Web 2 customers. When we compare Web 2 with Web 3 customers, the Life Time Value (LTV) of Web 3 customers was significantly higher than that of Web 2. If exaggerated to the extreme, one Web 3 user may contribute more to the company's short and long-term sales than 10,000 Web 2 users.

The ideal reason is to solve the problem of assets in the game ecosystem becoming useless outside the game. If somebody uses my assets in a single-game ecosystem, secondary firewood becomes possible, and the participation rate of users can increase. Therefore, we can activate the creator economy.

Q: Is there a difference between Tracer and other M2E projects?

A: Tracer seeks to provide sustainable rewards. Unlike other domestic and foreign M2E projects, no 'breeding' exists. We must control the number of shoes to ensure the minimum return on shoes. Existing M2E creates a vicious cycle because the shoe cost and one token are coupled.

In the case of coupling, if the token's price goes down, the cost of the shoe goes down. Even if the company wants to prevent the price of shoes from falling, there is no way to stop it. The law of supply and demand determines the price, but it is impossible to guarantee a minimum price when supply collapses.

Q: What is the distribution of Tracer users?

A: Tracer is targeting the world. Current users of Tracer are 50 percent in the domestic market and 50 percent in the international market. Tracer Medium's blog and Discord are both in English.

Q. Can Korea introduce regulations in the domestic M2E market in the future?

A: Korea bans P2E, but M2E and P2E are different. Last April, post-monitoring by the Game Rating and Administration Board showed that Stephen was not a game app. Accordingly, the M2E business in Korea will likely have a good outlook.

Q: What chain is Tracer currently using?

A: When I first started Tracer, I used Tera and Nier. I use Polygon. Polygon enables us to use zero-knowledge proof-of-knowledge techniques. Polygon is an Ethereum-based Layer 2 scalable and robust. Web 2 companies such as Starbucks use it a lot, making it easy to collaborate.

Q: What do you want to say to Tracer users?

A: Tracer can harmonize Web 2 and Web 3. We are doing our best to return higher value to users in the future. We have no breeding, and inflation is blocked in the token distribution method.

We won first place in the Pitching Competition for the structure that creates cash flow with Web 2-based services. As an early product investor, I hope you take advantage of the opportunity.

Tracer is currently working on strengthening security and stabilizing the entire service.

Q: What are your comments on participating in Block Festa 2022?

A: The quality of the judge's questions was exemplary. I was surprised when the judge listened to the Tracer project explanation once and got it right.

The Block Media, Korea's first media specializing in blockchain and digital asset markets, holds the Block Festa conference yearly. At Block Festa 2022, we had time to discuss with experts what to prepare for innovation under the theme of 'Spring of Web 3'.

The Web3 Startup Pitching Contest was held at the Uprise Lounge on Dec. 2 last year as one of the Block Festa 2022 events.