A Treatise on Verifiability, Control, and the Future of Our Internet

A Treatise on Verifiability, Control, and the Future of Our Internet

The internet sucks.

Not figuratively—literally. It’s a black hole for our time, money, and attention vomiting out rent-seeking mega-corporations from the other end of the wormhole. Users are left feeling helpless, drowning in an infinite sea of brainrot and advertising.

This institutional control stems from a fundamental issue: a poverty of verifiability. Legal structures like GDPR may technically allow us to extract our data, but the process is often cumbersome and we still don’t feel the true benefits of ownership if we can’t verify or privately share our data with others. Users are bound, and innovation is stifled. 

A Dream You Dream Together is Reality

What’s your name? Where were you born? We often take these ideas on faith, but without proof—do you really own that house? Do you really have that much money in your bank account? Who ARE you?!

Web3 has long promised a brighter tomorrow, but aside from stablecoins and financial speculation, it has fallen short. Where are the life-changing products? The solution lies in verifiability. Network effects and ingrained behaviors are too strong to overcome with marginal improvements or moral grandstanding.

But it wasn’t always this way. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. We’re going to change everything. 

The Squad

I’m extremely proud and grateful to announce that Opacity has raised a $12 million seed round led by Archetype and Breyer Capital, with participation from Bodhi Ventures, a16z CSX, Finality, NIV, EV3 and GD1 Crypto to build the world’s first Verified Data Network (VDN). This new layer shifts power and cooperation requirements from platforms to users, allowing them control over their data without dismantling what already works.

Many in web3 want to rebuild the internet from scratch. We believe in building on what exists. The Model T didn’t reinvent the wheel—and neither are we. Opacity’s VDN extends today’s internet, embedding developers into existing networks and making users the central point of control. 

New protocol design, who dis?

The VDN allows users to verify their data, control how it’s used, and selectively monetize it—without sacrificing privacy. Data moves across networks under user control, enabling new business models and creating economic value. Here’s how it works:

• zkTLS ensures data authenticity without exposing sensitive information.

• MPC architecture guarantees speed and integrity

• EigenLayer economic security protects against malicious and bad faith actors

I don’t expect we will be the only VDN, in fact I hope we are not. It will take a village to move these incumbent mountains, and we’re just getting started. 

The Ides of Right Now

Until now we’ve worked closely with innovators like Nosh and Daisy who are now live and generating millions of dollars in revenue to disrupt the food delivery and influencer marketing verticals. And I couldn’t be more pumped to be partnering with DePIN projects like Teleport and Heale to bring verified user data to their platforms, Earnifi who is gearing up to disrupt the disgustingly predatory earned wage access market, and EarnOS to verify real activity and genuinely reward outcomes across the world. The ides aren’t coming for rent-seeking middlemen —they’re already here.

Devs - LFG

Opacity’s developer platform is live, and it’s your chance to challenge goliath. You have the power to embed the VDN into your apps and create something groundbreaking. 

Devs can sign up now at https://opacity.network to allow users to privately share verified data from popular social networks, delivery/mobility platforms, fintech services, and more. Whether you’re looking to kill the cold start problem, increase sybil resistance, or build never before possible features into a consumer app, the tools are here. Now’s the time to be bold, dream big, and build a future where users—not institutions—hold the power.

Crossing the Rubicon

The launch of our Verified Data Network means there is no turning back. We are moving forward into a bright new future where users, not platforms, are in control. The internet as it should be—verifiable, user-owned, and composable in the truest sense. This is the moment we cross the Rubicon, and the future belongs to those who hold the power of their own data.

Alea iacta est

Hersh Patel, Founder, Opacity Network