Ontology, the decentralized identity and data infrastructure network, announced on June 1 a strategic pivot for its flagship product, ONTO Wallet. The wallet, originally designed for managing digital identities and assets, is being repositioned as a foundational layer for artificial intelligence. The move leverages Ontology’s Decentralized Identity (DID) technology to supply verifiable, user-consented data to AI foundation models, agents, and applications. Users who participate will earn cryptocurrency rewards in exchange for contributing data that helps train and refine AI systems.
From Wallet to Data Gateway
ONTO Wallet has long served as a self-sovereign identity and data management tool within the Ontology ecosystem. The new direction transforms it into a bidirectional data bridge: users can now perform AI-related tasks directly through the wallet, and the data they generate or share will be packaged and sold to AI companies. Ontology’s DID framework ensures that data provenance and user consent are cryptographically verifiable, a feature increasingly critical as AI companies face scrutiny over data sourcing and privacy compliance.
The announcement positions ONTO Wallet within a growing trend of blockchain projects seeking to monetize user data for AI training while maintaining transparency. Unlike traditional data harvesting models, Ontology’s approach requires explicit user permission for each data contribution, recorded on-chain. This model could appeal to AI developers who need high-quality, ethically sourced training data.
Market and Industry Context
The intersection of blockchain and AI has become a crowded space in 2025, with numerous projects offering decentralized compute, data storage, or model training. Ontology’s differentiator lies in its established DID infrastructure, which has been in development since 2017. The ONTO Wallet already has a user base familiar with managing digital identities, potentially lowering the barrier to entry for data contribution.
However, the success of this pivot depends on several factors: the volume and quality of data users provide, the willingness of AI companies to purchase such data, and the overall regulatory landscape for AI training data. The European Union’s AI Act and similar regulations in other jurisdictions increasingly require transparency in data sourcing, which could work in Ontology’s favor.
What This Means for Users
For existing ONTO Wallet users, the transition introduces a new utility: the ability to earn cryptocurrency by completing AI-related tasks or sharing specific data types. The announcement did not specify which tasks or data types would be rewarded, nor the expected earning rates. Ontology indicated that more details on the reward mechanism and partnership agreements with AI companies would be released in the coming weeks.
This model resembles the “data-to-earn” concept seen in some Web3 projects, but with a focus on verifiable data integrity. Users maintain control over what data is shared and can revoke access at any time, thanks to the underlying DID architecture. For privacy-conscious individuals, this offers a more transparent alternative to conventional data-for-service exchanges.
Conclusion
Ontology’s decision to evolve ONTO Wallet into an AI data infrastructure marks a significant strategic shift, leveraging years of DID development to address a pressing need in the AI industry: verifiable, ethically sourced training data. By rewarding users with cryptocurrency, the project aims to create a sustainable ecosystem where data contributors and AI developers both benefit. The coming months will reveal whether this approach gains traction among users and enterprise clients alike.
FAQs
Q1: What is ONTO Wallet’s new role in AI?
ONTO Wallet will function as an infrastructure layer that supplies verifiable, user-consented data to AI foundation models, agents, and applications. Users can perform AI-related tasks through the wallet and earn cryptocurrency rewards.
Q2: How does Ontology ensure data privacy and consent?
Ontology uses its Decentralized Identity (DID) technology to record user consent on-chain. Each data contribution is cryptographically verified, and users retain control over what data is shared and can revoke access at any time.
Q3: When will the new features be available?
Ontology announced the strategic shift on June 1, 2025, but has not yet provided a specific launch date for the new AI-related features. The company stated that more details on reward mechanisms and AI partnerships will be released in the coming weeks.
