Burn & Mint
How HONEY supply balances demand on the Hivemapper Network.
The design of HONEY uses a Burn and Mint structure to balance supply and demand on the Hivemapper Network, while serving the needs of two main groups of participants:
- Map Contributors, who receive HONEY for doing useful work such as submitting imagery.
- Map Developers, who burn HONEY to consume data and build products for customers.
Under the Burn and Mint structure as modified in MIP-15, whenever HONEY is burned for map data usage, 75% is permanently burned and 25% is re-minted as Map Consumption Rewards for contributors, up to a limit of 500,000 HONEY per week. As a result, demand for Hivemapper Network data directly translates into added rewards for contributors while generating net demand for HONEY.
Any user of Hivemapper Network data must redeem Map Credits, which are non-transferable and can only be generated by burning HONEY. Map Credits have a fixed price of $0.0075 USD, ensuring the price of map data remains stable and predictable for end customers.
Core Data Products
As of October 2023, there are two core Hivemapper Network data products available via Map Credits:
Imagery
One Map Credit ($0.0075 of HONEY) buys one week of imagery from one map hex. With approximately 50 hexes per kilometer, the cost is roughly 50 Map Credits ($0.38) per kilometer of road per week.
Map Features
One Map Credit buys each individual Map Feature extracted from imagery and assigned to a hex. For example, 1,000 unique speed limit signs across 1,000 hexes would cost $5 in Map Credits.
Illustrative Pricing Scenarios
The cost in USD to access map data never changes; only the amount of HONEY burned varies with market price. To consume one week of imagery for 20 km of roads requires approximately 1,000 Map Credits ($7.5 USD):
| Scenario | HONEY Price | HONEY Burned |
|---|---|---|
| Scenario 1 | $0.02 | 150 HONEY |
| Scenario 2 | $0.01 | 750 HONEY |
Any developer accessing map data needs Map Credits. The wholesale fee per Map Credit is fixed and non-negotiable, creating a level playing field. The Hivemapper Foundation provides impartial support to any developer seeking a license to access or help customers access Hivemapper Network data.
Map Credits are only one cost developers incur. Developers also bear expenses for APIs, data pipelines, custom processing, and other value-added services. As a result, licensed developers are free to set their own end-customer prices to cover costs and earn profit. This gives developers an incentive to build specialized products, which in turn creates more demand for Hivemapper Network data and for HONEY.
If you are interested in licensing access to Hivemapper Network data, please get in touch.
These examples describe three types of map data customers and how developer economics work in each case. All examples are illustrative only.
Example 1: Off-the-Shelf API Usage
MapCo becomes a licensed developer. A logistics company commits to 400,000 km of imagery at $0.60/km ($240k revenue). MapCo pays $100k to the Hivemapper Foundation for 20 million Map Credits. About 42% of revenue went to buying HONEY.
Example 2: Full-Service Integration
The same 400,000 km deal, but MapCo adds a $50k custom integration for a less tech-savvy roadway authority, totaling $290k in revenue. The same $100k in Map Credits was purchased, representing 35% of revenue. The amount of data consumed, and fees paid, remained the same.
Example 3: Value-Added Products
MapCo builds a pothole-detection model. A roadway authority pays $100k/month. MapCo consumes 100,000 km of fresh imagery monthly, paying $25k/month (25% of revenue) for Map Credits. Competing developers with similar products would all pay the same per-Map-Credit wholesale fee.
HONEY must be exchanged for Map Credits to consume Hivemapper Network data. If a data user provides their own HONEY, the Hivemapper Foundation will return the equivalent Map Credits based on the current HONEY-to-USD exchange rate, with no upcharge beyond a blockchain gas fee.
For those preferring to pay in fiat, the Hivemapper Foundation plans to develop an automated "Map Credit Machine" that automatically buys HONEY at the current market rate and returns the equivalent Map Credits, minus a small transaction fee comparable to a credit card processing fee. Until that service launches, the Foundation will accept fiat directly under the same fee structure.
Beginning November 1, 2023, HONEY burned to generate Map Credits for paid map data use may not come from a preminted project treasury. Preminted treasury HONEY may still be used for unpaid uses such as internal product development, product pilots, and API credits provided free of charge to developers or prospective customers.
This policy ensures that demand for map data translates to demand for circulating HONEY, encouraging additional useful work by contributors.
