What is MASTCHAIN?

MASTCHAIN is a global community of people who help map the movement of ships by capturing real time AIS signals. Anyone can take part by running a small receiver that listens to vessels as they travel along the world’s coastlines and shipping routes.

Together these receivers form a worldwide network that builds a live, tamper resistant picture of maritime activity.

MASTCHAIN uses hardware that is authenticated and secured through cryptographic methods. This design ensures that the AIS messages collected are fresh, accurate and resistant to manipulation. The result is a data set that is more complete and more trustworthy than anything produced by traditional networks.

MASTCHAIN is also the first maritime network that rewards its contributors. Every participant who helps expand coverage and improve data quality earns a share of the value created by their work.

The challenge in maritime data today

AIS coverage has grown quickly over the past decade, but it still leaves many blind spots. Some coastlines have rich, overlapping reception while others remain almost silent. Data quality varies widely, and many organisations treat AIS as a single stream even though its reliability differs from place to place.

This imbalance affects everything from coastal planning to ecological studies to basic safety. When whole stretches of coastline lack receivers, analysts cannot rely on the picture they see. When signals are inconsistent, organisations must filter and correct them, which adds cost and introduces uncertainty.

The maritime world depends on AIS, yet the system that supports it was never designed to scale in a balanced or coordinated way.

How MASTCHAIN approaches the problem

MASTCHAIN focuses on three ideas: broad participation, transparent validation and an open economic model.

Anyone can join with their own receiver, and each device becomes part of a network that checks incoming signals across several independent criteria. This ensures the system grows without sacrificing reliability.

The economic model is built around simple principles. People who contribute useful data receive compensation. People who provide inaccurate or harmful data do not. This creates an environment where high quality coverage becomes the natural outcome rather than a forced requirement.

This approach encourages growth in places that need receivers most and strengthens regions that already have coverage.

What sets MASTCHAIN apart

A network shaped by its contributors

The system grows in response to where people place receivers. This leads to organic coverage that reflects real community interest rather than top down planning.

A verification layer built for accuracy

Signals are checked using independent methods that confirm timing, location and internal consistency. This provides clarity even in areas with mixed signal quality.

A model that supports long term participation

Rewards are tied to actual data contribution. This encourages stable setups, good antenna placement and consistent uptime.

Scalable by design

The architecture is built to handle more contributors, more signals and a broader range of maritime use cases as the network expands.

Meaningful impact

Better coverage helps coastal communities, researchers and service providers make informed decisions based on a trustworthy picture of activity at sea.

Why people choose to participate

Participants join MASTCHAIN for different reasons. Some enjoy the technical side of building a reliable AIS setup. Others like contributing to a shared project with real world impact. Many appreciate that the system recognises and rewards their effort.

By joining the network, contributors help reduce blind spots along coastal routes, improve situational awareness and support a more complete understanding of vessel movements. Their receivers play a role in a larger system that benefits research, safety, logistics and environmental monitoring.

MASTCHAIN offers a way to take part in this ecosystem while also earning a return for the value provided.