Love is a fundamental human need. This has been demonstrated by the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and generally suggested by conventional wisdom.

There is still no formula for how to meet The One: some people managed to stumble into the right cafe at the right time, some have met their significant others through their social circles or work/school functions.

There is also a large pool of singles who turn to less traditional methods in this meandering maze of dating.

How do we look for love?

In the Internet era, no wonder online dating has become really popular. There is a whole bunch of dating platforms that connect singles who might never have a possibility to meet in physical spaces.

Besides, these platforms are kind of time-savers, as browsing profiles isn’t as time-consuming as mixing with people in real life. With all the benefits that online dating might potentially bring, how efficient is it?

Cointelegraph spoke with Yonatan Ben Shimon, creator of online dating and matchmaking platform Matchpool, to know how technology changes the way we look for love.

It's all about gaining trust

Looking at the online dating industry, Yonatan found that human interaction on existing dating sites might not always be natural. To establish a connection with someone it is important to first of all gain trust, which is not an easy task.

Besides, he notes that it might be very hard for community managers to open a niche dating site for a specific community. Matchpool is trying to democratize this process and let everyone try and do it in a matter of a few minutes.

“There is no Airbnb equivalent in the dating industry today,” says Shimon. “And we are building it.”

Joe Shapira, founder of JDate, and Ned Scott, CEO at Steemit, have been advising the Matchpool team. Scott said to Cointelegraph:

“Unlike other online dating platforms that are just not cutting it in terms of the percentage of matches produced that lead to real-world meetups, Matchpool brings matchmaking in the real world to an online platform like never before by creating incentives to connect and not give up on potential meetups. If we really look at it, the behavior of the user on current dating apps isn’t analogous to how we interact in the real world. With MatchPool we’ll see this change and create high-quality engagements in the dating world.”

How does it work?

THe Matchpool protocol uses group dynamics to help participants to find what they are looking for, specifically love, by combining elements of traditional matchmaking with the transparency and enforceability of programmable smart contracts.

The platform is similar to how meetup.com works. Devoted users who act as matchmakers start invite-only pools - groups of users united by common interests, quite similarly to Facebook groups.

“Once the pool is created, they are free to choose and set their own business model, meaning they can ask for an entrance fee or a subscription fee. From that point on, they can manage it in whatever way they like - by making matches, creating events, etc.,” Shimon told Cointelegraph.

Upon joining the platform, the user is asked to provide a number of describing factors. This data is encrypted and is used for the user profile for the purpose of offering the user with preferable custom pools. Trying to launch a dating site might be a little bit tricky, as there are a lot of “fast-food” platforms and apps, like Tinder, match.com, etc. Matchpool in this sense seems a little bit more sophisticated.

Shimon explains:

“We are going to "catch" the audience by making it their tool. With their rules. What makes it unique is that it's not an app but rather a platform that enables everyone to be matchmakers and define their own dating site. Like eBay enabled anyone to open his own e-store. We believe any potential end user can become a pool maker for his own community. And when something belongs to you, you are doing everything to make it happen.”

“There are dozens of dating apps with critical mass, so this is a very hot area, with many niches and opportunities for traction,” Scott agrees. “Matchpool has a great chance to find a successful niche and be one of the first apps to truly leverage a Blockchain token beyond currency. It’s going to push the boundaries for this industry.”

Incentivizing matchmakers for better results

Matchpool concept intends to connect the digital and physical worlds with pools structured by geographies and interests. The system utilizes Blockchain technology for a number of reasons.

First of all, it allows decentralizing the ownership and responsibility for operating local communities, while structuring ownership and reward schemes on a pool-to-pool basis. In addition, Blockchain is a perfect instrument for logging events and validating and settling transactions.

All payments are handled in an Ethereum based smart contract platform and processed through Matchpool’s own token Guppies (GUP). “The motivation behind doing an internal cryptocurrency was to create a real incentive for people to operate this group and make matches. When there is a monetary reward people can supply a real value to their community and be happy with that,” explains Shimon.

Scott adds:

“The value created is the trust the parties have in the matchmaker and the time saved using a matchmaker. Crypto tokens are real value assets that can be exchanged in micro-transactions – this combination cannot be achieved otherwise.”

It is much more than a dating platform

Romantic matchmaking is often thought of when the term matchmaker is used. However, matchmaking is happening all the time, in all areas of human interaction, from friendship circles to business networks. Therefore, use-cases of Matchpool are not limited to only online dating.

Every human interaction that involves trust can be improved and moved to the whole new level with the help of matchmakers, as they are the ones who connect two parties creating trust between them and saving both time and due diligence.

The Matchpool platform appears to be a truly unique instrument that can be customized and deployed for a variety of purposes or interests to build any kind of membership communities for business, education, health and recruitment.

Owner-operated pools provide a number of competitive advantages, from unique marketing messages to the opportunity to adhere to the complex location-based nuances and cultural norms for dating and networking.

“One example of matchmaking other than romantic matchmaking would be the recruitment industry, explains Scott, where business parties could be connected by a headhunter or a recruiter in a much more streamlined and transparent introduction.”

“I’d like to see the platform expand and pursue more than just dating,” he continues. “The team is strong and I’m sure we’ll see its community spearhead into these other arenas.”

Joe Shapira is positive about the feedback that Matchpool is going to receive:

“I think that with dozens of dating apps already available, the matching functionality will address an existing demand and will quickly gain tremendous popularity.”

Matchpool has scheduled a token sale (or ICO) for March and a prospective launch date for May, not making us wait too long to see how efficient this new strategy can be.

“We intend to create a lot more connected world by enabling anyone to form deep bonds with people with similar interests, beliefs and goals,” Shimon concludes. “On the other hand, we want to enable anyone to use his own deep connections to help others and get rewarded for that according to his own rules.”