nobody else is going to fix this mess for us

If you read my hello world post, you already know I’m a techie, but you can probably also guess I’m not in this for tech’s sake—and I’m even less of a fan of breathless “we’re disrupting X!” manifestos. In a world where even Trump has a meme coin, the bar for “launching a token” is officially on the floor. So, here’s where I stand: I’m probably going to launch a new cryptocurrency—not because I want my face on a billboard (actually that would freak me out), but because after years of wrestling with health tech, incentives, and privacy, I keep running into the same broken machinery and nobody else seems interested in fixing it.

Lately, this has gotten a lot more personal. I was fired for not being a “cultural fit”—which, in plain English, meant I wouldn’t work weekends for my boss. I just didn’t care enough at the time, but am now writing this at 2 a.m. on a Saturday—#ironic #iconic. Anyways, since going independent, I’ve landed squarely in the same healthcare mess as countless freelancers, gig workers, and marginalized folks: sky-high costs, awful coverage, and almost no meaningful support for prevention. Throw in my own ongoing battles with STIs (yes, plural), and I’ve had a front-row seat to just how neglected and underfunded prevention really is.

The big “solutioneers”—Kaiser, the government, insurance barons—are either too massive to move, too tangled up in lobbyist interests, or fundamentally structured to maintain the status quo. Insurance providers, especially, have incentives that run completely counter to most people’s real needs. So here I am: personal prevention meets a funding crisis—a weirdly perfect storm for someone stubborn enough (and just well-placed enough) to try building something new. I’m not here for vanity or hype (eww!). I’m here because the system’s busted, the usual players aren’t stepping up, and, for better or worse, I might just be in the right spot to do something about it.

why? (seriously, why?)

Short version: the incentives in healthcare are upside down, and no amount of dashboards, SaaS contracts, or “secure” portals are going to fix that. If you’ve ever tried to prove you got tested, vaccinated, or did literally anything responsible, you know the drill: fill out a form, log into yet another portal, get a PDF for your trouble, and hope it doesn’t end up in some vendor’s next data breach. If you actually want to be rewarded for doing the right thing? Good luck. The system pays when you get sick, not when you stay healthy.

Meanwhile, prevention is a cost center, not a business model. Nobody wants to fund it, even though it’s the only thing that actually works in the long run. The few times you are “incentivized,” it’s either a spammy sweepstakes or a $10 Amazon card—never enough to matter, never enough to make it feel like your effort is valued. And through it all, you’re handing over more data than you’re comfortable with, for less and less in return.

Most people shrug and move on. I apparently have a higher tolerance for banging my head against the wall than most, so here we are.

what the hell would this even look like?

I don’t want to build another “health app.” I want to build a protocol—a new set of rails that flips the incentives, rewards prevention, and makes privacy the default, not the exception. Imagine being able to prove you did the right thing (got tested, got a vaccine, whatever) without having to share your entire life story, or trust yet another startup with your data. Imagine a system where healthy behavior is actually worth something, and where the risk of participation is less than the risk of doing nothing.

If you’re rolling your eyes, I get it. I’m skeptical too. But I’d rather try and fail than keep waiting for someone else to get it right.

incentives: for humans, not robots

Let’s be honest: most “health incentives” are either so trivial they’re meaningless, or so convoluted you need to be an actuary to figure them out. I want to design something that works with how actual people behave—not how some product manager thinks they should behave.

Here’s what that means in practice: You get a tangible, real reward for verified healthy actions—not just a pat on the back. If you show up for regular testing or take other preventive action, you accrue value, not “points” that expire or can only be redeemed for branded swag. If you miss a test, the system forgives you up to a point; streaks and bonuses decay gently, not instantly, because life happens and the protocol recognizes that. Incentives are transparent and non-punitive: you can see exactly how rewards are calculated, and the most value accrues to those who are consistent, not those who can game the system. Points accrue for everyone, regardless of whether you know how to use a crypto wallet. If you want to stay in normie mode, fine—your rewards are just as real, and you can convert them to tokens whenever you want. There are no casino vibes, no “spin the wheel,” no loss aversion tricks—just a persistent, steady nudge toward better habits.

The reward structure isn’t just “do X, get Y.” It’s a system that recognizes effort and continuity, not just perfection. Miss a test window because you had a rough month? You don’t get the digital equivalent of a dunce cap. Instead, your rewards taper off—gently. I want this system to actually work for real people, not just people who never miss a checkup or who have a spreadsheet for their wellness routine.

And this isn’t just about individuals—if organizations, clinics, or even entire communities want to participate, there’s a pathway for that too (with proportional reward, without compromising privacy). The upside is that the system gets more robust as more entities join, and the incentives don’t get diluted into oblivion just because more people are doing the right thing. If anything, it’s the opposite: the more people and orgs that participate, the more sustainable and valuable the entire protocol becomes.

utility: not a speculative DeFi coin

$HEALTH is a utility token, not a speculative asset. You won’t find it on DeFi exchanges or liquidity pools at launch, and there won’t be any token trading, yield farming, or pump-and-dump opportunities (sorry, not sorry). The entire point is to provide token infrastructure at the application layer—enabling products like status.health to reward prevention and healthy behavior, support governance, and fund public health via community grants. It isn’t meant to be a “number go up” coin or a vehicle for speculation. The goal is to create a circular economy where healthy actions are directly rewarded, and community health initiatives can be sustainably funded. If your main question is “wen Binance?” you’re definitely in the wrong place.

What does that utility actually look like? In practice, $HEALTH tokens are earned by taking real preventive health actions—like regular testing or verification—through apps such as status.health. You can use those tokens to unlock premium features, participate in protocol governance, stake to help secure the network, or support local health initiatives via dontations. Most of this activity happens directly within the apps themselves, not on external exchanges, and is focused on rewarding participation and fueling public goods. As more partners and integrations come online, $HEALTH will serve as the backbone for new health-focused tools, transparent incentives, and grants—all designed to keep the ecosystem aligned around real-world outcomes, not speculation.

governance: decentralize only when it makes sense

Let’s talk about decentralization. I’ve been around enough “DAOs” to know that most of them are just group chats with a multisig and a lot of vibes. Decentralization is great—when there’s actually something to decentralize. Until then, it’s a distraction.

My approach is pretty simple: $HEALTH starts out centralized because, frankly, someone has to do the work and make the decisions. That means I’m responsible for the roadmap, the bugs, the (hopefully rare) drama, and the general direction. But here’s the difference: as actual usage grows, as the protocol matures, and as more real people and organizations rely on it, governance and control will transfer—gradually, and transparently—to the community.

There are clear, metric-based thresholds for when governance hands off—these aren’t arbitrary, and you’ll be able to see them, track progress, and know what’s coming. Governance isn’t just about voting on proposals; it’s about funding public goods, supporting integrations, and making sure incentives stay aligned as the ecosystem evolves. Quadratic funding will ensure that many small contributors have more power than a few whales. If usage drops or the protocol gets gamed, decentralization slows or pauses—there’s no “one-way door” to chaos, and no DAO just for the sake of optics. The rules, formulas, and transition points are all public, so if you want to critique them, propose something better, or just follow along, you’ll have every tool you need. I’m committed to keeping the governance process as transparent as possible: you’ll know who’s making decisions, why they’re being made, and how to get involved if you care enough to show up. And, real talk—if nobody uses the thing, or if it turns into another DAO meme, I’d rather pull the plug than pretend it’s “community-led.” Governance is earned, not declared.

Here’s a thing I’ve learned: persistent skeptics and critics are actually invaluable. People who don’t just clap along but keep showing up with feedback (good or brutal)—those are the folks I want in governance. In fact, if you keep at it long enough, you might just end up on my “persistent people to hire” list. You know who you are.

I’m not interested in “community theater.” I want real, earned decentralization, with skin in the game and accountability. If that sounds too slow or not “Web3 enough” for you, there are plenty of Discords out there waiting for new mods.

is it open source?

This is where I usually get hate mail from the free software crowd, so let me be clear: I love open source. Most of what I make is MIT-licensed, and I strongly believe in sharing tools that help people build. But with $HEALTH, I’m being careful. Some things will be public from the start: the yellowpaper, the math, all incentive formulas, and selected SDKs and reference components. I want people to be able to audit the core mechanisms, see how rewards are calculated, and follow the logic behind the scenes.

But not everything will be open—at least not right away. Why? Sometimes, it’s about protecting security while things are new and fragile. Sometimes, it’s about giving the project a chance to mature before it gets forked into oblivion or spammed by bots. Sometimes, it’s just that I’m still working out the kinks and don’t want to ship garbage into the wild. If you have a legit reason to ask for access, reach out and make your case. I’m open to collaboration and feedback, especially from folks who want to make the protocol better (or who spot problems I missed).

If you want to see what’s public, check out github.com/97115104 for my stuff and github.com/statusdothealth for the status.health side. If it’s not there, it’s not open (yet or ever). If that’s a deal breaker for you, I get it. But I’d rather build something that works and is safe before opening every door and letting the whole world poke holes in it. If you want to be part of that process, you know where to find me.

what’s next? (the real roadmap, for better or worse)

Here’s where I stand: this is still an experiment. Patent’s pending (because lawyers need to eat), and now that both status.health and healthprotocol.network are live (plus the yellowpaper is finally finished), I can actually start building the real MVP. Everything is still fragile and changing fast. For anyone actually curious about what’s ahead, here’s the roadmap:

  1. Building the MVP for real-world use (through status.health): Since I run both status.health and the $HEALTH Protocol, the first version of the MVP will launch through status.health—but only for those who sign up for the beta (sign up here). Making it generally accessible will take real money and a lot of development time, so don’t expect it overnight. This isn’t just a demo for crypto insiders—the goal is a product where privacy and incentives work for normal humans, not just blockchain hobbyists.
  2. Applying for grants: Server bills aren’t paid in tokens (yet), so I’ll be applying for grants to help with ongoing development and infrastructure costs. The plan is to work with protocol foundations like the Ethereum Foundation, Web3 Foundation, and similar organizations, as well as explore on-chain treasuries and ecosystem funds that support public goods and experimental projects in the crypto space.
  3. status.health as first customer: I’m working on status.health and the $HEALTH Protocol concurrently—status.health is the first customer of the $HEALTH Protocol, and hopefully not the last. The idea is to prove the infrastructure actually solves a real problem. Over time, I want to see many more apps and orgs using $HEALTH’s rails, powered by open APIs and community grants.
  4. Governance and analytics: As the protocol grows, transparency grows too. Usage, impact, funding flows, and governance transitions will all be visible in real time. No hiding behind “coming soon”—if it’s working (or failing), everyone will see it.
  5. Full decentralization (if earned): If this thing gains real traction, governance and control will move out of my hands and into the community’s, with clear, published thresholds and rules. Not by vibes, but by actual adoption and contribution. If it doesn’t earn that, I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
  6. Iteration and humility: If the experiment blows up in my face, I’ll say so. If something’s not working, I’ll pivot or kill it. If you have feedback, ideas, or want to get involved, I’m open. If you want to sit on the sidelines and throw tomatoes, that’s fine too—I’ve got a thick skin.

The bottom line: I’m not building this for a quick exit, a headline, or a token pump. I’m building it because I want a world where prevention and privacy aren’t afterthoughts. If that sounds interesting, follow along, contribute, or just lurk and watch.

If you want the technical receipts, actual mechanics, or just want to see how weird my sense of humor gets when writing about cryptoeconomics, the yellowpaper is here. If you’re feeling especially masochistic, you can also read the patent—which is way more painful to read (and was to write).