January 29, 2026
daGama Explorer Monthly Digest — January 2026
We’re kickstarting our latest daGama monthly recap series, where the team shares key project updates alongside curated insights from the worlds of travel, AI, and decentralized technologies. Fasten your seatbelts, and let’s explore this month’s news together!
Hello, Web3 explorers and tech nomads!
We’re kickstarting our latest daGama monthly recap series, where the team shares key project updates alongside curated insights from the worlds of travel, AI, and decentralized technologies. Each recap distills the signals that matter—highlighting developments shaping how people explore, verify, and navigate the real world.
Fasten your seatbelts, and let’s explore this month’s news together!
Entering the New Explorer Economy
Bitcoin remains resilient despite market volatility and continues to remain a preferred store of value for crypto-native travelers, with several airlines and hotel chains maintaining BTC payment infrastructure. Meanwhile, let’s check other latest trends:
Web3 Loyalty Emerges
Traditional airline miles and hotel points are getting a blockchain upgrade: NFT-based loyalty programs offer unprecedented flexibility, tradability, and transparency compared to legacy systems that trap value in closed ecosystems. As we step into 2026, the intersection of travel, AI, and Web3 is evolving at a faster pace than ever. Globally, stablecoins are on the rise, and such payment options are increasingly accepted by major travel platforms. For example, Trip.com tests stablecoin payments, offering USDT & USDC for bookings.
The Trust Crisis Deepens
As the fake review economy continues expanding: it appears that approximately 30% of all online reviews are fabricated or manipulated, resulting in an estimated cost of over $150 billion annually to U.S. businesses, according to industry studies. Even worse, 74% of people report being unable to always distinguish between real and fake reviews. TripAdvisor alone removed 2.7 million fraudulent reviews back in 2024, with 214,000 specifically identified as AI-generated. The need for blockchain-verified, cryptographically-provable recommendations has never been clearer.
Tourism Reaches New Heights
International tourism hit a record 1.52 billion arrivals in 2025, with 2026 projected to reach 1.58 billion—thus surpassing pre-pandemic levels by 5-7%. The recovery is complete, and growth continues unabated across all major regions.
AI Transforms Travel Planning
Expedia's AI customer service agents now handle 143 million conversations annually, resolving over 50% of traveler queries. Major platforms have integrated conversational AI deeply into their booking flows, with hundreds of millions of people using AI assistants weekly— fundamentally changing how travelers discover and book experiences.
Digital Nomadism Goes Mainstream
Over 50 countries now offer digital nomad visas, with Spain, Portugal, and Thailand leading adoption. This shift is creating a new class of "location-independent" professionals who blend work and exploration—exactly the community daGama serves.
Sustainability Now Standard
Modern travelers aren't just looking for the cheapest option anymore. Eco-conscious decision-making has moved from niche to mainstream, with sustainability considerations becoming a standard part of the booking process as 93% of travelers say they want to make more sustainable travel choices when planning trips.
2025 Was the Year daGama Proved the Thesis
Most products in Web3 promise disruption, while very few survive long enough to demonstrate utility. Behind every platform are the people who bring it to life. Last year, daGama's community expanded dramatically:
- Millions of impressions andengagements on X
- Global media reach through strategic communications
- 360,000+ connected wallets across our multi-chain ecosystem
- 50,000+ app downloads on iOS and Android with thousands of active users discovering and sharing authentic recommendations
- 2,200+ active contributors on Galxe, where daGama ranked as the #1 rising project on Starboard.
In 2025, the daGama team moved decisively from concept to execution, validating a simple but tough idea: trust in the physical world can be rebuilt using verifiable data, incentives, and community ownership. The map isn’t the product. The signal is.
Events, Partnership & Ecosystem Highlights
Despite the usually slow January, we have continued to work behind the scenes to deliver strong partnerships and collaborations. Our native utility token, $DGMA, is currently traded on Gate.io and MEXC and powers the daGama ecosystem.
The daGama team has started that on a high note, taking part in a dozen AMAs and Twitter spaces with established brands. You can check up on recaps on our socials and X channel!
Moreover, Galxe Starboard Season 2 is officially complete. What followed was momentum: thousands of contributions, genuine competition, and a community that showed up consistently.
The full $65,000 $DGMA reward pool has now been distributed, and final rankings and rewards are available on Galxe—appreciation to everyone who contributed. More daGama campaigns, challenges, and rewards are coming soon, so stay tuned!
Looking Ahead: February & Beyond
As we move into 2026, the daGama team remains laser-focused on our core mission: restoring trust in travel recommendations through blockchain verification, growing the community further, and expanding the reach into more social networks. We don’t need a crystal ball for this to work: everything is a hard and cold calculation, so you don’t have to sweat into tropical country when trying to find the best place to stay or have a drink!
As the ecosystem matures, Proof of Presence is emerging as a foundational primitive. Verified real-world presence strengthens trust signals, enables more precise incentive design, and unlocks meaningful use cases that extend far beyond travel. Growth, in this context, is deliberate rather than performative. The emphasis is on reducing noise and prioritizing signal quality—building reputation, relevance, and long-term credibility instead of chasing raw user numbers.
Why This Matters
Fake reviews have become a multi-billion-dollar industry. Industry surveys suggest that only a small minority of travelers (around 13%) still fully trust online recommendations. Businesses spend enormous amounts on marketing while struggling to build genuine relationships with customers. daGama offers a different path—one where:
- Trust is verified, not purchased
- Users are rewarded for their contributions
- Communities, not algorithms, decide what matters
- Quality businesses rise through authentic recommendations.
While traditional platforms fight a losing battle against AI-generated fake reviews, daGama’s blockchain-based approach enables transparent and tamper-resistant verification of real-world activity and recommendations. The future of travel is authentic, verified, and decentralized. We're building it together, one check-in at a time!
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice.
Stay Connected
Experience Web3 utility in action. daGama uses blockchain verification to deliver travel recommendations you can actually trust—no crypto knowledge required. Download the app and see what happens when blockchain solves real problems. And, stay tuned for the next episode!
