Hello !
That was a busy week, with a bunch of painting, drawing, and various tests. I've spent some of this time at looking at BitTube's specifities and wanted to share some insights about it.
[aller à la version FR]
I'll stick to something factual, from a user's point of view rather than the crypto-master-of-the-art's that I'm absolutely not.
Let's go.
The rapid changes and the cascade of new developments around the BitTube project give me the opportunity to revisit this topic.
At the moment, the issue of monetization of web content is under fire. I'm not going to dwell too much on the subject: you just have to do a search on article 13 and Youtube to get an idea of the context.
To sum up: the recent regulations on copyright in Web content seem to lead to an almost allergic reaction on the part of distribution leaders, with beautiful demonetization eruptions and censorship spasms.
As is often the case, these organic movements drive the search for alternatives, for which the blockchain-oriented environment is a natural source.
I had already mentioned the Brave browser and the BAT (Basic Attention Token), which attack the issue from the point of view of the redistribution of advertising revenue.
If I was initially enthusiastic about this project and its (very marketing) ambition to "Free the Web", I must admit that in use, the position in which it places the average user bothers me deeply: waiting for ads to popup in hope to obtain a small reward is not the posture that I attribute to a "free" individual.
So, as far as I'm concerned, exit Brave and BAT, at least as long as they stay on course. And let's start seeking for other option.
Another actor comes on stage: BitTube with Airtime and Bittuber.com (and more)
Originally, Bit.Tube was intended to present a decentralized alternative to Youtube: a video platform broadcasting in p2p via the IPFS protocol (InterPlanetary File System.)
The TUBE cryptocurrency was presented as a token rewarding the broadcasting and playback of videos on the platform.
I spare you the technical details, but for those who ask themselves the question "Where does the money come from?", the token is produced by mining (securing the network by using the computing power of the machines involved in the mining) then distributed within the community according to certain predefined proportions (x% to minors, x% to Airtime, etc.)
The TUBE was born from a fork of another currency better known in the blockchain world: the Monero. It therefore has its own blockchain, but also inherits the anonymous essence of the Monero. Two points that I consider to be positive.
For more technical details, your can check here, at official landing page.
Evolution: navigation time as a resource, and as an object of monetization.
The project moves away from the simple video platform by focusing a little more on the Airtime concept.
To put it simply: the Artime is the time spent at browsing the web, then converted into TUBES, themselves exchangeable for other cryptocurrencies, or convertible into good old-fashioned currency.
"A plugin to rule them all..."
This calculation is done through a browser extension that is like a Swiss Army knife: it includes a rather efficient ad blocker (based on ublock, if I'm not mistaken), the possibility to activate a VPN, and bank or crypto exchange tools. It also opens up the possibility of making donations to other users (currently possible on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube)
Since this week, the project has been enhanced with its own browser integrating the Airtime application. Based on firefox, surprisingly fast and reliable for a beta version. I have been using it since its commissioning and have not encountered any malfunctions so far.
Complexity or ease?
In our small crypto-universe, simplicity is not always there, and well there: Esay peasy! That was settled in a few minutes:
- Browser installation
- Account creation (mail entering+password definition, then confirmation by email)
- Mobile phone verification, to trigger the Airtime flow.
- 24 hours later the first Airtime fallout are dropped into your account.
Earnings?
On a very active day on the net, I sometimes collect between two and three Tubes. At the time of writing, the unit value of a TUBE is about 4 cents US Dollars. I had to accumulate a dozen dollars over the weeks.
Staking a certain amount of tubes in the project allows you to boost your earnings according to your navigation time each day. The amount invested is recoverable after thirty days.
- with 0Tubes: you get 240 minutes of monetized navigation, beyond that, surplus isn't taken into account.
- with 2,500Tubes (85Euros at the time I invested): we go to about 460 minutes. I only achieve this during long continuous periods of work, including writing this type of article late in the night.
- 25,000 tubes…. I haven't tested it :)
If we should not imagine a rapid enrichment just by goofing around the web, the gain is still very real. It falls in a transparent way, while you write a blog article, watch a video, or browse Facebook.
The profit does not depend on the will of an advertiser, but only on your activity and the time you spend on it, and your will to invest.
In short: you are the main craftsman.
Market value ?
In addition, the $Tube as a currency is currently very undervalued given the dynamism of its team and its ambitions, and I can not imagine the value evolving other way than upwards over the medium to long term.
In the shorter term, announcements are progressing well, but the project still suffers from a lack of visibility.
However, the community seems to be solid and mature, whether on Telegram or Discord. Of course, they can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
A beautiful energy emerges from what I have seen in recent weeks and the announcements follow one another, notably with the end of bit.tube for the benefit of his successor…
In short: it smells like an energetic start, so it's a good time to accumulate the token.
Download the application on the Chrome WebStore
or
Install the Official Browser.
Bittubers.com
As I mentioned above, bit.tube is living these last moments. His successor is announced. Currently in closed beta, it is still possible to connect as a simple visitor:
The original video platform will therefore give way to a full-fledged social network, like Twitter and Facebook, but whose activity is monetized with TUBES… (Would I dare to insert the word "intubation" ? )
That orientation choice seems interesting to me, especially since by moving away from the purely video aspect, it avoids direct confrontation with other alternative projects such as D.tube, or dlive and opens to a richer experience.
I see it as a great opportunity as a content creator to build a nest in a developing environment, where visibility is more easily gathered than on large mainstream platforms.
While waiting for my access to the next beta phase, I reserve my opinion on the use of the media, but I admit I'm quite impatient.
More? Even more? A lot more?
Other key points of the project would still need to be addressed, in particular the debit card linked to the crypto balance, e-commerce-oriented payment APIs, etc. But this article is already much longer than I had envisioned.
So that will be for another time!
In the meantime, ladies and gentlemen, take care ! And do yourself a favor : don't hesitate to test the Airtime… I feel a good gold nugget vibration under there:)
Thanks a lot for your (air)time :D
See you !
Berien
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://berien.com/blog/web-monetization-and-crypto-bittube/