Phil DeFranco is betting on a new cryptocurrency called Props to help stoke a YouTube rival that rewards both creators and fans.
Phil DeFranco has 2.2 billion views on YouTube. If each one were a penny, the stack could loop around the planet once and then some.
Now imagine if every view and every "like" on YouTube deposited a penny in a piggy bank, one that's broken open daily to pay both fans and stars.
YouTube star Philip DeFranco is advising and investing in a new cryptocurrency aiming to rebuild the ecosystem for online video.
That's the basic idea behind Props, a cryptocurrency that aims to reward anyone who contributes to a new social live-video app called Rize. Anytime you stream, you can earn Props. Every time you get a "like," you can earn Props. If a friend of yours joins, you earn Props.
Theoretically, it's a YouTube where the only participant not getting a payday is YouTube itself.
"The biggest part is just removing the middleman as much as possible," DeFranco, an adviser to and investor in Props, said in an interview last month. "The thing that's really exciting about Props is that it's creator-forward first."
Like cryptocurrency-based social network Steemit, Props and Rize are aiming to create a new ecosystem in which blockchains and tokens recompense everyone whose contributions make the network worth visiting. It's one of the many uses of blockchain, a technology best-known for underpinning bitcoin but used in a wide range of applications, such as tracking prescription drugs, tracing organic foods and ensuring the legitimacy of elections.
Props payouts are based on a formula that evaluates how valuable your contribution is: A stream with thousands of viewers will work out to more Props than you'll earn from a live-video chat with friends in a virtual living room. You can convert Props to dollars, you can use them to send virtual gifts on Rize, or you can hold onto them if you believe they'll rise in value.
Props is one of the latest cryptocurrencies to crop up after the massive attention garnered by the likes of bitcoin and Ethereum, and another example of how their foundational technology -- blockchain -- is poised to change your life.