What type of sites will be attracted to the SMT protocol when it goes live is anyone's guess. We have heard in the past that some big name companies were interesting in the technology. Who is still looking at it or trying things out is a mystery.
That said, there are some companies that could be viable candidates. One is Forbes, a leading business and financial magazine/site.
Flying a bit under the radar, the company made a move into cryptocurrency on their site that is very intriguing. It is safe to say that when it comes to Wall Street, Forbes is about as mainstream as it gets.
Unlock Protocol was implemented on Forbes' website. What is this? It is a "membership based" form of ad blocking using cryptocurrency.
Today, we're proud to announce that Forbes, a publication which writes a lot about the blockchain revolution, is offering the ability to unlock an ad-free experience on their site, using Unlock!
Forbes deployed 2 locks, the first one offers a month long ad-free experience on the Forbes.com, while the second offers the same but only for a week. To purchase a key, you will need to use a crypto wallet such as Opera, MetaMask or Coinbase Wallet. Then, head to The crypto section of forbes.com, and click on the "Unlock an ads free experience" button.
https://unlock-protocol.com/blog/forbes-ads-free/
It is interesting to see the shift towards cryptocurrency. This particular feature uses Ethereum, showing a willingness to embrace decentralized blockchains. This is something we have not see a lot of from the established business community.
The fact that Forbes is moving towards cryptocurrency is telling. In the cited article, they referenced rewarding content creators and how ad blockers make that difficult. I cannot comment on how Forbes rewards their writers but I can say that a SMT token would be an ideal solution.
If they are willing to take Ethereum as payment, it would make as much sense to have their own token. To start, it is an additional layer of marketing. Ethereum does nothing to promote Forbes but the Forbes token does. Using a token on Steem eliminates the transaction costs that are on Ethereum. And, finally, the writers for that site could be rewarded via upvote payouts, providing an additional form of income to them.
This could easily provide an additional revenue stream since the other service could still be provided, only using their own token. It might help the bottom line a bit while attracting authors who are seeking to increase their own pay.
As the idea of tokenization spread, sites might find their talent leaving if they do not keep pace. Upvotes are an effective way to pay content creators as long as there is an economy surrounding the token. A magazine like Forbes could easily develop that.
It is easy to see where the seeds of cryptocurrency are starting to take form. The process is not as fast as some would like yet there is headway taking place. It is starting to penetrate the psyche of the mainstream. I would not be surprised to see some name entities embrace SMTs and create their token using that protocol. The ease of use along with a built in system makes it easy. There is nothing that the site has to really do other than creating the token and incorporating it into the site. The wallet, reward system, and everything else associated with the token is already in place. Once an account is set up, all else is handled.
SMTs are a very exciting development and something that we might see really take off in 2020. It appears there are pockets of the market that is ready for it.
We will see how it goes but Forbes is an entity that should be alerted to what is available. Their own token would fit in nicely especially if it has a built in reward system.
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