Topic: [2019-01-05] BitTorrent Is Launching Its Own Cryptocurrency on the Tron Network (Read 445 times)

BitTorrent, which pioneered peer-to-peer technology for sharing files on the internet, is creating its own cryptocurrency.

Issued by the Singapore-based BitTorrent Foundation, the new BitTorrent Token (BTT) will run on the tron protocol, developed by Tron, which acquired BitTorrent in June of last year. The file-sharing software company claims to have 100 million users.

Justin Sun, founder of Tron and CEO of BitTorrent, said in a press release:

“In one giant leap, we can introduce blockchain to hundreds of millions of users around the world and empower a new generation of content creators with the tools to distribute their content directly to others on the web.”

The plan to issue a token follows the announcement of Project Atlas, which BitTorrent revealed at the end of August. Project Atlas is a new iteration of the P2P software. It provides users with a way to spend and earn crypto while sharing files.

Under the existing system, users need to put a file on the system in order to download something. As Sun explains in a YouTube video, the user has no incentive to keep a file on the network once they have finished downloading.

With BTT, users can pay someone with the file to send it to them and they can pay for more bandwidth, so it downloads faster. With the prospect of payment, file hosts have an incentive to keep more files available to the network, making it more likely that a given user will be able to download something they want more quickly.

Read more: https://www.coindesk.com/bittorrent-is-launching-its-own-cryptocurrency-on-the-tron-network

Imagine how many people said that to Steve Jobs when he decided to charge for mp3. Or to the founders of Netflix, Spotify etc ...

Citizen Kane?



It would be new if someone talented had the first ever 100% independent hit film/track/album. It'll happen, I've been saying this for years. Someone who's smart enough to know how good they are, and knowledgeable enough to know they can do everything them self. You don't need an industry when all the modern equipment is household grade.

Sure, and if people can find new artists on Soundcloud, then artists who get alot of plays can use their Soundcloud page to promote short clips of tracks they think audiences will like. Then they can take 100% profit by using file sharing networks to distribute the full length track/film.

Yes they can, artists don't need publishers, labels or studios, they can do it all themselves. The only thing they couldn't do before was accept money over the internet. They can now.

Hey as long as they are selling their original work in the file sharing website I don't care about it, but if you are starting out do you really want to go on a paid only file sharing website? As a content producer will you limit your viewers to people who are willing to pay you even if they don't know you? Of course not, some artists right now are discovered in soundcloud or youtube as these websites don't restrict their viewers/listeners to only the ones paying them.

the artist itself cannot do it independently that is why we have producers, publishers, labels and studios to help them for a fee.

Remember when you said this:


What's wrong with content producers charging people to download their stuff directly from a file sharing network?

I'll tell you what's right with it:

• No more distributors to pay (i.e. itunes or spotify)
• No more labels (so no more exploitative contracts)
• No more publishing fees (because no more copyright)
• No more lawyers to pay (because no labels or publishing)
• Keep 100% of the profits (instead of between 5% and 0%)

File sharing networks are never going to get shut down, it's not possible, it's been tried and it's failed. The secret is stop trying to pretend there are multiple copies to sell, because there is only one copy. Once you've sold just 1 copy, then everyone in effect has it. Or people could try to continue to fight reality.

I won't care if their project only involved sharing files of their original work

It's frustrating, because the way you're thinking about it, you're almost there. What's the difference between people using bittorrent and cryptocurrencies to distribute their own work (with other people doing the same to help keep the distribution going), and getting paid for copyright piracy? Not much, when you think about it

I won't care if their project only involved sharing files of their original work but if they are only sharing pirated copies of movies, music, and even programs then it would be an abuse and clearly a violation of piracy laws, their uploaders would earning money from the works of others.

It happened already, the movie Paranormal Activity had a $15,000 budget  and a $193.4 million box office. The authors sold the movie to Paramount Pictures for $300,000. If they had access to a decentralized content distribution system like the one described in the OP, they would net much more money, but probably less than those 193 millions (because Paramount Pictures dropped $10 millions on advertisement).
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The success of the film was widely attributed to the unique promotional strategies adopted by California-based film production and distribution company, Paramount Pictures Corporation (Paramount Pictures).

It happened already, the movie Paranormal Activity had a $15,000 budget  and a $193.4 million box office. The authors sold the movie to Paramount Pictures for $300,000.

If they had access to a decentralized content distribution system like the one described in the OP, they would net much more money, but probably less than those 193 millions (because Paramount Pictures dropped $10 millions on advertisement).

There are probably more cases like that, but they are rather exceptions than the rule. You can produce world-class music at home these days, but digital content like movies and games still costs millions of dollars to produce, and I don't see how those amounts can be achieved via crowdfunding in the near future.

It would be new if someone talented had the first ever 100% independent hit film/track/album. It'll happen, I've been saying this for years. Someone who's smart enough to know how good they are, and knowledgeable enough to know they can do everything them self. You don't need an industry when all the modern equipment is household grade.

Also, there's no precedent of successful crowdfunding of an AAA game or a Hollywood-quality movie yet.

It's not exactly a new thing, platforms like Kickstarter were around for many years already.

So company expects people who have spent their entire lives doing anything not to pay anything - pay something.

I've been using torrents for years but I would be willing to pay in some cases. If it meant 1) getting obscure, hard-to-find media and 2) incentivizing uploaders to seed faster so I'm not waiting days for downloads to finish, I would definitely pay something. I'm not sure how much I'd be willing to pay, but I'm be open to it.

People pay for Usenet and private torrent trackers, so it doesn't seem that crazy.