Meet the blockchain-powered platforms that allow the world's content, data, and time to be monetized.
The popularity of play-to-earn games is growing across the blockchain and crypto landscape. Games such as Alien Worlds and Axie Infinity have opened up new ways for gamers to make money.
They can battle, breed mythical creatures, solve puzzles, and much more. Players are often rewarded with NFTs (non-fungible tokens) for their efforts. These tokens can be traded for other items or sold.
Blockchain technology is not just for gaming. It's possible to monetize across many verticals using innovative business models that are not only feasible but also possible with other data such as user data and viewing time for online ads.
Blockchain technology's decentralized nature means that users and businesses can compete against monopolized industries like streaming services and social media platforms. All the while, blockchain's distributed infrastructure offers strong security guarantees.
Here are four platforms that offer different approaches to monetization in different areas within the blockchain industry.
HubSpot Research conducted a survey and found that 91% believe that ads are now more intrusive than they were two years ago. 79% of respondents believed that they are being tracked through retargeted advertisements. It can feel like we are unable to escape the annoying and incredibly precise ad targeting methods employed by major advertisers in an increasingly digitally saturated world.
Brave Browser is a browser that aims to protect privacy online and give users the freedom to choose their own browser. Brave Browser was created by Brendan Eich (the creator of JavaScript) and Brian Bondy (co-founders of Mozilla). It is open-source by design and completely free to use. Brave Browser also introduces an incentive system that rewards web users who pay attention. This allows them to reward their favorite content creators by gifting them their Basic Attention Tokens (BAT).
The Browser that Rethinks the Web
Brave Browser allows users to consume ad content from websites that they visit. These ads don't just appear on the screen and fill it with generic ads like those we hate. Instead, they appear as popup notifications that prompt users to accept the advertisement request. If the user does, Brave Browser sends an ad request to the company's servers. However, the notification does not contain any personal or identifying information.
Basic Attention Tokens, or BAT, are the core of the Brave economy. They are regularly paid to Brave Browser users. These tokens can be used to credit users to their favorite publishers and content creators for support of their sites. Users can also fund their virtual debit card using BAT rewards, make online purchases, or use a plastic card to purchase wherever Visa is accepted.
Brave Browser recently announced integration with Gemini User Wallet. This means that users can link the wallet to their browser and use BAT tokens on both platforms.
Gather Network
Publishers are finding it more difficult to effectively monetize websites. It is no longer possible to just fill a website full of ad banners and then wait for the income to flow into your bank account. Programmatic advertising is not as effective as it used to be for advertisers and publishers. Web users today want to feel safe and secure while browsing the web.
Gather Network brings new life to the world of app and website monetization. It is a multi-tiered platform which benefits all parties: web users, advertisers and publishers. Gather uses blockchain technology to allow anyone to monetize content without annoying and intrusive ads. It also rewards web users who donate their processing power while browsing websites or using apps. The processing power is then distributed to developers and businesses in need of cloud computing power and storage.
A New Approach To Monetization
Gather Network harnesses the power of blockchain technology in order to provide a service that's reliable, decentralized, and secure for all. There are many use cases and businesses can benefit from the Gather ecosystem, including content publishing websites, blogs, streaming platforms, and charitable websites. UNICEF allowed users to donate computing power through their website in 2018. Gather Network improves upon that model tenfold thanks to blockchain's decentralized infrastructure.
A web user agrees to donate excess processing power through a simple opt in process. The website publisher then earns rewards in the platform’s native Gather Token. Gather allows users to integrate the code required to power share. The longer the session, the more revenue publishers will generate. This revenue stream is more profitable than traditional advertising methods. Publishers can earn revenue up to 20 times greater than with programmatic advertising models.
Gather Network is managed by a group of highly skilled individuals with extensive experience in finance, technology and marketing. It has partnered with many other leading blockchain platforms and protocols, including Boson Protocol, Decentr, ANKR Network and PAID Network.
Theta Network
Recent CISCO research revealed that online video will account for more than 82% in internet traffic by 2022 and that the industry of video streaming will reach $149.34 million by 2026. As the world spends more online, these numbers indicate a growing demand for online streaming services.
However, there are problems in this rapidly expanding sector. The quality of live streaming video is not only poor, even with high-speed internet access around the world, but also content delivery networks (CDNs), which do not reach all corners of the planet yet, results in slow loading times and constant buffering for thousands of viewers. Today's centralized live streaming platforms are essentially middlemen services that eat into the profits of content creators who make them so popular.
Theta, which was founded in 2017, is a platform that aims to address these issues head-on. It introduces a multilayered solution that reduces middlemen, improves video streaming quality and lowers streaming costs by up to 80 percent. The platform also rewards its users with Theta Fuel (TFUEL) native cryptocurrency.
The Next Generation Video and Entertainment Blockchain, powered by its Users
Theta is a peer-to-peer video delivery system that uses blockchain technology. It aims to replace the centralized delivery models for content such as YouTube or Twitch. Theta allows users to stream high-definition video content online and earn token rewards. They can share their bandwidth and resources with others and participate in Theta Network. TFUEL tokens can then be traded on popular exchanges or staked on Theta Wallet. The extension also comes with a Chrome extension.
Creators of content can earn TFUEL by bypassing middlemen services. Their content is streamed on Theta.TV which is the main streaming platform and part of an open-source streaming network.
Theta is supported in tech and blockchain by major players like Binance and Samsung. Google is also an enterprise partner of the company. Their advisory board includes Steve Chen (Co-Founder of YouTube) and Kyle Okamoto, Chief Network Officer at Verizon Digital Media. Theta raised $17 Million with the participation from names such as Sony, Atari, and Samsung.
Decentr
In the wake of COVID-19, data privacy has been a major concern worldwide. Numerous high-profile hacks have taken place this year. The United States has been the most affected. On average, computers on the US internet are attacked every 39 seconds. In fact, 45% of American citizens have had their personal data compromised in the past five years.
Decentr allows users to monetize and take back control over their personal data by offering both a browser extension and a web browser. A user surfs online and their data becomes part of their DecID. The monetary expression of that user's data is their Personal Data Value (PDV). This is essentially a ratio that changes in line with their online engagement. It turns each user into their personal exchange rate between fiat and crypto as well as data currencies.
Data-As Value
Decentr's innovative approach to the internet of value is that every user of the platform has their own personal data values (PDV) so they can extract tangible value from their data. Users have access to a range of tools and features that includes payment solutions, a DEX (decentralised exchange), and a secure wallet and ID. Decentr merchants can accept the native DEC token of Decentr as payment for goods or services. They can also use dPay to make online transactions.
Decentr is looking to be part of the DeFi revolution. Users can loan or borrow DEC tokens through their dWallet and, in certain cases, through external DeFi apps like Aave and Compound. The variable APR they receive is based on the platform’s ADV and the user’s PDV. Anybody can also trade fiat, tokens, and/or data via the platform's DEX.
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Decentr's team has many years of experience in software engineering, mobile app development, and dev ops. Senior developers have worked previously on data storage, distributed computing, and exchanges. Decentr has outlined their 2021 roadmap and plans to integrate multiple blockchain projects with Tomochain and Chain Link. They also recently partnered with Ocean open data marketplace, making Ocean's ERC-20 datatokens available and tradable via DecentrdEX, accelerating the transition into a new data economy.
Conclusion
The promise of blockchain and decentralization will open up new opportunities for web users and businesses to monetize their websites more efficiently. Some of the brightest minds in the world are working round the clock to restore control to over 5 billion internet users worldwide. They will be able to access their data, time, and content. This will reset the balances and bring fair value to the internet.
