Even though our present-day borderless internet has become so advanced that it connects the whole world on one wireless system, it is still ‘centralised’ by those big tech companies.
Google, Spotify, or YouTube; these platforms bring the whole world to us just in one click and are all still centralised. Google is the service provider that selects how the results of our searches would look like, and Spotify is the one who chooses songs to present to us.
The technology that can overthrow the centralisation system was invented a few decades before. Blockchain is a decentralised network, on which everyone can have their own control over their transactions without any centralised entities. It is a database consisting of lists of records stored as a block chained together through cryptography. Data in the network is copied and spread across all the computers in the network. As a result, even one tiny change can be easily noticed. This characteristic facilitates blockchain to run securely and transparently.
We might be familiar with blockchain as a cryptocurrency exchange platform. In fact, there is room for more possibilities and adaptabilities. On blockchain, diverse possibilities have been explored, for example, the Graph which is considered Google on blockchain, or Theta, a video streaming or YouTube on blockchain.
Today, Sertis would like to take you to explore those potentials and innovations based on blockchain. Despite having different functionalities, they are all generated from the concept of decentralisation. Ready? Let’s get started.
The Graph ($GRT) Google on Blockchain
A blockchain-based database is one of the most effective technologies built on blockchain considering its characteristics and its cryptography that allows secured information storage that we can trust.
One project on Ethereum blockchain utilises this characteristic to build the so-called Google on Blockchain. On the Ethereum blockchain, building an application or a platform need a matching token, digital asset users use to pay gas fees to perform a transaction on that application or platform. These assets can also be traded as normal crypto.
The Graph and its token $GRT was built on the Etheruem blockchain. It is an indexing protocol for querying data on the network Users can build and publish their own APIs called ‘Subgraphs’ connecting to databases and allowing others to query using a query language called GraphQL. Its primary function is to be a search engine, just like Google.
Indexers and node operators on The Graph stake their $GRT token to facilitate querying on the system and earn query fees as a reward, the same as transaction validators on other crypto exchange platforms. Try picturing Google, but on a blockchain network and without an entity as Google company as a service provider who gets access to our data and queries. Our activity will be fully under our control and more secure this way.
Filecoin ($FIL) Google Drive on Blockchain
Another coin that should be the future of digital storage on Blockchain is Fliecoin or $FIL. Filecoin is an open protocol for decentralised data storage the allows file storing, distributing, and sharing called InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). It works as a peer-to-peer network that distributes files to store in peers’ or nodes’ devices to store data in a decentralised manner to avoid single point failure and give a better and faster experience. $FIL is a token generated with the platform. It can also be bought and sold as other cryptocurrencies.
Filecoin operates as a marketplace where file owners and storage providers meet. If one wants to store a file in the Finecoin system they have to pay fees, using $FIL to, to a storage owner, called Miners, who offer their device storage. That’s how they earn a reward. The transaction will be recorded on the IPFS blockchain network and the system will constantly prove that the file is stored correctly. The file owner can also verify their file by looking at the proof on Filecoin’s blockchain
T๊here are diverse miners and deals on Filecoin. Users can choose a miner, size of storage, and cost according to their preference. On Filecoin networks, there are choices of applications and platforms using the same protocol but are suitable for different types of files available, for example, ChainSafe File, Web3 Storage, and Estuary. Miners can also select their preferred market as well.
Audius ($AUDIO) Spotify on Blockchain
Spotify is a platform that gathers millions of songs from artists around the world to present to us. Nonetheless, Spotify is still a centralised platform operated by Spotify crew who select songs and even create a playlist for us.
Audius, a music streaming protocol on Blockchain, is a place where creators can directly meet their fans without any middleman. Artists can stream their songs, and with a blockchain system backed up, artists have sole ownership of their songs with immutable timestamps secured by the network. These timestamps can be used to verify the authenticity and mean no more worries for copycat. Fans can also support their favourite artists by donating directly to them. With its decentralised nature, anyone can upload their content.
Audius operates on Ethereum’s Blockchain and is powered by their matching token, $AUDIO. Listeners can enjoy the music for free or need a one-time payment to unlock the contents depending on the artists’ choice. $AUDIO holders can also join the network as node operators and stake their coins to verify and run the platform. Node operators earn the token as a reward. Besides, $AUDIO holders also get access to exclusive features or content on the platform. Songs on Audius are considered one type of NFT. It is digital art that can be collected and traded for cryptocurrencies. It just mainly focuses on audio works like songs and podcasts.
One pain of artists that Audius tackle is that, with a middleman like a record company, only 12% of the music industry’s revenue goes to artists. The decentralised concept of Audius and other streaming platforms on Blockchain gives 90% of revenue to the artist. It hugely encourages artists, both professional and amateur, to keep on working and creatively and sustainably drive the industry forward.
Theta ($THETA) YouTube on Blockchain
Theta is a video streaming platform that was born with a completely different concept from traditional video streaming platforms. Its purpose is to reduce resources and costs from a centralised platform like YouTube. Among Theta’s advisors, there are Steve Chene, YouTube’s co-founder, and Justin Kan, Twitch’s co-founder.
Watching 4K or 8K videos through the centralised streaming need much loading time and have low quality because of limited bandwidth (amount of data that can be transmitted in an amount of time) that can’t keep up with ever-increasing users. Bandwidth can be a huge amount of cost for service providers. Theta found a solution to solve the problems while designing the network that users can share their excess bandwidth.
Sharing bandwidth provide users with better, faster, and smoother experiences in watching videos. It can reduce loading and uploading time because there are more bandwidths waiting to transfer data and serve increasing users. It gets rid of a single-point failure found in traditional platform
Theta incentivises bandwidth sharing with one user watching the video and allowing access to their bandwidth. Every minute we watch the video, our bandwidth will be used to stream videos for others in a peer-to-peer manner to facilitate the platform and we earn a $TFUEL token as a reward.
To sum up, content creators can start streaming their videos via Theta.tv platform. Then, the next viewer will watch our content and share their bandwidth to stream for others to get $TFUEL. This token can be used to support our favourite creators and buy videos on the platform. The amount of the token we get varied from the number of users watching video using our bandwidth and our internet quality.
Google, Samsung, and Sony have gotten into the Theta network as enterprise validators (nodes that hold more than 2 million tokens). Surely, this is the sign of Theta’s promising future.
Written by: Sertis
Originally published at https://www.sertiscorp.com/
