Alpha, Beta, Gamma... Theta?

This is a recap regarding an article I created two weeks ago (which I then completely forgot that I wrote) so let me (re)introduce you to Theta. Not just part of the Greek alphabet, Theta is actually an interesting project which combines crypto with peer-to-peer video content distribution. It's quite beginner unfriendly so here's my brief take on how it works.

To start with, anyone can tune in to watch. Just head over to theta.tv but let me explain a little first. Anyone can visit this site and become a paid viewer. You are asked to sign-up to get a login to start accumulating theta's operating currency (known as tfuel). The first thing to know here is that tfuel earned this way can only be spent in the theta store or on subscriptions to your favourite theta streamers. At the current time, the main streamers are Nasa, The World Poker Tour and a handful of gamers. There's also usually a couple of shows per week from CryptoStache.Viewers (that's us) are encouraged to chat with stream hosts and we earn 'coins' as well as tfuel for watching. These 'coins' are used to buy tickets in 'predictions', which are small quizzes set-up by the streamers to encourage participation. Some of these streamers are obviously great people and will post predictions such as a 'free yes' (where you just click yes) or a 'free no' (just click no). These are sort of free but not. They cost 100 'coins' to enter but just watching any stream for a few minutes will net you more than 100 coins. In return for taking part in predictions, you can claim a daily reward, which could be more coins, an emote to use in chat, an increase in the cap of coins you can earn by watching or maybe something else.  

The second part of Theta is called the 'edge node' which is an application you have to actually download. You will also need to set-up a wallet to use this. Setting up a node is not compulsory so if you just want to watch theta streamers and spend your earnings at their web-store that's fine. The edge node however lets you become a part of the theta network and in the process you will earn tfuel which can be traded outside the web-store. By running the node, you are helping power the network. The node allows you to turn on 'edge-caching' which uses your upload bandwidth to relay streams to other users, reducing the load on theta's own servers and in return they pay you an amount of tfuel. You can also activate 'edge compute' which gives some of your cpu resources to the network to help encode video content and also at the moment allows your spare processor power to be used for the folding@home protein folding application (currently working on Covid solutions). 

Since both of these are optional, you can turn them on or off as required. I've found the node software to be responsive enough to use these features even while working so I tend to turn off the edge cache when others are in the house but leave the compute option going. It can be an issue if you are trying to run 3D games so I've now relegated my node to an old laptop. This is currently doing a great job and appears to create less heat than when I try to run Alien Worlds on it. It's also freed up my main PC which is good  because there are more profitable uses for this right now, but I want to support theta as I like the concept. A lot of streamers complain about Google strikes against their account for reasons they were not aware of. For those who have chosen to stream, build up a following and work for an algorithm that requires regular content to get promoted, this can be a kick-in-the-teeth as Google frequently removes the ability for that content to generate revenue for the creator. Theta is a more decentralised approach. It's actually possible for streamers to cut-out the middleman and stream directly to other viewers.

I love this concept which is why I'm still running the node. I tent to shutdown all my equipment at night so my tfuel earnings are currently around 1 tfuel per week. At a current value of $0.30 (according to coinmarketcap.com), I'm actually running this at a loss due to the electricity costs but I can't help loving an underdog. I blame YouTube; for all the adverts they now add to their content. Their model is sooooo outdated. Brave browser has shown that our attention has value yet YouTube doesn't reward the end-viewer at all. Instead, it harvests their data and uses it to target adverts. 

I would be interested to hear what streamers think about Theta. Typically, when a streamer changes platform it can be difficult for them to convince their audience to follow. Theta.tv does not have the most user-friendly interface at the moment and I'm sure I've only scratched the surface. Despite this, I am using it regularly. The daily rewards keep me going back to it just to find out what the next reward is. It's important to point out that tfuel is not Theta coin which is a shame (Theta is currently valued at $10.88 while tfuel is worth $0.29 at the time of writing). There seem to be more wallets and exchanges which support Theta coin than the token (tfuel) which those using the platform are expected to use. This may be because theta.tv is just one project and there might be others in the pipeline but it does come across as a bit of an 'Upstairs/downstairs' scenario (that's a reference to social classes for those unfamiliar with the old TV show).

As a crypto-newbie, it's good to see Theta has something going for it. There are so many cryptocurrencies now that it's hard to tell which are worthwhile. Having a major project or use helps to reinforce that there's a good reason for the crypto to exist and a reason to own it. So here's my current list of one-liner descriptions and why they might have long-term value:

Bitcoin: The original funny money now being bought-up by big finance?

Etherium: Has many legit uses (Beeple, NFT's, game tokens like ENJ)

EOS: Underpins WAXP which has a great eco-system and cheap NFT minting

Theta: Potential future YouTube disruptor

The after 2-weeks update

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So, two weeks on and how is this going? Well I'm now up to 3.05 tfuel (just under $0.88 at current prices). Obviously this is not going to be a big earner and I still think it's a shame that you don't get paid out in actual Theta coin. I haven't seen any reference to a minimum earning amount so it will be interesting to see if I get my 3+ tfuel next week. To give some idea of value, this tfuel mug is currently listed at $11 or 39 tfuel. So that's 39 weeks for a mug. Also a lot of the big ticket items do seem to be out of stock like this Playstation4 which is a mere 1,731 tfuel which would take 33 years at my current earnings rate (and it states it can only be redeemed in the USA). For 104 tfuel, you can take a gamble on a tfuel crate, if they come back in stock. There'a a chance to win 500 tfuel (about ten years earnings). 

I'm sure I just need to find the right video on how to boost my earnings. I'll let you know if I find it somewhere on Theta.tv.

That's it for now

Usual disclaimers

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I'm not a doctor, legal professional or financial advisor. This article reflects my own opinions and should not be taken as financial, legal or medical advice. Do your own research and never invest anything you cannot afford to lose (including your time).

No more YouTube strikes plus FREE crypto - the future of TV?

Some of us are of an age where we remember a life before iPhones and iPods. A world where file-sharing systems were popular. Napster was the best known of these and eventually had to fall in line with the commercial world because of numerous lawsuits. The technology behind it never really went away though. Even now, file-sharing is built into Microsoft's Windows operating system and is turned on by default, enabling you to get windows updates quicker (and reducing their costs in the process; and since every PC I buy comes pre-loaded with windows I make sure to turn this off on principal).

There are a lot of these double standards when you start to take notice. Gaming websites with terms and conditions which prohibit you from using bots for financial gain, even though they are backed by financial systems which use trading bots; for financial gain. So it's nice when something comes along and attempts to restore balance by giving power back to the guy on the street.

Now let me introduce you to Theta. If you're not already familiar with the service, it's like YouTube and Brave browser combined into one. Essentially, anyone can go to theta.tv, create an account and then get paid in their TFuel currency to watch videos. While the amount of Tfuel you get for this is quite low, you can perform this activity using Brave browser, so now your attention is being double rewarded. This is purely the consumption side of Theta; and there is more. Remember that file-sharing service? Theta also uses your upload bandwidth to share the video content you watch with other viewers and this is where it gets interesting. Also, once you register an account, you become eligible for the daily rewards which include things like free NFT's. You can access these from your avatar on the right hand side of the site. Right below the 'create a channel' option. You can also make predictions on the outcome of streamed games etc. to earn more rewards.

Not only does Theta have some interesting and powerful backers (due to the fact it's success will save their companies millions), but it also serves a purpose for the small guy. It's possible to create video content and then share it in a peer-to-peer way, bypassing the need for a big centralised service with dodgy algorithms and the word Tube in its name. The big risk for Theta is that users will use this facility to distribute copyrighted content, eventually resulting in a Napster-like service shut-down. On the other hand, any YouTuber who has received an account strike for not knowing their rules inside out might do well to start putting their initial edits out on Theta. They will have more freedom, help build the platform and be a part of a system which rewards viewers for watching.

This idea may well be inline with the 'Great Reset' - that idea proposed in Davos by the WEF. As we move towards a civilisation where most things are made by robots, there has to be a way for people to earn enough to cover the necessities; otherwise people are going to insist on taxing the output of those robots, or maybe they will create an anti-robot anonymous-type group which goes around smashing all the autonomous devices which have replaced humans (ATM's, traffic cameras, CCTV, Amazon's walk-in and take stores, self-driving cars etc.). Conspiracy theorists might suggest that population reduction is now part of the plan to fix climate-change and reduce the population to the level required to still function however this would require trust between the leaders of nations who frequently oppose each other. Would any nation really destroy it's own potential defending army? Anyway I'm going off topic and I prefer to delegate my opinion on how many people our planet can support to those who have researched the topic

Coming back to Theta, the idea of a non-mainstream video service was a key element of the 'Running Man' film; a way to get the truth out there by showing unedited footage. We have seen that Theta can reward viewers for watching (so viewers are likely to turn up en-mass at some point), and we can see that content makers are incentivised by more freedom, but what about the lost revenue from all those annoying adverts? I suspect this will be where those which are favoured by the algorithm will start talking more and more about any shortcomings they find with Theta (obviously more to do with financial losses). It's not all doom and gloom though. First off, content producers are more likely to have modern, powerful computers used to edit and encode their content. With less editing required, they could use this equipment to run Theta Nodes. Essentually, that surplus editing time can be used to spread the love (in the form of other peoples videos). Doing this will also earn the nodes operator an amount of TFuel.

Having run the edge node software for about a week now, you can see that it's not a highly prosperous activity netting 0.8 TFuel for seven days operating 9am-9pm but remember this service is not yet anywhere near as well known as YouTube. It's possible viewers will hand over the TFuel they earn to content producers if they themselves have no interest in the crypto token. It's also very important to point out that TFuel and Theta tokens are completely different things. Theta tokens link to the governance of the system while TFuel is the everyday token most people will earn or gift (and presumably buy,  sell and barter). You do have to wonder why governance could not be embedded in TFuel as those acquiring it are likely to be those with a following on the old Tube. I personally wonder why a second token was even needed at all. After all, anyone who mistakes the two can check how much Theta their node has earned and then get a nasty shock when it twigs that they have not earned 0.2 Theta (currently at $12.29), but 0.2 TFuel (currently at $0.3344).

Still, Theta is another system you can throw on an older computer and use to turn it into a crypto-heater while simultaneously showing support for a worthwhile video sharing service. With the node software, you can choose (YES, you get to CHOOSE) whether or not to take part in the Edge-cache (sharing your upload bandwidth) or the compute module (using your idle CPU time to encode other peoples videos or take part in the protein-folding system which is currently working on Covid medicines). If your PC suffers, you could also choose to disable both of these and just use the stream viewer - although for that you just go to theta.tv; no node required).

A Word of Caution

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Ok so this all sounds like a wonderful system; what's the catch? Well it's new and appears to be a closed system for now. It appears to be easy to invest into but difficult to cash out. According to the official faq, you can use TFuel to '...donate, spend in the shop or subscribe to your favourite channels'. The fact it's listed on CoinMarketCap suggests people are trading TFuel through exchanges outside the 'official' system.

Theta are launching their new main-net in 77 days time so expect to hear more about them over the next couple of months.

Usual disclaimers

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I'm not a doctor, legal professional or financial advisor. This article reflects my own opinions and should not be taken as financial, legal or medical advice. Do your own research and never invest anything you cannot afford to lose (including your time).