This week we come with some fresh ideas and future developments. As we keep working on the upcoming AirTime activation, we are excited about how many applications this model can accommodate. The best aspect of it is that everyone can keep growing their channel in their platform of choice and this week we are glad to give a grasp about the developments of the BitTube social network.

Edit (12–11): Cleared up a few points surrounding the platform migration plans.

We are now on Blockfolio

To start things off, you can now follow us on Blockfolio for updates and alerts! Get it for Android and iOS.

Upcoming AirTime activation

We want to make sure AirTime is ‘airtight’ before we activate it. Many people are contacting us to make sure that all is fine. As promised, AirTime will be activated around new years eve. What a good way to get started, right? But before that we are working hard to avoid system abuse with the help from AI:

Updates on the wallet apps

Following last’s week post, we continue to polish the mobile apps and all users can expect an update in the following weeks.

The iOS crowd will get a completely new look of the mobile app. One of the most important improvements will be automatic sync with the extension. This means all activities from the extension will be visible on the mobile wallet and vice versa. Wallet addresses and transactions can be managed on both desktop and mobile. Our focus is to familiarize the two interfaces so you can get the same feel no matter the device you are using at the moment.

The BitTube Social Network (a.k.a. BitTube)

Creating ad-free, cross-platform monetization solutions with the extension is one thing. When it comes to a pure BitTube feel, though, we would like to introduce you to something completely new:

The BitTube Social Network. Or just BitTube.

This new platform will be decentralized in the same way Bit.Tube currently is and will combine everything you love so far about AirTime, plus more features that bring IPFS and webtorrent together.

This move will give all users more ways to share and enjoy content in a more open, accessible and connected fashion. The platform will combine the best features of the current most popular social media platforms and the unique BitTube AirTime model that we all know. The way you spend your time and you consume promotions on the internet will never be the same. Now with BitTube you have a choice.

Not all uploads are created equal

On the new platform, some of your options will depend on account progression and staking levels. Anonymous users without any stake will be able to post videos, images and animated GIFs with maximum length of two minutes. This is simply to filter out low-quality spam and reduce inauthentic content (like ripped YouTube videos).

Fresh mobile-verified users will be able to upload 20-minute videos and can choose to stake 2500 or 25k TUBEs to unlock 60 and 180 minutes. Users who wish to forego mobile verification for privacy reasons, can upgrade their account by staking 2500, 25k and 250k TUBEs and will unlock 20, 60 and 180-minute lengths respectively.

As will be more explained in further updates, users will be able to borrow the necessary TUBEs from other stakers (investors) to unlock the features they need in return for a share of their AirTime income. This will negate the need to pay up front for anything, and investors will be encouraged to maximize their output by promoting the platform to others.

All of this may sound a bit convoluted, but in terms of user experience, our motto is still simplicity and accessibility.

Account progression points

On the current bit.tube platform, we’ve come to experience what happens when no proper upload restrictions are set and anonymous users can abuse the platform as a ‘dumping ground’ without any skin in the game. Another part of the solution will be an account progression system (like reputation points — don’t worry, nothing draconian), where enough points enable you to upgrade your account as well. You’ll get points for posting, likes, follows and so on, some of which can be weighed against the audience’s account status to eliminate bots. Your stake will have an effect on how fast your account progresses, allowing you to unlock some features faster. This will keep it fair for everyone and avoid making the platform ‘pay to win’ (Steemit comes to mind). In this new environment, upgraded accounts and promoted posts will carry a little more status to the betterment of the ecosystem as a whole.

All of these features will have a direct effect on the BitTube economy as well as preventing AirTime abuses, as the aforementioned staking options correspond to AirTime levels presented in previous updates. One important topic that we won’t touch on yet is moderation, which we would like to decentralize as much as possible. It is important that we keep you up to date and you ask us any questions or concerns you might have. We will explain further details and the intricacies in the following weeks.

Don’t worry, we’re still a video platform!

Now, what will happen with the current bit.tube platform? In short, over the next few months we will migrate the necessary tools and content to the ‘new’ BitTube. A detailed roadmap for the transformation will come soon, and the roadmap and FAQ on reddit that some of you have relied on will be properly updated.

Remember: we are still a video platform. There won’t be a name change, we are BitTube. There have been some concerns from the community regarding this direction and we’d like to assure everyone that video is still the center of attention here. The mechanics of a social platform simply enable a much more connected, open and frictionless way of sharing content with each other. Together with the staking, lending and borrowing options, we believe this approach will foster growth of a strong and healthy community, based on a real sharing economy between creators, audiences and investors.

You can expect an initial migration from bit.tube to the social platform to happen from mid-January to mid-February, where we aim to officially launch it. Both platforms will be live side by side for the first month, until the eventual shutdown of the bit.tube domain in mid-March. We will inform our users via newsletters, our social media accounts and directly from the Bit.Tube platform. We are moving forward and upward.

Hard fork

Next month, the TUBE blockchain will undergo another hard fork. As we move into 2019, staking for AirTime and platform features will become a dominant theme for the ecosystem. Staking unlocks a web of new possibilities for both users, publishers and investors.

One of the possibilities is stakers being able to lend their TUBEs to borrowers (users and publishers) who would like to unlock higher AirTime levels and features. In return, the borrowers will share a percentage of their AirTime revenue based on the amount. As the ‘ROI’ for lenders (mostly investors) will depend on the AirTime performance of their borrowers, all parties will be incentivized to maximize the exposure of the content that they support.

Currently, miners take home the majority of the block reward (70%). To make an intricate staking system such as the one described above viable, however, the AirTime pool for publishers and users has to be expanded significantly. Therefore, in the month of January we will perform a hard fork to:

Reduce mining rewards to 40%,

Increase AirTime rewards to 45% (split 75/25 between publishers/users),

Increase the devfee 10% (for platform maintenance and marketing, which at 3% is currently too low),

Introduce a 5% reward pool for community moderators (1%), referrals (1%) and the remaining 3% as a project fund to help future devs implement TUBE and AirTime in their apps.

Indeed, reducing mining rewards to only 40% may seem somewhat drastic, but it is necessary. Since the BitTube ecosystem is the real driver of value, enabling ways to stake, lend, borrow and ROI on your investments in much more involved ways compared to ‘passive’ income from mining, will ultimately solidify demand (based on real use) and mass adoption in the long term.

To infinity and beyond

A lot of major developments are up ahead and we are extremely excited for next year. As many details are still being worked out, we will be able to come back on the topics of staking, lending and borrowing, account progression, moderation and more in the coming weeks.

Thank you for reading and stay tuned!

Your BitTube Team