The media sharing and advertising platform Snapparazzi has announced a release of its minimum viable product (MVP) of a blockchain-based platform. The app aims to allow everyone with a smartphone “to become a reporter” or a content creator. The user takes footage or a photo of newsworthy events with their smartphone and shares it using the platform. The interested buyers — TV, newspapers, radio, etc. — pay for the content in fiat currency. The user will in turn be paid in SnapCoin, the platform’s token for their contribution. The platform also targets content creators and says they can get paid substantially more with Snapparazzi compared to YouTube for creating or watching content.

How the application works

According to the company, the platform is dedicated to solving the problem that conventional media is facing — incomplete media coverage: Many media companies don’t have enough journalists to send to the scene, and it is also expensive. Snapparazzi say they are ready to bridge the gap by encouraging users to capture the footage of an interesting social, political or entertainment event and get paid for sharing it. That means that every person with a smartphone can be a “unique and unrivaled source” for the exclusive content. Moreover, the number of those potential sources increases every year. According to the Statista analytics, there will be more than five billion mobile phone users in the world by 2019.

Snapparazzi promises an innovative auction system that allows users to sell their breaking news footage by using blockchain technology and guarantees a fair return of 80 percent of the sale price, ensuring they will get a good deal. It allows them to choose the best price and sell their content to the top bidder. The company says another way to share the advertising revenue and for users to earn the SnapCoin is by being rewarded for watching targeted advertisements. These are optional for viewing, so users decide whenever they want these ads to be included with their video. For those who wish to be a more advanced user within Snapparazzi, there is the opportunity of becoming a moderator. This job requires ensuring that the other users view the most relevant content. The moderators efficacy and performance is judged by the other members before they are rewarded accordingly with SnapCoin.

Snapparazzi assures that everybody who uses the platform will be able to earn. According to the company’s revenue sharing model, 60 percent of the ad revenue will belong to the content creator, 80 percent of the amount paid by the buyer will go to the reporter, 2 percent of the revenue will be received by the moderator and 20 percent of ad revenue will be the viewer’s share.

The integration of the blockchain

SnapCoin, which is used for payments on Snapparazzi, is an Ethereum-based token. The Smart Contract saves all bids on the blockchain. The buyer and the seller use this Smart Contract once they agree on the price of the content. It allows the payment for the content to be transferred instantly and automatically and will protect the copyright for those choosing to keep it, Snapparazzi says. All transactions that occur on the platform are stored as an immutable ledger, which makes them tamper-proof and protects against cybersecurity threats thanks to the blockchain.

Plans for the future

The company is launching a pre-ICO on Sept. 14th, together with the release of the MVP. A private sale has helped Snapparazzi raise $5 million. The company believes that their strong community within social networks has had an impact on the success of the initial sales — with 85K followers of Snapparazzi on Telegram, 23K on Twitter, 16K on Instagram, 2260 ‘Karma Points’ on Reddit, etc.

The Snapparazzi team says that there are a few big steps planned for November 2018. There will be the start of the beta testing for the app and the release of SnapCoin on exchanges. At the end of the year, in December, the Snapparazzi app will be released on the App Store and Google Play. Next year, the company hopes to open offices in three continents, including North America, Asia and Europe, and will present the beta version of a live broadcast feature.