Unlike YouTube, Vimeo and other popular video streaming services, the Boost VC-funded startup uses a bitcoin micropayment channel to enable viewers of digital content to incentivise the creators directly.
The standup comedian and JRE podcast host Joe Rogan and bitcoin expert Andreas Antonopoulos expressed their strong support to the idea of an ad-free bitcoin-based video sharing platform during the podcast episode 844.
In a discussion concerning the applicability and adaptability of bitcoin in the existing industries and platforms, Antonopoulos and Rogan went over the concept of a micro payments-based video sharing platform where viewers of the content pay a few cents to access the digital content. The image of an ad-free bitcoin-based video sharing platform surfaced, which Rogan seemed to believe was too good to be true. “Cutting of advertising? Good luck” the host said.
PopChest claims they have created the service Antonopoulos and Rogan were “dreaming” about.
The Bitcoin payments on the PopChest platform are dealt by the publishers and viewers directly in a peer to peer network. The platform implies no mediator or third party payment service provider to handle transactions, which is expected to significantly reduce transaction and service fees that are usually charged to the creators.
As a community-supported video platform, PopChest promises to display no advertisements nor accept external advertisers. The only payment that content creators will receive is from the incentives viewers offer directly. The PopChest development team believes that the platform’s ad-free ecosystem will grant the company an advantage over other competitors.
“What if Netflix and YouTube had a baby? The quality of Netflix with the freedom of YouTube. But without annoying ads, like YouTube, or paying for stuff you never watch, like Netflix,” PopChest states.
However, many members of online bitcoin discussion groups expressed their concerns about the platform citing issues with monetization and consistent income, which creators may struggle to deal with.
According to the development team of PopChest, a QR code will be displayed to viewers to enable the playback of the video. Once it is paid, the video is enabled and opened to the user.
The developers also conducted a case study with NurdRage who operates a popular YouTube channel.
“With over 600,000 subscribers, YouTube star NurdRage offered exclusive content on PopChest to engage his most passionate followers. He put a short teaser video on his YouTube channel with a link to PopChest. Eight hundred paid views on PopChest generated 4x more revenue than 50,000 ad-supported views on YouTube,” said the PopChest team.
It is known that advertisement networks and video platforms like YouTube take away a significant portion of ad revenue from publishers to fund their operations, which substantially limits actual creators’ gains. PopChest charges a relatively small percentage of creators’ income to run the platform and pay for additional services such as streaming, video encoding, hosting, and payment processing.
Considering the outrage that has taken over YouTube in the past few weeks regarding demonetisation, it seems as a good time for a bitcoin-based video platform to enter. Despite the criticism of some bitcoin users, many believe that PopChest is heading the right direction in attempting to eliminate the outdated ad-based business model and implementing a direct monetization system for creators.
Joseph Young
