In recent years, the problems of internet privacy, identity fraud, misinformation, and data mining have come to light to the everyday consumer. At the same time, the use of the internet has continued to grow as everyday users look to the internet for anything from groceries to free entertainment content. With the growing use of the internet, the problems that the everyday consumer continues to face seem to go unchecked; however, a growing number of companies are aiming to alleviate those problems with a new solution.
Many companies are looking to blockchain and cryptocurrencies as a feasible solution to these problems. Companies have seen the failure of Facebook with the Cambridge Analytica data scandal and push by Europe General Data Protection Regulation and are looking to get ahead of the problem before it gets any worse. In that light, different companies have used the blockchain to alleviate a particular problem.
Current Media, led by co-founder and CEO Dan Novaes, is looking to fix the problem with YouTube. Currently, those who put their content on the site aren’t necessarily paid adequately for the content and their pay structure is under a lot of controversies. People use YouTube to listen to music for free instead of using Spotify, for instance, which allows artists to generate money for the music they have created. To alleviate the problem, Current Media created a cryptocurrency unit, which they refer to as a CRNC token, they can be used to reward content creators. They are partnering with different streaming media services to explore exactly how to deploy the CRNC tokens most efficiently, but hope it will make the pay structure more efficient.
Verasity, a company co-founded by Adam Simmons, is developing a business model using blockchain that they hope will eliminate fake content. Similar to the model by Current Media, Verasity’s platform will be fueled by a token, known as VERA Token, which can be purchased with Bitcoin’s or Ethereum. In return, consumers will then be able to pay their favorite creators to produce material and viewers get paid for investing in channels as they acquire more views. Likewise, viewers get paid by advertisers versus advisers paying creators. Simmons feels this model will be much more effective to the consumer. In his words, “More importantly, users see what they hit, it’s not a negative experience. It has a positive effect on the way the viewer engages.”
Finally, RightMesh, headed by CEO John Lyotier, is looking to get peer-to-peer network access to countries which have limited internet access. They work with develops to determine what forms of telecommunications are in place, other than the internet, and then find ways to operate that peer-to-peer network via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connections. In turn, users can get access to the internet on their Android devices and can be rewarded for sharing their data through the RMESH token, which is backed by Ethereum. In the words of Lyotier, “Blockchain is going to change the world if you have connectivity. Without blockchain technology and communication, cryptocurrency wouldn’t reach its potential.”
