BitTorrent Live Streaming Platform Begins Internal Testing

BitTorrent, the leading peer-to-peer streaming protocol, this quarter is about to begin internal testing of its BitTorrent Live social streaming platform, which combines blockchain technology with a community live streaming application.

With BitTorrent Live, or BLive, you can create live video content, connect with people who share the same passions, and potentially earn by expressing your creativity and find friends around the world.

BLive incorporates a new gifting mechanism where users can tip with BTT and other cryptocurrencies, and broadcasters can earn cryptocurrency while expanding their user base. BLive has a wide range of features, including audio/video livestreams, a real-time instant messaging system that lets multiple users communicate and collaborate, and deposit/withdrawal services of BTT and other cryptocurrencies.

“With the continuous growth of telecommunication technology and social media, livestreams have gained a tremendous edge and have become the dark horse of online communication,” said Justin Sun, founder of TRON and CEO of BitTorrent. “It gives rise to outstanding content creators who have thousands of followers but don’t get their fair share of advertisements and virtual gifts.”

Most content creation platforms take a huge cut of the profits generated, with some as high as 90 percent.

As a blockchain-based livestream platform, BLive strives to make reward distribution fairer for content creators and bring in more revenue for those in the internet industry, particularly in the upcoming era of superfast 5G connectivity.

One major goal of BLive is to overcome the challenge of cross-border payments. Utilizing cryptocurrency, BLive combines the livestream industry with the token economy and explores more use cases. BTT payment will no longer be limited in areas lacking e-payments. By using BLive, users can deposit and withdrawal their assets anywhere in the world with zero transaction fees, instant delivery, and enhanced security and convenience.

Compared with traditional livestream platforms, BLive stands out in the following areas:

• BLive enjoys a strong user base provided by the BitTorrent ecosystem which has 100 million Monthly Active Users, creating a built-in install path in its initial phase
• BLive uses a cryptocurrency-based economic system, providing a safe and convenient cross-border payment channel that addresses the payment challenges in underdeveloped regions
• BLive’s profit-sharing ratio is 7:3 (70 percent to the platform and 30 percent to broadcasters) while the industry norm is 9:1. By giving broadcasters a great share of the revenue, it could encourage more people to jump into the live broadcasting sphere and lure top names from other platforms.

Thanks to BLive’s unique advantages, the design of its underlying system and economic system flows easily.

(1) The underlying system

As the world’s first blockchain-based livestream product with hundreds of millions of users, BLive has a simple, convenient, and powerful underlying system, providing users with a smooth blockchain application experience. The underlying system includes account system, user relationship, deposit & withdrawal, gifting system, top users chart, and instant messaging module, etc. The audio/video livestream service is built upon it.

The instant messaging module includes: video/audio access, one-to-one/one-to-many audio/video matching、IM system and video processing system. BLive supports various payment/withdrawal methods including credit cards, third-party payment systems like PayPal, Google Wallet, Android Pay, Apple Pay, WeChat, Alipay, and Bitcoin、BTT.

(2) Economic system

By adopting a decentralized architecture and enabling BT users to hold blockchain/smart-contract-based tokens, BLive intends to establish a comprehensive, scalable, and sustainable digital entertainment ecosystem with a payment system that is open, fair, and democratic. BTT will be the major cryptocurrency of BLive’s gifting system, which can be used for several different purposes:

• Virtual gifts: Users can exchange BTT tokens for virtual gifts, and broadcasters can cash the gifts into BTT tokens. This means BLive will lower the threshold for using cryptocurrencies, expand the user base, and enhance the BTT ecosystem.
• Incentives for the community: members of the community will receive BTT token rewards by participating in activities including technical maintenance, content creation, and event planning, etc.

All transaction history will be recorded in distributed ledgers and open to all participants so as to ensure openness and fairness. The system will also provide a user-friendly interface for users to look up their records.

Three Stages of BLive

Stage 1: Alpha version — invite a selected group of users for internal testing. Build the underlying system incorporating account system, user relationship, payment system, gifting system, top user chart, and instant messaging module, etc. Develop audio/video livestream service.

Estimated time of completion: Q3, 2019.

Stage 2: Beta version — launch public testing in the entire network. Launch MainNet test, release on Android and Apple app stores, roll out livestream feature, build the system to match users for 1v1 video livestream.

Estimated time of completion: end of Q4 2019.

Stage 3: Full version — roll out the first official commercial version of BLive. Promote extensively in overseas markets, establish overseas subsidiaries, recruit & train broadcasters, and improve the overall community ecosystem. Set up local deposit stations in areas with poor infrastructure. Educate local users on blockchain basics to make the product more accessible.

Estimated time of completion: end of Q1 2020.

Entertainment has long been the industry that brings new technology and new ways of socializing to the center of public attention. Thanks to BitTorrent’s hundreds of millions of users, BLive has the potential to become a blockchain-based livestream platform with the most token holders. It will also make blockchain more commercially applicable, and strengthen the BTT ecosystem.

Justin Sun, TRON’s founder, said, “The launch of BLive marks yet another major application of BitTorrent’s decentralized network. It will contribute to TRON’s system building and practical development in a decentralized ecosystem. We hope to get great feedback from BLive’s early users. From there, we can add more features, technologies, and create better experiences and quality service.”

About BLive

BLive is a blockchain livestream platform based on the TRON and BitTorrent Protocols. The two protocols are respectively one of the world’s largest blockchain-based decentralized application operating systems, and the world’s largest decentralized protocol. With a billion-level user base, BLive is set to bring disruptive effects to the current mainstream livestream platforms which are under centralized management; providing global users with decentralized audio and video livestream entertainment services.

About TRON

TRON is dedicated to building the infrastructure for a truly decentralized Internet. The TRON Protocol, one of the largest blockchain-based operating systems in the world, offers high-scalability, high-availability, and high-throughput support that serves as the foundation for all decentralized applications in the TRON ecosystem. The Protocol also uses an innovative, pluggable smart contract platform to improve compatibility with Ethereum smart contracts.

Since July 24, 2018, TRON has acquired BitTorrent Inc., an Internet technology company based in San Francisco. The distributed technologies designed by BitTorrent Inc. can scale efficiently, keep intelligence at the edge, and keep creators and consumers in control of their content and data. More than 170 million people use BitTorrent products every month. BitTorrent Inc.’s protocol delivers 40% of the world’s Internet traffic every day.

About BitTorrent

The BitTorrent Protocol is the largest decentralized protocol in the world, with over 1 billion users. BitTorrent developed and has been maintaining the BitTorrent Protocol; with various forms of implementations, BitTorrent and μTorrent remain the most popular. The BitTorrent Protocol has reached a strategic partnership with the TRON Protocol, making TRON the world’s largest decentralized ecosystem and BitTorrent the world’s largest distributed application. On July 24, 2018, TRON completed the acquisition of the P2P downloading network BitTorrent and all its products.