What is Channels

You have probably seen that Channels is “a new social content network fueled by cryptocurrency”. If you have the appetite, you can read the gory details in our whitepaper. If not, read on and I’ll give you the big picture.

First, think about Twitter. You have a feed of tweets from others that you follow. That’s a good way to start to think about Channels. It’s a place where you can post content to anyone and see the content posted by others that interest you.

Now replace each of those tweets with items that are more like apps. Each “card” can have its own look, and can behave in its own unique way. Each card is optimized for the type of information it is presenting. These cards can be interactive and even collaborative. For example, imagine a card that is designed to share a recipe with you. It shows you a checklist of ingredients, a way to step through instructions, and a video. It’s the perfect experience of a recipe. That’s just one card. The card below it could be a game or an interactive photo array or just about anything cool that you might find on the internet, all right there within one post in Channels.

Just like Twitter, if you see a card you like, repost it to your followers.

Next, imagine that there is a little price tag on each card. Let’s just say that this price tag could be positive or negative. If positive, you have to pay a bit to the person who posted the card. If negative, they are going to pay you. These are real payments in real money. They’re just not in US Dollars. They are in a new cryptocurrency called ChannelCoin that is exchangeable for US Dollars.

Channels is the network that makes this possible. It enables these tiny transactions between you and others using ChannelCoins. The network helps establish pricing so that you never have to open your wallet. The network finds cards for you whose publishers will pay you just enough to cover the costs of the cards that you pay others for.

If you start publishing cards then all of the money you make from those cards is yours to keep. You can exchange it for US Dollars or any other currency anytime you want.

As someone who posts content on the internet today, you’ll like Channels because you earn money when someone views it. If you are an advertiser, you can post content that you want others to see, and you can pay them for the privilege of getting their attention — without having a middleman between you and the consumer. And everyone can enjoy Channels because the financial incentives improve the quality of the content and cards allow that content to really shine.

Channels will be going live this fall. If you’d like to learn more, visit our website or follow us on Twitter.