What is ‘A Store of News Value’?

What do we mean when we say that NewsBlocks is a ‘store of news value’?

We have taken this terminology from Bitcoin, which, as it has developed it has become known as a ‘store of value’ i.e. it performs a similar function to assets such as gold or silver.

Some people think of Bitcoin as digital gold, although it has more functions than gold, which cannot be easily used as a currency or for fast payments.

A recent article noted that for a digital currency to be able to be used as an effective method of exchange it must first act as a store of value. At first, as the currency rises in value through speculation currency holders would rather hold on to it than spend it. If the currency is appreciating in value it makes sense not to give the potential gains away to someone else. However, once the currency becomes stable it is seen as a store of value.

If I buy 1 Bitcoin today for $6380 and know they will be worth the same amount in a year, then I can feel confident that I can buy $6380 of goods over the year. As Bitcoin matures it will become ‘sound money’ i.e. its value will be stable and will not be able to be manipulated by governments or third parties.

NewsBlocks attempts to create a stable marketplace for news data, by — for the first time — allowing each piece of news data to be priced by the market in a currency that is stable. When a contributor adds news into the system it has no value. However, as applications make requests for the data the price is set through an auction system that matches supply and demand. Higher value news, such as breaking news from a disaster area, will fetch a premium on this market.

As more news is added to the blockchain the demand for NewsBlocks tokens also rises, until a stable price level is found. Then we enter the era of ‘sound news’ — news that is not only verified, but that is priced on an open market.