2022

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WHAT DOES THE THETA NETWORK “YOUTUBE BLOCKCHAIN ALTERNATIVE” KNOW? A complete guide

5 minutes to read

Theta Network is the largest blockchain-based video sharing portal the Theta network. It’s cheaper and decentralized, as we like for a blockchain project. It’s a promising initiative, and Samsung and Sony have already backed it.

WHAT IS THETA NETWORK (THETA)?

Available at: Binance Huobi KuCoin, OKEx

Competitors: BAT, HIVE

Highest price: $14 / $0.00026 BTC

Lowest price: $0.04 / $0.0000094 BTC

(at the time or writing)

You can find up-to-date market information from THETA coin here.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH TRADITIONAL VIDEO SHARERS?

Sharing video content is not an easy business. One problem is that when materials are stored in one place, access is extremely slow. To eliminate this, video portals use many servers around the world, so streaming is hassle-free, an infrastructure called the Content Delivery Network (CDN) is utilized.

However, the operation of the CDN is very expensive, and since data centers charge the video website based on data traffic, if a portal becomes popular, the costs will multiply. On YouTube, for example, we either pay for a premium account or watch ads. If you’re not completely IT illiterate, you can use an adblocker or Brave browser. Although, given that YouTube still generates huge revenue, apparently this is not universal.

That’s where Theta.tv comes in.

WHAT IS THETA NETWORK?

Theta Network aims to reduce the costs that well-known video-sharing platforms pay for their operations. This is achieved by channeling some of the data stored on the CDN to Theta’s peer-to-peer network. The principle is similar to that of BitTorrent, where content is shared directly by users, but content producers are paid here. Theta Network does not seek to replace YouTube or Twitch, it merely offers an infrastructure where sharing works in more of a decentralized manner at lower costs.

If you watch a video on a streaming site that uses the Theta Network, you will get the data through a combination of two channels. The video comes partially directly from the website’s divisive platform and partly from Theta’s network. Although Theta Network is cheaper than centralized solutions, some costs have to be taken into account, which is what Theta cryptocurrencies are for.

THETA NETWORK WORKS WITH TWO COINS

Those who share video material using Theta Network will receive a payment, which is paid for by the platforms themselves, not by end users. To pay for streamed content, the network uses a standalone token called TFUEL.

Another cryptocurrency running on Theta Network is THETA. The main role of this token is network management. Basically, THETA owners can vote on the direction of development, so the community has the fate of Theta Network in their hands. For now, this process is still in its infancy, but it is planned to play a greater role in the future.

There is a fixed stock of THETA coins on the market, which is 1 billion coins, and no more is generated from that.  Stacking THETA, on the other hand, can yield TFUEL, of which 5.3 billion exists, 5% per year going to stake THETA holders, so that’s inflation.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THETA BLOCKCHAIN

Theta’s own blockchain is fast and designed for smaller transactions. This is a great way for content providers to get their TFUEL tokens right away, which never gets to be a bigger amount all at once. In the background, the infrastructure is based on a proof of stake consensus mechanism that delivers the staking model using the Tendermint blockchain code. During stakes, THETA coins are tied up at network nodes who are responsible for validating the transaction.

Validation of non-consensus blocks is protected by the system losing some of the stacked THETA coins, so it is in the interests of all involved in the process to operate authentically. As long as the stakers go with the shared ledger, they search the blockchain, but in case of fraud they lose anyway, which makes the transmission of the blockchain and transactions reliable.

In the logic of validation, there is another important thing that ensures safety. The Blockchain has two levels. First of all, there are validating nodes that are high-performance computers and can authenticate a lot of transactions very quickly. There are not many of them and they are typically operated by companies that have taken on the hardware and technical background needed to provide blockchain, e.g. Samsung or Sony. They have the capacity to keep transactions running on a global blockchain in order, both in terms of validation and general ledger entry.  The validator node also has another task: to stack 1 million THETA coins.

The other level on blockchain is made up of the community nodes. Their job is to monitor these validator nodes. There are thousands of community nodes, immediately indicating if a validator deviates from the consensus with a bad block, and they shut down the suspicious or malicious validator. The community node stakes 1000 THETA coins.

WHO IS WORKING ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THETA NETWORK?

The company to which Theta is credited is Theta Labs, whose CEO is Mitch Liu, the owner of Theta.tv. Compared to the size of the project, the team is small, there are only 25 people overall, in the San Francisco – Bay Area area, but they also recently opened an office in Seoul.

The company’s chief strategy manager claims Theta Labs generates just a token amount of revenue, but Theta.tv generates some profit. Financially, they rely mostly on investors, including Samsung and the Sony innovation fund, along with a range of additional equity funds. They run the validator nodes, four of which have announced that they will be working on a $100 million THETA coin that they had bought earlier at a much lower price than now.

the theta network

The advisory team includes executives from major media companies, such as Steve Chen, YouTube co-founder; Justin Kana, co-founder of Twitch and Jonathan Wong, director of product development at video streaming company Rakuten Viki.

Theta Labs has registered three patents with the U.S. Patent Office, all three describing technology innovations in video streaming on decentralized networks.

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Coinbase Futures? A huge move forward for the platform

3 minutes to read

Coinbase has already registered with NFA to be able to offer Coinbase futures products

Is Coinbase now aiming for new markets?

On September 15th 2021, as stated on the NFA’s (the National Futures Association) own website, the application – whose status is still set as ‘pending’ – was made under the name “Coinbase Global Inc.”.

This is proof in and of itself that the exchange has aspirations to be able to go further than only offering simple spot trading and also wants to now be a part of the lucrative business of derivative trading.

Coinbase announced on Twitter on September 16 that “this is the next step in expanding our offerings and offering futures and derivatives on our platforms.  Objective: Further growth of the crypt economy.

What is Derivative Trading?

Most usually, derivative contracts would come in the form of futures and options contracts:

Futures allow people to buy and sell contracts at a predetermined price, for example, Bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies) at a set time in the future; Option contracts work similarly, in the way that traders will buy or sell at a predetermined price, only here they can sell at any time, so long as it is before or when the contract expires and no later than that. Perpetual contracts — otherwise known as non-expiring futures — are yet another popular form of trading.

Why Did Coinbase Register With The NFA?

In the United States, there is a law stating that if a company wishes to sell to individuals, registration must be made with the official federal regulator known as CFTC (the Commodity Futures Trading Commission) which controls regulation in both commodities and all derivatives. Although the registration process is delegated to the NFA, meaning that any entity that wishes to be recognised by CFTC must first be an NFA member.

Coinbase futures
Cryptocurrency Versus the Derivative Market

In the more traditional financial markets, as well as in cryptocurrency, derivative trading is big business. Crypto derivatives markets are dwarfed by the size of spot markets.  Binance futures are up 3-1 in spot-to-spot searches. Inequality is even greater than the FTX. Coinbase has so far only watched as these competitors have created a market for crypto derivatives to the worth of nearly $150 billion, according to data found on CoinGecko.

After a lawsuit threat was given from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) where they stated one would be filed if USDC’s plans for a loan product went ahead, Coinbase is hoping for a much smoother transition than theirs into the world of futures and derivatives contracts.

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EGYPT IS BUILDING A NEW CAPITAL DISTRICT

6 minutes to read

Why does Egypt build a new capital district, and is this a good thing for their economy?

Why was a new Egyptian capital needed?

The explanation of this $40 billion project’s necessity is the simplest part of the whole thing, more space for an ever-growing population.

For the past decade, the country and its facilities had been at the mercy of a rapid average annual population growth of around 1.5 million people. The majority of these numbers are more densely spread across the upper part of the country and the immediate vicinity of the Nile. In 2020 the population exceeded 100 million and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect potential numbers of 128 million to be reached by 2030. 

In short, the increasingly crowded metropolis capital and its infrastructure will not be suitable for the number of millions of people predicted for 2030.

Other new cities had been built over the last 50 years, with 22 new ones being erected between 1977 and 2000. Although these are still being developed and standards are being kept to this day, it had unfortunately been found that these cities weren’t the answer to the problem. Therefore the cities were not completely fit for purpose with the number of people that had relocated to these places at the time were far below expected projections.

With confidence in the ‘suitability to needs’ of this build, it is planned to be able to accommodate SIX AND A HALF MILLION PEOPLE!

So, what will it look like?

Multiple themed districts, powered by a gargantuan solar park. Lampposts that emit WiFi signals for the inhabitants to use at will, as well as a modernized railway connecting the new build and its airport to Cairo.

All this already seems spectacular but there’s more, keeping in line with generally accepted ecological standards ‘The Green River’ – a public park placed in the city’s centre – is set to cover the equivalent of six Central Parks. In juxtaposition with this, the Business District is to break world records with its largest building reaching 1km high, add this to the 20 planned skyscrapers and that truly is an imposing image to imagine.

More about the new city itself:

The building of this new, more administrative capital started in the Sahara desert back in 2015, shortly after being first announced on March 23th of that year – the construction had been placed 45 Kilometers (25 miles) from Cairo, the already existing capital city.

As far as what can be found, no name has yet been given, nor applied for and because of this, it has been commonly referred to as ‘The New Administrative Capital’.

The first true stage of completion was set for the first part of November ’21, which meant it was ready for its first 2.5million inhabitants – a massive undertaking.

In the following month, after more preparations were made, government offices, ministries and embassies began their change of location from Cairo and so began the true legacy of this newfound administration capital.

Both Egypt’s largest mosque and its largest Christian church are already standing, as is the new presidential palace – this building alone surpasses the size of the United States‘ White House, eightfold.

So, will the build be a help or hindrance to the Egyptian Economy?

It is hard to say good or bad exactly as anything said now would be nothing but a vague prediction.

Let’s look at some key points and you can decide for yourself.

As we previously mentioned, ministries and officials are now well underway with the move over to the new city and all governmental duties will now be directed from the capital.

On top of this, from what we know, we can say that construction brings multiple topics to the surface:

The Army’s key role, the elite’s separation, how important the relationship with China is, as well as the new statehood;

  • Continued population growth will be greatly boosted as none of the 6.5Million places will be offered to the poorer of the community and Cairo’s overcrowding will be much less with the more affluent making the move over.
  • Administrative Capital for Urban Development – an Egyptian military-owned company is overseeing the entire project. Guardianship of the economy and the country as a whole, not just the borders, has always been a part of the military’s calling.
  • External relations have been exercised, using credit from China to boost available funding. As well as the fact that the implementation of plans is being shared with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation
  • The size of the buildings in the New Administrative Capital, inspired by ancient Egyptian architecture, makes the new settlement a symbol of power, meaning the historic capital, Cairo, will become more of a tourist attraction, filled with the poorer side of the locals.

Is the population issue a regional theme? A look outside this Egyptian city.

In Africa and the Middle East, the design or construction of futuristic cities began in several places. In 2017, Saudi Arabia announced a plan for an ultra-modern line-city in the desert called Neom, where there will be no roads and cars, artificial intelligence will run the infrastructure of the ecologically fully sustainable city. Similarly, Senegal (Diamniadio), Nigeria (Eko Atlantic) and Kenya (Konza Technopolis) are planning new metropolises.

This seems strangely megalomaniacal in a region where the average annual GDP growth per capita has been just over 1.5 per cent over the last thirty years. However, as populous grows, by more than 80 per cent in North Africa and the Middle East – from 254 million to 465 million, the result of 30 years in the region is 200 million more people and two and a half times as many economies – there is a basis for seemingly incredible plans, there is something, and some people, to build cities for.

So what do you think of the Egyptians’ Administrative Capital? Do its projected uses make it vastly better than the other new structures put up before it? Or will it once again leave the locals scratching their heads for more solutions to the population crisis? And what about the regional outlook?

NEW CAPITAL DISTRICT

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