paint-brush
BitClout Creator Coins: A Decentralized Way to Engage with Followersby@benchi
236 reads

BitClout Creator Coins: A Decentralized Way to Engage with Followers

by Menajem BenchimolJune 23rd, 2021
Read on Terminal Reader
Read this story w/o Javascript
tldt arrow

Too Long; Didn't Read

BitClout is the first cryptocurrency protocol social network based around a community, brand, or influencer. The platform is relatively small with 300,000 signed up users and 8,000 DAU. It is a fully open-source project that uses coins and code with no company behind it. The value of someone’s coin is correlated to their standing in society. For instance, if Elon Musk succeeds in landing the first person on Mars, his coin price should ideally climb. On the other hand, if he makes an inappropriate statement during an interview, his price should supposedly drop.

Companies Mentioned

Mention Thumbnail
Mention Thumbnail
featured image - BitClout Creator Coins: A Decentralized Way to Engage with Followers
Menajem Benchimol HackerNoon profile picture

Cryptocurrency isn’t going anywhere soon with the next biggest trend after NFTs being social tokens. This kind of cryptocurrency is based around a community, brand, or influencer. Essentially, it’s a way for celebs or internet groups to align with their followers and unlock a new monetizing tool beyond the typical means.

Let’s dive in to see how BitClout is boosting the creator economy with social tokens.

What is BitClout?

BitClout is the first cryptocurrency protocol social network. It's an open-source blockchain like Bitcoin. However, unlike Bitcoin, BitClout supports complex social network data such as follows, posts, speculation features, profiles, and more at considerably greater scale and throughput. Anybody can buy and sell the BitClout cryptocurrency with Bitcoin in minutes through blockchain.com or natively in the app.


How BitClout Works

The BitClout blockchain has its native cryptocurrency called $CLOUT. You can use this currency to perform various activities on the platform, such as: 

  • Buying and selling creator coins
  • Sending messages to people
  • Submitting posts of your own
  • Sending diamonds to posts
  • Minting NFTs

Every profile on the platform gets its own coin called “creator coin”, the price of which goes up or down depending on how many people are buying or selling it.

To buy someone’s coin, just navigate to their profile and hit “Buy.” You can find someone’s profile either by searching for it or by visiting the creator coin leaderboard. 

BitClout has preloaded the Twitter profiles for the top 15,000 influencers into its platform, which means you can buy and sell their coins even though they're not on the platform yet. They did this to prevent fakes of accounts.

Concerns

  • Many people are concerned about the growth strategy bitclout launched with, by creating creator coins of celebrities without their consent.
  • The platform is relatively small with 300,000 signed up users and 8,000 DAU.
  • Due to its free market nature, many are concerned of “rug pulling” or pump and dump schemes. Many of these concerns are being treated by the community.
  • Mental health issues by attaching a coin to a person.

Why Use BitClout?

Just as bitcoin is decentralizing money, BitClout is decentralizing social media.

It is a fully open-source project that uses coins and code with no company behind it.

This means anyone can build a social app onto it. Building a brand from scratch is hard, especially if you get cancelled on another social platform and lose all your hard work.

On bitclout, due to its censorship-resistant nature, no company can “cancel” you. There can be social apps built on top of bitclout that can sensor you, but on the blockchain your content stays forever.

However, it’s important to understand that the value of someone’s coin is correlated to their standing in society. For instance, if Elon Musk succeeds in landing the first person on Mars, his coin price should ideally climb. On the other hand, if he makes an inappropriate statement during an interview, his coin price should supposedly drop. 

Therefore, if you truly believe in someone’s potential, you can buy their coin and succeed with them monetarily when they realize their potential. 

Support Your Favorite Creator Coin

Suppose you go to a concert and you love the singer. Or, you buy a book and you are deeply impressed with the author. BitClout gives you the opportunity to capture investment in their future reputation by earning a coin royalty. This means along with the creator prospering, their entire follower-base prospers. 

As a creator, investing in BitClout is far better than creating ads. It creates a more direct relationship between creators and their followers, which is truly unique and aligns incentives toward generating higher-quality content. Moreover, due to BitClout’s open-source nature, no entity sits between the creator and their followers.

Who is backing the project

Many A-list VCs are backing the project and are active on the platform like Chamath, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Coinbase Ventures and more

Patrick Bet David, Dharmann, Lewis Howes, Hubspot CTO, Dharmesh Sha and Robert Cohen, Managing Partner Benson Oak Ventures are very active on the platform as well.

Join the Creator Economy with BitClout

By mixing financial guesswork with social media, BitClout creates innovative ways for creators to monetize themselves –without relying on ads. Learn more about BitClout here.

DISCLAIMER: I am not an investment advisor and this is not financial advice. I am not (remotely) suggesting you should do what I did. Cryptocurrency is a highly volatile asset. Invest at your own risk.