By
Steve Muchoki
April 24th, 2024
Peer-to-peer torrent client BitTorrent acquired by Tron is creating its native token, BitTorrent (BTT), that will run on the Tron protocol.
The recently ended 2018 was an important year for peer-to-peer torrent client BitTorrent. As CoinSpeaker has reported earlier, in summer it was acquired by a blockchain-focused startup Tron owned by Justin Sun.
Six months later Rogelio Choy, who had been the company’s CEO for quite a long time, decided to leave BitTorrent. And it seems that quite soon a new, blockchain-oriented chapter in the company’s history will begin.
BitTorrent Token
As it has become known, BitTorrent, which was a pioneer in offering peer-to-peer technology for sharing files on the internet, is going to launch its own cryptocurrency. The idea to issue its native token is the first BitTorrent’s attempt to tokenize its content sharing ecosystem.
The new BitTorrent Token (BTT) will be issued in the framework of Project Atlas and is said to run on the Tron protocol and to have native TRC-10 compatibility, it means that the tokens to be issued by the Singapore-based BitTorrent Foundation will meet a technical token standard supported by the Tron blockchain.
According to the information revealed by the company, this new token will be used by BitTorrent’s 100-million client base to pay for higher network speed and faster downloads.
But the launch of BTT is not just the company’s strategy to make their clients spend more money. Using BTT to ensure speedy downloads will also help to make speeds for other BitTorrent faster.
On BitTorrent media is downloaded via using shared resources from other clients in the network. So, while one user is downloading files, he is automatically uploading media for some other people. But this activity is absolutely altruistic.
Some people stop their BitTorrent clients as soon as they get their media downloaded as there are no rewards for them to keep their files available for other downloaders. But with BTT the company will offer blockchain-based rewards for provision media and infrastructural services.
How BTT Will be Distributed
As it has been reported, BTT will be available for non-U.S. users on Binance Launchpad, which is the token sale platform operated by a well-known cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
Changpeng Zhao, Binance CEO and Founder, said:
“BitTorrent is a decentralized project by nature, with a large user base, that is now adding a new token economy to their use case. Through Launchpad, BitTorrent will have greater access to resources across the Binance ecosystem. This will be a case study for existing projects.”
Moreover, BTT will be also sent to some selected addresses via airdrops later in January.
BitTorrent’s Vision
Nevertheless, the launch of its native token is only the beginning. According to Justin Sun, “BitTorrent token is the first in a series of steps to support a decentralized internet.”
Speaking about their new initiative, Justin Sun, founder of Tron and CEO of BitTorrent, stated:
“In one giant leap, we can introduce blockchain to hundreds of millions of users around the world and empower a new generation of content creators with the tools to distribute their content directly to others on the web.”
It is believed that Tron and BitTorrent will disclose more details about BitTorrent token in the framework of niTROn Summit that will take place on January 17–18 in San Francisco.