Livestreaming Pioneer Reveals New Product, First Blockchain-based Video Platform

YouNow, the global video platform that pioneered social livestreaming, has today announced the PROPS Ecosystem, a group of media applications powered by a new cryptocurrency, PROPS. An Ethereum-based ERC20 token, PROPS will power social participation in digital media and be released in an upcoming Token Distribution Event (TDE) this fall. This announcement, made by YouNow CEO Adi Sideman and SVP of Business Yonatan Sela today at an industry summit in Zurich, also includes Rize, the first application within the PROPS Ecosystem and the first blockchain-based video platform to reward users, content contributors and developers with cryptocurrency.

The PROPS Ecosystem, governed by a non-profit foundation, is built on the mission of creating a decentralized model for digital media that uses blockchain technology to fairly reward the contributors that power the network. PROPS will be hosted on the Ethereumblockchain and serve as the base utility token for applications within the ecosystem, granting users access to features and content, ability to promote content and signal status within the community, among other uses. Third party application developers, content creators, publishers and end-users will be incentivized to participate in the Ecosystem by earning PROPS.

YouNow CEO, Adi Sideman said: “A blockchain-based network offers a unique opportunity to reshape the digital media landscape. And that’s what we’re building: an ecosystem of video applications that is designed to decentralize media and change its disproportionate distribution of value. Over the past few years, individuals who contributed computing power to support Bitcoin and Ethereum, benefited and grew with those networks. Now, social media users can receive rewards for their contribution to th network and get a personal stake in the community they’re building. Over time, the majority of PROPS will be held by the public.”

The first application hosted on the PROPS Ecosystem, Rize is an open video platform that connects new many-to-many video technology with tokenized virtual gameplay and economic incentives for its participants. Elevating the mobile video experience, Rize integrates interactive content streams including live global broadcasts, video streams, and native apps and games designed by the Rize community. The Rize app will be available for download upon Token Distribution to the public.

“Decentralizing and tokenizing digital media is a powerful notion – imagine if the early users of Facebook or Snapchat had a stake in those networks. Historically, blockchain products have seen limited adoption by mainstream users. The YouNow team was the first to popularize mobile live video in the U.S., and now they stand to introduce cryptocurrencies to the mass market. This might be the first token economy to launch into a community of creators and viewers who already spend and receive virtual items. ” Said David Pakman, Partner at Venrock, a venture capital firm invested in YouNow.

Since 2011, YouNow has been a pioneer in the live streaming video space and the first company to successfully implement a microtransaction-driven two-sided economy within the context of video entertainment, allowing YouNow to reward its content creators. Over the past three years, YouNow generated over $50 million in virtual goods sales and shared the majority of its earnings with its content creators.