Kim Dotcom, the notorious hacker and entrepreneur of Megaupload, among others, has announced a new project several times: Megaupload 2.0. According to Mr. Dotcom, it will be possible to add a bitcoin transaction to any file uploaded through the platform. He calls this addition to his project ?????Bitcache?????.
Must read: Don?????t underestimate what Kim Dotcom could pull off with Megaupload 2.0 https://t.co/VgOQ0ZIVcw
?????ǥ Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) April 16, 2017
MegaUpload 2 & Bitcache first product demo with Kim Dotcom https://t.co/vhph7lRC63
?????ǥ BnkToTheFuture (@BankToTheFuture) April 11, 2017
Despite several announcements and the creation of a hype around Megaupload 2.0, little is known about the project and exactly how it will work. Still, it is interesting to delve deeper into our fantasy and discover an interesting underground layer: will Bitcoin make completely new online business models possible? In this article we analyze a new form of rewards.
We recently wrote about Brave, the browser that eliminates ads by enabling micropayments through a built-in Bitcoin wallet. 21.co offers the new Lists service where you can receive paid messages. This is similar to receiving messages on LinkedIn, from recruiters or companies, for example, but now you get a small compensation in exchange for your time.
Bitcache could work in a similar way but with a different goal: a decentralized (and anonymous) storage in combination with financial incentives. Brave, 21 inc and Bitcache are not the only ones focusing on the decentralized distribution of resources. Several start-ups are busy exporting these brand new possibilities to the user. Some examples are Openbazaar, sia.tech, STORJ, Yours Network & Maidsafe. We know the decentralized distribution of resources from P2P networks such as Bitorrent. But Wikipedia is also a good example. The arrival of Bitcoin means that new techniques and therefore new incentives can be added to these types of networks, such as financial rewards in combination with decentrality. So revolutionary.
The binding factor in all these developments is the distribution of resources (storage, power, internet, APIs, data, web content, etc.) in a decentralized manner. By eliminating intermediaries, the possibility of sharing resources and also combining micro-rewards with internet money bitcoin, new possibilities of income are activated.
Distribution of resources
If we look at Bitcoin, the network consists of nodes. A full node validates transactions and blocks and checks the rules from the protocol. Running a full node is currently not directly linked to economic incentives. From this perspective, therefore, it seems that contributing to the Bitcoin network partly requires an altruistic attitude: it costs power, bandwidth and disk space. It may not be directly linked to economic incentives, but it is indirectly. Running a node is necessary for the maintenance of the Bitcoin network, so it is a form of self-interest. A decentralized financial system based on mathematical principles offers many financial freedoms for everyone with access to the internet, worldwide. In addition, a full node minimizes counterparty risks: no trust is required in a third party, but it is fully managed in-house. The number of nodes is again important for the security of the network.
In short, running a full node comes partly from self-interest: maintaining the Bitcoin network to own bitcoins and contributing to the philosophy that makes Bitcoin possible, such as financial freedoms, programmable transactions and an irreversible truth.
Lightning Network, Payment channels & side chains
Although we talk extensively about micro-rewards through Bitcoin micropayments, we should consider technological developments within Bitcoin that will make this possible. Payment Channels, for example, are a solution, but the Lightning Network would really be a big step in activating these new business models. If we look at the aforementioned examples, for example, 21.co is based on a private network that tries to make microtransactions possible with the help of payment channels, they call this the “machine payable web”.
Lightning Network could complete this process efficiently, securely and without trust. Although the developments are in full swing, it is not yet usable (but on testnet) at the moment. In addition, sidechains can also offer a solution in these business models of the future that are based on micro-rewards.
A revolution in online revenue models?
The aforementioned initiatives show that there is a search for the right balance in making resources available in combination with economic rewards. Several altcoins also seek this balance. Maidsafe, for example, rewards the provision of disk space in the form of ?????Farming????? and is trying to set up an entirely new internet. sia.tech also rewards participants who make disk space available in the form of SIA coins.
The question is what added value micropayments actually have. Why not save and then send. But a payment that is cross-border without the intervention of third parties will in any case activate new use cases and change the world.
The revolution that Kim.com’s Bitcache promises is not unrealistic. Which use cases become successful? Time will tell, but it sure is interesting.
