BitTorrent tokens (BTT) are TRC-10 utility tokens based on the Tron blockchain. They will be used by all clients on the BitTorrent network, similar to ERC-20 tokens that are powered by the Ethereum network. The tokens will live within the Tron ecosystem and will serve to increase the total value of the network.

The token was created to foster faster speed on the world’s “largest decentralised application,” says Tron.

Tron’s head of peer-to-peer protocols and products announced the creation of this token in January 2019, with the aim to expand on its goal of creating a decentralised internet.

BitTorrent, the popular peer-to-peer file sharing platform, was purchased by Tron during 2018. Through BTT, BitTorrent users will be rewarded for sharing files, which means users can earn tokens for uploading files and sharing them with the network of users.

The token will only be available to non-US accounts through Binance Launchpad, the new listing service for entrepreneurs looking to raise their funds through the sale of tokens. The crypto exchange Binance announced the launch of Binance Launchpad with the aim of adding at least one new token every month in 2019, starting with BTT. The tokens will be distributed through airdrops. 

TRON (TRX) plans

Tron founder Justin Sun revealed that the platform has big plans in 2019 to integrate BitTorrent’s 100 million users into their decentralised protocol. Speaking on CNBC, Justin Sun said: “BitTorrent has been around since 2003. This is a very successful P2P network responsible for P2P file sharing. At the same time, it has more than 100 million active [monthly] users around the world.”

On January 28th, the token was sold for BNB and TRX tokens on Binance Launchpad. The BTT token sale raised a massive $7.2 million, with the sale completely selling out after just 15 minutes.

Tron is aiming to create a payment network sidechain to process all of the microtransactions that will be settled on the Tron blockchain. The payment network will then allow the BTT token to be used as a tool to either reward file sharing or to be spent by users who want faster downloads.

How will the TRC-10 token revitalise the crypto community?

One of the main reasons the token was created was to optimise user network speeds and to attain faster downloads. File hosts have more of an incentive to keep files available on the network as they will be rewarded in BTT for doing so. The more hosts there are ‘seeding’ the file on the network, the faster the download speeds for other users attempting to download the file.

BitTorrent’s protocol aims to “empower a new generation of content creators with the tools to distribute their content directly to others on the web.” The BTT token will allow BitTorrent peers to incentivise activities that lead to better file sharing.

The company want to create general decentralised mass adoption of content, which the new token will allow. Content creators do not have to worry about hosting their content on just one provider. BTT has proven it is able to handle large amounts of data and downloads, meaning the worry of performance issues will be minimal.

Investor opinions

With all the hype around the sale of the BTT tokens, it might seem unusual that people are already criticising the new token. However, many investors believe that BitTorrent is not legal, meaning the company should not have the right to enter the financial sphere. With that said, some have compared the token to BitConnect, the project that turned out to be one of the largest crypto scams of all time.

A former executive of BitTorrent has gone on to claim that the Tron network will not be able to handle the BitTorrent tokens. However, even with all these issues, nothing stopped the token from selling out in a matter of minutes. Another criticism of the token lies in the accusation that Tron’s code was plagiarised from other projects without actual acknowledgement of the original projects. Again, even with all of these FUD factors thrown into the mix, the token has performed very well in recent weeks.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.