What is the Theta Token (THETA)?

Theta is a decentralized video delivery system that aims to be the next generation of the video streaming industry. They do this by utilizing Web 3.0 and blockchain.

Think Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube… These are all Web 2.0 applications.

The problem with Web 2.0 is centralization.

With centralization comes restrictions and control which are imposed on the platforms. These can affect the creators and the users' ownership of their work. Theta aims to give back the ownership and control back to the creators and disrupt mainstream Web 2.0 platforms.

Key Points

• Theta is disrupting the Web 2.0 video streaming industry

• Theta has a two layer consensus model for extra security

• Theta network currently has two tokens that run the network, THETA and TFUEL.

Theta To Disrupt Traditional Video Streaming

While we can’t predict the future, the video streaming industry had been disrupted before by none other than Netflix. In the peak of 2004, Blockbuster was the number one home and movie and video rental services.

This was until Netflix became the first media and video on demand services. This disruption caused Blockbuster to go out of business while Netflix became a huge hit.

Web 3.0 tools and technologies are like the Internet of the 2000s. They aim to bring a completely new category of entertainment in the video streaming industry that focuses on peer-to-peer streaming and community first models.

Theta leverages the use of Web 3.0

First of all, let’s understand what Web 3.0 is.

If we look back to the early days of the internet, we call it Web 1.0. This was when the internet was just endless words and users had to be super specific about what they were searching. Web 2.0 is the emergence of Facebook and Amazon.

This is when new forms of media and communication were added to the internet. Web 2.0 brought people together from across the world.

Web 3.0 has a strong emphasis on decentralization and community. It’s about the creators taking back ownership of their creations and getting the recognition they deserve.

Web 3.0 removes the middlemen like Netflix or Facebook and turns the sharing of content peer-to-peer.

Theta uses the Web 3.0 business model to create Web3.0 versions of video streaming platforms like Youtube, Netflix and Amazon Prime.

1. Governance

With decentralization comes the opportunity for governance based on ownership of tokens.

The end-users like you and me can finally have a say in governance decisions like the direction of business, platform features and so on. This is done through the staking of THETA tokens.

2. Incentives

Users of the platform in Theta’s model are not just consumers of the product but also participate in the business. Users can share their bandwidth which enables Theta’s peer-to-peer technology.

This allows them to earn token rewards. This system allows users to stay engaged and interested in the platform.

3. Transparency and value

Smart contracts, NFTs and structured royalty models allow creators to be rewarded directly without having to go through a middle party.

4. Low Friction

This allows creators to launch their content regardless if it is a small content creator or a large video production company with little difficulty. Time to launch and costs are significantly reduced.

In addition, scalability is significantly increased as the Web 3.0 model benefits end-users and creators and this will increase engagement and usability.

5. Permissionless

The system is also permissionless which means anyone with open source tools and API can participate and add value to the platform. No job interview required.

What Services Is The Theta Network Looking To Disrupt?

1. Subscription-based streaming

Theta is looking to bring a new way for you to watch your shows with a lower cost. With Theta, users can watch and share their videos with others using the peer-to-peer network. Theta passes or NFTs can be used as an annual or even a lifetime subscription. If you don’t want it anymore, just sell it.

2. Ad-supported video streaming

Youtube is suffering from low user engagement and retention. Theta’s Web 3.0 solution will help decrease costs and shift to a peer-to-peer system where users are valued.

3. Transactional, pay-per-view

This would include Amazon Prime which allows blockbuster movies to have their releases online instead of theaters.

With Web 3.0 implemented, customers can support the launch of a movie franchise by providing them with a commemorative NFT that benefits them with offline services and special treatment for ongoing movies in the series.

The NFT benefits can include behind the scenes with actors, meet and greet opportunities and even the chance to be an actor in a future movie. Exciting!

This way, the royalties for a movie franchise is paid directly to the creators.

4. Tickets and live event performances

If you have tried to book a concert ticket for PewDiePie, you know the struggle is real.

The ticket industry is loaded with fraudulent secondary markets, bots and networks. Nearly 60% of all the tickets would have been purchased in the first few seconds of a launch leaving most of us having to pay a premium for tickets.

With Theta’s network,tickets can be replaced with Theta NFTs or passes that are easily traceable and trackable. The original IP holders are compensated for any secondary ticket sold and the bad bots are cut out.

5. Movie studios

Think Universal Studios and Paramount. The making of a movie is not cheap as it requires a lot of upfront funding and costs including marketing, props and actors.

With Web 3.0 and Theta, original creators can benefit by selling fractional ownership of Theta TNT-20 tokens for seed funding.

Token owners can also benefit by being entitled to a percentage of the gross profits. ThetaPasses can be used as virtual tickets to online premiers.

6. Local Sports teams

Sports teams have mainly relied on two sources of revenues which are ticket sales and broadcast rights.

With Web 3.0, sports teams can come up with a token for their fans where the holders can then participate in governance decisions like the stadium and team business decisions.

Staking these tokens can provide special privileges like VIP meet ups or exclusive merchandise.

These are just some of the many, many things we can do with the Theta Network to improve already existing services on the market.

Why Is The Theta Network So Valuable?

Theta prides itself on the peer-to-peer decentralized mode of delivery for its video streaming services. This is because this kind of model is highly cost effective and provides high quality streaming.

Theta does this by allowing end-users to share their unused bandwidth and earn tokens from this. The reward aspect of this would entice users to keep using Theta’s services.

Theta also has a dual token economy. It uses both THETA and Theta Fuel (TFUEL) token to keep its network running. THETA is the governance token which is staked as a validator or a guardian node. TFUEL is used for operations such as payments and rewards for staking. Think of TFUEL as the “gas fees” of the Theta Network.

In addition, Theta has the support of big players like Samsung, Google and Sony who are also running validator nodes. The partnerships with these brands could boost the reputation and user confidence in the Theta Network.

Theta Has Two Lines of Defenses

Theta’s actual mechanics is rather complicated and you can read their whitepaper to know more about the technical aspect of its network.

To simplify it, Theta is a peer-to-peer protocol that rewards users who participate in content distribution.

Developers are also able to build their decentralized apps (Dapps) on the network freely because of the open-source nature of the blockchain.

Theta uses a modified version of proof-of-stake (PoH). The stakers lock in their THETA tokens to process transactions on the blockchain.

They have three types of nodes who participate in the network:

1. Enterprise Validator Nodes

Companies like Google, Sony and Samsung stake 1 million THETA tokens to act as the first line of defense for the network as validator nodes.

2. Guardian nodes

Guardian nodes are community based nodes that secure the validation at certain points in the network. To be a guardian node, you need to stake 1000 THETA tokens. The role is to ensure that all transactions are correctly performed by the validator nodes.

3. Edge nodes

Edge nodes are responsible for sharing the bandwidth for Theta.tv. Those who participate as an edge node are rewarded with TFUEL tokens.

What Is The THETA Token Used For?

The THETA token is the governance token of the THETA blockchain.

It is mainly used as a governance token where token holders can vote on different activities for the ecosystem such as payment decisions. The vote depends on the number of tokens the holder has.

THETA vs Bitcoin : Which Is Better?

THETA and Bitcoin are quite different in terms of their technicals and utility. Bitcoin was launched much earlier than Theta. As a result, Theta has a more advanced blockchain building off many different blockchains that came after Bitcoin.

Uses

Bitcoin is now seen as a store of value or “digital gold”. It was launched as a secure decentralized alternative to fiat currency.

Theta was launched to create an advanced video streaming platform incorporating the use of blockchain.

Consensus mechanism

Bitcoin uses Proof-of-Work (PoW) to validate transactions on its blockchain whereas THETA uses a modified Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model.

A PoW model requires a significant amount of electricity for the miners to validate transactions.

As a result, THETA is a lot more environmentally friendly than Bitcoin as less electricity is used to validate transactions.

Reputation

Bitcoin has had a pretty good reputation with investors as it has been around the longest and was the original altcoin. Bitcoin investors tend to hold it for the long term.

THETA is not as popular as Bitcoin. Although it has backing from large companies like Google and Samsung, less people know about its platform and use case.

Mitch Liu Says Challenges Are Never As Hard As They Seem To Be

Mitch Liu is the founder of Theta Labs and he had been the co-founder of multiple companies prior to Theta. This included Tapjoy, Inc and Gameview Studios which created TapFish.

Tapfish was one of the first free games to emerge on iOS and Android that reached top charts within 90 days of its launch.

Mitch Liu’s top two superpowers would be to not have to sleep and to have the ability to fly!

He currently holds two positions as CEO of Theta Labs and THETA.tv.

In an interview, he mentioned that we should be teaching kids to always try their best even when the challenge is difficult and it will get easier over time.

How Can You Buy THETA?

There are several exchanges that you can use to buy THETA. Here are a few you can use:

• Binance

• KuCoin

• Coinbase

• Crypto.com

• Huobi Global

Firstly, you will have to create a Theta wallet that is issued by the Theta team.

The wallet is free to access via a PC. Once the wallet is generated, you will get a security phrase which is a recovery phrase used to recover your wallet if it’s lost.

Make sure this phrase is kept safe because you don’t want to lose your THETA tokens, do you?

Once you have an account with an exchange and have made a deposit into the exchange, you can proceed to buy THETA.

Transfer the THETA tokens into the wallet once the purchase is made.

Theta’s Development Over The Years

November, 2017 - Theta Token and blockchain announced on Medium.com.

January, 2018 - The first Theta token sale was launched as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum.

March, 2019 - Theta Network launched its Mainnet 1.0.

May, 2020 - Theta Network launched Mainnet 2.0 with introduction of Guardian nodes.

July, 2021 - Mainnet 3.0 was launched with a smart contract element.

How To Stake This Coin?

There are two ways to stake THETA however the most accessible one is staking for Guardian nodes.

Staking through Web Wallet

1. Access Theta Web Wallet via the desktop or a laptop

2. Ensure “Mainnet: THETA mainnet (Default)” is selected under the Theta Wallet logo.

3. Unlock Theta Wallet using your access method (seed, keyword, phrase)

4. Once the wallet is unlocked, select “Stakes” and click “Deposit stake” and select “Guardian Node”.

5. Enter your text string from your Guardian Node app under the “Guardian Node Holder (Summary)” field.

6. Choose an amount of THETA to stake and click “Deposit Stake”. (you will need 1000 THETA to stake under Guardian nodes)

7. One TFUEL token is required to pay the transaction fee.

8. After verifying the transaction, click “Confirm and Deposit Stake”.

Staking through mobile wallet

1. Download Theta Wallet App from App Store or Play Store. (make sure the version is 2.0)

2. Select “Mainnet: THETA mainnet (Default)” in the drop down menu located below the Theta logo.

3. Once the wallet is unlocked, click “Stakes” and then proceed to “Deposit”.

4. In the “Guardian Node Holder (Summary)” field, click the QR code icon and use your device to scan the QR code from your Guardian Node app.

5. Select the amount of THETA to stake. (you will need 1000 THETA to stake under Guardian nodes)

6. One TFUEL token is required to pay the transaction fee.

7. Click next and confirm.

Final Thoughts on THETA

THETA is a cryptocurrency that powers the Theta Network, a decentralized video streaming platform. It incentivizes users to contribute to the network by relaying video streams and caching video data in exchange for THETA tokens.

With a limited supply of 1 billion tokens, THETA's deflationary nature could result in value appreciation. The Theta Network's partnerships with industry players like Samsung and Google could increase adoption and demand for THETA.

Its market capitalization has grown significantly since its launch and it is listed on major cryptocurrency exchanges.