BitTube genesis. Recap of 2018, the end of the start.

On an island somewhere in the Atlantic a small team of developers was working on a streaming service solution. At a party during a bustling discussion about the current streaming opportunities for gamers they saw a gap and have decided to launch a platform that will revolutionise how people broadcast their passion. This article follows their milestones that even they were not aware of from the beginning.

At this time, a shift from centralized Internet services to decentralization was under way and the peer-to-peer network known as Interplanetary file system (IPFS) draw their attention. It offered the groundbreaking technology and one of the most efficient content delivery solutions. InterPlanetary BroadCast peer-to-peer video platform (ipbc.io) was launched later on. Users going live on the platform were required to install a sender software for live streaming. Uploads were hosted on the IPFS. At that time monetization ability was just an idea through web mining performed by the viewers.

31 January 2018

Start of the blockchain. First coin was mined.

The IPBC coin was born via custom light version of the CryptoNote protocol. The emission of the total supply of 1 billion coins is expected to be reached in the year 2050. The project didn’t pre-mine coins and restrained from organizing an ICO. Funding was provided from the founder, lead developer and CEO MSc Saber Maram. First wallet was released for windows under the name IPBC GUI wallet and a Mac version followed soon.

Listing on Livecoin exchange.

The first exchange to list TUBE ( IPBC coin) was Livecoin and Coinmarketcap website added it on the 6th of March. That month another two exchanges listed the project.

April

Rebrand from IPBC to BitTube.

Since the beginning the team listened to the community’s feedback and all suggestions were welcome. The rebrand came together with a major layout and performance improvements on the video platform. The biggest addition was the YouTube connector allowing users to import the content of their YouTube channel. An ability to protect uploads via encryption and premium videos functionalities were deployed. Developers were busy optimizing the RTC savings delivering good results for live streaming of the football world cup sustaining around 200k concurrent viewers daily.

May

Listing on Bittrex exchange.

One of the most important milestones was listing on Bittrex exchange. The trusted trading platform accepts only legitimate cryptocurrencies providing proof that TUBE coin meets all industry standards.

That month the blockchain forked away from CryptoNote to Monero source, a privacy focused cryptocurrency, with fast and secure transactions. Heavy customisations to the CryptoNight mining algorithm favoured GPUs over CPU and ASICs. This made the mining difficulty more predictable allowing low entry that benefits smaller miners. The new “algo” was named after the founder called Saber heavy CN with disabled hardware-based encryption. Until today no ASICs and FPGAs thread the BitTube network.

June

GUI version 2.0.0.0 with integrated miner.

BitTube is always user-friendly oriented. The release of the GUI wallet version 2.0 made mining as simple as possible. Anyone could mine TUBEs without complicated setups. The wallet offers address book management and “view only” wallet functionalities used currently by the WooCommerce payment gateway add-on.

July

BitTube video platform Android app.

Short lived the Android app was killed by Google censorship and fake evidence of sexually explicit content. Currently the app is available at the decentralized app store Aptoide. For more details this article explains the case.

August

AirTime launch.

The AirTime model replaced the legacy monetization mechanism on the video platform where viewers’ devices were performing mining activity for the content creator. The old model was not effective and mobile viewing was not suitable. The core proposition of AirTime is to create an equal opportunity for all BitTube users while mining is done by professional miners. The new model is a complex and ever evolving method that provides fair monetization guarantee without overloading users’ devices. Publishers have no minimum requirements prior to start making profit from their content. To flourish the ecosystem viewers also get rewards for their time being active online.

BitTube video platform iOS app.

Apple store apparently has no objections to BitTube app like Google does which again proofs BitTube’s compliance to tech giant’s policies. Both mobile apps don’t feature any advertisements and are designed to let people enjoy online videos without interruption.

Wallet app iOS.

The mobile wallet app is one of the BitTube’s higher priorities. The backbone of TUBE management and account backup aims to provide seamless user experience and security.

September

Debit card pre-registration.

The upcoming debit card will make payments with TUBE possible in any point of sale (POS system) that accepts Mastercard.

Before we announce the future Debit card we waited for our card provider approval and positive answer. The process is in development and all is going well.

October

Browser extension beta first preview.

A big leap was planned for the AirTime model. Its use case on the video platform could be applied to the whole Internet, a much needed solution for both content consumers and publishers. Quietly enabled the BitTube browser extension monetizes users’ online activity benefiting the visited pages and social media profiles, meanwhile removing advertisements.

Android wallet app.

Fresh and new features gave a good start for the Android version together with a brand new website, the home of all BitTube apps. The brand changed its design and main colours from green to the yin-yang style white/grey with a bit of light blue.

November

Browser extension official launch.

The whole team worked hard to make the extension “airtight” preventing bot abuse and false registrations. The AirTime activation was planned 4 weeks after extension’s listing on the Chrome store. The community of beta testers reported bugs and gave suggestions for the user interface (UI). Meanwhile more browser versions started development.

Dec- AirTime launch on the web

On the 24th at 00:00 GMT the AirTime was activated. The chart on the extension’s home tab started representing users activity and the respective rewards. We have come with a brief Q&A to help newcomers understand what AirTime is.

Today

AirTime rewards payout happen in a 7 day rolling window which means today on the 31st of December the first earnings will be distributed on the network. Looking forward into 2019 the BitTube community can expect increase of the reward’s share via hard fork, mobile compatibility and the transition of the video platform to a social network. We hope to see widespread acceptance of TUBE payments in online stores and some good-cause donation campaigns.

Stay tuned,Your BitTube team

Originally published at blog.bittubeapp.com.