Video platform enters Web3, bringing ten years of experience
The video platform is entering Web3 with a decade of social media experience and over 100 million active users.
The controversial topic of how social media platforms distribute ad revenue generated from user content came into focus when Twitter's new owner Elon Musk announced plans to share revenue with creators. In a tweet, Musk explicitly stated that the microblogging platform plans to share ad revenue with creators "from ads that appear in their reply threads." However, no further updates followed the initial announcement, adding to the centralized social media giant's reputation for being stingy when it comes to sharing revenue with people who create content on its platform.
Thanks to the inherent capabilities of blockchain such as decentralization, faster settlement speeds, and better security, revenue sharing has become more reliable in the Web3 era. Users have found new ways to interact with platforms and earn a share of revenue from a wide range of activities on Web3 platforms - giving rise to the trend of action-to-earn. The gaming world has quickly embraced play-to-earn (P2E), where players profit from the total revenue of online video games by participating in in-game activities and trading game-specific non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Web3 rewards users for consuming content
Watch to Earn (W2E) is a relatively new concept that aims to bring the same earning opportunities to a wider audience (people who enjoy watching video content). Users can create and watch videos on the W2E service and receive rewards for every like, view, comment, or share. Coub, the video platform before TikTok and Instagram Reels, has added a new type of video NFT as part of its entry into the Web3 era.
As a video sharing platform launched in 2012, Coub’s first foray into the Web3 space involves converting video content on the platform into NFTs. Users can mix and match online videos available on the Internet using the simple and easy-to-use tools provided by Coub to create looping 10-second audio-visual mashups, eponymous “coubs”.
With the introduction of Web3 capabilities, both viewers and creators can begin to earn rewards for their activity on the platform, starting with the non-custodial Coub wallet. Users will be able to mint bears into NFTs for free. As videos continue to gain views, likes, and other interactions, Coub NFTs will automatically generate W2E rewards. By placing videos on the built-in NFT Coub Marketplace, users can sell or auction NFT Coubs, and all future W2E rewards are split equally between the author and the buyer on the chain.
How NFT Guys Work
In order to ensure the quality of content on the NFT Coub marketplace by avoiding spam re-uploads or fakes, Coub requires a listing fee to unlock the W2E rewards of the NFT coub. After minting the NFT for free, the creator can submit it to the validator network, where the validators vote to accept or reject the NFT coin. If accepted, the NFT coub will be eligible to generate W2E rewards, and the listing fee will go into the Coub's W2E Treasury. If the validator votes against listing the NFT coub, it can only be used for viewing and trading, and the listing fee will be refunded to the creator.
Coub seeks to build the new platform into a community-driven Web3 ecosystem for its 1.06‰ annual active users by launching CoubDAO. COUB tokens will be the native tokens used for voting and verification rights and trading NFTs on the platform. Community members will receive vCOUB as W2E reward tokens, which can also be redeemed for COUB.
Just as how earning while playing has propelled the gaming industry forward, earning while playing is expected to revolutionize the way people interact with content on social media platforms. By offering rewards for simply watching or creating video content, W2E provides a pathway into Web3 for the hundreds of millions of Internet users who watch videos every day. By applying Web3 fundamentals to its established user base, Coub is leveraging its decade-long expertise in online video to reshape the social media landscape with a community-centric approach.
