What is Theta Network（THETA） and Theta Fuel（TFUEL）? Crypto Streaming is Here

2022-06-16, 06:26

[TL;DR]

What is Theta Network (THETA)? It is a decentralized streaming platform for peer-to-peer content, utilizing smart contracts as the main resource for users to create an incentive economy similar to that of other traditional streaming platforms - but one where both users and creators hold the power to promote creators and receive rewards for both content submission and viewership.

How Theta Network was Founded: In 2017 by computer scientists Mitch Liu and Jieyi Long. They both had great previous experience in videogame development, virtual reality, design and overall software engineering. It was one of the first crypto-related companies to receive funding from massive corporations like Sony, Samsung and even Google.

How does Theta Network work? Theta’s mechanisms are actually split into two network parallels: the blockchain stores the information, maintains the consensus of the system, tokenomics, user/creator incentive, etc. Then you have content distribution, much like traditional streaming venues would have regarding streaming format, upload/download balance, live storage and more. The Theta Network blockchain uses the Proof of Stake mechanism, vital for a blockchain that relies heavily on speed and safety.

What are THETA and TFUEL? THETA is the native token of the platform, utilized to pay commissions to contributors, governance updates, staking to receive rewards, and interact with dApps and content creators. TFUEL is the actual utility token used for all operations as the “gas” token of the network - its fuel (hence the name). It also provides users with staking rewards.

How to buy THETA and TFUEL: Once you have created a Gate.io account, head over to the Trade section and select Spot Trading. You will be directed to Gate.io’s main trading hub. From the top-left corner, search Theta or THETA/TFUEL to see what pairs are available to trade from.

How to store THETA and TFUEL: When assets are purchased in Gate.io, they are immediately provided with state-of-the-art custody which can be accessed through the Wallet menu on the top-right corner. Just head to Funds Overview and select the chosen account that you’d like to view your assets on.

How to stake THETA and TFUEL: Gate.io offers staking options to thousands of cryptocurrencies, and that includes staking Theta. To stake Theta, head to the Finance menu on the top toolbar, then click HODL & Earn. From there, click on the Flexible Term category to see what Theta staking options are currently available.

Keywords: what is theta network, what is theta, what is theta fuel, what is tfuel, theta and tfuel tokens, crypto social media, crypto streaming, proof of staking, staking rewards, crypto content rewards, how to store theta and tfuel, how to buy theta and tfuel, how to stake theta and tfuel

[Full Article]

The crypto ecosystem comes in many shapes and forms; there’s DeFi, NFTs, play to earn games, Web3 resources, automated market makers and much, much more. One of the forms that are rarely spoken of by mainstream media (so far) is crypto social media. More specifically, in this piece’s case, the Theta Network and its streaming service.

In this article, we summarize what the Theta Network is along with its other layer, the Theta Fuel, and the importance this project has for the rise of crypto social media.

What is Theta Network (THETA)?

Theta has a series of companies as partners, including WPT and G Fuel energy drinks. Source: Theta Network

Founded in 2017, Theta Network is a decentralized streaming platform for peer-to-peer content, utilizing smart contracts as the main resource for users to create an incentive economy similar to that of other traditional streaming platforms - but one where both users and creators hold the power to promote creators and receive rewards for both content submission and viewership.

In a way, we can view Theta Network as a streaming hub with several different options of content and formats - users can use the network as a central portal to access different dApps to watch and publish the content they want. Much like Twitch and Youtube, they can stream virtually anything; gaming, sports, comedy, podcasts, and independent movies. There really is no limit to what can be displayed.

The main advantage of this decentralized streaming model is how cheap and quick it is for the platform to add streamers. With Youtube, for example, there are many bureaucracies involved; not only do you need to comply with very specific copyright and earning models, but you have to prove yourself to be a viably-profitable content creator before earning the right of monetizing your content. With Theta Network, you can start earning right away as the financial incentive comes directly from your fans; if they like your content, you will get monetization in the form of tokens.

The Theta Network’s content storage is equally decentralized - with image qualities from 240p to 4k, even including real-time Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, which was unheard of for other streaming models. On top of that, viewers can also benefit financially, earning TFUEL tokens for watching the content. It really is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

How Theta Network was Founded

Theta Network founders in a 2018 conference. Source: Medium

The project began with the creation of Theta Labs back in 2017 by computer scientists Mitch Liu and Jieyi Long. They both had great previous experience in videogame development, virtual reality, design and overall software engineering.

Theta Labs was one of the first crypto-related companies to receive funding from massive corporations. Companies like Sony, Sierra Ventures, Samsung and even Google itself started supporting the project through investments from their company treasuries. Thanks to great financial support, Theta Labs released the first blockchain of Theta Network back in January of 2018. Since then, the project has had two other massive network updates. Its fourth update, called “mainnet 4,” is due for launch in October this year to improve scalability - something of massive importance for any streaming platform, let alone a decentralized one.

How does Theta Network work?

Theta’s mechanisms are actually split into two network parallels: first you have the blockchain, which stores the information, maintains the consensus of the system, tokenomics, user/creator incentive, etc. Then you have content distribution, much like traditional streaming venues would have regarding streaming format, upload/download balance, live storage and more.

The Theta Network blockchain uses the Proof of Stake mechanism, vital for a blockchain that relies heavily on speed and safety. Theta doesn’t deal with mere crypto tokens, but entire videos and massive transmissions running in real-time.

With the mainnet 4 update, according to the project’s whitepaper, Theta wants to improve the main following factors:

- Make the network even faster, with transactions much lower than the already-quick two seconds per transfer.
- An easily scalable network to comfort the development of new tools involving things such as DeFi, NFTs, gaming, metaverse projects and Web3 in general.
- Apply new safety mechanisms, such as stronger Anti-Byzantine Fault and cryptography firewalls.

What are THETA and TFUEL? Theta’s tokens

Source: New to Crypto Podcast

Theta Network has created its project based on two sole tokens: THETA and TFUEL. THETA is the native token of the platform, utilized to pay commissions to contributors, governance updates, staking to receive rewards, interaction with dApps and content creators, and also the token to set up nodes and become a blockchain validator. It has a limited supply of one billion tokens, which have already been minted.

TFUEL, however, is the actual utility token when it comes to content creation, consumption and rewards. It is used for all operations as the “gas” token of the network - its fuel (hence the name). It is also the token that provides users with staking rewards; if you stake THETA you get rewards in TFUEL, and if you stake TFUEL you also get TFUEL.

Combined, the entire Theta project has a current market capitalization of $2.2 billion dollars - $1.3 billion from THETA and $900 million from TFUEL. The fact that these two market caps, from its main token and fuel token, are so similar shows that the network is actually being thoroughly used by the community.

How to buy THETA and TFUEL

Theta’s native tokens THETA and TFUEL can be purchased at Gate.io multi-services platform through several ways; from a cash deposit, crypto deposit, credit card and P2P trade.

Once you have created a Gate.io account, head over to the Trade section and select Spot Trading. You will be directed to Gate.io’s main trading hub. From the top-left corner, search Theta or their tokens to see what pairs are available to trade from - the most popular one being THETA/USDT.

If your account already has the proper funds to pair with the trade, you are ready to execute your order!

How to store THETA and TFUEL

When assets are purchased in Gate.io, they are immediately provided with state-of-the-art custody which can be accessed through the Wallet menu on the top-right corner. Just head to Funds Overview and select the chosen account that you’d like to view your assets on.

How to stake THETA and TFUEL

Gate.io offers staking options to thousands of cryptocurrencies, and that includes staking THETA and TFUEL. To stake Theta, head to the Finance menu on the top toolbar, then click HODL & Earn. From there, click on the Flexible Term category to see what Theta staking options are currently available - with new opportunities potentially added at any time. The same format applies to any other asset available on the platform. Browse around and see what investment options interest you!

Author: Gate.io Researcher: Victor Bastos

* This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions.

*Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all other cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.