BitTorrent Token (BTT) is one of the rising stars in 2019. It was the first Binance IEO (initial exchange offering) of 2019 that made IEOs famous in the eyes of cryptocurrency traders. So, what is this BitTorrent Token and why it shares the same name with the famous torrent client? Let’s analyze with this article.
The History of BitTorrent Token (BTT)
By early 2019, the cryptocurrency for BitTorrent platform was launched. It was launched after earlier Tron founder Justin Sun bought the whole BitTorrent platform. At the time, many cryptocurrency traders and influencers already predicted that Justin Sun would eventually introduce BitTorrent token. And the rumors were true. In Q1 2019, Justin Sun announced BitTorrent token would be launched within the platform. According to the official website, BitTorrent is already the biggest decentralized file-sharing protocol. And the idea of BitTorrent token is to tokenize this huge platform.
Then, by February 2019, BitTorrent token was launched as part of Binance Initial Exchange Offering platform called Binance Launchpad. Basically, Binance Launchpad is a platform where new startups can release their token, and the same exchange promises this new token will be able to be traded against BTC and stablecoins as well. For example, just one week after BitTorrent token was available to be bought on Binance Launchpad, BitTorrent token was actually tradeable on Binance exchange.
So, What Is BitTorrent Token (BTT) Exactly?
BitTorrent Token is a TRC10 token. It is a token inside the Tron blockchain ecosystem. Imagine like this. Most new tokens are ERC20 because they are part of the Ethereum blockchain. Meanwhile, BTT is a TRC10 because it is part of the Tron blockchain. And it makes sense because BitTorrent platform itself is owned by Tron founder, Justin Sun. BitTorrent token is aimed at those people who use file-sharing services in the platform. The idea is that you can optimize your BitTorrent speed of the chosen files if you use BitTorrent token.
BitTorrent token can also be earned if you continue seeding files on the BitTorrent platform. This is the primary use case of BTT. But, of course, apart of this obvious use case, you can also use BTT for other purposes such as for investment, speculation and just as normal currency. Unfortunately, just like many other cryptocurrencies, the reality is that the majority of people only use BitTorrent Token as a speculative trading asset.
The Controversy Behind BitTorrent Token
Just like Tron project itself, BitTorrent Token project was not far away from several different controversies. First of all, Justin Sun bought BitTorrent platform for $140 million. So, the IEO on Binance Launchpad was questioned by many cryptocurrency high-profile figures. They assumed the investment made by Tron Foundation would be more than enough to develop BitTorrent token and the IEO on Binance Launchpad was nothing more than a cash grab. The controversy didn’t stop there.
Last month (July 2019) BitTorrent founder Bram Cohen accused Justin Sun for not wanting to release the last payment of the acquisition agreement from the escrow. Not only that, former BitTorrent executive Simon Morris also criticized the technical capabilities of Tron. He believed Tron blockchain does not have enough capabilities to handle BitTorrent traffic.
BitTorrent Token On The Cryptocurrency Market
At the time of this post writing, BTT is currently sitting on the 45th position of the cryptocurrency rankings by market valuation. The valuation of BTT has been rising for more than 5.5x of its IEO price. BTT is considered one of the biggest successes in the history of IEO. That being said, BTT does not look like it will have significant independence compared to other altcoins. Its movement, most likely, will still be controlled by big speculative crypto traders rather than real usage on the BitTorrent platform itself.
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