Video streaming platforms are the go-to sources for different kinds of content. The market is expected to grow annually by 21% between 2021 and 2028, giving it an estimated total value of $330 billion by 2030. 

In today’s times, YouTube is probably the top dog of all video-sharing platforms in the world, boasting over 2 billion monthly active users. People watch over a billion hours of video daily and generate billions of views, and there are 500+ hours of content uploaded every minute of the day. 

While YouTube is great in many cases, it is a centralized service that comes with its own basket of happiness for creators and viewers. For starters, all storage for video content is on YouTube’s servers; thus, users eventually have no control over what happens to their videos. The streaming platform decides what should be on its platform, not YouTube users. 

Secondly, although YouTube’s algorithm is supposed to promote content fairly, some creators notice discrepancies in this system, to the point of making some channels gradually disappear. Other issues include privacy, copyrights, limited customized services, and rejection of crypto-based payments.

Decentralized video streaming platforms, on the other hand, are tackling those issues directly and creating a better environment for users. They are considerably less widespread when compared to YouTube, but some provide decentralization, open-source development, transparent terms & conditions, improved search algorithms, privacy-focused approaches, alternative payment systems for content creators (cryptocurrencies), and more. 

So we created a list of the best-decentralized streaming platforms out there for you to explore and enjoy the world of decentralized video streaming. 

10. Minds

Minds is a decentralized video streaming platform that also allows for the sharing of photos, blogs, and statuses. It also has encrypted messages and video chat options that are superior to other social media platforms. 

Users gain tokens for their active time and uploading media-rich content on Minds. Fans can donate to a user through Bitcoin, Ether, or US Dollars. Moreover, these users can upgrade to start their websites and get funds for the traffic they drive.

Minds is a transparent platform aiming to lower bias and censorship as it develops.

9. Livepeer

Livepeer is an Ethereum-based decentralized service designed to minimize infrastructure costs for online streaming or on-demand video applications.

Users and broadcasters send streams through the platform, which converts them to every available format to suit viewers. They can scale without a single point of failure, at lower costs. 

It is an open-source network that eliminates censorship, giving users freedom of speech in their content. The use of tokens is also possible. Moreover, users can trade processing power and unused transmission capacity for tokens. Users can spend tokens on live streaming. 

In January this year, Livepeer announced it has raised $20 million in its Series B expansion. The platform has streamed tens of millions of minutes to date, a six-fold increase from the start of 2021. In a key milestone, the company said it reached a record 2.3 million minutes streamed in a single week.

8. THETA

THETA is a decentralized video delivery network that provides a wide range of blockchain-enabled solutions to the problems facing the traditional video-streaming sector. 

The platform provides high-quality video streaming at a reduced cost relative to traditional service providers, as well as multiple incentive mechanisms for decentralized bandwidth and content-sharing.

THETA has established a reliable, user-driven method of powering its growing ecosystem of entertainment-focused services, most of which are focused on esports, music, TV, movies, education, and enterprise conferencing.

Compared to YouTube, THETA is free of censorship and biased algorithms, providing high-quality content available on demand. 

Content creators have the chance to earn more due to the peer-to-peer infrastructure. Users can undertake transactions using THETA tokens.

7. ChainFlix

ChainFlix is a revolutionary blockchain-based P2P video streaming platform that allows viewers, content creators, and enhancers to monetize their time, contents, and efforts.

ChainFlix intends to solve the issues in the current video streaming industry through a series of ways including reducing operational costs and proprietary, patented technologies including video play-back-based mining, decentralized storage, and blockchain implementation.

In the Chainflix platform, coins are mined during the video-viewing process, and all participants in the system (content creators and activators, storage providers, viewers, operation participants, and advertisers) are organically connected.

6. AOIZ TUBE

AIOZ Tube is a great decentralized video streaming platform that relies on a homemade blockchain (Aioz Network) to distribute video content in a decentralized way. This is only the first visible stone of the future ecosystem that will include streaming, file sharing, etc.

AOIZ uses nodes to store, stream, and transfer data from multiple points rather than from a single server. This solves the issue of centralization.

The service currently has nearly 18,000 nodes and this number is growing every day. Anyone can become a node in the network, thereby increasing the reliability of the network by receiving tokens.

In 2021, AOIZ had uploaded over 90,000 videos with over 41 million views and more than 50,000 users. 

5. Dlive

Dlive is a blockchain-based and decentralized live streaming platform that’s based on three revolutionary features: Lemon, LINO, and LINO Stake.

It is built on top of a blockchain network where Lemon acts as a token that can be transacted within the platform, for the purpose of donating and subscribing to content creators.

Dlive aims to act as a live streaming service that’s based on value-sharing, and strives to empower both viewers and creators through an innovative incentive system.

The platform’s blockchain-based infrastructure is censorship-resistant and employs an algorithm that fairly promotes all streamers. This has made it gain a considerable amount of popularity over the past few years.

4. 3Speak

3Speak is a decentralized free speech platform where content creators own their onsite assets and communities directly. Built on blockchain technology, the ownership of these assets and communities is intrinsic to the creator and the user, not 3Speak. 

The platform rewards users using Hive tokens and donations in Speak tokens. Creators can develop tokens, markets, rewards, and economies. 

Likewise, the platform offers video viewing, live streaming, podcasts, rewards, cryptocurrency transactions, a citizen journalists’ platform, and censorship-free content. All hive users can access 3Speak.

Additionally, the more tokens you hold, the more say you have over the platform’s governance and where it goes in the future.

3. Flixxo

Flixxo challenges the status quo by removing the unbridled monopoly over the production, distribution, compensation, and monetization of video content on YouTube.

The decentralized streaming platform helps content creators receive payments directly from consumers and connects them more closely with the advertisers. 

In addition, Flixxo employs a peer-to-peer system that eliminates intermediaries from the process in order to achieve the basic principle of blockchain-induced decentralization.

Its native token, FLIXX, utilizes Bitcoin technology to enable transactions between Flixxo users. Users can spend FLIXX tokens to watch videos, exchange them with their peers, and even spend the tokens outside the Flixxo app.

2. DTube

DTube is the first crypto-based video platform built on STEEM and IPFS blockchains that reward registered users with cryptocurrency.

It is a platform that offers video streaming, browsing, uploading, sharing, and commenting on videos. It is also censorship-free.

Video creators earn cryptocurrency for uploading videos. And viewers get cryptocurrency rewards for liking and commenting. It’s a great system that makes posting and watching videos on the platform rewarding. 

It is ad-free and does not employ algorithms for suggestions on the platform, which is a breath of fresh air for users. 

DTube has amassed over 2 million unique viewers per month, with most of those viewers coming from the United States.

1. LBRY

Coming in first is LBRY, an open-source digital content sharing platform whose popularity is growing quickly. The decentralized platform offers users, content creators, and viewers more features than video sharing and viewing. Developers have the allowance to build applications on the network. 

Digital content on the network ranges from movies, music, games, podcasts, books, and pictures. The network also offers users options for creating, sharing, uploading, downloading, browsing, and purchasing content. It has no ads when you are logged in.

LBRY’s coin, the LBRY Credits (LBC), has mining and trading possibilities. The platform’s currency is relatively new; hence LBRY offers LBC rewards to users to create accounts, view, explore, invite, and follow, among other activities.

To improve the platform, LBRY has a dedicated application that you can use for all activities rather than your web browser.

Why You Should Care

For more than a decade, YouTube and other centralized video streaming platforms have been at the forefront of video consumption and production. However, user sentiments are shifting due to censorship, demonetization, and uneven revenue distribution, all of which can be addressed by blockchain technology.

In this case, decentralized video streaming platforms are positioning themselves as a more reliable alternative for users. So, if you are a video creator or consumer, the abovementioned decentralized video streaming platforms should be on top of your to-explore list.

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