Gaze.Cash - Glimpse.Cash: The Early YouTube On Bitcoin Cash
Enough with YouTube's restrictions and the corporate elite taking over platforms that were supposed to be about everyday people publishing fun and entertaining content.
After YouTube's acquisition by Google, the platform changed, offering fewer chances to ordinary content creators while boosting corporate content instead.
If you want to know what YouTube was about, an epic video from the early days that had a decisive role in Youtube's success (among other early popular amateur videos) was the Numa Numa guy.
YouTube and the internet of the early days were about people having fun. Not about corporations and their greed.
In the end, big firms managed to take over most of the YouTube market, leaving peanuts to individual content creators.
A few efforts to change this corporate greed are under development and in a phase of awareness. One of these is Gaze.Cash (and its second version (Glimpse.Cash).
Gaze.Cash is a platform attracting independent video content creators while following the pay-per-view model, with payments conducted in Bitcoin Cash cryptocurrency.
Usually, the content creators at Gaze.Cash will ask for just a few cents for their videos or even offer free videos as well.
It is a platform giving control to the uploader in terms of monetization and bringing back the feeling of the early YouTube before it became fully commercialized.
Glimpse.Cash and Gaze.Cash Video Content Monetization
Gaze and Glimpse.Cash are the exact same platform (Glimpse.Cash was cloned by the same developer), with the only difference being Glimpse.cash does not contain NSFW material. Consider everything that works for Gaze.Cash works for Glimpse.Cash as well, except for the NSFW option.
Users can either upload videos or even stream live video content with Gaze.Cash.
Glimpse and Gaze.Cash offer video creators the option to upload content either free or for a payment, using Bitcoin Cash cryptocurrency for monetization purposes,
The platform is monitored since video content has limitations on what can be allowed. The "about page" explains the main rules and the monitoring procedure.
Gaze.Cash supports freedom of speech in political opinions instead of censorship, and the platform welcomes a variety of content.
This service is up for about one year and it is used by content creators popular in the Bitcoin Cash community like:
I've also found some YouTube content creators not related to the crypto field.
There are plenty of videos uploaded in a user-friendly interface.
User Interface
The platform is fast, smooth, and self-explanatory. The user-friendly approach adds to the general user experience, and to start watching videos we don't need to create an account.
Creating a channel:
It is easy as that to create a channel at Gaze.Cash and begin uploading content.
Email verification is not required, and after registering we are immediately free to use the platform as uploaders or registered users.
Web Wallet
I tested by sending some funds after logging in to the platform, but it seems these funds will only be available to use on the platform and not withdraw again.
The address and QR code that we fill belongs to the platform, and is not similar to personal wallets of read.cash or noise.cash.
So, be careful here, as the funds we send to the user's wallet are not withdrawable. At least I didn't find a withdraw button yet.
If an withdrawal option exists, I didn't find it yet, but I believe it should have been a visible option. Perhaps something to look for in the future, as this could create problems for some users.
The next step was to send some BCH to my Gaze.Cash account scanning the QR code.
So now, I have $1 in BCH, or 263217 satoshis in my wallet, which I used to tip some content creators I already knew from YouTube.
Uploading Content - Live-Streaming
Uploading content is easy and gives multiple options to video content creators:
Upload Video or Stream
Set thumbnail image
Title and description of the video
Select NSFW option
Hashtags for search results
Payment Tier
Bitcoin Cash address for payment and tips
Adding extra files (i.e. images).
Tipping
Besides paying the amounts required to watch the video, users can tip any tier content with 1000 satoshi or press the tip button repeatedly and tip multiple times.
I tested the tip feature up to 40x (40,000 sats), although I am not aware if there is a limit by the platform.
This is another detail to consider since a user should be able to select the precise amount of tips they give, as it happens in memo.cash, read.cash and noise.cash.
NSFW Content at Gaze.Cash And The Clean Version: Glimpse.Cash
Gaze.Cash offers the NSFW option, which is used to publish or watch adult material.
NSFW stands for Not Safe For Work. Although it means Not Safe unless nobody else is near your screen or you have the audio not muted.
You might be in an awkward position otherwise.
Maybe, this is the reason Gaze.Cash hasn't grown so far since the target groups are different, and while adult material on the internet is rather popular, mixing it with family-friendly or non-adult content, creates confusion and negative reaction among most internet users.
This is also the reason the developer cloned Gaze.Cash and created Glimpse.Cash.
Glimpse.Cash! (Gaze.Cash without NSFW)
Gaze.Cash can also be viewed from URL: Glimpse.Cash. It is the same website without the NSFW (adult) content.
Users of the Gaze.Cash platform can log in to Glimpse.Cash with the same credentials.
It is the same website but without any adult content.
Opinion & Recommendations
I have to start by pointing out, the concept and implementation of Gaze.Cash and Glimpse.Cash are amazing.
There is nothing similar in the cryptocurrency field since this is a single dev without additional funding that created and sustains video content websites.
With minor adjustments Gaze.Cash and Glimpse.Cash can reach high traffic beyond the cryptocurrency community.
i) Allow users to control the web wallets and the private keys
ii) Separate the two websites in "non-NSFW (Glimpse.Cash") and "NSFW only"(Gaze.Cash)
iii) Marketing (Funding required)
- Wallet Functionality & Tips
It will be far better to have a similar wallet function to read.cash, giving the user absolute control of the funds.
- Separate Glimpse Cash as a "family-friendly" platform and Gaze.Cash as only-NSFW
Platforms containing NSFW are controversial. A well-positioned product does not mix everyday videos with adult content.
It doesn't have to do with personal preferences either. It is how it is. You can't have the option to turn on adult videos together with serious or entertaining ones.
When content creators upload their work on a platform, they will avoid it if these platforms contain NSFW material.
- Funding And Marketing
NSFW content will probably attract attention but should be separated from the rest. Gaze.Cash should be marketed individually from Glimpse.Cash and then both websites will attract a certain audience and content creators.
A flipstarter can be announced for both websites together.
Both platforms (Gaze.Cash and Glimpse.Cash) can achieve their purpose and increase their userbase if they follow separate ways.
The websites don't have considerable traffic at this point, so any changes will not negatively impact the userbase.
A flipstarter could begin for both platforms but with a clear separation of their purpose.
Marketing of course would target different groups for each platform.
Both platforms should maintain a separate presence on all social media, on Reddit (Gaze already has), and on Bitcoin Cash platforms as read.cash and noise.cash.
This is free marketing and should be utilized to the maximum by all projects, with consistent updates and communication. More options are Google and Facebook ads, of course, SEO which gaze.cash already has, listings on websites with high traffic, email marketing, etc.
Funding Requirements
I expect a certain downtime for websites administrated by a single dev due to a low budget paid directly from the developer's pockets.
We all understand the hurdles and the cost of operating a website that demands storage and also provides streaming services.
An upgrade demands funding for better servers or perhaps cloud database services. The cost of scaling such a service is rising as traffic increases, and of course, it is difficult for one person alone to bear the cost.
I cover all development and server costs myself but it would be great to be able to spend a lot on marketing and perhaps do something similar to what noise.cash did where the platform itself paid money to it's users.
Perhaps directly discussing with Bitcoin Cash investors like Marc, and developers like Simon could support this cause further.
Moreover, a flipstarter with further details and reasonable funding that will bring results in traffic increase could help with scalability issues. Marketing is also a core topic for all Bitcoin Cash projects.
In Conclusion
Overall, I was excited to meet Gaze.Cash again and felt it is a development very close to becoming successful.
Gaze.Cash and Glimpse.Cash contain features that can influence Bitcoin Cash positively.
Both platforms (Glimpse.Cash and Gaze.Cash) can succeed in the long run independently from each other, with minor adjustments, funding, scalability, and marketing.
The developer is keen to provide the best user experience possible. The website is fast-responding, the videos load immediately, and the video and audio quality is excellent.
There are different target groups between NSFW and "family-friendly" content. It could be the same individuals but not at the same time. Presumably, most content creators prefer a clean version, so Glimpse.Cash could be repositioned individually from Gaze.Cash.
I felt optimistic about my experience with Glimpse.Cash as the website was attractive and has the potential to grow.
I usually avoid making recommendations, especially to developers creating platforms for everyone to use, but I still feel they should consider their target groups, prioritize their vision, and maintain the websites at an operational level 24/7.
The developer of Gaze.Cash had previously mentioned thoughts on a new flipstarter, and perhaps crowdfunding will be met positively by the community.
Gaze.Cash & Glimpse.Cash links:
Glimpse.Cash (clean version of Gaze.cash)
Hellgin, Reddit (developer)
Images:
Cover Photo by on Unsplash
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Jopefully both platforms will have a good effect on the progress of BCH in the future.