The whole cryptocurrency community was outraged when the premier video streaming site YouTube began purging content created by various influential crypto-centric content creators. Reports of the purging began surfacing during the height of the holidays, which many believe was intentional to minimize pushback from the crypto community. Nonetheless, the news passed on like wild wire and soon enough caught the attention of the most influential people in the crypto space.
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of ethereum, expressed his surprise when YouTube censored an ethereum roadmap Q&A prompting him to call on her followers to perhaps it is time to begin to look for alternatives to YouTube. A similar proclamation was made by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, CZ, stating that it might be high time the crypto community takes a stab at its own blockchain social media platform. Other crypto influencers have similar sentiments expressing their dismay on the development.
EOS founder and Chief Technology Officer of Block.One Daniel Larimer warned of a future where technology giants will have total control of all forms of media. He cautioned that there might be a time when these technology giants will begin to dictate not only what can be shown to consumers but also what content creators can create. While Vitalik and CZ called for the exploration and creation of decentralized social media, Dan and his company are a step ahead as they are set to release the beta of their EOS-based social media platform Voice in February.
The latest move of YouTube seems to have strengthened the need for the creation of a decentralized social media alternative for YouTube. A social media platform that will be equivalent to bitcoin, censorship-resistant and cannot be controlled by a single entity for its own agenda. For the past few years, a centralized social media platform has come under fire for using and selling private user information data to various interested parties. These companies earn millions from user data without them knowing it.
A decentralized social media platform represents a paradigm shift from the old model where most of the profits of the platform go to the company but instead are rewarded to content creators frictionlessly through the use of cryptocurrencies. Unlike centralized social media (SM), in decentralized SM no single entity, even the developers themselves cannot just implement changes in the platform, they usually need to get the approval of the majority of the users or elected representatives of the users.
More importantly, contents that have been uploaded and recorded in a decentralized social media cannot be deleted unilaterally by any single entity even the developers themselves without them having access to the private keys of the account. This makes content created in decentralized social media more censorship-resistant. While decentralization makes contents unstoppable it does not mean low-quality content cannot be policed by the community. Decentralized social media can be flagged or downvoted to be less visible but not entirely be removed.
Unstoppable, censorship-resistant, transparent and inclusive these are the hallmarks of decentralization and what gives blockchain-based applications such as bitcoin and the ever-increasing number of decentralized applications its worth and value. However, the pace by which decentralized applications air increasing by the day makes the industry ever more fragmented, siloed and isolated from each other. There is a need for them to be able to interoperate or interact with each other at some level.
While these decentralize applications may not be able to interoperate or interact with each other without creating new technology to bridge them together, their main mechanism for exchange of value can, through their coins and tokens. These digital assets are traded in trading venues which for the time being is dominated by centralized exchanges. Centralized exchange (CEX) are not better than traditional banks as users will have to deposit their assets, asked permission from CEX operators to withdraw their own cryptocurrency and can also be denied access.
Decentralization can only be as strong as its weakest link and many believe centralized exchanges are the weakest link in the crypto community’s effort for continued decentralization. Centralized exchanges not only act like banks but are also easily targeted by hackers and government. The former for its big stash of cryptocurrency which are usually lumped together in one “honeypot” wallet and the latter to implement regulatory policies that usually run against the virtues of decentralization.
The negative effects of this centralization of trading venues are evident throughout the short history of cryptocurrencies. The first decade of these burgeoning asset class is marked by hacks of major centralized exchanges that resulted in hundreds of millions worth of digital assets spirited away by hackers giving a devastating blow to cryptocurrency investors. On the other side of the spectrum, the hostile regulatory stance of countries like China and India have forced exchanges to close down locking with the investor’s money.
Fortunately, cryptocurrency innovators were able to create decentralized exchanges that evolved throughout the years to be as fast, efficient and cost-effective as centralized exchange. The best part of this is the fact that these exchanges do not carry as much risk as centralized exchanges as assets never leave the custody of the trader. More importantly, there is no way the decentralized exchange or any external entity could steal or restrict access to your own money so long as traders keep their private keys safe.
One of the leading decentralized exchange in the world is Newdex, a multi-chain decentralized exchange (DEX) which has been at the forefront of decentralized exchange innovation by introducing many innovative features to empower its users. It was one of the first global EOS-based DEX which evolved to a multi-chain DEX supporting EOS, TRON, and EOSIO sidechains WAX, LYNX, TELOS; one of the first to offer free CPU computing resources; and recently support the Ethereum, TRON and EOS variants of Tether (USDT), the leading Stablecoin in the whole crypto space.
Beyond supporting three active blockchain forms of USDT Newdex goes the extra mile by offering its users cross-chain USDT conversion with minimal to no charges, supporting the active platforms of USDT namely, Ethereum, TRON, and EOS. Stablecoins like USDT have played an important part in the development of the crypto industry as it provides a less volatile asset to trade cryptocurrencies without having to interact directly with fiat which requires rigorous compliance requirements.
Decentralization is the primary value proposition of distributed ledger technologies and what many believe makes them a highly sought technology and sets them apart from the many technological breakthroughs in the last decade. For the first time in human history, the human race is able to encapsulate “Truth” in technology. Immutable, final and transparent, enabling a risk-free peer-to-peer exchange of value. A technology that afforded us an unparalleled opportunity for equality and freedom.
For more information about Newdex please follow its official links below:
Website: https://newdex.io/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NewdexOfficial
Medium: https://medium.com/@marketing_27690