Theta is an interesting project-it aims to decentralize video streaming by creating nodes on regular every day computers that you and I use by tapping into unused bandwidth and computing power.
The first thing I’ve discovered about Theta is that those who believe in it, believe in it a lot. Sound familiar? It seems that every coin in existence has a backing of very hardcore believers that want to get in on the ground early and watch their chosen golden child shoot to the moon. Which, of course, we all do. But the fanatics will tell you that their chosen token is going to break $50 or $500 or whatever arbitrary number they’ve decided based on no fact whatsoever. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype. That’s when I remind myself that the guy on the other end of the keyboard tapping away about the moon may well be the guy at the end of my street. That guy who will tell you with great certainty that he knows everything about everything even though he’s constantly proven wrong. And like the rest of the world, he knows nothing about this emerging economy and who will be left standing, let alone raking in all of that moon rock.
Don’t get me wrong. Theta really is an interesting project, but the point of this post is not to sell you on its virtues. When you do your own DD you will find all the information you need and then some.
So I’ve left the hype behind. It wasn’t easy and I confess I got tempted by big stakes and the potentials of big rewards, but we’ve all seen it a million times so I’ll stick to the facts. Research will show you that the Theta network runs more than one coin-Theta, ThetaFuel and TDrop. Theta is a governance token, TFuel is the token you earn by supplying a node or watching/providing videos, and TDrop is for their NFT exchange
There are a few ways to earn TFuel on the Theta platform. The easiest way is just by watching videos on the Theta network. If you’ve dreamed of producing your own video content, you can also earn by uploading your content. I think this sounds promising if you enjoy making or consuming video content.
But Theta has their network in all kinds of projects. They’ve launched a promising NFT spot if that’s more your thing, or you can sign up as a node to help with their video streaming process. Seeing that I am not a fan of watching videos ( strange, I know, but screens with moving pictures put me straight to sleep) I’ve decided to sign up as a node. I’m into my 5th day and here are my results:
In five days, my MacBook has completed 3 video encoding practice in the background. There were 2 additional projects that were aborted because my partner borrowed my power cord so they were not completed. I’ve so far earned 0.68 TFuel. TFuel is currently at about 0.34$.
As you can see, setting up a node is not going to be a pathway to riches. But it is an easy way to get into the game, since you can run it on laptops. I’ve decided that I’ll continue for a month and see whether it will be worth it or if I’ll just be burning out my laptop. Naturally, you could expect better results with a desktop and proper computing power, but I’m curious to see what my little laptop can do. For most people, I would think that watching videos on ThetaTv and earning TFuel for watching would be the better bet.
In short, a better play might be to buy and hold Theta tokens. But earning TFuel does not require an investment and may be interesting for some. If you're interested in exploring ThetaTv and their model of paying viewers, please consider using my referral code. https://www.theta.tv/invite/29frq7f.
