Kriptoks

BitTorrent, or BTT, is the primary cryptocurrency of the BitTorrent Chain, which operates using a cross-chain interoperability protocol. It is the native blockchain of BitTorrent, a popular peer-to-peer file exchange platform, and is compatible with various public blockchains such as Ethereum, Tron, and BNB Chain. The BTT token is the native token of this blockchain and is one of the two crypto tokens offered by BitTorrent; the other token is BTTOLD.

Before exploring the world of blockchain, BitTorrent was known as one of the largest distributed networks for peer-to-peer file sharing, with over two billion users and an average of 100 million monthly users. The BitTorrent protocol was developed by Bram Cohen in April 2001 and was released in July of that same year. It quickly gained popularity as a common solution for transferring large files and, as of 2019, accounted for 2.46% of downstream traffic and 27.58% of upstream traffic on the internet.

In July 2018, the blockchain platform Tron, led by founder Justin Sun, purchased BitTorrent for a cash sum of 140 million US dollars. This made Sun the current owner of the file sharing service. Following the acquisition by Tron, BitTorrent released a variety of new tools, including the cryptocurrency token BTT through an initial coin offering (ICO) in January 2019 (with a value of $0.00012 per token). The sale distributed 6% of the entire BTT supply, equating to approximately 7.2 million US dollars.

The original version of BTT was created on the Tron blockchain as a TRC10 token and is primarily used to incentivize the use of BitTorrent Speed. This service allows downloaders to pay with BTT in exchange for faster download speeds and rewards uploaders with BTT for seeding files for longer periods of time and dedicating more of their bandwidth and storage to torrent clients within the network.

In December 2021, BitTorrent launched its own native blockchain, known as the BitTorrent Chain. As part of this launch, the BitTorrent team implemented a redenomination plan, which allowed users to exchange their old BTT tokens on the Tron network for new BTT tokens on the BitTorrent Chain at a 1:1000 ratio. This increased the total supply of BTT tokens from the original 990 billion to 990 trillion. The new BTT tokens retain the BTT name, while the legacy BTT tokens have been renamed to BTTOLD.

The BitTorrent software connects people to its network in order to process file sharing requests. Transactions are initiated when a user requests files from providers who store the files on their machines. Providers who host files divide them into sections and, if requesters want to download the file, they will receive fragments of it from several providers. The integration of BTT with BitTorrent was designed to make the network more decentralized by compensating providers and improving the efficiency of distributing large files in order to reduce the impact on servers and networks. Requesters can also exchange BTT tokens for local resources such as bandwidth for receiving content or storage for remote backups.

The launch of the BitTorrent Chain addressed issues with the use cases of legacy BTT tokens on the Tron blockchain, including limitations caused by the relatively low total token supply. The BitTorrent Chain can facilitate up to 7,000 transactions per second (TPS) with an average transaction fee of less than $0.01 and a confirmation time of three seconds. It also supports interoperability with the Ethereum, Tron, and BNB Chain networks, enabling the BTT native blockchain to connect with DeFi services on these networks.

Although the BitTorrent Chain is the main blockchain for BitTorrent, the platform still uses Tron's smart contracts for certain services such as the BitTorrent File System (BTFS) file storage protocol. BTFS, which accepts BTTOLD tokens, functions in a similar manner to other decentralized cloud storage solutions.

BitTorrent claims that its chain diversifies the use cases of BTT beyond file sharing, including micropayments, in-app currencies, and other decentralized applications. Users can utilize BTT for faster downloads on the BitTorrent network, as well as for purchasing storage on the BTFS network. BTT can also be used for payments and transactions within dApps on the BitTorrent Chain, as well as for trading on cryptocurrency exchanges.

In summary, BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing service that has expanded its capabilities through the use of blockchain technology and the creation of the BTT cryptocurrency. It offers a decentralized network for file sharing and has diversified its use cases to include micropayments, in-app currencies, and other decentralized applications. The BTT token can be used for a variety of purposes within the BitTorrent ecosystem, including faster downloads, purchasing storage on the BTFS network, and making payments and transactions within dApps on the BitTorrent Chain.