Verasity - Advertising Services On Blockchain - Steemit Crypto Academy - S5W7 - Homework post for @wahyunahrul
Question 1
What is Verasity? What do you think about the performance of this platform broadly?
Answer
The Verasity platform is a decentralized blockchain-based video streaming platform where users are allowed to post their adverts, entertainment videos, gain more attention from interested persons, and earn rewards at the same time. The aim of the platform is to increase the revenues of views and engagements for video creators and publishers significantly on any video streaming platform they find themselves in. This platform was developed in 2018 by a software developer named RJ Mark and it rewards its users with the Verasity tokens.
In other video streaming and sharing platform, creators are paid by advertisers, here in the veracity platform the viewers reward the creators by viewing. This prevents the impact or control that advertisers and other third parties have on how the videos are displayed. The Audience value the video by viewing and that determines how the videos are shown.
Several people take advantage of this and manipulate the system to increase their rewards by boosting their views with fake views. This was destroying the true value of video content. This was the reason why the Proof of View consensus mechanism was introduced.
Since the views on a video determine its value, every view on content is judged by the Proof of View (PoV) mechanism. This technology makes sure that the views on the video are real, meaning they were viewed by actual people and not fake bots. As soon as the view has been verified to be authentic, it is made private by hiding the identity of the viewer and moved to the Verasity blockchain network where it can be seen by the public.
Advantages of the Verasity platform
By taking care of the fake views, content on the platform is valued fairly irrespective of its type, audience location, or plan of a third party to generate revenue from the content. This implies an improved, valuable and fairer video streaming platform for users. Solving the fake view problem also ensures that the video reaches its targeted audience.
The Verasity blockchain ensures a direct transaction between creators and their audience this makes sure the content is not twisted in any form by a third party.
Content creators can develop a real and interested audience who can help grow the value of the content and channel of the creator on the platform.
Adverts posted here are viewed by real users, the metrics of the views are not manipulated by bots or fake viewers
The veracity blockchain also rewards viewers for their views, this allows them to be more engaged and attentive, unlike other platforms where users are eagerly waiting to skip the advert when the opportunity arrives.
There are other platforms like Verasity where video content creators can go and share their videos with their audience. Some of these platforms are Twitch, YouTube, Vimeo, Flowplayer, JWPlayer, Brightcove, Video JS, etc.
These platforms are also faced with fake views situations. With the Proof of View solution, the Verasity platform has partnered with these other video platforms to help solve it for them. This partnership is definitely going to make the platform more interactive and gain more users as well.
The VRA token
VRA is the native token of the Verasity ecosystem. it is currently priced at $0.0346. the token is ranked 361st on coinmarket cap with a market cap of $154,679. The total supply of the token is 19,400,882,350 VRA and about 4.47B VRA are currently in circulation. The token recorded a 24hr trading volume of $24,277,875.
Future of the Verasity Platform
From the metrics I have seen, I think the Verasity platform has very good growth potential. The native token of the platform, the VRA token has experienced about 5200.33% in growth in terms of price.
The platform has other DApps that are also experiencing tremendous growth. The VeraWallet grew to about 4060% with over 2000 users. This DApp will introduce liquidity mining which will allow stakeholders to stake and earn rewards. This when implemented will help increase the value.
VeraViews is also expected to be introduced to help advertisers to use ad space and ad campaigns directly.
Verasity has made a positive impact on the video streaming ecosystem by doing away with fake views that have a bad influence on activities on the ecosystem. We can now say that we are getting to a world where video streaming and sharing platforms are transparent and true and fair in their activities and metrics.
Question 2
How does the Proof of View system used by Verasity validate real viewers? Explain in detail and make an illustration about it.
Answer
Fake views have since been one of the biggest worries for advertisers, video streaming platforms, and brands. It is estimated that about 50% of funds which is about $125B is spent on online videos that are not viewed by actual people. Companies have been battling with this until the Proof of View mechanism was innovated. As I stated earlier, it ensures that views that are verified and recorded on the blockchain are true views made by real people who watched the video.
The Proof of View consensus uses two mechanisms in its operations to separate the real views from the fake ones. The mechanisms are;
• Artificial intelligent
• The 200 touchpoints
These two mechanisms track the behavior of viewers when they are watching the video. All bots have been programmed to behave in a certain manner, this behavior of the bots follows a very similar pattern which can be detected by the mechanisms. If any viewer behaves in a manner that is similar to that of the bot, the system confirms that the view is a fake one. When the view has been categorized as a fake view, it is not added to the views of the video.
The protocol also takes the fingerprints of viewers to ensure they are humans. The data is processed in real-time and helps do away with false views. The sincere view, in this case, is also recorded on the blockchain
Every view transacted on the blockchain is hashed and added to a Merkle tree to ensure that it is protected from any manipulation.
The Merkle tree is a structure that encrypts the data of a blockchain network by hashing it and combining it with another hash to form a parent hash in a very secure way. It allows for easy and fast confirmation or verification of the data in the blockchain. With this, the stored data cannot be altered and their accuracy can easily be confirmed.
Here is an illustration by me of how data is hashed into cryptographic codes and added to a Merkle tree which cannot be changed
The root or top hash can be used to verify the integrity of the data every time a new block is added.
Question 3
Why is "fake viewers" so detrimental to all parties related to videos and advertisements that are shown??
Answer
Fake viewers have always been so detrimental to every party connected to videos and advertisements. Here are some of the reasons why
• As I stated earlier, huge chunks of money which are about $250B are spent on making online advertisement videos. Videos worth about a half of this money ($125B) are not watched by actual people. This is a great amount of money wasted
• It degrades the value of videos that are valued based on their viewers.
• Content creators who are supposed to know their audience better to aid them to provide better content will find it difficult to get the metrics for better analysis when fake viewers are involved
• It drives away investors as the integrity of the platform becomes questionable
• Content created is not able to develop a real and engaged audience who can help to develop the value of the content and the channel of the creator.
• The views that the content receives determine how it surfaces on the platform. The more it is viewed the more frequently it surfaces. As more fake views are recorded on the video, the more that video is shown and this covers videos that may contain relevant information to the user.
• By taking care of the fake views, content on the platform is valued fairly irrespective of its type, audience location, or plan of a third party to generate revenue from the content. This implies an improved, valuable and fairer video streaming platform for users. Solving the fake view problem also ensures that the video reaches its targeted audience.
Question 4
Mention and explain ways so that we can get VRA Token rewards.
Answer
We can get rewarded with the VRA token when we watch video contents that creators have monetized with ads on the Verasity platform
We can also get the token by purchasing it from exchanges where it has been listed such as KuCoin, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bithumb, Uniswap (V2), Uniswap (V3), OKEx, and more.
The VRA token can be earned from playing and winning games from the Vera Games store platform
Users can also earn the VRA token by staking in the liquidity pool on the platform and earning interest in VRA
I will demonstrate how to earn some VRA tokens by watching some videos. Please note that we have to create an account to do this activity. I will explain how to create an account in the coming paragraphs.
Here is my VeraWallet. I have no VRA tokens right now
First, I will visit the veracity platform where I can watch and earn some VRA tokens. Click on Earn VRA.
Scroll down and find channels with videos on the platform. Select a preferred channel, in my case I will choose the Seriousltnom. This channel contains videos of food and I love food.
It will take you out of the Verasity platform into the website of the channel. Stream the channel and watch any preferred video. I watched a video of how to cut the jack fruit. Watch the video till the cup turns green, click on it to claim rewards
As soon as I clicked on the green cup, I gained 1VRA in my verawallet.
Question 5
What is VRA Virtuous Cycle? Explain it in detail
Answer
The VRA virtuous cycle describes some six stages in which the VRA tokens flow through the Verasity ecosystem. The stages are; Buy VRA token, Earn VRA, Verasity earn, User benefits from advertisement, Use the VRA tokens for services on the platform and the token cycle is redone as both the advertisers and the Verasity platform gain rewards from themselves due to activities of a true user.
The VRA virtuous cycle is basically the cyclic nature in which the VRA tokens moves through the Verasity blockchain
Let us explain the elements of the VRA virtuous cycle
Buyers buy VRA
Game developers, publishers, influencers, and other users in the Verasity ecosystem purchase the VRA token with credit cards or exchanges to improve their tournaments and campaigns.
Verasity Earns
Users earn a certain percentage of profits in VRA when they win tournaments, campaigns and watch ads on the Verasity ecosystem which was funded by the VRA tokens purchased
Earn VRA
Viewers of the video content, gamers, and influencers on the platform gain VRA tokens as rewards for watching video content such as ads and winning in games.
User Benefit
VRA tokens are earned by the publishers, game developers, and influencers who invested the VRA token earned from some activities in the Verasity ecosystem
Use VRA to
Those VRA tokens earned in the User benefit stage are used to subscribe to the video platform or pay for entry fees, tournaments, apps in the game platform. The token is also used for staking or moved out to an exchange
Cycle repeats
The movement of the VRA token is restarted as users purchase the VRA tokens again to fund their activities in the ecosystem which earns them revenues that are also used for other activities on the platform
Question 6
Create a VeraWallet account and show the complete steps (Screenshot Required)
Answer
To create a VeraWallet account we will visit https://verawallet.tv. Find and click on Create Account on the right side of the page.
Fill the form by selecting your preferred language, entering your email account, and a new password for the account. The password should have more than 8 characters with an uppercase letter, a number, and a symbol. Click on create account when you are done.
A verification code will be sent to your email account. Copy and paste the code here to verify the email account. Click on submit
You will be required to set up two-factor authentication to protect your account. Use google authenticator or Microsoft authenticator to go through this process. Scan the QR code with the authenticator. Click on Next.
Enter the code generated from the authenticator and click on Done.
After the two-factor authentication has been set up, a secret key will be given to you to recover the account in case of loss in the future. Copy and paste the key somewhere safe. Click on save the code
Click on go to completed account to open the account
You will be required to some personal details to help recover the account in case of loss. Click on submit when it is done
Account has been created successfully
Question 7
Explain what use cases the VRA Token has in the Verasity ecosystem.
Answer
The Verasity native token is known as VRA which means basically it is used to carry out almost every operation on the Verasity platform.
However, the VRA token is not only used in the Verasity videos platform. Verasity has other platforms as well such as a gaming platform called the Vera Gamestore. This platform is the blockchain version of the Play Store or App Store.
Here are some specific uses of the VRA token.
It is used to stake on the platform: users or shareholders are allowed to stake this token on the platform’s staking programs such as the VRApool to earn interest. This staking program yields about 0.1% of profit each day for those who stake in it. The rewards are added to the VeraWallet every 24hrs
it is also used to reward viewers who spend their time watching videos and adverts on the platforms that make use of the Verasity technology
this token is also used to reward users who aid in developing the platform by referring other people
Users in the Vera Gamestore platform use this token to purchase games and pay for games entry fees
They also use this token to make in-app purchases in the games like characters weapons, etc.
Advertisers and publishers in a quest to reach and engage more customers to purchase VRA tokens and reward viewers who watch their adverts and gain knowledge about their services
Viewers can purchase VRA tokens to view video content via pay-per-view, donations to creators, and subscription
Question 8
Explain the steps on how to Staking VRA tokens (Screenshot Required)
Answer
To Stake on the platform, first, log into your VeraWallet account and click on Staking
A summary is shown on the details of the staking section of the platform. it shows the APY of the pool which is 25.55%, it also shows the date when staking in the pool will end. The Staking pool is said to have a total and available capacity of 2,500,000,000 VRA and 8,468,502 VRA respectively.
The platform has some staking terms which have also been listed here. Click on Stake VRA to continue.
Enter the amount you wish to stake and click on continue. The minimum staking amount is 10,000 VRA and I only have 2 VRA so I could not continue.
Question 9
Watch one of the videos on the Verasity Website and show how we can get rewards from watching the video (Screenshot Required).
Answer
To watch a Video on Verasity, we will go to https://verawallet.tv/earn-vra. Scroll down when the page is done loading and find the Start earning now section. In this section, we have two categories of videos we can watch. We have the rewarded ads where we can watch adverts and rewarded videos where we can watch other video categories.
Each of the two categories has content creators listed below them, click on your preferred content creator to view videos from them. I chose to watch a normal video so I will go to the Rewarded Videos section.
I chose to watch from the content creator Seriouslynom
It took me to the site of Seriouslynom where I get to choose from numerous videos. I watched a video on a possible food crisis in Japan. To earn the reward, watch the video till the cup that can be seen at the top right corner of the page turns green
The cup is now green which is an indication that I can now claim my rewards
As soon as I clicked on the cup the reward was transferred to my wallet. Every video watched earns the viewer 1 VRA
Conclusion
Fakes views were a very disturbing problem in video streaming platforms. It affected everyone related to videos. These platforms tried without any success to solve this problem. That was when the Verasity platform introduced the Proof of View mechanism.
The Verasity platform is a video streaming platform that verifies true viewership with the Proof of View protocol. This platform ensures that content creators get views for their content that are of real people.
The VRA virtuous cycle describes the flow of the VRA token in the Verasity ecosystem. This post also contains a demonstration on how to create a Vera Wallet, how to watch and claim rewards, to earn VRA tokens. I also mentioned some reasons why the case of fake views is doe detrimental to people related to videos.
As I demonstrated above, the veracity platform is showing signs of promising growth and it’s becoming a very popular platform in the world of video streaming and advertising platforms.
Thank you very much @wahyunahrul for this task.