PROPS 101: How The New Cryptocurrency Will Function On YouNow’s Rize App

By 01/05/2018
PROPS 101: How The New Cryptocurrency Will Function On YouNow’s Rize App

Buzz surrounding YouNow’s new cryptocurrency-powered social video app, Rize, continues to mount among creators and investors alike. The company’s token sale for unaccredited investors reached its cap in a matter of hours, and it also closed its sale for accredited investors early — given that requests had surpassed the team’s cap.

Over 1,700 institutions and individuals participated in the sales, including illustrious digital content creators like Philip DeFranco and Casey Neistat (see below).

Ahead of Rize’s official launch at the end of this month, we sat down with Yonatan Sela, the SVP of business development and product for YouNow’s PROPS platform, to discuss how the new cryptocurrency will function on Rize. From how to get started on the app, to how tokens will be transacted, to how YouNow keeps them securely stored, check out Sela’s primer on all things PROPS below.

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Tubefilter: If a creator wants to join Rize, how does he or she go about getting involved?

Yonatan Sela: It’s as easy as any app out there: download, create a profile, and start creating video content. As soon as your content starts getting engagement, you will begin earning PROPS — the cryptocurrency that powers Rize. Every 24 hours, you will receive a push notification that tells you how many PROPS you’ve earned that day. Unlike any other app or social video network out there, Rize transfers nearly 100% of the revenue earned on the platform to creators on the network in the form of PROPS.

TF: What about as a viewer? How do fans buy PROPS for their favorite streamers?

YS: As a viewer, you can also start using Rize right away the same way a creator does. Rize is a many-to-many video platform, so essentially anybody is a creator.

In order to give gifts on Rize, you use Coins, a currency that’s similar to credits in a video game. Every day, users receive a small amount of Coins. You can get more Coins by inviting friends to the platform or through standard in-app purchases. Every time you like content or send content creators digital gifts, you are effectively sending them Coins. Creators earn PROPS based on the amount of engagement they generate on the network, which is measured in Coins. The more Coins you send a creator, the more they trend, the more exposure they get, and the more Props they earn.

Any user on Rize that is holding onto their PROPS can enjoy several benefits when using the app. They get better exposure for their content, have greater upvote power when supporting other creators, and can unlock status and access to exclusive content and features.

TF: Do users start out with any free PROPS?

YS: Members of the YouNow community — thousands of broadcasters and highly active users who have effectively had a major part in building the initial Rize community — can claim their profile and start out with some free PROPS depending on their user level on YouNow. Aside from that, every single user starts with a handful of Coins that gets refilled every day.

TF: You’re developing a mobile wallet with which users can store and spend PROPS. How does a wallet work, and how are you ensuring that users’ PROPS remain secure?

YS: A wallet is the combination of a public address — which people can use to send you PROPS — and a private key, which is kept secret and used by you to make transactions. We’ll be releasing a mobile PROPS wallet designed to make using and securing your PROPS as simple as possible, even for users who are new to cryptocurrencies. You only need to set up your wallet once, and you don’t have to do it right away — you can set it up at any point in time. All the PROPS you ever earned will be sent there, and the wallet will also serve any other apps within the Props ecosystem.

Your PROPS are stored on your mobile device, protected by a password you choose, and are securely backed up in case you lose access.

TF: Cryptocurrency is a relatively foreign concept for many people. How did you go about developing features on Rize that would make it easy for users to navigate?

YS: Rize is created for users with no previous knowledge of cryptocurrencies. In fact, for millions of users, the PROPS they earn on Rize will be the first cryptocurrencies they ever hold. We come into the cryptocurrency world from the consumer mobile video world, where we’ve built a community of over 40 million users. With PROPS, too, we’re building a product that is intended for millions of mainstream users. We’ve carefully designed an experience in which mainstream users are gradually introduced to the underlying cryptoeconomics of the network so that a user who has never used crypto before can start using the app right away.

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