What is LBRY?

A Beginner´s Guide to Buying, Selling, Using, and Mining LBRY:

An In-Depth LBRY Guide by Americas Cardroom

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We see vast amounts of digital media every day. In fact, it’s almost forced upon us through advertisements. Companies like Facebook and Instagram track your web history to provide advertisements that would most appeal to you. In other words, Facebook and other companies tell you what you should see. And with that power, they can also tell users what they can and can’t publish.

That method of providing content has its place, but is it the best way? And how can blockchain help make it better? Enter LBRY credits.

LBRY Credits (LBC) is defined as the token behind the LBRY blockchain. LBRY is a blockchain that uses its technology to power a marketplace for any and all kinds of digital media. This digital marketplace isn’t controlled by an agency, board or single company. And it definitely isn’t controlled by the need to sell out users information for advertisements. Instead LBRY is a marketplace that belongs to its users. As the definition of an open marketplace suggests, it is completely governed to its users and even provides a highly incentivized system encouraging the posting of content.

The interface is similar to other popular digital content marketplaces like Youtube. Users can upload content and set a price per stream or per download similar to iTunes. Or, they can give their content away from free similar to Youtube, but without ads. The currency that powers the LBRY network is called LBRY credits (LBC).

Not only does LBRY have a unique but seamless system for payments through LBRY credits, it is also a decentralized and distributed network. As content is uploaded to the network, it is not hosted on a single computer or network. This makes LBRY stronger and less prone to failure.

Finally, LBRY is controlled by the community. This means that there is no content censorship, and that includes from LBRY themselves. Instead, the community decides what should and shouldn’t be posted. The supply and demand of the content will determine this. Reddit and other sites provide helpful articles and definitions on the meaning of blockchain and LBRY credits.

There are a number of different ways to get LBRY credits. One of the easiest ways is to purchase them through an exchange site. Bittrex, Poloniex and Shapeshift are all options for buying LBRY credits. In order to purchase LBC from an exchange site, first you’ll need to create an account with that site. Then, purchase some Bitcoin (BTC) which will be used to transfer into LBC. Bitcoin can be purchased with cash or credit card. Finally, use your Bitcoin to trade for LBC.

LBC can also be earned through in app rewards by completing surveys and various other forms of app testing. Even basic everyday uses of the LBRY platform can earn LBC rewards.

When you’re ready to sell your LBRY Credits, use the exchange site that you previously purchased LBC with and follow the same basic steps, only in reverse. First, provide the exchange site with your LBC wallet address so it can access your LBRY Credits. Then, turn your LBC into BTC. Once that transaction is complete, convert your BTC to USD or another fiat currency. Another way to turn BTC into cash is through a specialized Bitcoin ATM that allows BTC to USD transfers. Bitcoin ATMs are useful because they allow you to withdraw cash then and there, finalizing your LBC cashout.

LBRY as a network is used just like any other digital content provider, most similarly Youtube. You can publish, stream and download videos all in a central location. LBRY is unique from Youtube because it is open sourced, run on a blockchain, and powered by the LBRY Credits. LBC can then be used to download or stream specific content that requires payment.

LBRY Credits can also be used for investing. LBC can be purchased from an exchange site and held in a digital wallet, allowing for the price of the currency to rise in value. Exchange rates into other fiat currencies help determine the time to buy or sell LBC.

LBRY as a network is used just like any other digital content provider, most similarly Youtube. You can publish, stream and download videos all in a central location. LBRY is unique from Youtube because it is open sourced, run on a blockchain, and powered by the LBRY Credits. LBC can then be used to download or stream specific content that requires payment.

LBRY Credits can also be used for investing. LBC can be purchased from an exchange site and held in a digital wallet, allowing for the price of the currency to rise in value. Exchange rates into other fiat currencies help determine the time to buy or sell LBC.

In order to mine LBRY credits, you’ll need to use a GPU instead of CPU, as that provides the most profitability. Mining can be done individually or in pools. By providing your LBRY credits address to the mining pool, you’ll have access to mine the coin. The more a coin is mined, the more the market cap for that coin grows. This is because transactions are being processed and new coins are being created.

Scaling is how a blockchain will be able to handle and process the number of transactions that are made with the coin. This is arguably one of the most challenging aspects that hinders mass adoption among cryptocurrencies. In order to keep the price charts going up, blockchains need to handle the transactions that are made. LBRY credits are unique among other crypto tokens because payments of LBC are encouraged to be made through a third party, instead of directly on the blockchain. The purpose of this is to help with scaling. By offloading the transactions to a third party site, the LBRY blockchain itself doesn’t have to handle the same number of transactions it would otherwise. This is how LBRY is handling the scaling issue that so many blockchains face. By following the chart for LBC, we’ll be able to tell if the strategy works or not.