Today, blockchain technology has become the new buzzword. With rising demands, new platforms are emerging with an aim to offer decentralized solutions to users all around the world, so that they can better protect their digital assets.
One such platform is BitTorrent.
We will be going over what BitTorrent is in this blog, along with its brief history, how it works, and how to buy BitTorrent coin. Keep on reading!
About BitTorrent
Prior to learning about how to buy BitTorrent coin, you must have a brief idea about what the platform of BitTorrent entails.
Essentially, it is nothing more than an online platform built to provide users with a P2P network where they can download huge files with the help of low internet bandwidth.
The mechanism used by BitTorrent is quite interesting: rather than uploading or downloading files to and from just one server governed by a centralized entity, the platform makes use of several nodes or computers that run software where users can exchange files within themselves.
This eliminates the centralized nature of file-sharing networks and enables users to freely search for music files, applications, and other assets that users have uploaded to the network.
Additionally, the platform is open-source, meaning that it is publicly accessible and any user can tweak the original source code for modification and redistribution.
This was a very simple introduction to this massively popular network.
Ever since the tokenization of the platform in 2018, BitTorrent has made way for a host of features, that you must know, but before that let us go over how it all started.
History of BitTorrent
Unlike most cryptocurrency platforms today, BitTorrent had a very humble beginning where its underlying technology was not based on blockchain but was simply a P2P file-sharing protocol.
Originally starting in 2001, BitTorrent was a beloved site for music and film aficionados who sought after the platform to download their favorite media.
However, despite the fact that BitTorrent had a massive amount of users, the platform didn’t have any way using which they could monetize its services.
Surprisingly, the founder of TRON, Justin Sun set his eyes on the platform and acquired it for $140 million in 2018.
This acquisition paved a new path for BitTorrent.
The TRON foundation aimed to tokenize the BitTorrent platform in order to expand the network as well as offer incentives to the users who participate in the network.
And with that, the idea of the BitTorrent coin or BTT was conceived.
BTT is a TRC-10 utility token on the BitTorrent network that is used as a medium of exchange between users wishing to exchange files.
The main idea behind introducing the BTT coin was to solve issues that plague such file-sharing networks like slow download speeds or disappearing files.
As a solution, the holders of this BTT coin are given more priority on the platform.
Not only that but file-sharers are now more convinced not to remove their files from the network since they get a financial benefit from the exchange.
Let us elaborate a bit more on the BTT ecosystem.
If you are familiar with any kind of Torrent platform, you must know that the users who participate on the network or the “file sharers” represent themselves as seeds.
Other users who wish to download files from these seeds can connect to the network and download the file accordingly.
BitTorrent leverages the same mechanism, however, with a slight twist to monetize from its platform.
As already mentioned, the holders of this BTT coin are prioritized more. But, what does it mean?
The users who pay in BTT coin are moved to higher positions on the download queue and also have higher download speeds as compared to other users.
On the other hand, the recipients of these BTT payments or simply the “file sharers” become more eager to keep the files on the network for a longer period of time.
In conclusion, people who seek files or want to boost their download speeds purchase and spend BTT currency, whilst providers must acquire and trade BTT as a way to be reimbursed for file sharing on their servers.
Thanks to the introduction of BTT, the platform has managed to resolve several issues that were earlier posing to be quite a hindrance.
After the acquisition of the company by Sun in 2018, the BTT coin was publicly introduced via an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2019.
The ICO turned out to be very successful where the company managed to raise around $7.2 million in only a couple of minutes.
Presently, the platform is the world’s largest file-sharing protocol and it is said that the site consumes more than 20 percent of internet traffic.
How Does BitTorrent Work?
We have already established the history behind the platform, but before we move on to how to buy BitTorrent coin, let us fully grasp the architecture that lies underneath the whole network.
Architecture
The file transactions on BitTorrent leverage the software that the platform has in place.
However, the TRON blockchain looks after the transactions and keeps a record of them on its network.
Once a requester and a provider on BitTorrent decide to exchange, a payment channel gets built on TRON’s blockchain, where details of the transaction are stored forever.
This makes sure that the details are not tampered with, ensuring more security in the process.
Decentralized Applications
Apart from using TRON’s blockchain to secure and store its transactions, BitTorrent also uses TRON’s smart contracts to build decentralized applications or dapps.
These dapps are aimed at enhancing the services on the platform.
We have already talked about the BitTorrent Speed dapp, a use case of the BTT coin where users can pay in BTT coin if they wish to increase their download speed.
Aside from the BitTorrent Speed, there are several other dapps, including the BitTorrent File System (BTFS), where users can pay in BTT coins for additional storage or receive BTT coins to provide storage to other users.
Such a system helps in tackling the issues concerning price and security that are present in centralized storage networks.
BitTorrent Community
In order for a cryptocurrency platform to become successful, one of the most elementary things needed is community interest.
That has remained intact for BitTorrent since day one and its interest has only skyrocketed since TRON’s acquisition.
Users have understood that TRON and BitTorrent are a good fit together where the former represents the future of blockchain technologies and the latter is one of the oldest yet most popular decentralized networks that are still operational.
As a result, the popularity of the platform has been increasing.
This can be further proved by the considerable following that BitTorrent has on social media.
For instance, its Telegram channel has close to 90,000 users, its Twitter account has more than 60,000 followers, and its Facebook page has more than 700,000 likes.
These are the numbers that are testament to the popularity that BitTorrent has amassed over the years.
How to Buy BitTorrent Coin
As evident from all the information we have provided, BTT is a very valuable token on the BitTorrent network.
It is the native coin required to access any feature on the platform.
Additionally, the BTT coin gives the participants the ability to increase their download speeds as well as other services.
As a result, the BTT coin has been garnering a lot of value and more and more users are looking for ways using which they can purchase the token.
Unfortunately, BTT is not a common blockchain token and hence is not offered on most exchanges.
However, there’s no need to worry since the world’s largest exchange, Binance, is always there to come to your rescue.
The BTT token is available for purchase on Binance. However, the downside is that, unlike other cryptocurrencies, you cannot acquire BTT coins with fiat money.
The alternative is to exchange some other cryptocurrency for BTT. Follow the steps to see how you can purchase BTT tokens on Binance.
Step 1: Make Your Account on Binance
In case you already do not have an account on Binance, make sure to create one before you go ahead with any purchase.
Creating your account on the exchange is significantly easy; however, owing to the strict security policies of the platform, you must provide documents that verify your identity.
Once you are done setting up your account, let us move on to the next step.
Step 2: Purchase Some Other Cryptocurrency
As already mentioned, you cannot acquire BTT coins with fiat money. This means that you have to first purchase some other currency and then exchange it for BTT coins.
While you can choose any cryptocurrency of your preference, we are going to demonstrate it with Tether or USDT coin.
Once you have successfully logged into your account on Binance, you will notice a section called ‘Buy Crypto’ on the top-left corner of the screen.
Tap on it and select Credit/Debit card.
Now, under the spend section, choose the desired fiat currency and under the receive section, look for ‘USDT’ and select it.
Tap on Buy and your Binance wallet will get funded with USDT coins.
Step 3: Exchange Cryptocurrencies
The next thing you need to do is trade both cryptocurrencies. For that, navigate to the ‘Trade’ section that you will notice on the top of the screen.
Under the options, you need to tap on ‘Convert.’ Next, enter the amount of Tether coins you are willing to spend. Choose ‘Buy.’
Make sure to check the transaction charge that gets imposed on the exchange and the number of BTT coins you will acquire. After you have checked everything, tap on ‘Confirm.’
Congratulations! You now have BTT coins on your Binance wallet.
Final Thoughts
BitTorrent has been around for a while and since its inception, the network has managed to garner enormous popularity with more than 100 million users.
The platform holds massive potential and consequently, more users are looking to buy the network’s native token, BTT.
In this article, we talked about how to buy BitTorrent coin so that you can purchase it without any hassle!
FAQs
Can I Buy BTT on Coinbase?
No, Coinbase doesn’t offer BTT coins for purchase. You must look on other exchanges like Binance if you wish to acquire BTT tokens.
