BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

PewDiePie Is Edging Closer To Bitcoin And Crypto

Following
This article is more than 4 years old.

PewDiePie, one of the world's biggest internet stars and long-time holder of the most subscribed YouTube channel, has signed an exclusive deal with blockchain streaming platform DLive, edging PewDiePie closer to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as his fractious relationship with mainstream services and the media continues.

DLive, a decentralized network for live streaming videos where content providers and consumers are rewarded with a cryptocurrency called Lino, claims to take no percentage of creator earnings and does not charge fees. Lino raised $20 million early last year in a private token sale to build what it called "YouTube on the blockchain."

PewDiePie's partnership with DLive comes after a petition to ban PewDiePie from YouTube, accusing his channel of being "one of the largest platforms for white supremacist content," garnered some 80,000 signatures in response to PewDiePie being namechecked by the New Zealand Christchurch gunman before he carried out his attack on two mosques, killing 50 people.

Getty

PewDiePie's move to a decentralized platform will likely bring awareness of bitcoin, blockchain technology, and cryptocurrencies to PewDiePie's audience, which is mostly aged between 18-24, making up 44% of his views.

Surveys have shown young people to be more open to bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and decentralized services than older groups.

"Personally, I've never heard of DLive before, but taking a look after this publicity stunt, it seems pretty cool," Mati Greenspan, senior analyst at brokerage eToro, wrote in a note to clients.

"Though I personally don't have much taste for this content, it seems that a lot of young people do. When we talk about mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, this sort of splash can go a very long way."

PewDiePie, who has been uploading videos to YouTube since 2010, began as a gaming channel specializing in "let's play..."-style videos but has branched out to internet culture commentary in recent years, accumulating some 93 million subscribers and 21 billion video views as of April 2019.

"DLive is great for me because I'm treated like a real partner," PewDiePie said in a press release announcing the partnership.

PiewDiePie has repeatedly stumbled upon controversies in recent years, falling out with platform giants including search company Google, YouTube, and video game streaming service Twitch at various times.

PewDiePie's run-ins with controversy have put his money-making potential at risk, with videos demonetized on YouTube and Google removing him from its preferred advertiser platform.

Other potentially offensive or controversial internet personalities have struggled to find their place on similar platforms, who have chosen to remove them rather than deal with the fall out from hosting them.

The bitcoin price loosely tracks the number of daily transactions on the bitcoin blockchain.

CoinDesk

Meanwhile, bitcoin this week crossed a significant adoption and usage milestone with its 400 millionth transaction since bitcoin was created in early 2009, as recorded by bitcoin's public blockchain.

Bitcoin has this month bounced back into the investment and trading limelight after the bitcoin price suddenly jumped higher, adding almost 30% and climbing back above the psychologically significant $5,000 mark—but leaving investors uncertain whether bitcoin (and other major cryptocurrencies) will be able to maintain the price.

The bitcoin price, which has been languishing around $3,500 per bitcoin for months, took the market by surprise last week when the price surged higher, leaving many analysts and traders unsure what exactly triggered the uptick, with little changed for bitcoin's fundamentals.

Follow me on Twitter