Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Blockchain
Enabled
Multimedia
Ecosystem
1
Vision
Attention and personal data are now the most The Streaming Generation
important commodities on the internet.
Media, both serves as an effective place to
With an estimated buying power of $44
create an attention/data economy and is
Billion, Gen Z is spending more than 5 hours
primed for blockchain disruption. By taking a
per day on their phone,3 making them well
passive habit and correlating value to it,
positioned for cryptocurrency adoption. By
Current is setting a precedent in today’s
designing our platform with the most digitally
digital landscape. Users should get more than
active generation in mind, we differentiate
just entertainment, creators should get a
ourselves from the infrastructural protocols
bigger cut of revenue, and curators should get
developed to serve the “initial wave” 4 of avid
paid for finding the content you didn’t know
users and delivers a valuable new audience to
you loved.
the world of blockchain.
Media for Web 3.0 Gen Z and Millennials are having deeper and
more frequent interactions on video and
The web we know today was built on the
music services than ever before. They are
personal data and time of the unwitting con-
more likely to search YouTube for a given
sumer. Today, just four companies own the
question then to Google it. 5 Armed with an
internet's data.2 The next evolution of the
acute awareness, and a strong interest and
Web will recognize the value of people and re-
understanding of the digital landscape, these
define the value exchange between cons-
groups will represent the first generations
umers, and corporations.
who will be immersed in blockchain products
and services. In many cases, Current will be
When we set out to build this ecosystem, we
the first digital wallet the mainstream public
put you in mind: the everyday streamer. We
will own.
considered the variety of media you stream
and the various networks you have accounts
on, and built an agile flexible platform that
adapts to culture quickly. We didn't want you
to make any sacrifices, so we integrated with
the most popular networks. You want to con-
trol who your data is shared with and how it’s
used, so we wrote win-win smart contracts
that give you choices.
2
Introduction
During this phase, Current is solely sourcing The protocol records transactions on the
content from third-party networks like blockchain that attest a user’s contribution to
YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, Internet Radio the network (by consumption, or by curation
etc. ensuring adequate supply of media, to and creation) and a smart contract distributes
accelerate growth and meet user demand. At CRNC tokens in response to that contri-
this stage, the goal was to find product- bution. In order to handle the scalability bot-
market fit to establish a strong foundation for tlenecks, while maintaining trust within trans-
7
the product. With over 300 million songs and actions, we will consider “state channels.”
over 1 billion videos, over 200,000 people
have used Current to listen, watch, and
interact with media. The average user spends
over 18 minutes per session and our Day 30
retention as of Q4 2017 is over 35% without
any incentives built into the platform, well
above industry standards at this stage. 6
3
CONTINUED FROM
Introduction
4
A New Way to
Play Media
The Current platform provides a more For instance, live streaming, virtual reality
convenient and thorough media search and and augmented reality will become more
discovery process by consolidating disparate ubiquitous in the coming years; Current is
content sources into one place. Aside from well suited to integrate the most popular
reducing the number of apps needed to play content networks that serve those types of
music, video, podcasts etc., the platform has media.
more data points available about the media
types, times, and subject matter that a person Reducing Barriers to Ownership
experiences and can generate recommend-
ations better than any single network alone. One of the strongest attributes of CRNC is its
Current is available with 8 integrations and accessibility and immediate impact to users.
intends on integrating more services that host Most exchanges and crypto-enabled services
podcasts, audio books, television shows, and require a lengthy registration process, some
movies. form of investment, or hardware for mining.
Current allows users to start earning CRNC
More Convenient Streaming tokens immediately without any barriers to
entry. Another issue that deters new entrants
Unlike conventional content networks like into the market is legibility of the application.
YouTube or Spotify, which are limited by the Ripple, Tezos, and many other blockchain
content hosted on their platform, Current can protocols have very complex solutions that
access the content libraries from multiple require a certain technical literacy and lack a
services through Application Programming broader relatability.
Interfaces or APIs. An API is a set of routines,
protocols, and tools that govern the interact- With our hybrid approach, we’re able to
ion of software components. 9 garner broad adoption using our existing
audience and their daily streaming media
habits through a simple user experience and
Keeping Up With Culture
wallet integration, removing all technical
complexities associated with the adoption of
Current integrates with external media
cryptocurrencies. Lastly, the other barrier to
networks to meet the demand for popular
entry revolves around accountability. Many
media only available on proprietary networks.
token sales are based on theoretical princi-
Using third party libraries provides Current
ples without any sort of product in market.
with an unparalleled agility to add or remove
libraries as they fluctuate in popularity.
5
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A New Way to Play Media
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A New Way to Play Media
7
A Utility Token for
the Media Industry
Purpose of the Protocol Current will stake a portion of CRNC for each
newly issued sub-token allowing token
The primary objective of the protocol is to immediate liquidity to occur for any network
evolve based on market adoption, and there- participation. Sub-tokens can then be
fore will be rolled out incrementally. The instantaneously traded for CRNC or any
initial function of the protocol is to reward other currency within the Current/Bancor
participants of the consumption cycle in three ecosystem.
steps: (1) verify the initializer; (2) calculate the
value of the action to the network, and (3) Current creates an easy to use onboarding
calculate the appropriate token reward to that brings traditional media networks onto
distribute to the contributors. At the outset, blockchain technology, adding immediate
Current will have a main initializer that is value to their company, while bringing them
triggered by the consumption of more than 30 up to date with consumer expectations. By
seconds of play (consumption is also referred creating an eco-system for media, Current is
as “mining” within the Current whitepaper). able to bring an immediate value to all media
online and own the landscape of how media
interactions are rewarded, no matter the
Sub Tokens and Network platform.
Tokens (CRNC)
Current will stake a portion of CRNC for each Ethereum Based
newly issued platform sub token allowing
token immediate liquidity to occur for any Tokens will be implemented on the public
network participations. Sub tokens can then Ethereum blockchain as an ERC20 token.
be instantaneously traded for CRNC or any With incremental advancements, one of the
other token within the ecosystem. largest developer communities, and top-tier
backing the Ethereum blockchain has be-
Current will be integrating with the Bancor come the industry standard for issuing
Protocol in order to provide liquidity and custom digital assets and smart contracts.
formulaically determine the price of sub The ERC20 token interface allows for the de-
tokens. The CRNC token mining pool will ployment of a standard token that is com-
incentivize large media networks to use and patible with the existing infrastructure of the
implement the Current protocol by aligning Ethereum network (i.e., wallets, dev tools, and
incentives between host platforms, con- exchanges.) Although limitations in tran-
sumers, creators, and curators. This allows saction speed exist, leveraging off-chain
the protocol to achieve mass scale and more payment channel networks such as Raiden
comprehensive datasets around user address these bottlenecks. 12 Advancements
preferences and trends. such as these allow platforms to track micro-
transactions down to the second.
8
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Token And Protocol Dynamics
The Importance of
Cryptocurrency Ownership
At large, cryptocurrency ownership increases
participation in blockchain enabled products
and propels advancements throughout the
industry. Within Current, scaling the user
base is a key factor in the valuation of CRNC.
The larger the population of holders, the more
momentum the technology can gather. The
favorable reception of bitcoin in financial
markets has led to a certain foundational
strength on which to build upon. Going be-
yond transparency, cryptocurrency allows for
real-time payments down to the fraction of a
cent, which offers more control to both the
subscriber and provider like never before.
9
Token and Protocol
Dynamics
Current’s blockchain attribution protocol ac- Content and Value Flow
curately and transparently compensates con-
tributions to the recommendation algorithm
and overall growth of the Current ecosystem.
A token is “mined” when a user plays media
within the platform. Each token that is mined
is split amongst the the creator, curator, con-
External Service
sumer and potential referrer.
APIs
Consumer
The person playing the media and pay-
ing for subscriptions
Current API
Curator Off-Chain
The person organizing the playlist or
bringing the content into the network
from an external source Client Play
Data
Content
Creator
The person or group responsible for the
content being played
Referrer Protocol
The person responsible for bringing the x3yz10qp409er69hgjm3
Stakeholders
10
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Token And Protocol Dynamics
11
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Token and Protocol Dynamics
12
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Token and Protocol Dynamics
PTr = Tr U
Variables
Tr = Token reward given out
PTr = Participant token reward
U = The portion of the overall
token’s distribution to participants.
13
CONTINUED FROM
Token and Protocol Dynamics
Spent or traded
Curator 20%
Returned to Current if acting curator
For consumers this is 55%, creators and curators this is 20%, for referrers this is up to 3%, and for the growth pool this is
2%. *When content is consumed and a 3rd party curator is not present, Current is awarded the 20%. **While a creator
has less than 36,000 seconds (10 total hours) streamed on the platform their 20% share of tokens will be allocated to
the growth pool until their escrow account is minimum is met. ***If a referrer is not present the 3% is awarded back to the
growth pool. ****The growth pool will be allocated 2% of each token in all instances.
14
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Token and Protocol Dynamics
Example Calculation
Block Reward Participant Reward
Key Takeaways
Current will initially provide a proto-
col and token that can be used within
the Current platform and ultimately
on external media partners. Current
brings value to all players in the media
consumption cycle.
15
Earning and
Spending Tokens
The main way to accumulate platform tokens Inviting Other Users to
is by playing media within the Current Current
platform. As the platform increases its
reliance on blockchain technologies, stake- A user may invite others to Current and
holders are impacted differently. earn up to (3%) of their distribution value
of tokens each new user earns in per-
Tokens Earned by Consumers petuity. Current may implement a split of
the 3% where both the referrer and the
The amount of tokens earned by the user is referee each get a (1.5%) share of the
reliant on their contribution coefficient and tokens the new user earns.
the number of referrals they've made suc-
cessfully. All users who consume media on Example: Tom joined Current on his own.
Current from any of our content integrations Tom Invites Steve and then Steve invites
will be awarded platform tokens. Jerry.
16
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Earning and Spending CRNC
example
Opt-Out of Ads earn 1x CRNC
Ads
Displayed
While consuming
media & earning CRNC example
Opt-In to Ads earn 2x CRNC
Ad-Threshold
When user accumulates
5 CRNC or the equivalent of
their current Life Time Value
17
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Earning and Spending CRNC
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Earning and Spending CRNC
Tokens can be used as a cash substitute As the platform grows it's reasonable to
within the Current app for digital and physical say tens of millions if not more users will
goods. be holders of CRNC and its subtokens.
The Current Network will provide
Premium Services support to enable other applications to
use tokens for goods outside of the
Users can use tokens to pay for premium
Current platform.
services on Current. Such services may
include offline listening, Ad-free stream-
ing, exclusive uploaded content, and
memberships to premium networks with
which Current integrates.
Advertisers
Tokens will be the primary currency
within Current. Advertisers seeking
direct relationships with Current will
need to acquire tokens in order to
promote campaigns within the Current
network.
Key Takeaways
Tokens are split amongst participants
to seed the platform with a useful
cryptocurrency that initially serves to
reduce subscription costs for con-
sumers and ultimately to support
creators who upload their content to
Current.
19
Economics and
Network Dynamics
The Current token economy is based on the The basis of their theory came from
number of users playing media in the Current economist Irving Fisher’s observation from
network and their contributions to the net- 1911,14 that speculators may effectively limit
work. The network has several stabilization the money supply by withdrawing money
tactics that help balance token outflows and from circulation in anticipation of higher fu-
inflows within the network. ture utility.
3. The factors that together will drive Introduce a decay rate for long-time
future consumer adoption and merch- inactive users
ant acceptance of virtual currency. 13
Create a baseline market rate for the
tokens via token sale and reward
ecosystem
20
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Economics and Network Dynamics
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Economics and Network Dynamics
A Dynamic Subscription Model Users may invite their friends in which case
they will earn more tokens for contributing
The Current token creates a dynamic sub- new users to the network. Our mission is to
scription model for streaming: one which, by make sure everyone can participate and get
allowing users the choice of toggling ads and tokens early, even if they have never pur-
subscribing to premium services, efficiently chased virtual currency before.
captures consumers’ willingness to pay for
premium serv-ices against viewing ads. Revenue Model
Evidence from the financials of two streaming We envision five main ways of creating value
services, Spotify and Pandora, show that and a sustainable ecosystem for CRNC:
consumers brings 30% - 40% higher revenue
on a subscription over an advertising model 1. Users trading their tokens in for pre-
(see Appendix #1 for
15
a comparative analysis). mium subscriptions and services
Yet the subscription segment across almost
all services is smaller than that for free-tier 2. Ad impressions before and after the
users. ad-threshold is reached
In addition, the standard binary “advertising 3. Third-party service fees for access to
or subscription” model does not efficiently Current identity profiles
capture different consumer demand elastic-
ities: especially those who value an ad-free 4. Brokering the sale of tokens to
experience, but do not necessarily consume Advertisers from token holders (Con-
enough to warrant a full-priced subscription. sumers, Creators, Curators ) within an
internal marketplace
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Economics and Network Dynamics
23
Market
Landscape
Most of the blockchain-enabled media Kin, much like Current’s token, will be
companies are focused on areas such as copy- used to reward creators, access premium
right attribution and decentralized content, and pay for goods and services
distribution. Only a few of them are focused within the ecosystem. While in a different
on incentivizing social media and advertising. market segment from Current, Kik has
Our analysis of the market landscape located proven that a the 13-24 year old demo-
several media-related tokens and revealed graphic has a strong willingness to adopt
trends that have influenced our commitment a digital currency with low barriers to
and vision. entry.
24
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Market Landscape
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Market Landscape
Worldwide
Availability
Free Offline
Access
AM/FM &
Internet Radio
Audiobooks &
Podcasts
Robust Video
Library
Decentralized
Media
Accepts Crypto
as Payment
Rewards
Consumers
26
Token Launch
The primary purpose of the token launch is to effectively kickstart the token market and support
Current Media in further developing technology that contributes to the market. Bonuses will be
provided to early investors with a short lockout period after the sale to bolster stability.
27
CONTINUED FROM
Token Launch
$12.5M
Expand audiobooks, podcast, and
video library. Launch premium service
bundling plans. Customize all aspects
of the ecosystem in local languages.
28
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Token Launch
Spotify $1.56B
Hulu $683M
Soundcloud $362.82M
Deezer $217.47M
Saavn $110M
TuneIn $103.12M
Scribd $47.76M
Pluto TV $43.5M
Vudu $36M
TubiTV $30M
Stitcher $18M
Key Takeaways
Significant capital investment is
required to build and scale media
companies.
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Token Launch
30
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Token Launch
Roadmap
Protocol Platform Operations
DEC 2017
Current v1.2 Update,
New Discover & Library UI JAN 2018
Token Sale Announced to Media,
Marketing Campaigns, and
Bounty Program
Q1 2019 Q1 2019
v1.2 Blockchain Attribution Decentralized Content Distribution
Allow any network to access and Creators earn 100% of revenues
integrate our protocol
Q4 2019
Current Ad Platform
31
Privacy and Security
User Data Collection and In the Current Media Platform, users have
read-only access to the amount of tokens
Anonymity they’ve earned from their contributions.
We realize that some users may be skeptical Within the platform, users will be supplied
of our usage of the data collected based on with an encrypted key that changes every 20
past experiences with other software or- seconds. Users will then use this as one of
ganizations. Like many market leaders, their signatures as part of a two-factor
Current puts the user at the helm and gives authentication apart of the CRNC wallet that
control with opt-in, opt-out features. will be stored separately from the app itself.
The wallet is being designed with anonymity
Users can choose whether or not to con- and security in mind.
tribute to the algorithm and earn token re-
wards at a faster rate. Users decide what to While the user experience will be seamless,
share with the network and adjust their this encryption adds another layer of ad-
privacy settings accordingly, with most per- ditional security, however, no matter how
sonally identifiable pieces of information secure an online wallet or exchange is, pos-
decoupled from preference data. Current is sible security vulnerabilities inherently exist,
dedicated to the security and privacy of our e.g., human error. With the growth of Alt-
community members and will be keeping all coins and token sales, we noticed very few
private data on the user’s device. options exist to store these coins offline.
Current is exploring the possibility of
The Current ledger system intends to explore providing the offline hardware needed for
the implementation of the ANONIZE 20 algo- token holders who meet a predefined thresh-
rithm amongst other measures to further old for safer keeping.
protect user privacy. Current will continue to
make this a top priority as the platform e-
volves.
CRNC Wallet
Current will use the Ethereum MultiSig wallet
as our standard. CRNC will be fully compliant
with ERC20 standards in order to ensure that
the tokens are compatible with all Ethereum-
based wallets (Mist, Geth, Metamask).
32
Advisors and Investors
Investor, Innovator and Philanthropist. As a technology entrepreneur, she has A venture-backed technology entre- With a background in Psychology,
Early in his career he sold his computer been building software startups since preneur for over 20 years. Founder of Dave’s been an engineer ever since he
consultancy, MicroSolutions, to Com- 2005. She has been through multiple MetaCafe, Israel's fastest growing video became interested in how technologists
puServe. As pioneer of digital media acquisitions, wind downs, venture cap- sharing site reaching over 50m uniques become competent and keep up with
broadcast, he later launched and sold ital financing and everything in be- before being acquired. Previously, Eyal the constant change in the ecosystems.
Broadcast.net to Yahoo. Beyond that, tween. She Co-founded Bancor, one of founded Contact Networks, one of the Minority owner of 3 acquired com-
2929 Entertainment owns and manages the top 5 ICO’s of 2017. Studied at first social networks in 1999. Eyal has panies. Supports his 14 portfolio com-
AXS TV (previously HDNet). Current Dartmouth College and Johns Hopkins been an outspoken thought leader on panies.
owner of Dallas Mavericks. University. cryptocurrency in Israel.
Redefining the world of innovation by A champion for charities and those in Co-founder of several digital cur-rency Serial entrepreneur. Back in 2005 he
developing a platform technology which need of assistance, often donating his businesses including Red Leaf Advisors. started his first business, providing SEO
maps the landscape of innovation. John time and energy to charitable efforts Helps small businesses, individuals, and services to clients in Moscow region. In
has extensive technical and engineering which is rooted in the vision of Pinkcoin. institutional investors purchase and 2012, he began applying data science to
management experience with a proven MBA from Hawaii Pacific University. secure digital assets; Manages client online mar-keting. In the course of next
track record of successfully creating, assets across multiple hedge fund strat- 3 years he became a well-known expert
developing, and implementing new pro- egies; guides token issuers through the in the area and is now helping com-
ducts and services, managing org- process of launching their own digital panies worldwide become data-driven,
anizational and product growth, and tokens (ICO, TGE, etc.). still living a life of a digital nomad.
creating process improvements.
Investor, advisor, and strategic general Gregg has spent over 20 years in the Jim serves as the Special Advisor of
management expert with a passion for music and entertainment industry. Merrick Ventures, LLC and has more
both consumer and SAAS, especially in Founder of Aware Records and A- than 25 years of experience in the
the areas of online travel, marketplaces, Squared Mgmt; signed Train, John financial markets. Serves as Special
and sharing economy, among others. Mayer, Five for Fighting and Mat Advisor of Merrick Ventures, LLC.
Professional experience as a VC, For- Kearney, The Fray, Michelle Branch, Liz Previously, the public company he
tune 500 product executive, and found- Phair, Brandi Carlile, Jack's Mannequin, founded and acted as Chairman of,
er/CEO. etc. These artists have sold over 30 OptionsXpress, was acquired by
millions CD's, in addition to billions of Charles Schwab in 2012. Member of the
streams of their individual songs. Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center.
33
Core Team and
Contributors
With four years of experience building consumer and media products, we have generated tens of
millions of app downloads & tens of millions in revenue. Our most recent exit was ranked amongst
Alexa’s Global Top 500 most trafficked websites.
Dan has been profiled in Forbes, Kiran has built and overseen sites that With extensive experience leading Experienced across business develop-
Entrepreneur, & Bloomberg TV for his provide secure, scalable web services software and design teams for the last ment, UI/UX, research, paid marketing,
entrepreneurial achievements and for tens of thousands of concurrent eight years, Nick oversees the product growth and data analytics. Leveraging
amassed a following of 1,200,000. He's users, handling over 1 billion requests design and development at Current. He his unique skill set, he’s driven hundreds
had two prior exits from companies per month. He’s passionate about has spoken on blockchain tech-nologies of thousands of downloads from the
generating tens of millions in revenue. bringing the same scalability to decen- and is an avid Ethereum and Bitcoin 13-24yr old demographic and fac-
Dan has been investing in the block- tralized technology. investor. ilitated partnerships with major in-
chain space since 2013. fluencers.
Seamus has years of experience in Steven is Lead iOS developer at A FinTech entrepreneur, passionate Zerion believes in a decentralized
the media space as a music video Current. He has performed research in about combining theory with practice to future. We help innovative companies
producer for Towkio and an alumni of using machine learning combined with achieve outstanding results and always to create blockchain-based products
Atlantic Records & OWSLA. At Cur- predictive algorithms to analyze fi- straying from my comfort zone so as to that disrupt and disintermediate and we
rent he oversees artist partnerships, nancial data. Using his past knowledge never stop evolving and learning. empower the individual investor. A
creates original content, and main- will be aiding in algorithm for providing Zerion.io is developing smart contracts dedicated, experienced, technologist
tains the highest curatorial standard. recommendations through Current. for blockchain platforms. with the knowledge, network, and
integrity to help companies go from an
idea to success.
Conducting research in Cognitive Data scientist and former economics Expert in cryptography Complexity Crafted media messaging, strategic
Neuroscience and Behavioral Econ. consultant at TGG, where he worked Theory, Probabilistic Combinatorics, content and data-driven creative
Previously, a Senior Associate at TGG with leading economists including Randomized Algorithms, Security, and narratives for the last 8 years. Former
Group, an innovative consulting firm Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, Systems Security. Co-author of “AN- VP Content and Strategy Directory at
founded by a handful of the world's and Freakonomics author Steven Levitt. ONIZE: A Large-Scale Anony-mous Starcom, Head of Strategic Partner-
leading economists and psychologists Survey System”, and “GPU and CPU ships for Hillary for America, and award
including Nobel Prize winner Daniel parallelization of honest-but-curious se- winning marketing strategist.
Kahneman, Freakonomics author cure two-party computation.”
Steven Levitt, and former Citigroup
CEO, Vikram Pandit. 34
CONTINUED FROM
Core Team and Contributors
Advisor, consultant and thought-leader Formerly with AP in Dallas, handled Author of 2 books, award winning PR
on emerging technologies coming to communications for U.S. Congressman, strategist and founder of EZPR. Pub-
market, among them blockchain, Governor, & U.S. Secretary of Ed. lished by Forbes, The Wall Street Jour-
artificial intelligence and digital plat- Currently in NYC working with top PR nal, Eurogamer, PC Gamer and PC Zone
forms. Jill has over 15 years of ex- firms, developing a loyal following of
perience focused on startups including tech, policy, education, entertainment
co-founding two, advising several, and finance clients.
helping talented CEO's bring products
to market.
35
Frequently Asked
Questions
Why does Current need to The Ethereum foundation's Also, with the average session
use the blockchain to dedication to continually de- duration in the Current app
velop and improve the under- being an average of 18 min-
accomplish its goals?
lying technology to improve utes and continually increas-
scaling issues make Ethereum ing, these integrations can
Current will utilize the bene-
one of the most compelling expect to see longer time
fits of a blockchain across two
blockchain platforms to build spent on their respective net-
phases, first, enabling Current
on top of. Our team has works and a better experience
to record user contributions
closely been monitoring the for their users.
to the platform and reward
progress of Raiden and how
them for their time, attention,
we can use state channels to Our mission is not to canni-
and consumption. This will
solve the scalability issues we balize our partner networks, in
continually evolve towards
would be facing within Cur- fact we want our users to use
using the blockchain to aid in
rent. tokens for premium sub-
the decentralization and tran-
scriptions within these net-
sparent distribution of con-
Is the Current platform works. This further benefits
tent, payments, goods and
reliant solely on third these networks and the broad
services.
party API integrations? industry as a whole, turning
free users into paying users. It
Why did Current choose is important to note, that our
Current launched stage one of
Ethereum over another goal is to continue to add
platform at the end of March
blockchain? 2017 with a mix of eight public content integrations as time
and private inte-grations, a goes on, further decreasing
The Ethereum network was good portion of which we’ve the impact of any one inte-
chosen because it is one of the secured through direct par- gration dropping from the
most robust blockchain plat- tnerships. All our integrated Current platform.
form built for application inte- partners are ben-efited as
gration along with the largest they retain all the user in- During final phase of the plat-
development comm-unity teractions, data, and revenue form, the Current platform
behind it. from plays within Current, ie. a will have reached the critical
play on Spotify still counts for mass of users it needs to make
a play on Spotify and they get full use of our de-centralized
paid on that stream. media integration that would
co-exist alongside the most
popular third party networks.
36
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Frequently Asked Questions
How does Current’s What is the total supply of The CRNC tokens won’t leave
protocol account for new CRNC? Will Current ever a user's wallet on the eco-
integrations into the issue more? system until they’ve been sent
platform? to a wallet on a partici-pating
The total supply of CRNC will secondary exchange, or are
When new integrations are be limited at 1 billion tokens, placed in a participating or
added, especially of a new and we will never issue new proprietary offline wallet.
media type (like film for inst- tokens after the token sale.
ance), the available pool of rel- During the token sale, 35% of In the future, beyond phase 2,
evant information grows and all of the tokens will be avail- tokens will be able to be spent
therefore increases the brea- able for purchase, and the directly on other platforms for
dth of our recommendations. remainder will be earned premium services, content and
We can catalogue and display through a user's contribution other goods. That said, once
more content and therefore by consuming media. The rate the Current Ad Platform goes
keep users engaged longer. at which the user is able to live, these external services
This will in turn impact the earn these tokens is depend- can use their accumulated
contribution coefficient assoc- ent on a variety of factors CRNC on targeting display ad-
iated with each user and the outlined in the Token Dyn- vertising within the Current
network as whole. amics and Protocol section. Platform.
37
CONTINUED FROM
Frequently Asked Questions Cont. 1
How do you remove any What is the hard cap for Is there a distribution
chances of users gaming or the Token Sale? schedule on the tokens
abusing the system to purchased during the pre-
continually earn tokens? $36,000,000 sale?
To remove potential fraud Who can participate in the In some cases, depending how
from “bad actors” the 8 Token Sale? big of a bonus on CRNC
variables outlined on page 10 tokens you desire.
of the Token Dynamics and We want everyone to be able
Protocol section that make up to participate in our Token In order to be eligible for large
our contribution coefficient are Sale and there are two ways to discounts on tokens purch-
designed in a way to automat- participate. ased during the token sale you
ically detect and adjust the will be subject to a distribution
rate at which the participant is 1. You can either obtain period where you will be given
earning CRNC tokens. Should CRNC tokens by trading tokens on a pro-rata basis
a “bad actor” be automatically in other forms of cryp- depending on your selected
detected, their contribution tocurrency as part of the distribution period.
coefficient will go to zero, Token Sale (Public Pre-
effectively earning the sale, and Main Sale). What happens if we don’t
participant zero CRNC tokens. Participants from the meet our minimum cap
U.S.A. must be ac- goal?
credited to buy CRNC.
How many CRNC will be All transactions will be re-
issued during the Token 2. Alternatively, anyone funded to the wallet address
Sale? can take part of the used in the transaction.
“Claim Your Wallet”
350,000,000 CRNC tokens or campaign without spen-
35% of the total supply of ding anything. Users
tokens (1,000,000,000) will be who claim their wallet
available during the crowd- will be given a pre-
sale. determined amount of
CRNC Tokens, distrib-
What is the minimum cap uted upon the launch of
goal for the Token Sale? the CRNC attribution
protocol.
$5,000,000 USD
What’s the minimum to
participate in the Token
Sale?
0.03 ETH
38
CONTINUED FROM
Frequently Asked Questions Cont. 2
How do I set up my wallet Why is there a decay rate Where can I learn more
on Current? on CRNC tokens held in my about Current and CRNC?
wallet?
Once the CRNC wallets go Current Platform Website
live, interested parties will be In order to incentivize active http://current.us/
directed to a portal where you users on the platform, any
will be asked to claim and CRNC tokens held in an
account that goes inactive for CRNC Token Sale Website
generate your wallet. Once
the wallet has been generated, more than 6 months will begin https://tokensale.current.us/
you will be provided with a to decay; the decaying tokens
seed phrase tied to that will then be transferred back Telegram
specific wallet address. This is into the growth pool to
reward active participants. http://bit.ly/2xWBPfH
something you’ll keep for your
records. Once that seed has
been generated, you’ll be A user will get a series of Facebook
asked to enter a password. alerts before this takes place. https://www.facebook.com/
After this process has been The decay rate does not apply CurrentCRNC
completed, we will reward to any tokens purchased
that address with a pre- during the token sale, or
Twitter
determined amount of CRNC tokens transferred out and
tokens for doing so. held in an offline wallet. https://twitter.com/
Current_CRNC
With your new wallet gen- The rates of decay at associate
erated, you’ll be able to make intervals are as follows: Medium
referrals to your friends to https://medium.com/
earn additional tokens. 6 months @ 10% current-crnc
month-over-month
39
Appendix 1: Comparative
Analysis and Token Dynamics
Spotify We assume the average play generates
$0.006 in royalties (industry eCPM):
As Spotify isn’t publicly traded, we rely here
on news reports of Spotify’s financials 21. Number of plays per average user
reported to its Luxembourg parent. per year:
40
CONTINUED FROM
Appendix 1: Comparative Analysis and Token Dynamics Cont. 1
41
CONTINUED FROM
Appendix 1: Comparative Analysis and Token Dynamics Cont. 2
42
Appendix 2:
Decentralized Media
It is cost prohibitive to store large amounts of When a user wants to download a track, the
data on the Ethereum blockchain. The IPFS address hash is sent to the Current API
InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) makes it which will load the file from the IPFS network,
possible to do so while maintaining a decrypt it using the Current Foundation's
decentralized network. IPFS is a peer-to-peer private key. The track will then be re-
distributed file system that connects all encrypted using the user's public key, and
computing devices with the same system of then provided to the user.
files. The files are addressed by the hash of
their content as opposed to a centrally- This final step presently requires interaction
controlled location. The diagram below shows with our centralized API. While we have
how nodes access data with IPFS vs the de focused on building a stable, redundant sys-
facto HTTP protocol. tem we recognize that this presents a possible
single point of failure in the network. Before
IPFS will serve as the data storage layer of the this phase of the platform is implemented (est.
Current platform. Current will offer users Q1, 2019), we expect to see advancements in
CRNC as an incentive to provide storage of the IPFS platform to allow for more fine-
uploaded files on the network powered by grained access controls to be included in the
IPFS. If needed, Current may implement filesystem. This would allow us to employ a
additional storage measures via services like fully-decentralized content distribution sys-
Filecoin 26 or IPFSstore 27 where a negligible tem.
tariff per media item sold would be imposed
on the creator and paid to whomever is
hosting the content for the network on the
aforementioned services.
43
CONTINUED FROM
Appendix 2: Beyond Phase 3 Cont. 1
Uploading Content
x3yz10qp409er69hgjm3
IPFS Database
Accessing Content
x3yz10qp409er69hgjm3
Encryption
Code
44
Endnotes
1 "Current - The World's First Universal Media Platform." Current.us. March 2017. Accessed
November 29, 2017. http://www.current.us/. Currently integrating 8 network’s: YouTube,
Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud, 8Tracks, Internet Radio, Facebook, and Twitter.
2 Hachman, Mark. "The price of free: how Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Google sell you to
advertisers." PCWorld. October 01, 2015. Accessed November 29, 2017.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2986988/privacy/the-price-of-free-how-apple-facebook-
microsoft-and-google-sell-you-to-advertisers.html.
3 Tirico, Klaudia. "Study: Gen Z Wields $44 Billion In Buying Power Featured." Study: Gen Z Wields
$44 Billion In Buying Power - Retail TouchPoints. January 23, 2017. Accessed November 29,
2017. https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/features/industry-insights/study-gen-z-wields-44-
billion-in-buying-power.
4 Plaugic, Lizzie. "Google released a guide to teens - who suspiciously love Google." The Verge. April
03, 2017. Accessed November 29, 2017. https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/3/15165224/
google-guide-to-teens-its-lit-gen-z.
5 The initial wave of token sales bred complex concepts that require a high level of technical
comprehension with future communities in mind rather than focusing on adoption strategies.
6 Klotzbach, Chris. "Enter the Matrix: App Retention and Engagement." Flurry Blog. May 12, 2016.
Accessed November 29, 2017. http://flurrymobile.tumblr.com/post/144245637325/appmatrix.
7 Tual, Stephan. "What are State Channels?" Stephan Tual's Blog. January 03, 2017. Accessed
November 29, 2017. https://blog.stephantual.com/what-are-state-channels-32a81f7accab.
8 "Raiden Overview." Raiden Network. September 2017. Accessed November 29, 2017.
https://raiden.network/faq.html. Raiden Network is an off-chain transfer network for Ethereum
ERC20 tokens.
9 Beal, Vangie. "What is API - Application Program Interface?" Webopedia. Accessed November
29, 2017. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/API.html.
10 Current is backed by several well-known investors and was founded in late 2015.
45
CONTINUED FROM
Endnotes
11 Krishna, Dilip, Nancy Albinson, Yang Chu, Joseph Burdis, Ed Hida, Ryan Hittner, Priyanka
Priyadarshini, Martin Rogulja, Irfan Saif, and Tanmay Tapase. "Managing algorithmic risks
Safeguarding the use of complex algorithms and machine learning." Deloitte Risk and Financial
Advisory, 2017. 2017. Accessed November 29, 2017. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/
Deloitte/us/Documents/risk/us-risk-algorithmic-machine-learning-risk-management.pdf.
12 C.S. "Raiden Network - Fast, cheap, scalable token transfers for Ethereum." Raiden Network -
Fast, cheap, scalable token transfers for Ethereum. September 2017. Accessed November 29,
2017. https://raiden.network/.
13 Bolt, Wilko, and Maarten R.C. Van Oordt. "On the Value of Virtual Currencies." On the Value of
Virtual Currencies, August 2016, 0-44. August 2016. Accessed November 29, 2017.
http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/swp2016-42.pdf.
14 Fisher, Irving, and Harry G. Brown. The Purchasing Power of Money: Its Determination and
Relation to Credit, Interest and Crises. New York, NY: The Macmillan Company, 1922. September
2011. Accessed November 29, 2017. https://eet.pixel-online.org/files/etranslation/original/
Fisher%20The%20Purchasing%20Power%20of%20Money.pdf.
15 Lazaroff, Leon. "Here's how Pandora and Spotify plan to finally make money." TheStreet.
September 20, 2016. Accessed November 29, 2017. https://www.thestreet.com/story/
13721011/1/here-s-how-pandora-and-spotify-plan-to-finally-make-money.html.
17 "Building Fundamental Value." Kin White Paper, Kik Interactive, Inc. May 2017. Accessed
November 29, 2017. https://kin.kik.com/papers/Kin_Whitepaper_V1_English.pdf.
18 “Basic Attention Token (BAT) Blockchain Based Digital Advertising” Basic Attention Token White
Paper, Brave Software. May 29, 2017. Accessed November 29, 2017.
https://basicattentiontoken.org/BasicAttentionTokenWhitePaper-4.pdf.
46
CONTINUED FROM
Endnotes
20 Hohenberger, Susan, Steven Myers, Rafael Pass, and Abhi Shelat. "ANONIZE: A Large-Scale
Anonymous Survey System." 2014 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, 2014. July 6, 2015.
Accessed November 29, 2017. https://eprint.iacr.org/2015/681.pdf.
21 Dredge, Stuart. "Spotify Financials Reveal A €539.2m Net Loss in 2016." Spotify Financials Reveal
A €539.2m Net Loss in 2016. July 15, 2017. Accessed November 29, 2017.
http://musically.com/2017/06/15/spotify-financials-reveal-e539-2m-net-loss-2016/.
22 "SEC Filings." Pandora - Investor Relations. October 27, 2016. Accessed November 29, 2017.
http://investor.pandora.com/.
23 Thaler, Richard H. "Mental accounting matters." Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. July 19,
1999. Accessed November 29, 2017. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/
(SICI)1099-0771(199909)12:3%3C183::AID-BDM318%3E3.0.CO;2-F/abstract.
24 Shampanier, Kristina, Nina Mazar, and Dan Ariely. "Zero as a Special Price: The True Value of
Free Products." Marketing Science 26, no. 6 (December 14, 2004): 427-757. November 1, 2007.
Accessed November 29, 2017. doi:10.1287/mksc.1060.0254.
25 Ingham, Tim. "Spotify's Average Subscriber Paid 5% Less Last Year - But Premium Conversion
Grew 7%." Music Business Worldwide. June 03, 2016. Accessed November 29, 2017.
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/average-spotify-subscriber-paid-5-78-month-2015/.
26 “Filecoin: A Decentralized Storage Network” Filecoin White Paper, Protocol Labs. Aug 14, 2017.
Accessed November 29, 2017. https://filecoin.io/filecoin.pdf.
27 "IPFSstore IPFS File Hosting." IPFSstore. 2017. Accessed November 29, 2017.
https://ipfsstore.it/about.php.
47