DECENT, a Blockchain-based digital content distribution platform, says it has raised US$2 million in 7 hours of launching its Initial Coin Offering or ICO on Saturday September 10.
The platform seeks to present an alternative model to creators who publish books, for example on Amazon or sell their music independently on iTunes. The ICO comes ahead of DECENT’s planned launch in the first or second quarter of 2017.
Looks DECENT: 0% fees, 100% revenue
Unlike Amazon, Shutterstock or iTunes which share almost a third or more of revenue on works hosted on their platforms, DECENT says it aims to free media creators from unnecessary middlemen and manipulation by sharing and selling their text, music, video content or software with 0% fees to make authors receive 100% of the revenue.
According to its CEO, Matej Michalko, the entire proceeds from the ICO as a fundraiser will be used for development purposes and to ensure the initial distribution of DCT, the crypto fuel of the DECENT Network. He says it is also a great opportunity for the platform's development team to get the project funded.
Michalko tells Cointelegraph:
“DECENT ICO is a one-time opportunity to be among the first to get DCT, a crypto fuel of DECENT Network. It will be integrated into many existing and new services and it's on track to take Blockchain Tech to mainstream markets. DECENT is the future of digital content distribution. It entirely redefines the way text, music, video files and even software and other data are shared over the internet.”
What is ICO and how decentralized projects can benefit from it?
The idea of ICOs for decentralized projects is gaining more interest, according to the CEO of Synereo, Dor Konforty.
Konforty, whose decentralized platform will launch a second round of fundraising to scale up its operation next week, says to Cointelegraph:
"Following the success of token sales by Ethereum, Factom, Synereo, and others, there is a lot of interest in this space right now. These alternative types of funding models have proven to be successful for the decentralization movement. The excitement around DECENT shows that people have understood and internalized the importance of decentralized content delivery; it is one aspect of our project that has been heavily developed for a long while as well, and that we have been receiving strong interest and support for as our team attempts to build a fully decentralized web."
Not without challenges
The DECENT ICO was delayed for a day after they had technical glitches with the infrastructure and the website was down for some time.
As a result, Michalko says, the initial bonus has been extended to give enough time and equal opportunity to everyone who would like to acquire DCT early.
70% of the total DCT will be distributed in the September ICO. This will include pre-mine funds of which 10% will be for the DECENT Foundation, 2% for the investment Fund, one million DCT for the Bounty program; and three million DCT for pre-software marketing.
The DECENT team has already secured a €500,000 seed funding round earlier this year from Element Capital LLC, a US Chinese Fund.