Are BChat and BelNet free to use? How are these dApps sustainable in the long run? Let’s take a look.
A long term vision and sustainability are aspects necessary for any project. In order to be sustainable, a project must generate revenue and have enough resources in terms of human and monetary capital.
Human talent is gained through time and trust as the project develops while on the other hand monetary capital is maintained by a steady stream of revenue and investments.
To generate revenue, a project sells its products or services. In case of start ups, if not already bootstrapped, then the project may seek investments by selling its shares or by entering into contracts with investment firms that aid the growth and development of the project. In the case of crypto & Web3, a project sells its tokens to raise capital.
While investments can provide instant monetary resources and prove beneficial for the short-term, in the long run, building products that have a strong utility for the underlying token is necessary.
Once a strong utility is created, the project becomes self-sufficient. In the case of Beldex (BDX), one major utility is private transactions. Other utilities are real-world uses and in-app purchases on BChat and BelNet.
Are BChat and BelNet free to use?
Absolutely. You can download BChat and BelNet for free from either PlayStore, AppStore or for your desktop device here — BChat desktop & BelNet desktop.
Why Are BChat & BelNet Free?
Beldex believes in free speech and privacy for all. This is the ethos on which the project was founded.
Data leaks, data theft, and monetization of data — these exploitative practices are followed by malicious actors everyday. Some corporations generate revenue by collecting user data.
Privacy in digital communication is at an all time low now. One metric that reflects this is the Internet Freedom Index. Freedom House, the non-profit organization that advocates for free speech, democracy, freedom on the internet and human rights has stated in its report that the Internet Freedom Index is on a decline for the 12th consecutive year. This means that more and more organizations are turning to profit from user data rather than protecting their privacy.
For most people, privacy may not be the immediate concern when using messaging applications or surfing the internet. However, the overarching disadvantages are often felt years later.
For example, several key organizations are fined hefty sums every year for leaks in their user data. Most of these organizations follow sub-standard data protection practices. Due to this, there has been a rise in phishing, vishing, spoofing and other social engineering attacks.
Thus, to protect privacy in digital communication, projects like Beldex develop decentralized applications that provide a secure and private environment to the user.
Private dApps ensure free speech for everyone. They provide everyone a chance to communicate freely. For this reason, BChat and BelNet do not require a subscription.
This brings us to the next important question. How then, are BChat and BelNet sustainable?
How are BChat & BelNet Sustainable?
BChat and BelNet, as stated, are free applications. How do these free applications generate revenue in order to be serviceable to people?
The simple answer is, they do not. Revenue generation in Web3 does not work the same way it does in Web2, at least for the most part.
While BChat & BelNet’s services may not be monetized, in-app utilities may aid in the development of the ecosystem and the community.
But how can in-app utilities help in ecosystem development? Do BChat and BelNet have a sustainable business model to keep the service active?
Yes they do.
Messaging on BChat and private browsing using BelNet may be free of cost. However, BChat and BelNet are backed by BDX, the ecosystem’s native crypto.
Like most Web3 projects, Beldex (and subsequently BChat and BelNet) were initially crowdfunded using a BDX token-sale.
To help the project’s sustainability, utilities for the BDX token are being created within BChat and BelNet. One major utility is tied to the Beldex Name System (BNS).
BNS names and domains are private names on the Beldex blockchain.
- BNS names for wallet addresses enables users to send BDX to other wallets using names instead of addresses.
- BNS names for BChat IDs enables users to identify and verify user accounts on BChat.
- BNS domains can be used to host censorship-free, private applications on BelNet.
BNS names and domains can be bought using BDX.
BDX can also be used to buy additional features such as premium stickers or even peer-to-peer subscriptions in the future. These utilities are paramount to the supply-demand economics of the BDX coin.
BDX’s utility affects its supply-demand economics in such a way that there is a positive price discovery. The BDX used to buy these additional features is sent to a wallet with an unknown seed phrase. It is essentially burnt and removed from the circulation.
As more and more people begin using BNS names, more BDX is burnt. This is a prime example of how utility drives demand for the token which inturn helps in creating value for the token holders.
As adoption of the Beldex ecosystem increases, so does its sustainability. Thus, the success of the project entirely depends on its users.
Telegram | Twitter | Discord | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Medium | CoinMarketCap
