What is Substratum? (SUB)

The internet has revolutionized the way the world works we've used it to not only share information but used it to build multibillion-dollar industries like eCommerce, cryptocurrency and social media. While these 3 industries take up most of the glory when it comes to innovation the internet itself has been pretty stagnant in self-improvement.

Due to the large demand for internet access companies that provide these services have quickly grown into monopolies both in broadband and mobile internet access, this form of access doesn't sit well with net neutrality supporters who fear the worst. So what is the solution you ask?

Could be legal in nature and enforced by law or it could be market replaced and enforced by the free market through a concept called decentralised internet which is a project Substratum (SUB) aims to fulfil.

What is Substratum (SUB)?

The substratum network is described as "The decentralized internet", which basically means a web hosting service on the blockchain. Users who elect content hosters on the network pay in Substratum and websites are then served via the network. It can be viewed from most traditional browsers and host nodes can earn Substratum by providing hosting power (e.g. overnight when your PC is not in use).

Their roadmap includes further features like decentralized video streaming and an integrated Paypal-like payment platform "CryptoPay". If you're interested in seeing how it all works you can sign up as Beta tester for the platform!

An introduction to Substratum

Why should you pay attention to Substratum?

On-demand services

Rather than pay fixed costs, users on the network pay for the amount of bandwidth they use through web browsing or other web browsers interacting with their content. Additionally, individuals contracting their hardware decide how much of their processing power they sell and at what time of the day, making the process as comfortable and efficient for everyone involved as possible.

Unrestricted access

In an ISP (internet service provider) environment consumers experience content throttling have to pay for premium content packages, SUB offers an efficient and fair alternative. Substratum also provides internet freedom to users which can help in countries with enforced centralised censorship such as China.

Affordability

SUB brands itself as a cheaper alternative to traditional means of web hosting and browsing.

Instant scalability

Since SUB users aren't tied to packages should they need additional resources for services like streaming, mining or gaming resources are adjusted automatically and users are charged accordingly.

What is Substratum used for?

Market generated net neutrality

Since the Substratum is decentralised the network is run by a network of users with no centralized, monolithic host dictating access to certain websites, throttling access to sites or dictating market prices for internet access. Instead of relying on legislation for ISP's to act in the interest of the public the market will regulate the cost and quality of service.

Grey market ISP's

Having affordable website access and hosting will create a platform where users who were barred from access due to costs will now have access to the internet, to earn an income, use the internet or host a website. This so-called grey market can be supported by the Substratum network without pricing out users. This will give rise to new opportunities, especially in third world countries. In countries that are stuck in an ISP, monopoly SUbstratum will provide much-needed competition in markets.

Can you mine Substratum?

No, Substratum is an ERC-20 token and not a coin, therefore, it cannot be mined. However, running a network supporting master nodes to support the network will generate an income.

Can you earn Substratum?

Masternodes

Running a master node on the Substratum network will allow users to rent out their computer's resources to support the decentralised network. Users will then be paid for all resources used to host content on the SUbstratum network. Additionally, holding more Sub tokens in your masternode will improve the rate of payment as you have more money invested in running the platform and should be rewarded for your additional support.

Trading

Substratum users can earn digital currency via exchanges. Users can earn tokens through trading on different fiat and cryptocurrencies and take advantage of market fluctuations.

Where can you buy Substratum?

Substratum is listed on a few of international cryptocurrency exchanges and is actively traded on websites like:

• Binance
• COSS
• HitBTC
• Kucoin
• OKEx
• Radar Relay
• Tidex

Should you invest in Substratum?

Substratum's concept may be straightforward in the way it works their end goal is rather substantial and they've gone after a massive market which has been hugely left to operate in the dark to speak, collecting Billions of dollars annually. The substratum is a project with huge upside potential with its ability to disrupt a rather archaic market but just because a certain business practice is old or seems outdated it does not say the market is ready to let go of the offering which I think is the case for the short term.

Consumers may be willing to take the risk on decentralised hosting due to its affordability but big businesses that need massive resources and cannot risk downtime may shy away from hosting their site on unproven technology especially once load balancing on the network becomes an issue.

Plenty of user and experience testing needs to be done to test the limits and extent of the network before large-scale commercial viability can even be thought of. I think Substratum is a promising but speculative investment and it's definitely one for the long haul. I personally believe in the future of a decentralised internet which I think will be hugely and widely beneficial in lowing barrier to entry and also creating a larger market.

However I'm not sure first-mover advantage will be the winner in this sector, Substratum will need to do plenty of legwork to introduce the concept and then acquire users to support the network which will have a pretty slow acquisition rate in the beginning. This will allow competitors to quickly catch up when the market matures and people see the value in a decentralised internet.

For more on Substratum check out their website

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Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide any investment advice and is for educational purposes only. As of the time posting the writers may or may not have holdings in some of the coins or tokens they cover. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency as all investments contain risk.

Tags: Cryptocurrency, blockchain