Streamium is one of the more innovative projects in the Bitcoin space, as it creates something new that was almost impossible before. The platform allows users to stream audio and video to anyone else in the world, and viewers can pay per second to watch the content. Streamium developers Manuel Aráoz and Esteban Ordano were recently interviewed in an episode of Epicenter Bitcoin, and during this discussion, Aráoz somewhat unexpectedly revealed that about 50% users are "cam girls."
"It's a little bit interesting, but we found that about 501 of TP3T's users were basically using it for porn services," he said. "So, cam girls performing online for their clients. Other significant use cases were education and live gaming. So, people were doing online classes or showing their screens while playing video games, but by far the biggest use case was porn services."
Later in the show, co-host Meher Roy pointed out the similarities between Bitcoin and the internet in how porn services became the earliest killer apps. In this particular segment of the show, Aráoz also explained why cam girls might be interested in using an app like Streamium.
Wife's payment cancellation issue
The first problem Aráoz points out has to do with something they weren’t even aware of before they created Streamium. The online adult entertainment industry has a huge refund problem, but Aráoz explains that it’s often not the people who actually purchase the pornographic material who initiate the refund process:
“That’s one thing we didn’t know about before, but in live cam porn, there’s this problem of so-called wife reversals, where they have very high reversal rates, and it’s not based on actual users, it’s based on wives seeing, ‘Oh, what is that?’ (Husbands) say, ‘No, I don’t know. I didn’t use that. OK, let’s reverse the payment.’ That’s obviously a big problem.”
No upfront payment required by viewers
One problem with any form of payment for online streaming video in the past is that viewers had to pay upfront for the content. This led to some viewers being completely reluctant to watch the content, while others might seek out free or cracked versions of the video if they could find one. With Streamium’s pay-per-second model, viewers can pay a few cents to watch a particular video if they like it, and then pay for the entire stream. As Aráoz explains, “[Streamium] also allows users to end the stream at any point in time, so you don’t have to pay upfront for something you want to watch.”
High costs of traditional cam sites
The final positive aspect of Streamium for cam girls, first mentioned by Epicenter Bitcoin co-host Sébastien Couture, is that there is no middleman between performers and viewers for payments. Not only do credit card companies not take their cut, traditional cam site operators are no longer involved. Aráoz described the fees on these platforms in the interview:
"Apparently, these sites charge very high fees to video makers. I don't remember the exact number, but I heard it was around 40% or 50%."
Of course, part of the reason cam sites take such a high percentage of performers’ earnings is due to marketing costs, so it’s important to remember that there are other variables at play.
It will be interesting to see if Streamium can continue to expand as a platform for camgirls and other online freelancers, and whether the pay-per-second model already has some advantages for some niche streamers. Right now, the developers are working to scale the free service to handle more streams, which could open the door to many other online content creators in the future.
Kyle Torpey is a freelance journalist who has been covering Bitcoin since 2011. His work has been published in VICE Motherboard, Business Insider, RT's Keiser Report, and other media. You can follow @kyletorpey on Twitter.
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