Video streaming service YouNow files with SEC to distribute Props token

U.S.-based live broadcasting service YouNow has filed a public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its Props token.

Founded in 2011, YouNow provides a platform wherein users stream their own live video content or interact with the video streams of other users in real time. According to the details on Crunchbase, the company has raised $26 million in funding to date and is backed by Comcast Ventures and Union Square Ventures, among others.

In September 2017, YouNow announced the Props ecosystem, a group of media applications powered by PROPS – an Ethereum-based ERC20 token. The Props team has built a set of open-source tools that enable several apps to join the Props Network, thereby fostering a digital economy that rewards users for their contributions.

In an online post dated June 18, the company said that if approved by the SEC, it would be able to algorithmically reward app users worldwide with Props tokens for their valuable contributions to the Props economy, while ensuring compliance with U.S. regulations. The tokens can be immediately used in apps in the Props Network.

“Props Tokens cannot be purchased as part of this offering. They can only be earned by apps, users, and validators that will contribute to the Props Network,” the blog post added.

YouNow is the first app on the Props network and intends to distribute a considerable portion of its own Props tokens to its users. Tokens could be earned by contributing content, supporting content creators, and actively engaging with the app. YouNow users holding the tokens would be able to enjoy valuable in-app benefits, and participate in the financial upside potential of the entire Props network.

So far, Props has also allocated 70 million Props Tokens for grants towards app development, among other activities, in order to accelerate the network’s growth and advancement.

“Pending final approval by the SEC, there is the opportunity for apps to integrate and ‘mine’ a legally compliant digital token and obtain a stake, for both the apps and their users, in the network they contribute to. This visionary new model is ushering in a new era of transparent and more equitable distribution of value, and sharing that value with end-users,” said David Pakman, Partner at Venrock – one of the project’s backers.