Upfiring - P2P file sharing dapp review // The "Bittorrent of crypto" before the "BTT"
Related links:
- Project website: https://www.upfiring.com
- .ufr file library (https://ufrhub.com/)
- Coin market cap link: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/upfiring/
- State of the Dapps link: https://www.stateofthedapps.com/dapps/upfiring
Introduction:
As you can probably tell from the title of the review, i will be talking this time about a P2P file sharing application built on the Ethereum blockchain called "Upfiring".
To put it very simply, Upfiring is a application similar to Vuze, Bittorent, Utorrent that you can download to your PC that apparently uses its own protocol...
For a longer explanation:
Upfiring is an incentivized P2P file-sharing desktop application for Windows, MacOS, and Linux that encrypts and distributes files between peers over a decentralized network. Users earn cryptocurrency in the form of Upfiring tokens (UFR) by seeding files. The movement of UFR and files on the network is mediated by smart contracts, allowing for trustless exchanges.
Upfiring token (UFR):
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UFR tokens are utility tokens you use to pay when downloading .ufr files ("torrent" files) and you can get paying with for seeding.
The .ufr file type is based upon the .torrent file specifications with several additional parameters built-in.
In order to decrypt a file and view its contents, "downloaders" have to pay the set price in UFR. Upon doing so, the paying user immediately starts earning the token. “Free Seeders”, users that wish to earn UFR without paying for the decryption, can also earn UFR by downloading the file and seeding, but cannot open the file themselves. Paying users earn 3 times more UFR then the free seeders.
The problem im seeing here is that because of the added option of placing decryption fees you will have people uploading pirated content and charging for it. Which is already the case as you can see from the screenshot i made when i was testing the app.
If i didnt want to pay those that made the movie, why would i want to pay the person that wants to make "money" off of someone elses work?
Theres a difference between donations and having to pay a fee.
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While i think that having decryption fees might diminish Upfiring mainstream appeal (Why would i pay someone to pirate something when i can already get it for free on piratebay?) i still think a use case exists especially when we are talking about "seed rewards".
Competition:
As many of you have heard a big competitor has arrived "to the block" (no pun intended) for Upfiring.
The TRON bought Bittorrent protocol.
While some claim there are differences between the two projects, the truth of the matter is that from a consumer point of view they are essentially the exact same thing.
I for one am unsure as to how Upfiring can compete if Bittorrent manages to do what they have promised. Theres also another thing i find to be the biggest weakness of Upfiring.
To use Upfiring in any way you have to have a Ethereum wallet with some Eth, which essentially means that it has a very limited scope. (Which is the case for many, but not all, crypto projects)
Bittorent on the other hand has already a huge users base and is basically a mainstream product. If they dont force users to have a Tron account and just let them use Bittorrent like they have been using it so far with an added option to earn cryptocurrency, then i can hardly see a way for Upfiring to compete.
While you could say Tron is a "house built on hype" and that Bittorrent has yet to have integrated BTT into the Bittorrent client, with so much funding accumulated i think its only a matter of time.
Conclusion:
From browsing the .ufr file library you can see that there arent many files being uploaded (i found 300 in total) and most of the files i tried downloading i could not download. I will assume there arent enough seeders. (Daily users on 23.3.2019 was only "2".
The interface itself seems pretty user friendly and as someone that might be used to programs like Bittorrent you will find everything familiar.
Upfiring is not a copy of any other crypto project, its not one of a million forks that do the same thing albeit slightly differently.
The only question in this story is:
Can it be competitive?
Because the only flaw i see was the dapp hiding itself somewhere among hundreds of low used Ethereum dapps and constricting its reach by requiring a ETH account to use any of its features, i cannot give it a low grade regardless of my opinions on its competitiveness.
It does what its supposed to. (Outside having a few bugs).
My rating of "Upfiring - P2P file sharing dapp" is a solid:
4.5/5 Stars
For more information about STEEM and ETHEREUM decentralized applications and thousands of other "dapps" being built on other blockchains please visit https://www.stateofthedapps.com/. The site that provides detailed dapp data like dapp rankings, user numbers, developer activity, daily transactions and many other.
I will see you around and keep on Steeming!
#Steem #Ethereum