British Virgin Islands-based, Xcad Network has raised $3.9 million (£2,800,000) in a recent private Funding Round . According to an official statement shared exclusively with Finance Magnates, the round was led by Blockchain technology VC firm, Zilliqa and included LD Capital, Genesis Block Ventures and AU21. Also, the funds were partially secured on the DAO Maker launchpad, where registrations for a single project reportedly reached record levels.
Oliver Bell, CEO and Co-Founder of Xcad Network, said that: “The unprecedented interest from investors, YouTubers and our community shows that the Xcad Network will see considerable demand from content creators and viewers of content, as it monetizes people’s usage by rewarding their engagement."
A “DeFi Plugin for YouTube”
Oliver Bell, CEO and Co-Founder of Xcad Network.
The funding will be used to build a “DeFi plugin for YouTube” that will allow content creators to “tokenize themselves and earn rewards from their content.” A new NFT marketplace will allow creators to mint NFTs with a single click. Additionally, YouTube viewers will earn rewards from watching and engaging with content on Youtube’s platform.
Oliver Bell said that the funding is the next step in “Xcad’s journey to becoming an integral part of YouTube.”
“[Xcad Network] will allow YouTubers to monetize their content above and beyond what they can already do,” he said. “By creating an environment where both content creators and viewers can monetize their engagement, we expect to see an explosion of activity from both new aspiring YouTubers as well as established ones.”
"The Xcad Network technology will act as a plugin for YouTube users, and monetization will be powered by the DeFi ecosystem’s XCAD token." (Source: Xcad Network)
XCad’s Platform Could Act as a More Consistent Source of Income for YouTube Content Creators
The Xcad Network’s structure could act as a more consistent funding model for YouTube creators than traditional monetization models, according to YouTuber and Xcad Co-Founder, Joel Morris: “As a YouTuber myself, I know how inconsistent monetization can be,” he said.
Joel Morris, YouTuber and Xcad Network Co-Founder.
“Due to being at the mercy of advertisers and YouTube itself, earnings can dramatically change month on month. Xcad Network provides a clear roadmap and is something content creators can rely upon, providing their performance hits their milestones. The benefits of watch-time and increasing engagement and loyalty of viewers makes it a win-win for creators and viewers.”
Here is how it works: each time a YouTuber joins Xcad Network, a fixed amount of creator tokens are minted. A portion of those tokens are “assigned to the creator and vested until they hit performance milestones,” according to the announcement.
Another portion of these tokens can be earned by viewers that watch and engage with the YouTuber’s content. These tokens can then be used in several ways:
- The tokens can be traded for other YouTuber tokens;
- The tokens can be used to buy and sell NFTs and merchandise;
- Users can stake their token rewards to earn more tokens;
- The tokens can be converted back to fiat currencies such as dollars, euros or pounds sterling;
- The tokens can be used to vote on future content, video ideas and other key decisions involving a YouTuber’s channel.
Furthermore, the Xcad Network ecosystem includes an e-learning platform, which the project says has over 80,000 users. Content creators on the platform reportedly have a combined following of over 40 million followers.
