Blockchain startups tackle Web’s dark side, including ‘fake news’ 

Source: Unsplash for Verasity

Blockchain-based media companies like Verasity are compensating users, creators and advertisers with cryptocurrency.

The Internet is increasingly popular for users looking for free and convenient content. However, major downsides like demonetization, data privacy and fraudulent activity have shaken both consumers and content providers.

Now, a growing number of companies are creating business models that use blockchain technology and cryptocurrency to address those concerns. A few companies, such as Current Media, entered the crypto space in light of recent data privacy controls, co-founder and CEO Dan Novaes told CNBC in an interview.

Some of that movement has been spurred by Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation, and issues like Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

Current partners with different streaming media like Apple Music and Spotify, as well as directly with content creators, to ensure that media makers and users are rewarded for viewing and making content. Toward that end, the company has created its own cryptocurrency unit, called a CRNC token, to reward content creators.

Novaes cited YouTube as an example of a company that may want to consider it, given controversies surrounding its pay structure.

“You can only treat creators so badly,” Novaes said, adding that billions of people turn to the platform to listen to music for free, rather than subscribe to Spotify or Apple Music.

Each of Current’s Ethereum-backed CRNC Token is valued at 24 cents. The first thousand users will be live in a few months, as the company continues to roll out.