As blockchain technology increasingly becomes part of the mainstream conversation, its integration with today’s most used technologies is bound to increase. This means that it’s only a matter of time before video streaming, digital music and social media see gradual blockchain integrations take place.
Audius (AUDIO) is one project that is chasing the first-mover advantage in the music streaming sector. The music-sharing and streaming protocol facilitates transactions between creators and listeners, making it relatively effortless for users to distribute and monetize audio content.
The project has received increasing attention for its approach to decentralizing the music industry and on March 2 the team celebrated reaching 3 million monthly active users.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that the price of AUDIO surged 108% since the start of March from a low of $0.38 to a new all-time high of $0.79 on March 4 as the altcoin’s trading volume spiked from $3 million to a record $55 million.
AUDIO/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
Staking incentives drive user adoption
The first major increase in users followed the project’s October 2020 launch and the activation of staking on the Audius platform in December. This enabled AUDIO holders to earn a 7% yield for tokens that were staked on the network while they listening to music and interacted with the protocol.
By the end of January, the platform had 1.8 million active users and a total of 122 million AUDIO tokens staked on the network. These figures have since increased to 3 million users and a total of 182.5 million staked AUDIO as the platform continues to integrate new features that incentivize community involvement.
VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for AUDIO on Feb. 28, prior to the recent price rise.
The VORTECS™ score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.
VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. AUDIO price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro
As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ score for AUDIO hit a peak of 69 on Feb. 28, just before the start of a prolonged uptrend in price which was further identified by a VORTECS™ score of 80 on March 1. After pulling back over the next 3 days the score again spiked to 70, just hours before a significant rise in the price of AUDIO.
On March 5, the project revealed its plans to integrate non-fungible tokens (NFT) into the protocol as part of its effort to offer a full-service decentralized platform and expand its user base.
NFTs have become a hot topic in the cryptocurrency sector in recent months, and their integration into the AUDIO platform is likely to bring a renewed wave of interaction from users.
As blockchain technology continues to become more prominent in mainstream society, Audius appears well-positioned to become a leader in the streaming music space thanks to a rapidly expanding user base and a growing list of incentives that entice users to stay active on the platform.
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