OpenBazaar is a well known protocol for decentralized ecommerce, built on top of Bitcoin. At an event taking place these days in San Francisco, Brian Hoffman, CEO of OB1, the development company behind the protocol, [announced](https://www.coindesk.com/token-summit-surprise-openbazaar-launch-layer-two-coin/) plans for launching a token on top of it. Dubbed "OBT" - but that may not be its final name - the token aims at solving the congestions in the Bitcoin network which clogged the transaction channels for the last 6 months.

The bit that got my attention, though, was how this token will be used. Open Bazaar will not ditch Bitcoin, on the contrary, it will use this new token on a feature called "channels", which can, according to the same person, give you this possibility:

> "You will be able to monetize that value to the network through the token"

I confess my knowledge around OpenBazaar is limited, but from what I understand, it seems this move is aimed at the content marketplace. Like having a blog or a newspaper and getting tokens for the content. It's a model experimented already, with various degrees of success, in Yours.org, or in the more recent [launch of the μRaiden](https://steemit.com/ethereum/@dragosroua/microraiden-deployed-on-the-main-ethereum-network) (microRaiden) network smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.

There seems to be more and more convergence towards a model in which content will have an attached value, that generates income for creators in a more transparent way. That goes in the opposite direction of the current paradigm, in which the audience is sold to advertisers, and the author gets the smallest part of the entire thing. Seems like the content business is heading towards eliminating the "middle man".

In other words, exactly what's happening right now, in Steemit.
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_I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at [Dragos Roua](http://dragosroua.com) where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua._
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_If you're new to Steemit, you may find these articles relevant (that's also part of my witness activity to support new members of the platform)_:
* [Rewards: Were Does The Money Come From?](https://steemit.com/steemit/@dragosroua/steemit-newbie-faq-rewards-were-does-the-money-come-from)
* [Netiquette: How To Avoid Being A Steem Douche?](https://steemit.com/steem/@dragosroua/steemit-newbie-faq-netiquette-how-to-avoid-being-a-steem-douche)
* [Witnesses: What Are They And Why Should You Care?](https://steemit.com/steemit/@dragosroua/steemit-newbie-faq-witnesses-what-are-they-and-why-should-you-care)
* [How Can I Mine Steem And What CPU / GPU Power Do I Need For That?](https://steemit.com/steemit/@dragosroua/steemit-newbie-faq-how-can-i-mine-steem-and-what-cpu-gpu-power-do-i-need-for-that)
* [The Beginner Guide To Not Getting Hacked On Steemit](https://steemit.com/steemit/@dragosroua/the-beginner-guide-to-not-getting-hacked-on-steemit)