10+ YouTube Alternatives That Are Decentralized Video Platforms
YouTube is well known for restricting and removing cryptocurrency-related videos and channels with no warning, including the content of some reputable influencers in crypto space.
Several crypto influencers had reported in the past about the removal of videos and entire channels.
Youtube has been arguably one of the most used media platforms hosting cryptocurrency-related content.
Over the last several years, many crypto channels had been made, some of them gained a huge amount of genuine subscribers.
However, due to changes in the platform’s policies, more and more crypto-related creators & fans started to look for crypto-friendly decentralized video platforms that could be a good alternative to YouTube to publish their content.
Why YouTube Bans Crypto-Related Videos?
It’s worth noting that no official statement regarding the issue came on behalf of YouTube, as we are yet to see if this is an intentional attack or a security measure.
There is no clear reason why YouTube had undertaken steps to remove content related to cryptocurrencies.
The crypto world is left to speculate whether it’s only a security measure, some ad-related restriction, or just no love for all things crypto.
Which YouTube Crypto Channels Has Been Affected?
It’s hard to say how many YouTube creators out there got their crypto-related content restricted or removed.
Here is the list of the channels that publicly announced the crypto YouTube bans:
Chris Dunn TV
Veteran crypto investor and influencer Chris Dunn, operating one of the most popular channels in the industry with over 200,000 subscribers is also a victim of the ban.
Chris took to Twitter his ire for YouTube’s unanticipated move and tweeted: "@YouTube just removed most of my crypto videos citing ‘harmful or dangerous content’ and ‘sale of regulated goods’… it’s been 10 years of making videos, 200k+ subs, and 7M+ views. WTF are you guys doing @TeamYouTube?!"
.@YouTube just removed most of my crypto videos citing "harmful or dangerous content" and "sale of regulated goods"... it's been 10 years of making videos, 200k+ subs, and 7M+ views. WTF are you guys doing @TeamYouTube?! pic.twitter.com/MPcKbBVrC4
— Chris Dunn (@ChrisDunnTV) December 23, 2019
Dunn claims that the video platform had suddenly removed some of his videos, citing “harmful or dangerous content” and “sale of regulated goods.” Besides, he notes that he has been making similar content for over ten years, and so far, there haven’t been any troubles.
Node Investor
Another popular channel with 54,000 subscribers - Node Investor - has a video taken down by the video-sharing giant.
The market updates and technical analysis channel for cryptos posted YouTube’s message on Twitter, tweeting: “Merry Christmas to you also @YouTube. Apparently a video I posted two years ago on researching crypto’s is now illegal…Rules are changing.”
Merry Christmas to you also @YouTube. Apparently a video I posted two years ago on researching crypto’s is now illegal...Rules are changing pic.twitter.com/GdGqR3RVOw
— Node Investor 🤖🦾📈 (@NodeInvestor) December 23, 2019
Rice Crypto
Chris from YouTube channel Rice Crypto also reported on his Twitter channel (@ricecrypto) about video removal:
I had 3 videos removed!
— RICE 🍚 priv/acc (@RiceTVx) December 24, 2019
1. A Giveaway
2. A speech by Dr Ron Paul
3. My interview w/ @TheCoinBros
The #YouTube #Purge is upon us!!! pic.twitter.com/CgWvFov7BJ
Jsnip4
An owner of the Jsnip4 YouTube channel also tweeted: “Hey @TeamYouTube ONCE AGAIN. Illegal strike from you against my jsnip4 account. You say “dangerous or harmful content”. It is for a “how to set up a bitcoin wallet from 2017”. Once again you are targeting me. Every time a strike goes away, I instantly get another one. This is BS.”
Hey @TeamYouTube ONCE AGAIN. Illegal strike from you against my jsnip4 account. You say "dangerous or harmful content". It is for a "how to setup a bitcoin wallet from 2017". Once again you are targeting me. Every time a strike goes away, I instantly get another one. This is BS.
— Realist News Jsnip4 (@RealistNews) December 24, 2019
BTC Sessions
Ben, a host of the BTC Sessions on YouTube also tweeted from his Twitter account (@BTCsessions): Well this is disconcerting. @YouTube flagged one of my beginner educational videos from three years ago as “harmful and dangerous”. It was literally a video about wallets, onboarding, and places to use Bitcoin. 3 more of these strikes and the channel is shut down.
Well this is disconcerting. @YouTube flagged one of my beginner educational videos from three years ago as "harmful and dangerous". It was literally a video about wallets, onboarding and places to use Bitcoin. 3 more of these strikes and the channel is shut down. pic.twitter.com/ZRyw0JJAbP
— BTC Sessions 😎 (@BTCsessions) December 23, 2019
List of other affected channels:
- Chris Coney ( The CryptoVerse )
- Chico Crypto
- Heidi
- Altcoin Daily
- Joey Rocket Cryptos
- Crypto Daily
- Britvr
- Boxmining
- Experience Crypto 24/7
- Mr_Kristof
- The Modern Investor
- IvanOnTech
- Sunnydecree
- Bitcoin and Coffee
- That Martini Guy
- Pygoz
- Crypto Rich
- Nugget’s News
- Alessio Rastani
- CryptoBeadles
Best Decentralized Video Platforms as YouTube Alternatives
As the famous saying goes “Never put all the eggs in one basket”.
I strongly believe the same rules apply if it comes to content: you should always try to distribute your content on more than one platform out there.
Below I’ve listed few ideas for content distribution that are great YouTube alternatives.
Put your content on other platforms
The best place to start is other social media and video platforms that could be a great place for your content and quickly grow your audience.
Here is the list of platforms you should consider:
Twitter doesn’t need an introduction: the platform brings together probably the largest crypto community out there.
It’s a great place to learn about news, follow and engage with industry leaders and famous figures from the crypto world.
LBRY
LBRY (twitter: @LBRYio) is a censorship-resistant, content sharing and publishing platform that is decentralized and owned by its users. The big plus is that it allows you to automatically sync your YouTube videos, which becomes handy if you have already a lot of videos uploaded to YouTube.
BitChute
BitChute (twitter: @bitchute) is a video hosting service founded in 2017. It was created to allow video uploaders to avoid content rules enforced on other platforms, such as YouTube.
StoryFire
StoryFire (twitter: @storyfireapp) is a group storytelling platform started by Jesse and Brian. Jesse is a top YouTube Creator with over 1 billion views. Brian is a writer and director who has worked with studios like Fox, Sony and Disney.
Pepo
Pepo is an app for the crypto community where you can make videos and follow other peers in crypto-space.
Streamanity
Streamanity is another video platform that pays for videos you upload and it’s been famous in the crypto circles.
BitTube.tv / Airtime
BitTube (twitter: @BitTubeApp) is an ad-free video and social media hub platform that allows you to monetize your content.
COS.TV
Cos.tv is a content platform ecosystem based on blockchain that could be a perfect place to host crypto- and blockchain-related content.
DTube
DTube (twitter: @DTube_Official) is a community-powered video sharing platform where users vote on videos to reward creators, curators, influencers and viewers in cryptocurrency.
Flote
Flote (twitter: @floteofficial) is a community-driven social network focused on user privacy & monetization.
Self-host your videos
Another alternative you can consider is simply self-hosting your videos.
Video hosting is expensive if you had to do it on your own, instead, you can leverage various Digital Asset Management (DAM) platforms that allow you to upload, store and share your videos.
Build an email list
As of 2019, having an email list is probably still the best way to control the distribution of your content and have direct contact with your audience.
A great advantage of having your email list is the fact that at any time, you can inform your subscribers if you are moving your content onto another platform so they can follow you there too.
Even if you don’t have your own website, you still can collect emails.
How?
You could have an opt-in link included in the bio/profile description on the social media platform you are using, asking people to subscribe to your email list.
Maintain a blog
Blogging is a great way to attract more traffic and eyeballs to your content.
Don’t have any topic ideas?
If you already have videos, the best way you could leverage them by simply transcribing your videos to the text form and publishing them on your blog.
Decentralized Video Platforms: Final Thoughts
This is not the first time social networks took legal actions against the crypto industry.
During 2018, both Google and Facebook banned crypto-related advertisements.
Later that year, Google partly removed the ban, and so did Facebook.
However, with the uncertainty of crypto-related topics, as a creator, you should always seek ways to have more control over the distribution of your content and expand to other social media and video platforms.
I hope this post gives you more ideas on alternatives to YouTube and will provide you some directions on what to focus on next.
Steve specializes in cryptocurrency and finance. As a born researcher, he won’t leave any stone unturned when it comes to topics he covers.