PKT is a decentralized media network on Base, co-founded by the producer of the blockbuster Oblivion.
PKT wants to be a decentralized version of Roku or Apple TV.
PKT, a decentralized media network built by three brothers frustrated with the Hollywood film industry, will be one of the first DePIN projects to launch on Base, Coinbase’s layer-2 blockchain built on Ethereum.
Jesse Berger, a founding member of the PKT community and the producer of the Hollywood blockbuster Oblivion and other multimillion-dollar film productions, said he was looking for a way to bring more transparency to film production.
Although many of his films were hugely successful and viewed by millions of people around the world, he had no transparency about the revenue stream and how much money he was owed as a producer, he told CoinDesk in an interview. That’s when he realized that blockchain could be the solution.
“I fell in love with blockchain based on an immutable ledger so you could see every transaction transparently and the idea of smart contracts to make money programmatically,” he said.
The network, which aims to be a decentralized version of Roku or Apple TV, started in 2019 on its own proof-of-work, layer-1 blockchain. The first streaming platform, BIA, a hub for TV and movies, will be launched later this year.
“I think the missing piece of anyone who has tried to attack the film industry to solve that problem has always been the aligned incentives of the audience, where they are part of this picture, and it’s not just us pay for them,” he said. Josh Berger, another member of the founding community.
Jesse Berger also said it is important that PKT is accessible to the average retail consumer who knows little – and doesn’t want to know – about crypto. Terms that might be useful in bringing the project to the attention of crypto industry stakeholders will glaze over eyes elsewhere.
“If we’re talking about the word ‘DePIN’ for the general population, I think we’ve lost,” he said. “That terminology is really relevant within the understanding of the cryptosphere and the way we need to communicate. with the crypto people, but if we want to win as a platform, in reality we can’t talk about that. That won’t really be relevant to the average consumer. If you talk about how it works, you lose your audience.”
One thing PKT’s crypto stakeholders will care about is the decision to use Base, as PKT will be one of the first DePIN projects on the platform.
This move is for several reasons, including the introduction of a stake-to-earn protocol that allows users to earn daily and long-term rewards and returns.
“We’ve always been focused on making this very easy to use and adoptable and we wanted to be kind of a big fish in a small pond at Base, and I really believe in Coinbase’s mission in what they’re trying to achieve as a platform and lowering the barrier to entry to participate,” said Jesse Berger.
Collectively, DePIN has a market capitalization of $18.3 billion, according to CoinGecko data, with approx Of that, $5.5 billion is on Solana. Base has less than $5 million.
Another benefit of using Base, the team said in a release, is the technology upgrade that introduces smart contracts and Web3 features. These simplify scaling and eliminate the need to maintain an energy-intensive proof-of-work blockchain.
PKT will distribute a 1:1 airdrop of its tokens to the base in three phases: during Wednesday’s launch, February 21, 2025, and August 21, 2025.