DTube began in 2017 as a blockchain based alternative to YouTube, founded by developer Adrien Marie under the handle heimindanger. For years it let creators earn crypto for uploads and votes instead of relying on ad revenue. The project has since changed direction twice, and the version most people meet today is not the one the old guides describe.
What the original decentralized model did
The first DTube ran on the Steem blockchain, later moved to Hive, and then launched its own chain called Avalon with a native token, DTC (DTube Coin). The Avalon mainnet went live on 1 October 2020 with an initial distribution of 4,000,000 DTC. Creators earned DTC from a reward pool when viewers upvoted, and holders used DTC for voting power and curation rewards.
That design traded on a simple promise: no ads, no central moderator, and payouts decided by the community rather than an algorithm. Videos were stored across IPFS, a peer to peer file network, so no single company hosted them.
The December 2025 relaunch changed the product
In December 2025 DTube relaunched with a conventional codebase. It dropped the Avalon blockchain, IPFS storage, and crypto wallets, and became an ad supported video site similar to YouTube, with one extra peer to peer delivery layer using WebTorrent. The legacy blockchain version still runs separately at dtube.app, but the main site no longer pays DTC for uploads or votes.
What DTC holders should check now
If you hold DTC from the Avalon era, the earning model that gave the token value on the main platform is gone there. The token still exists on the legacy chain, so its status depends entirely on that separate network and any venues that still list it. Do not assume old "upload and earn" guides still apply.
| Question | How to verify |
|---|---|
| Is the main site still crypto based? | No, the December 2025 relaunch removed wallets and rewards |
| Does DTC still pay for uploads? | Only on the legacy dtube.app chain, not the relaunched site |
| What was the token supply? | Avalon records, initial distribution of 4,000,000 DTC |
| Which venues list DTC? | Check a live aggregator, listings change and some venues delist |
Why the decentralized model struggled
The IPFS approach meant a video only played if volunteer nodes kept it pinned. As activity fell, many older uploads became unwatchable. Managing a wallet and understanding staking also pushed casual viewers toward YouTube. Those friction points, not a single failure, drained the creator base that the reward pool depended on.
When DTube and DTC are not for you
If you want a reliable place to watch or post video, the relaunched DTube works like any ad supported site and the token is irrelevant. If you are considering DTC as an investment, note there is no yield, no company backing the price, and a reward use case that the main product abandoned. Treat any DTC position as highly speculative.
This article is general information, not financial, legal, or tax advice. Project details change quickly, so confirm the current DTube and DTC status on primary sources before acting.