BitTorrent launched its mainnet last month (December 2021). This moves the BitTorrent Chain (BTTC) from the testing phase to a fully functioning network. After the launch, a token swap was also announced, with the goal of making certain actions within the network easier and more user-friendly.

This token swap involves exchanging current BTT (BTTOLD) for new BTT tokens at a ratio of 1:1000. So for each BTTOLD, one gets 1000 new BTT, without changing the market capitalization. The market capitalization at the time of writing is €2.12 billion and this will simply be the same after the token swap.
The total number of BTT tokens does increase from 990 billion to 990 trillion tokens. However, the price will divide by 1000 to compensate for the increase in tokens. 
Coinmerce users will not notice anything of this token swap, we support the swap and users do not have to do anything for it.

What is BitTorrent Chain (BTTC) mainnet?

The promised core functions of the BitTorrent Chain will be activated as of the mainnet. The most anticipated feature of the mainnet is heterogeneous cross-chain compatibility, which simply means that users can now transfer crypto between TRON, Ethereum and BSC (Binance Smart Chain).

Also, the average transaction speed is improved with a block time of 2 to 3 seconds through the implementation of Proof-of-Stake (PoS). Proof-of-Stake is a consensus mechanism, just like Proof-of-Work (PoW). In PoW, it is miners who ensure that transactions can be carried out safely, but in PoS, it is "stakers" who ensure this. Thus, it is also possible to stake BTT tokens to earn rewards.

What are BitTorrent's future plans?

Phase 1 of BitTorrent's mainnet plan is now complete. In phase 2, BitTorrent will recruit even more developers to develop several applications on BitTorrent Chain.

Then in phase 3, the validator election mechanism will be added, which is not yet known exactly for us what it will look like. More "quality projects" will also be added, to build a more comprehensive and diversified ecosystem.

Phase 4 is the final phase in BitTorrent's roadmap. In it, BTTC will support even more blockchains, beyond Ethereum, TRON and BSC, to realize their goal of connecting all blockchains.

Around the time of the mainnet's launch, BTT skyrocketed, but by now its price has already fallen back to pre-launch levels. Also, the token swap that is now completed does not seem to have much effect on the price. Still, these are promising developments for this ambitious project. We are curious to see how BTT will perform when the entire crypto market picks up.