What happened
Theta Token (THETA -5.69%) and its close relative Theta Fuel (TFUEL -2.08%) were going in opposite directions this week. As of midafternoon Friday, Theta Token was up by more than 15% week to date, while Theta Fuel had dipped by 2%, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The former's success over the past few days likely had much to do with its status as the native coin of one of the better-potential specialty blockchains. Theta Fuel, in contrast, could be suffering from its more limited position as merely a reward token in that ecosystem.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
The two Thetas are the coins of the realm in the Theta blockchain, which is the backbone of a decentralized video streaming service.
Content providers and disseminators struggle to deliver streaming video quickly and smoothly to their audiences, which expect seamless, lag-free viewing at ever higher resolutions. By decentralizing such delivery, Theta promises a more robust and resilient foundation for this than traditional centralized systems.
This promise has been compelling enough to attract high-profile partners in the entertainment and/or tech fields for Theta. These include Sony, Alphabet, and top Los Angeles-based talent management company Creative Artists Agency. All run top-level nodes in the blockchain.
With a pedigree like that, and a rather compelling use case that puts Theta's blockchain above many other peers in terms of utility, investors have been piling into Theta Token lately. Now is generally a nervous, wobbly time for cryptocurrencies, and people are looking for tokens with relatively solid foundations for future growth.
Now what
That said, it's a bit odd that Theta Fuel isn't rising at least somewhat in concert with Theta Token. As a reward cryptocurrency, though, it's dependent on the activities of the system's participants, and not the attraction of the decentralized technology itself. Believers in that blockchain's use case, then, are probably finding Theta Token to be a surer investment in its future than the younger sibling.
