LBRY Inc., the company behind the decentralized, open-source platform, has conceded defeat in its legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company now faces multimillion-dollar debts to the SEC, its legal team, and a private debtor.
“LBRY Inc. must die, there is no escaping this,” the company acknowledged in its final post.
LBRY Gives Up Long Fight Against SEC
The company, which has been a prominent player in the cryptocurrency space, has been grappling with the SEC over its handling of the LBRY token. However, it has now abandoned its appeal against the SEC’s decision.
The company’s assets, including Odysee, its flagship app, are being placed into receivership. All LBRY executives, employees, and board members have resigned, with the company pledging to do what is required to satisfy any outstanding legal requirements.
The future of the LBRY network, however, remains uncertain. As the company’s post stated,
“Decentralization isn’t magic – it only works if enough people use it.”
Read more: Decentralized Identity and the Future of Web3: What To Know
Despite the company’s closure, the LBRY network could survive if it continues to be used widely. But it also might die. The company’s post further questioned,
“Could LBRY still swallow all digital publishing like we intended? Could this be the beginning of a descent to obscurity? Who knows?”
Will There Be a Life After Death for LBRY?
Odysee, which serves more than 6 million people monthly, continues to operate. CoinGecko rates the platform as the most popular web3 social media site globally.
While it’s nearly certain that the Odysee assets will be assumed by someone interested in resuming its growth, it’s unclear if Odysee will continue to use the LBRY network in the future, switch to another crypto network, or transition to being a traditional web2 platform.
Over 1.7 million identities and 30 million pieces of content have been published to the LBRY blockchain. As long as the LBRY blockchain continues to be mined, these identities and records will continue to exist. However, the content itself requires host nodes to function. If Odysee chooses to stop utilizing LBRY, then content that is not actively seeded by others will stop being available.
While LBRY Inc.’s closure marks a significant setback for the company, the future of the LBRY network and Odysee remains in the hands of its users. As the company concluded,
“Ultimately, this will be decided by users, not by us, and we encourage users to wait and see.”
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