The recent drop in value in Bitcoin hasn’t done anything to dissuade Steve Slome and Lee Zuckerman from their next big project in cryptocurrency economics. Early next year, the pair will launch CryptoCake, a streaming television channel of news and entertainment all about cryptocurrencies, blockchain and fintech. If anything, this is the perfect time to launch such a channel as people who invest or are looking to invest in the virtual currency need all the information they can get, the pair said. “We come in and provide the most up-to-date information and tell it in humanistic terms that people can relate to,” Zuckerman said. “We put a face on the technology.” Slome is chief executive of Web Global Holdings Inc., with CryptoCake the company’s primary subsidiary. Another subsidiary is BitGen Mining, a partnership with cryptocurrency mining operation Bitex LLC started in September. But it’s CryptoCake where Slome and Zuckerman, who is chief operating officer, have put their focus. The channel will film its content from rented studio space in the San Fernando Valley. Crowded market Cryptocurrency, also known as virtual currency or digital currency, differs from paper and coin currency in ways other than by lacking a physical object. No central bank controls it and no government backs it. Transactions occur between peers. Creating new bitcoins occurs in a network through a complex mathematical process called mining. This process provides privacy and a strong fraud prevention system. As the oldest of the cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is often used as a generic term when referring to digital money. Bitcoins first became available in 2009 but it wasn’t until a few years later that they grew in popularity. A year ago, Bitcoin peaked in value at about $20,000 and since then has lost about 80 percent of its value. As of Nov. 26, one bitcoin was worth $3,638, according to the Wall Street Journal. Other virtual currencies include Litecoin, Ripple, Ethereum and Ether Classic. Blockchain is the digital ledger that publicly records the transactions of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Peter Sinkevich, founder and chief executive of the U.S. Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Association, said there is no shortage of online cryptocurrency news outlets right now. As the association works with event organizers on industry gatherings, it gets inundated with organizations from around the world wanting to be media partners and have their own media outlets report or regurgitate information from some of the big virtual currency outlets. “Do I think there is room for another player in the space?” Sinkevich asked. “I guess there always is. But it seems like it is getting a bit crowded.” With about 20 million people trading the digital money daily around the world, if CryptoCake can attract 1 million to 2 million of them that is a big audience off the bat, Slome said. “It is a built-in, dedicated audience,” he added. Programming mix The core content on CryptoCake – which uses the tagline “the world channel for the global currency” – is presenting news, which includes a three-hour Crypto Morning Show, which will have a rolling ticker along the bottom of the screen to show how prices are moving; a crypto real estate show featuring an agency that buys and sells home in virtual currency; Crypto U, which teaches the basics of cryptocurrency; and Women in Crypto, which gives the female perspective of the industry. But not wanting to be a “boring” news station, CryptoCake will also have entertainment programming, such as the Celebrity Crypto Show, which Slome compares to Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show. Celebrities like singer and entrepreneur Akon, who created his own Akoin currency; and actors Alex Winter (“Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”) and Brock Pierce (“The Mighty Ducks”) have all made careers in the cryptocurrency market, he said. “It is going to be a standard talk show sprinkled in with cryptocurrency talk,” Slome added. “There are lot of celebrities who don’t know anything about it and we’ll be educating them.” CryptoCake, however, is not the only crypto-media company. CoinDesk, a cryptocurrency website and event promoter, started this summer CoinDesk Productions to develop and produce documentaries, television shows and podcasts. Its first project will be a six-episode series exploring the future of blockchain technology. Sinkevich called CoinDesk the “predominant juggernaut” in the industry that Slome and Zuckerman will have to contend with. “It would be interesting to see how they play up against someone like that who has massive resources and money behind it that makes for formidable competition,” Sinkevich said. Financing the channel has not been a challenge for the duo. One individual who Slome pitched the idea to bought stock in the publicly traded Web Global Holdings. “We also have convertible notes from family and friends,” Slome said. “There are current investors who have given us seed money as well.” “We accept cryptos as well,” Zuckerman chimed in. CryptoCake will bring in money through advertising, collecting data on viewers and video on demand. The programming will stream on the CryptoCake website, Roku and Apple TV. Millennials will be the initial audience, which like to view content on mobile devices and tablets for five or 10 minutes at a time during their day, according to Slome and Zuckerman. “Eyeballs are eyeballs,” Slome said. “Whether they are watching for five minutes on the subway or they are watching the full show from their couch, it all counts.”