In 2016, crypto startup LBRY launched the LBRY network and the LBRY protocol, described by LBRY as a decentralized content sharing and publishing protocol that supports the creation of community-run digital marketplaces. The same year, LBRY offered and sold native LBC tokens to the public for the purported purpose of allowing LBRY users to compensate content creators who publish content using the LBRY protocol and miners who process transactions on the LBRY network, a public, proof-of-work blockchain network.