What is Theta Network?
The Theta Network is a decentralized video delivery network that enables users to share their spare bandwidth and resources to improve the delivery of video streams. The network aims to improve the quality of video streaming by reducing the cost of delivery and increasing the reach of video content. Theta’s goal is to create a decentralized video delivery network that can compete with traditional centralized video streaming platforms such as YouTube and Twitch.
How does Theta Network work from a technical perspective?
The Theta Network uses a blockchain-based protocol to incentivize users to share their spare bandwidth and resources to improve the delivery of video streams. The network relies on a peer-to-peer architecture, where users can earn rewards in the form of Theta tokens for sharing their resources with the network.
The network uses a consensus mechanism called “Proof of Stake and Reputation” (PoS/PoR) to ensure the security and integrity of the network. In this mechanism, users must hold a certain amount of Theta tokens and have a good reputation to become a validator on the network. These validators are responsible for verifying transactions and maintaining the integrity of the network.
Who is the team behind the Theta Network?
Theta was founded by Mitch Liu and Jieyi Long, both of whom have extensive backgrounds in the tech industry.
Mitch co-founded SLIVER.tv, a leading esports streaming platform that was acquired by Theta in 2018. He also co-founded Tapjoy, a mobile advertising and app monetization platform.
Jieyi Long was also a co-founded of SLIVER.tv, so he and Mitch have been successfully working together for quite some time.
Jieyi also spent several years working as a senior engineer at Google.
In addition to experienced founders, THETA has an extremely strong advisory board which includes the likes of Steve Chen, Justin Kan and Fan Zhang. Steve co-founded Youtube; Justin co-founded Twitch and Fan co-founded Sequoia. Heavy hitters indeed!
What partnerships and investors does the Theta Network have?
The Theta Network has partnerships with several leading companies in the technology and media industries, such as Samsung VR, Google, and Sony.
What are some unique Theta use-cases?
The Theta Network has several unique use cases, including:
- Decentralized Video Streaming: The network allows for the creation of decentralized video streaming platforms that are not controlled by any central authority.
- Content Monetization: The network allows content creators to monetize their content by earning Theta tokens for sharing their resources with the network.
- Micro-transactions: The network enables the use of micro-transactions for the purchase of digital goods and services, such as in-game items and pay-per-view content.
- CDN replacement: The network aims to replace traditional Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) by allowing users to share their spare resources to improve the delivery of video streams.
What is the THETA token used for?
The THETA token is the native token of the Theta Network and it serves several functions within the network. Here are a few of them..
- Network Security: The THETA token is used to secure the network by incentivizing users to become validators and participate in the network’s consensus mechanism.
- Network Governance: The holders of THETA token can vote on network proposals and changes through a decentralized governance system.
- Payment for transaction fees: The THETA token is used to pay for transaction fees on the network.Staking: The THETA token holders can also earn rewards by providing liquidity to the network through staking, similar to other proof-of-stake networks.
- Access to certain services: Some services within the network (such as content monetization and micro-transactions) are only available to users who hold a certain amount of THETA tokens.
What is TFUEL and what does it do?
TFUEL is a native token of the Theta Network. It acts as a utility token, and it’s used to pay for the computational resources required to run smart contracts on the network. It’s also used as a reward for validators and users who provide bandwidth and storage. Essentially, TFUEL is the “fuel” that fuels the Theta Network and enables it to function properly.
THETA Patent Details
Theta Labs Inc, which is the company that developed the Theta Network, has filed for various parents to lay claim to their proprietary technology.
These patents relate to various aspects of the network, including its decentralized video delivery technology, its consensus algorithm, and its peer-to-peer networking technology.
The exact details of Theta Labs’ patents are not publicly available, and patents are not always disclosed by the companies, but it’s known that Theta Labs has filed patents for several key technologies that are central to the Theta network, including:
- A decentralized video delivery network that utilizes a peer-to-peer network
- An incentivization mechanism for encouraging users to share their resources and bandwidth with the network
- A consensus algorithm that utilizes a “proof-of-engagement” mechanism to ensure the security and stability of the network.
- A subchain mechanism that allows the network to handle a large number of transactions
- A content delivery network that utilizes a blockchain to record and verify transactions
- A content delivery network that utilizes a token-based incentivization mechanism
How Decentralized Video Streaming Works on Theta Network
Before we answer this, let’s first review our understanding of how traditional video streaming works. In a traditional centralized video streaming platform (like Youtube), video content is stored on a central server, and viewers access the content by connecting to the server. This approach has several limitations, including high costs for providers. There’s also censorship issues as centralization oftentimes leads to abuse of power.
The Theta Network solves these problems by using a decentralized, peer-to-peer network to deliver video content. Instead of relying on a central server, the Theta Network uses a network of “guardian nodes” to store and deliver video content. These guardian nodes are incentivized by the native cryptocurrencies within the Theta Network to share their bandwidth and computing resources.
When a viewer wants to watch a video on the Theta Network, they connect to the network and request the video from a nearby guardian node. The guardian node then streams the video to the viewer, while also relaying the video to other nearby guardian nodes. This process is known as “caching,” and it allows the Theta Network to deliver video content more efficiently and with higher quality than traditional centralized platforms.
The Theta Network also uses smart contracts to allow content creators to have more control over their content. Content creators can use smart contracts to set rules for how their content can be used, and they can also use smart contracts to monetize their content.
Summary
Theta is essentially a decentralized video delivery network. The project aims to improve the quality of video streaming by reducing the cost of delivery. I’m hoping the individuals behind Theta also want to enable free speech, as the largest centralized video platform (Youtube) seems to have an issue with that. That being said, there’s some big industry players involved with this project (including Google), so we’ll see how the whole free speech thing works out.
The project uses a two token system (THETA and TFUEL), and you can stake both to earn rewards. You can stake THETA to earn TFUEL, and you can stake that TFUEL to earn more TFUEL. The supply of THETA tokens is limited to 1 billion, whereas the supply of TFUEL circulating at the time of this writing is over 6 billion. The rewards for staking the THETA tokens are disappointingly low, and you can certainly get much higher rewards with other tokens (such as ATOM).
Interesting project overall.
