DappRadar is happy to announce it will soon be integrating the THETA Network and its ecosystem of dapps. The Theta Network is a purposely-built blockchain designed from the ground up to target the media and entertainment industry. For now, we invite the DappRadar community to learn more about the EVM compatible network with more than $230 million in TVL.
Theta’s blockchain network is based on a peer-to-peer protocol that enables participants to be rewarded with payments for content distribution. The advisory board includes Twitch co-founder Justin Kana, YouTube co-founder Steve Chen and several Verizon senior executives who bring a wealth of experience in online content and live streaming.
Live streaming is one of the fastest-growing industries on earth, estimated to have increased from a value of around $30 billion in 2016 to $70 billion by the end of 2021. Online audiences consume increasing amounts of video content, both live and pre-recorded, via YouTube, Netflix, and several other platforms. Arguably, the next frontier in online streaming is blockchain-powered video delivery platforms that reward the community, powered by blockchains like Theta.
Theta under the hood
Theta Network is a dual network consisting of the Theta Blockchain and the Theta Edge Network. The Theta blockchain provides payment, reward, and smart contract capabilities, while the edge network is responsible for storing and delivering media assets like images and videos.
Theta supports Turing complete smart contracts and is fully compatible with Ethereum, enabling a wide range of dapps to flourish on Theta. Additionally, smart contract developers can quickly jump over to building on Theta by porting over existing Ethereum-based contracts. Also, Theta’s July 2021 v3.1.0 release supports the Ethereum RPC API similar to BINANCE Smart Chain and the Polygon Network.
Theta utilizes a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism which means participants lock in large amounts of THETA tokens to gain the right to process transaction blocks. Three categories of participants power Theta’s blockchain network:
Enterprise validator nodes
These are companies that stake THETA tokens to process transactions on the network. Some of the network’s best-known validator nodes include Sony, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Google, and Samsung. Validator nodes are the network’s first line of defense and require participants to stake one million THETA coins.
Guardian nodes
Guardian nodes are community nodes maintaining consensus by securing validation at specific points. They are users that ensure the transaction blocks created by enterprise validator nodes perform accurately, adding a second layer of security to the protocol. If a malicious block slips through a validator node, a guardian node will stop it. Guardian nodes only need to stake 1,000 THETA coins.
Edge Nodes
Edge nodes allow users to relay video streams and share their bandwidth for streams on Theta.tv. They are rewarded with TFUEL for supporting the network. The Theta Network allows users to stream peer to peer without a centralized content delivery network.
Theta in summary
Because server locations limit video streaming platforms and content distribution networks, ordinary content distribution networks are paid to deliver video content to end-users, but centralized servers simply can’t keep up with the ever-increasing demand.
Theta encourages a global network of users to create and support a fully decentralized video streaming platform. Bridging gaps between streaming quality and speed by enabling its global user network to relay videos using its computing power and spare bandwidth.
The more users are active on the network, the more bandwidth available for video streaming, increasing streaming speed and quality with each new node. Additionally, Theta can enable content creators to exercise more control over their content and monetization techniques.
Theta dapps will be tracked on DappRadar soon. For now, we encourage the community and dapp developers to dive deeper and learn more about the Theta Network:
- Whitepaper
- Docs
- Website
- Discord
