What is Theta Network?

Theta Network (THETA) is a blockchain-based network specifically designed for video streaming. Launched in March 2019, Theta Network operates as a decentralized platform where users share bandwidth and computing resources on a peer-to-peer basis. The network features its own native cryptocurrency token, THETA, which performs various governance tasks within the network. Theta Network seeks to address the challenges of the video streaming industry, such as centralization, poor infrastructure, and high costs, which often result in a less than optimal experience for end users and reduced compensation for content creators. The network's ecosystem includes services focused on esports, music, TV, movies, and education, and collaborates with various video platforms.

How does Theta Network work?

Theta Network operates through a unique ecosystem that includes influencers (content creators), viewers (end users who consume video content), advertisers, caching nodes (computers/servers that help improve content quality and delivery speed), and ingest nodes (which assist caching nodes and also provide bitrates/stream resolution). The protocol is open-source, allowing any provider to use the Theta blockchain and create decentralized applications (dApps) on the platform. Users receive THETA tokens as compensation for sharing videos through the decentralized video streaming dApp for transcription and distribution of content called EdgeCast. Theta Network seeks to reduce the operating costs of streaming video services by moving some content to the peer-to-peer network, which operates on thousands of nodes, making the network resilient to content delivery failures and solving the problem of digital last-mile delivery.

What are the potential use cases for Theta Network?

Theta Network strives to decentralize video streaming, data delivery, and edge computing, making it more efficient and fair for industry participants. The network's appeal is threefold: viewers are rewarded with better quality streaming service, content creators may see an increase in their compensation, and middlemen, such as video platforms, can reduce costs on building infrastructure and increase advertising and subscription revenues. Users receive TFUEL tokens as compensation for both watching network content and sharing network resources. In addition to video, data, and computing, Theta Network caters to developers looking to launch decentralized applications (DApps) on its fully featured EVM-compatible Smart contract platform.

What is the history of Theta Network?

Theta Network was co-founded by Mitch Liu and Jieyi Long in 2018. Liu has a long history in the gaming and video industries, co-founding video advertising firm Tapjoy, mobile social gaming startup Gameview Studios, and THETA.tv, the live streaming platform whose DApp was the first to be built on the Theta protocol. Long, Theta’s second co-founder and CTO, has extensive experience in design automation, gaming, virtual reality, and large scale distributed systems. He has authored multiple peer-reviewed academic papers and holds various patents in video streaming, blockchain, and virtual reality. Theta Network launched its mainnet in 2019, and its native THETA tokens were initially distributed as ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum before being converted to native THETA on the mainnet.