The Ampleforth Protocol today announced it will begin using Chainlink oracles to adjust the daily supply of its currency, AMPL.
Ampleforth is not your typical cryptocurrency. It’s meant to mimic natural commodity-monies like gold, which aren’t vulnerable to inflation, while also keeping the deflation-resistance of fiat monies. The latter have “supply elasticity” because central banks can add to or remove money from the economy. To mix the two, Ampleforth’s protocol adjusts the supply of AMPL every 24 hours depending on market demand.
And now, the Chainlink integration should give it a better sense of actual demand.
Until now, Ampleforth has been relying on two of its own oracles to make supply changes: a CPI Oracle, which reflects the current price of goods on the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ Personal Consumption Expenditure price index, and its market oracle, which is the volume-weighted average price over the last 24 hours. Thanks to Chainlink, it can now incorporate nine new price feeds of AMPL/USD from three aggregators into its market oracle: BraveNewCoin, Kaiko, and CryptoCompare.
If Ampleforth’s protocol sounds a bit complex, it’s because it intentionally strays from Bitcoin’s design while also functioning differently than fiat. With Bitcoin, if 1 BTC is worth $10,000 and demand doubles, the BTC price doubles to $20,000. That’s because no one can just mint as many BTC as they want; total supply is capped.
With Ampleforth, however, if 1 AMPL is worth $1 and demand doubles, the protocol seeks equilibrium—instead of an AMPL jumping in value to $2, you now have 2 AMPL worth $1.00 each. Alternatively, if demand decreases, you’ll have fewer AMPL.
While that might seem like a case of “six of one, half dozen of the other,” Ampleforth argues that seeking out this sort of price-supply equilibrium increases price stability over time and reduces the risk of deflation, all without a central bank stepping in.
In other words, Ampleforth seeks to be the best of both the fiat and the digital currency worlds. The Chainlink integration is designed to speed that process along. Chainlink uses oracles—essentially, information feeds from a third party—to enable smart contracts that can quickly and accurately respond to real-time market data, which is a necessity for a protocol that relies on recalculating supply every 24 hours.
As of today, that supply is somewhere north of 8 million. It’s anyone’s guess what it will be tomorrow.
Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
Saga, the financial project seeking to create a global currency, has secured a major coup in its efforts to advance this narrative. The project’s SGA token listed on Bithumb Global on January 14, significantly broadening its liquidity and availability. Saga, the financial project seeking to create a global currency, has secured a major coup in its efforts to advance this narrative. The project’s SGA token listed on Bithumb Global on January 14, significantly broadening its liquidity and availability. Saga’s SGA has attracted praise and scrutiny for its novel monetary policy that’s designed to dampen volatility, leading to a more stable type of currency that’s suitable for use as a medium of exchange.
Bithumb Global announced the token listing on Twitter on Jan 13, accompanied by information on a community competition to welcome SGA into its fold. 10,000 SGA will be given away to traders of Bithumb’s newest addition, with 5,000 going to the outright winner, and smaller rewards to users who have deposited at least 500 SGA.
One of these coins is not like the otherDesigned with the goals of integrating governance, regulatory compliance, and price dampening, Saga’s SGA isn’t like other tokens. Not quite a stablecoin yet not quite a pure cryptocurrency, it operates somewhere between the two realms. In terms of compliance, Saga promises “bank-grade regulatory procedures” when it comes to onboarding. Governance provisions ensure that token-holders can have a say in key decisions affecting changes to the protocol. And finally, pricing is considered in Saga’s variable reserve that ensures “stability is not jeopardised by unsustainable growth.”
For compliance, Saga is more USDC (the stablecoin issued by Circle with the support of partners like Coinbase) than it is Tether. Its governance is more akin to that of a defi-oriented crypto token such as MAKER or ZRX. Its fiscal policy, meanwhile, has shades of Ampleforth to it – another low volatility digital asset, which launched on Bitfinex in 2019. Saga’s architects have greater aspirations, however, having set their sights on SGA becoming a global currency. As such, its closest competitor is likely to be Libra, should Facebook’s project ever see the light of day.
SGA matched with three currency pairsSaga’s global ambitions will take time to foment. In the meantime, securing a listing on Bithumb is a small but important step in realizing that goal. Over the coming months, SGA’s ability to maintain low volatility, in the face of fevered trading action, will be an indicator of how ready is it to face up to the challenges of becoming a global medium of exchange.
The token will be paired against USDT, BTC, and ETH initially, with the promise of more pairs to come. With more than $200 million in daily volume, Seoul’s Bithumb exchange is an East Asian giant whose shadow falls across the entire cryptosphere. If SGA is well received on Bithumb Global, it is likely that other major exchanges will follow.
MakerDAO, the “decentralized” bank, went through a mass liquidity crisis. But Maker’s problems extend beyond a single shock—centralization left them doomed from the start.
The 2008 DeFinancial Crisis Have you heard this story before:
Bank finances its investments with an asset, provided by customers. Bank uses those assets to back something else, based on people’s confidence in the collateral. Major turmoil grips the market and the underlying asset becomes unstable. Suddenly, people want their money back. Bank offers some other unbacked guarantee instead to fill the gap, allowing them to profit. Everyone loses, except the bank. The end. Does this sound like something from 2008?
Well, in fact, this story happened just last week. MakerDAO went through its own liquidity crisis. Simply swap ETH for mortgages, DAI for mortgage-backed securities, and USDC for credit default swaps.
Don’t believe me? Maker’s own advertising compares the platform to mortgage-backed loans:
Source: MakerDAO Financialization is a virulent mindset, and MakerDAO is sick with it. Take, for example, the growing evidence of the Maker Foundation’s participation in their own debt auctions. Even if they’re “priming the pump,” such behavior reeks of the same sort of share inflation seen on Wall Street.
The 1% Stands to Benefit from Maker It’s important to ask who benefits from Maker’s success to see where the incentives are. In reality, only a few lucky wallets will benefit from an increase in MKR’s value.
This is evident based on the major tokenholders. Between the MKR Development Fund and primary voting contracts, the top 25 wallet addresses own over 99% of all existing tokens. To make matters worse, the anonymous nature of blockchains makes it difficult to hold these parties accountable.
Though, it is possible to piece together who holds the bags: Dragonfly Capital Partners and Paradigm have acquired a total $27.5 million in MKR—5.5% of global supply. Polychain Capital, a16z and 1confirmation are a few of the other funds who funded MakerDAO.
Advertisement
These funds would like to say they’re helping to build the future of DeFi, but their presence makes the decentralization of the platform questionable. Most crypto enthusiasts don’t have millions to throw around. And, for context, Bitcoin didn’t need venture capital.
Major investors, of course, want their millions protected. So, to stabilize DAI, Maker opened their vaults to USDC. Why is this problematic? USD Coin is a permissioned and censurable asset, which puts the platform at the mercy of governments. May as well back DAI with fiat.
Dai Only works, Until It Matters Maker’s promises are meaningless when USDC can be frozen at the discretion of Circle’s global blacklist.
In the event that DeFi becomes a disruptive force, and financial statutes are enacted to outlaw it, would Maker—and anyone else relying on them—survive collapse? Or, maybe MakerDAO would get sucked into the vortex of traditional finance, making it no better than old institutions it originally sought to replace.
In short, MakerDAO’s “decentralized autonomous organization” is not decentralized, nor autonomous, nor organized. In their desperation to save their platform, its administrators have entirely abandoned the promises that originally drew crypto enthusiasts to their model.
The admins and their supporters would, of course, argue that what they’re doing works. Of course it does. Traditional finance is already proven, and it works—in the short term.
However, in the long run, it’s only a matter of time before abuse takes over the system and brings things crashing down, just like in 2008.
MakerDAO Is Centralized Finance If it isn’t stopped, the same collusion and rampant abuse on Wall Street will pervade DeFi.
By stabilizing their coin with fiat, MakerDAO has signified that they’ve given up. If people in DeFi wanted dollars they would have purchased Treasury Bonds.
Now, MakerDAO’s only innovation has been creating a “bank-on-the-blockchain.” And, as other traditional financial firms consider building their own networks, it stands to reason that Maker’s current path won’t lead to much success.
In the end, people shouldn’t waste their time bailing out MakerDAO when more promising paths to decentralization still exist.
There Is Another Way to DeFi There are several examples of projects doing it right. Kava is a DeFi platform with similar lending facilities to MakerDAO, but it offers loans on a wide range of collateral, including Bitcoin, Binance Coin, and XRP. Notably, the Kava platform is a purpose-built blockchain designed to handle hyper-volatility and intense liquidity events, the same issues that are currently causing problems for MakerDAO.
Other self-stabilizing tokens are being built without the obfuscated centralization of DAI. AMPL, for example, with its internal inflation protocol, allows for an internally regulated economy with less risk of meddling from executives.
This kind of creativity is exactly what DeFi needs. The field will live and die by its tools, and shoddy imitations of current finance won’t do.
Banking, by definition, requires a certain level of administration. Banking is flawed because human discretion is flawed. The boom and bust cycle won’t end until the human component is mitigated.
DeFi allows for this kind of future. More creative, self-governing code can change the face of finance. Players from Facebook to Goldman Sachs understand this. Unfortunately, they’re attempting to pollute the space with “x-on-the-blockchain” projects instead of tapping into the transformative promise of blockchain technology.
In all, MakerDAO’s thinly veiled attempt to make a “bank-on-the-blockchain” is just another vacuum of the imagination. There is another way. Instead of letting this define DeFi, people should make one simple demand: No banks and no gatekeepers.
This time, we don’t have to wait for another collapse and another bail out. It’s possible to use technology to create something entirely new, the world is simply waiting for the right people to make it happen.
This sponsored guest post was brought to you by Ampleforth, Crypto Briefing’s preferred DeFi partner. Recognition due to co-author Andrew Prensky, with contributions from Richy Qiao.
Disclosure: This is sponsored content. It does not represent Crypto Briefing's editorial views. For more information, see our Editorial Policy.
Today, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) released a document addressing the regulatory, supervisory, and oversight challenges raised by global stablecoins. The document, although only consultative in nature, reveals disturbing plans for a globally coordinated move against stablecoins of all varieties.
The FSB makes ten high-level recommendations addressed to central banks and G20 authorities at the jurisdictional level. More specifically, they recommend a unified global approach to the supervision and regulation of the fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies.
Furthermore, the FSB suggests to authorities that, if they can’t control and regulate fully decentralized stablecoins, they should consider banning them.
FSB Raises Regulatory Alarms Against Global Stablecoins The FSB’s primary focus is on the potential risks that stablecoins could pose to global financial stability, especially those targeted at retail investors. These fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies represent a risk to the financial stability of emerging markets and developing economies, read the document.
Moreover, the FSB argues that global stablecoins could pose significant governance challenges to central banks. The Board seems especially concerned with the macro-financial problems that could arise if, over time, citizens in both advanced and emerging market economies begin favoring stablecoins over existing fiat currencies.
The guidance is aimed at both advanced and emerging economies. Authorities in advanced economies are primarily concerned with stablecoins designed in a decentralized nature, seeing risks in their reliability as a store of value.
Jurisdictions in emerging market economies, meanwhile, express greater concern about foreign-currency-linked stablecoins substituting national currencies, retail deposits, or safe assets. They’re afraid that this could exacerbate bank runs and disintermediate the traditional financial institutions.
According to the FSB, another potential issue is that under distressed macroeconomic conditions—much like the current coronavirus pandemic—global stablecoins could essentially become a sort of a hybrid retail repo market for U.S. Dollars.
If left unchecked, global stablecoins could have a destabilizing effect on capital flows and local fiat exchange rates—especially so in emerging market economies, argued the international regulator.
Source: Financial Stability Board Who Is the Financial Stability Board? It is important to note here that, even though the FSB lacks formal legal power, its recommendations are still influential. One of its primary mandates is to monitor the systemic implications of financial technology innovations and the systemic risks arising from disruptions to central bank operations.
The Board is hosted and funded by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Its members are representatives of ministries of finance and central banks from all G20 member states, plus ten international organizations, including the IMF, BIS, ECB, the World Bank, and the European Commission.
In practice, the regulator holds a tremendous amount of clout.
The objective of the FSB’s recommendations is to help authorities determine how to mitigate the potential financial risks caused by “global stablecoins,” or GSCs.
More alarming, it includes “other crypto assets that could pose risks similar to some of those posed by GSCs because of comparable international reach, scale, and use,” perhaps alluding to Bitcoin.
This isn’t the first reference to drastic action from the FSB. The regulator was asked to come up with specific recommendations on stablecoins back in February.
Recommendations on Stablecoins to Governments and Central Banks The Board makes ten recommendations concerning the regulation of stablecoins, in the aforementioned document. Among them are a couple that may cause alarm in the cryptocurrency community.
“Authorities should have the ability to mitigate risks associated with or prohibit the use of certain or specific stablecoins in their jurisdictions where these do not meet the applicable regulatory, supervisory, and oversight requirements.”
The FSB recommends that relevant authorities should utilize necessary powers to regulate, control and even prohibit any and all activities related to operating, issuing, managing, providing custody, and the trade or exchange related to global stablecoins.
This could be dire for the likes of Tether and other international stablecoin operators. To make things clear, the FSB defines a global stablecoin as having “ potential reach and adoption across multiple jurisdictions and the potential to achieve substantial volume.”
Advertisement
“Authorities should apply regulatory requirements to GSC arrangements on a functional basis and proportionate to their risks.”
Christine Lagarde of the European Central Bank (ECB) refers to this principle as “the golden rule of supervision,” otherwise known as the “same business, same risk, same rules” approach.
This means that cryptocurrency issuers can no longer operate in a gray zone. Stablecoins will now have to play on a leveled playing field, adhere to the same rules as banks, e-money issuers, and large payment processors.
If central banks determine that particular GSC arrangements fit the definition of a “systemically important payment system,” then they’ll also fall under the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures or PFMI.
“Authorities should ensure that there is comprehensive regulation, supervision and oversight of the GSC arrangement across borders and sectors. Authorities should cooperate and coordinate with each other, both domestically and internationally…”
The FSB is stressing the need for global unison in their approach to regulating and supervising stablecoins. The reason why this discussion is taking place at the highest levels of global economic governance is to mitigate possible risks of “regulatory arbitrage.”
In other words, this is the international banking cartel’s way of saying: If someone wants to operate a stablecoin arrangement out of Panama—sure, go ahead. But, they can only sell these stablecoins to Panamanian citizens.
“Authorities should ensure that GSC arrangements have in place a comprehensive governance framework with a clear allocation of accountability for the functions and activities within the GSC arrangement.”
Decentralized and Centralized Stablecoins Both Affected The FSB goes on to explain that the degree of decentralization in GSC arrangements shouldn’t really matter in terms of the demand for regulation, supervision, and oversight.
At the same time, they imply that only permission-based stablecoins should be permitted to operate:
“Fully permissionless ledgers or similar mechanisms could pose particular challenges to accountability and governance and may not be suitable if regulators cannot be assured that appropriate regulatory, supervisory, and oversight requirements are satisfied.”
If the G20 adopts FSB’s views on this, it could also mean the end of Ethereum-based permissionless stablecoins. The entire DeFi sector shouldn’t be expected to fare much better, either.
“Authorities should ensure that GSC arrangements have in place robust systems for safeguarding, collecting, storing and managing data.”
This is simply the FSB saying that GSC businesses should give the G20 authorities “timely and unobstructed access to relevant data and information” on all stablecoin transactions and users. This it the same way traditional banks operate.
The critical question here is whether stablecoins running on permissionless blockchains are even able to do that.
Do wallet addresses and blockchain transactions count as relevant data and information?
Along the same lines, the FSB proposes that authorities should have the “ability to require a GSC arrangement to be governed in a manner that facilitates effective regulation and supervision, including by prohibiting fully decentralized systems.”
“Authorities should not permit the operation of a GSC arrangement in their jurisdiction unless the GSC arrangement meets all of their jurisdiction’s regulatory, supervisory, and oversight requirements, including affirmative approval (e.g. licenses or registrations) where such a mechanism is in place.”
In the broader context of the document, “operation of a GSC arrangement” can mean anything from registering a GSC legal entity to the sale of stablecoins to retail investors.
In that regard, if Tether, for example, wants to continue issuing USDT to citizens of G20 member states (or most of the world), they would need to obtain licenses and register with the relevant authorities in each and every G20 country. Given Tether’s current approach towards compliance, this may not prove practical.
The CTO of Tether, Paolo Ardoino, told Crypto Briefing:
“We welcome the Financial Stability Board’s recognition of the role of stablecoins in the global economy, and its consideration of financial technology innovation in the digital asset space.”
For stablecoin businesses like Tether, Circle, Paxos, Binance, and others this could prove dire because the costs of compliance with the above provisions are enormous. This could, more or less, leave banks as the only source of fiat-backed digital currency.
Potential Market Impact on Cryptocurrency In terms of tangible legislation, the FSB’s recommendations, and its consequent impact on Bitcoin, will likely play out over the course of a few years.
In the meantime, it can be expected that central banks will increase cross-border cooperation to achieve greater supervision over stablecoin issuers and dealers.
Through this, the G20 aims to eliminate all feasibility of regulatory arbitrage and diminish what’s left of the regulatory wiggle room still remaining for stablecoin businesses.
As said by Richy Qiao, Chief Business Officer of decentralized stablecoin Ampleforth:
“This is something we’ve expected for a while. Large stablecoins that are centralized or tied to the financial system only work, until they matter. The FSB’s recommendations are inevitable and could result in the future of the entire crypto ecosystem coming under the control of those who control these types of regulated fiat-backed assets.”
Long-term Implications for Bitcoin and DeFi Stablecoins play a leading role in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The five largest stablecoins account for two-thirds of all trading volume, despite representing less than 4% of the market capitalization for public ledger tokens.
Rather than moving from crypto to fiat in a bank account, which is regulated and cumbersome by the industry’s standards, it’s instead possible to move into a fiat token that runs on a public blockchain. With USD stablecoins dominating the industry, this creates an extra level of efficiency for those in emerging and frontier markets.
With over 75,000 daily active addresses on USDT alone, the genesis stablecoin only lags behind Bitcoin and Ethereum in terms of adoption. In sum, the most important effect that stablecoins have had on the cryptocurrency markets is improved liquidity.
USDT on-chain volume by Santiment If the G20 heeds the recommendation put forth by the FSB, the stablecoin ecosystem, as people know it, will face immeasurable peril.
The first-order effect of this would be a dramatic reduction in liquidity for cryptoassets. The friction between a globally inefficient banking system and cryptocurrency exchanges will introduce hurdles in the timely deployment of capital.
Exchanges, market makers, and institutional lenders will bear the brunt of the crackdown. Binance’s top five trading pairs use USDT and represent 57% of the exchange’s volume, at the time of writing.
Given the expected erosion of liquidity, market makers may face diminishing workloads and more risk.
Trading pairs, for instance, would have to take place between two speculative tokens, rather than just one speculative token and one stablecoin pair.
Institutional lenders could see demand for funds dry up. Genesis Capital, an institutional lender, revealed that demand for stablecoins shot up from 9.6% in Q1 2019 to a whopping 37.2% in Q4 2019.
Loans disbursed by asset by Genesis Capital Of all the niches in crypto, DeFi—which has undue reliance on stablecoins—will be hit the hardest.
MakerDAO may have its entire business model come under heavy regulation, Compound could be eviscerated, and many of the other value-add services that leverage stablecoins could lose hard-earned traction generated over the last year.
Nine out of the top ten DeFi protocols, by value-locked, rely heavily on stablecoins in their operations. Moreover, exchanges that take advantage of regulatory arbitrage, like Binance, would be nowhere near their current size without stablecoins.
The other global stablecoins that are likely to fall under intense scrutiny if these recommendations are accepted include Facebook’s Libra, Bitfinex-associated Tether, and Circle’s USD Coin.
However, given the circumstances, this may prove favorable for exchanges, like Coinbase, who have gone great lengths to operate under the grace of U.S. regulators. It may also have the effect of pushing altcoin trading further into the sights of regulators, with more strenuous “anti-money laundering” and “know your customer” requirements, added Qiao.
The impact on the cryptocurrency ecosystem should not be understated. The entire crypto industry would be impacted if stablecoins were outlawed, Bitcoin included.
Pushing private stablecoins out of the game would make the implementation and adoption of central bank digital currencies much easier. As a result, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to think the G20 will favor this proposal.
In some ways, the industry is getting what it asked for—regulatory clarity. Central banks are finally shining a light on the regulatory gray zones that exist in the cryptocurrency markets. Though, this light may be a bit brighter than many would have asked for.
Reporting aided by analysis from Ashwath Balakrishnan. Interviews and supplemental quotes by Liam Kelly and Mitchell Moos.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Stefan Stankovic. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Ampleforth's algorithmic stablecoin AMPL is now part of AAVE's lending platform.
Ampleforth – the algorithmic stablecoin with elastic supply – has been introduced in Aave’s lending ecosystem.
Ampleforth (AMPL) Now Included in Aave While most stablecoins have a stable peg, Ampleforth (AMPL) is doing things differently. It’s designed in a way where the algorithm chases a target price and readjusts the overall supply.
If the price is above the target, the total supply would increase and vice-versa: if the current price is below the target, the supply will shrink.
The way this impacts holders is also interesting – AMPL addresses see the overall amount of tokens they have change based on the current rebase, which takes place once every 24 hours. In other words, the number of AMPL they hold can be different every 24 hours, depending on the current price of the cryptocurrency.
AAVE Adds AMPL In an announcement made hours ago, Ampleforth revealed that AMPL is now part of AAVE’s lending platform.
$AMPL on $AAVE is officially LIVE!! 🎉🥳#Ampleforth Rebases everyday at 2am UTC 🕑
(10pm EST) pic.twitter.com/YERxdg8V6Y
— Ampleforth #AMPL (@AmpleforthOrg) July 24, 2021
Users are now able to lend and borrow AMPL on Aave. This has an interesting implication given AMPL’s dynamic supply change.
You may also like: Market Meltdown: MemeCore Crashes 76% as MIM Breaks Peg to $0.50 Important Ripple (XRP) Deadline Concerning Many Users Why Grayscale Thinks AAVE Has a Path to $175 Despite Trading Near 60% Away Because of AMPL’s technicalities and AAVE’s lending pools, CryptoPotato reached out to Ampleforth’s team for some clarifications.
“The main take away is whoever holds the AMPL during rebase is technically the wallet with the AMPL, and since all wallets that hold AMPL experience rebases equally, the wallet that holds the rebase is the one who will get the rebase.
So if someone loans you AMPL, you’re then holding the AMPL you borrowed and you get the rebase on those borrowed AMPL.
In AAVE, there are pools. These pools are made up of people who lend their AMPLs to the pool to be borrowed. Borrowers take the AMPL from the pool and get the rebase. This is the ‘utilization’ of AMPL in the pool. If there is unutilized AMPL, which means lenders still hold some AMPL in the pool and borrowers hold some, lenders and borrowers will get the rebase according to the amount of AMPL they hold at the time of the rebase.
The lenders are part of a pool, and if any AMPL isn’t borrowed (isn’t utilized) that left over AMPL in the pool rebases, and it goes to the people who lent their AMPL to the pool.”
The team also said that this is good for both AMPL and AAVE, as well as for the DeFi industry in general because there’s a voracious demand for borrowing AMPL.
In the days leading to AMPL being included in AAVE, the price surged by over 70%. It was trading at around $1.08 two days ago and peaked at $1.87 today, for a total increase of about 74%.
FORTH is the governance token of Ampleforth (AMPL). Owners of FORTH can vote on proposed changes in the Ampleforth protocol or delegate their votes to representatives acting on their behalf.
AMPL is the first rebaseable cryptocurrency. Like Bitcoin, AMPL is non-dilutive. However, unlike Bitcoin, AMPL can be used to tokenize contracts of predictable value. In cases where AMPL represents an independent currency functioning as a unit of account, FORTH serves as the governance mechanism overseeing its evolution.
FORTH was launched in April 2021 by the Ampleforth team in a “First Day launch” with Coinbase.
The Ampleforth protocol is governed through a series of sequential steps, each representing increasing levels of consensus from the community. Proposals and ideas emerge in disputes or on our public forum and are finalized when embedded on the chain.
According to statements, top-level discussions can surface ideas in many places, including disputes, the Governance Forum, social media, or community DAOs’ #governance channel. When sufficient general support appears, a developer can formalize the idea by presenting an Ample Improvement Proposal (AIP) or Configuration Change Proposal (ACCP).
On the other hand, Forth is a new governance token that completes the Ample ecosystem by putting control of the protocol in the hands of the community. Using Forth tokens, owners will be able to vote on changes in the protocol. Together, $AMPL + $FORTH mark a significant milestone in the protocol’s journey to becoming fully decentralized.
As of the snapshot block taken on 30/03/21, anyone who interacted with Ample on-chain before this date is entitled to claim a portion of the Forth network. Over 80,000 individuals interacted with Ample in its two-year history, generating over $5 billion in on-chain volume across Uniswap, Sushiswap, Balancer, and more.
How to Acquire Ampleforth Governance Token?FORTH Coin can be purchased quickly and securely through Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform by trading volume.
To buy FORTH Coin, one must first register with Binance and then send fiat currency. Following the sending of a fiat currency like the Turkish Lira or the dollar, the FORTH Coin can be purchased in the trading pairs Binance Coin (BNB), Bitcoin (BTC), and Tether (USDT).
Additionally, on Binance, users can place buy orders not only at market value but also at lower prices. This can be done by using the Limit tab and entering the desired amount and price.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Ampleforth (AMPL), the rebasing cryptocurrency whose ecosystem also includes SPOT, an experimental flatcoin, has surged in value by more than 1,200% over the past seven months.
With a market cap of $304m today – up from $22m in September 2023 – AMPL has been one of the best performers in the digital assets marketplace this year, outpacing even Solana’s mighty rise. Yet it remains a relative unknown in the cryptosphere, barely breaking into the top 250 tokens by market cap and trading on just a handful of exchanges. Even the backing and investment of Brian Armstrong, Coinbase’s CEO, hasn’t propelled it to the mainstream.
Enthusiasts blame this obscurity on confusion about AMPL’s rebasing mechanism, which automatically changes the number of tokens held in each wallet overnight. That mechanism serves an important purpose: by shifting volatility from price to supply, it lays the foundations for AMPL to function as a ‘unit of account’, or an inflation-adjusted token that consistently tracks real purchasing power over time. It’s because of these supply rebasements that 100 AMPL will always revert back to the value of the same basket of goods. The trouble is, that doesn’t make the token itself a ‘store of value’: as soon as you buy 100 AMPL, your wallet balance can fall and you can lose money. The volatility is repackaged – not removed.
After an initially warm reception in 2019, the pain of negative rebasements (falling wallet balances) started to annoy holders and AMPL quickly fell from grace. This was partly down to unit bias: across all asset classes, investors are much more familiar with – and so, more resilient to – falling prices than they are to shrinking supply. In fairness, though, it was also because AMPL’s big plan didn’t really amount to much. Without functioning as a ‘store of value’, there wasn’t any point to the token from the user’s perspective.
So why is AMPL suddenly back in the spotlight? The main reason, fittingly, is SPOT, a new flatcoin (not technically a stablecoin) that’s built on top of AMPL and aims to become its affiliated ‘store of value’. In essence, SPOT aspires to be both inflation-resistant and supply-stable, despite lacking any real-world collateral. That’s an incredibly bold ambition: success will essentially mean the creation of the world’s first stable, digitally native, decentralized currency – a new form of cash separate from the fiat banking system, yet somehow mirroring and capturing its value.
Whether SPOT can attain this lofty goal is anyone’s guess, and as always readers should tread carefully when risking their money on cryptocurrencies – especially smaller, more volatile ones. For those who are curious, though, I hope my explainer sheds some light on this ambitious, complex and little-understood protocol.
MORE FROM
FORBES ADVISOR
AMPL’s price has barely changed in seven months. How can you say it’s up 1,280%?Everyone who held AMPL over the past seven months has seen their holdings rise in value by more than 1,200%. But, unlike with most assets, you can’t measure that profit solely by looking at price. You also need to look at the changing number of tokens (the supply) in your wallet.
Let’s break it down really simply: for most assets, when the value of an investment rises you measure your profit by checking how much its price has increased. Say, for example, you buy 100 COIN tokens for $1 each: if the price of one COIN token increases by 1,200%, then each of your tokens is now worth $13. And your total investment of $100 is now worth $1,300.
Now let’s say you buy 100 AMPL tokens for $1 each. And let’s assume that the same market forces driving demand for COIN are also driving demand for AMPL. In the short-term, over the course of each day, this rising demand will push the price of AMPL higher. As long as the token’s average daily price stays within 5% of a pre-determined target (so, for a $1 target, as long as price doesn’t exceed $1.05) nothing else happens. But when the buying pressure is so high that AMPL’s price exceeds that target, then all wallets on the blockchain have their balances proportionally expanded. This will encourage selling, as existing holders will effectively have been airdropped free tokens. And, in turn, that selling pressure will push price back down to target. (Conversely, an under-target price triggers supply contraction and knock-on buying.)
Eventually, after months of positive rebasements, price may have reverted back to its $1 target, with demand and supply back in equilibrium. By this stage, though, you may now have 1,300 AMPL tokens in your wallet – meaning, again, your total investment of $100 is now worth $1,300.
For both tokens, your profit is calculated by first multiplying your supply by the market price, and then deducting your costs. The only difference is that COIN profit manifests as a higher price, whereas AMPL profit manifests as a higher supply. Put another way, we always have to factor in supply changes when calculating profit; most of us just don’t think about it that way, because our supply almost never changes.
How does AMPL calculate its price target?AMPL’s price target is the present-day purchasing power of one 2019 US dollar, as measured against the US Consumer Price Index (CPI). Thanks to inflation, that five-year-old dollar is currently worth $1.18 in today’s money. Hence, for the time being, AMPL’s price target is $1.18. This is a moving target that will keep increasing as long as inflation keeps eating away at the dollar’s value. If the dollar enters a deflationary spiral, then the price target will start decreasing. In all scenarios, the price target represents an objective yardstick for real purchasing power – a ‘unit of account’ that is neither inflationary nor deflationary.
If shifting volatility from price to supply creates an inflation-resistant ‘unit of account,’ why doesn’t the Federal Reserve do that?Actually the Fed does do that. But with two important caveats: first, the US government doesn’t want its currency to be a perfect ‘unit of account’ that represents true purchasing power indefinitely. Like most governments, it wants its currency to be slightly inflationary, because citizens will generally spend more and economic activity will generally grow when there’s a direct cost associated with holding cash. That’s why the Fed has set an official target of 2% inflation per year (which is also calculated against CPI data).
The second caveat is feasibility. The Fed can – and, indeed, regularly does – change the money supply when it sees a good reason for doing so. But it can’t make these changes very fairly or efficiently.
Let’s consider this simplified scenario: if the size of the US economy grows by 1% overnight, then the value of each dollar swishing around in that economy has also risen by 1% in real terms. Value has been created, and each monetary unit represents a fixed fraction of that value. Now, the Fed won’t like that very much, because when cash appreciates in value then people save more and defer spending. The obvious solution, then, is to raise the money supply by 1% as well, bringing the supply of dollars back into equilibrium with the new, higher demand for dollars. And the Fed does this by turning on its money printers. The trouble is, that new money has to be distributed somehow.
With AMPL, thanks to its innovative use of blockchain technology, new supply magically appears in everyone’s wallet overnight. New tokens are distributed proportionally to all holders, so no-one’s relative stake in the protocol (or, if you like, in the Ampleforth economy) is diluted.
Not so when the Fed prints money. Whatever mechanism it uses – whether physically printing notes or buying government bonds or anything else – new dollars are injected into the economy through banking channels. Those banks then get to spend that money before the impact of higher supply ripples through the economy and devalues each dollar. This is known as the Cantillon Effect or ‘relative inflation’: the entities closest to the change in money supply (the banks, and after them the corporations) enjoy first-mover advantage, while those at the end of the food chain (the consumers) foot the bill. Ordinary people only see abstract, trickle-down benefits through things like job creation and average wage increases. Yet they pay a direct, tangible cost through the dilution of their savings.
If America were to become a cashless economy that’s wholly reliant on a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), then it would be possible for the Fed to mirror AMPL’s supply-elastic, non-dilutive approach. Short of that, there will always be a pecking order. Not all dollars are created equal, and there’s no way for the Fed to proportionally expand savings that are stashed under mattresses.
If AMPL doesn’t function as a ‘store of value’, why would anyone believe SPOT will?Cowrie shells
getty
‘Believe’ is the key word. From as long ago as 1200 BC until as recently as the 19th century, the shells of cowries, a type of sea snail, were widely used as legal tender and a ‘store of value’. Countless societies around the world – stretching through epochs – saw these attractive, portable, scarce shells as a valid form of money. People believed they were money, and so they functioned as money.
Nowadays, many of us still have a cowrie in our living rooms. They’re nice ornaments to display and admire. Not many of us see them as money, though. People no longer believe they are money, and so they no longer function as money.
The same will apply to SPOT (and any other contender for the title of a native digital currency). At present, a minuscule number of people believe that SPOT has what it takes to become a valid form of money. They base this belief on what they see as the robustness of SPOT’s design: the token is minted by first splitting AMPL into tranches and then collateralizing only the safest 33% tranche. This dampens its volatility. After that, SPOT’s collateral has one of two fates: either it’s re-collateralized by fresh AMPL every 28 days (in which case it’s shielded from AMPL’s supply volatility, and it functions as a ‘store of value’ by tracking AMPL’s price target); or it’s not re-collateralized (in which case it’s exposed to AMPL’s supply volatility, and it risks failing as a ‘store of value’ by de-pegging from AMPL’s price target). To understand the mechanism in more detail, check out this article I wrote for Forbes in 2022.
SPOT, a derivative of AMPL, will succeed as a ‘store of value’ if enough people believe it is one. In the absence of that widespread societal belief, it will fail. AMPL meanwhile, was never designed to be a ‘store of value’. It was designed to be a ‘unit of account’, and it does not require public faith to fulfill that function.
So believing in SPOT is like believing in TerraLUNA UST: it’ll work until it implodes?No, because UST had a different mechanism – a hard peg – which sought to impose societal belief in the value of its stablecoin. Terra’s founders declared to the world that UST will always be worth $1. They did not seek the approval of the general public in setting that valuation, and they did not accommodate any outcomes beyond absolute success or absolute failure.
Let’s remind ourselves how UST was designed: the stablecoin was collateralized with LUNA, another cryptocurrency in the Terra ecosystem. It was not backed by any real-world collateral. Terra's founders claimed to have developed a complex algorithm that would indefinitely preserve UST's peg by burning or minting LUNA in response to market demand. This mechanism worked for a while. Then, during a period of intense market volatility, LUNA was algorithmically hyperinflated and UST became worthless.
As always, society – or a subset of society: the digital assets marketplace – had the final say about any claim of being a ‘store of value’.
Now returning to the Ampleforth ecosystem: it’s true that SPOT also lacks any real-world collateral. SPOT is wholly backed by AMPL, and AMPL could one day lose all of its value. But there are three key differences between how SPOT and UST are designed. First, SPOT is a flatcoin (not a stablecoin) with a free-floating exchange rate (not a hard peg) that targets a given price but doesn’t claim to rigidly hold it. Second, SPOT provides society with a voluntary mechanism (collateral rotation) for preserving that price, if it so chooses. Third, if society declines the invitation and rejects SPOT as a ‘store of value’, the token can still be redeemed for the residual value of its collateral at all times; collateral that’s transparently priced, and whose valuation is not vulnerable to algorithmic hyperinflation.
SPOT, unlike UST, is designed to accommodate losing value. That’s just as well: any other design for money is hubris. And it’s the nature of this unraveling that really matters: SPOT’s price is allowed to bend as the value of its collateral changes. If that collateral enters a transient or terminal decline, holders of SPOT are allowed to redeem their proportional stake in the shared collateral set at market value. As long as the entire market cap of AMPL doesn’t crash to zero overnight, that guarantees a more orderly and graceful unwinding of value than holders of UST were afforded.
Ultimately, the idea behind SPOT – the establishment of a stable, digitally native, decentralized currency – may one day prove to be a folly. But the mechanism itself can never implode, because it’s not designed to do anything more than empower society to embrace or reject that idea.
How has SPOT performed to date?Pretty well, which is probably why people are beginning to pay attention. The token has closely oscillated around its price target since launching in late 2022, rarely deviating by more than 5%. One notable exception was last month, when surging demand for AMPL propelled SPOT above $1.50. Like any free-floating asset, SPOT is vulnerable to short-term price shocks. But the flatcoin has largely avoided the wild swings associated with AMPL, and its price has now fallen back to target. Whether that success continues during periods of greater market volatility and prolonged AMPL supply contraction remains to be seen.
Financial disclosure: the author is a long-term holder of Ampleforth ecosystem tokens. He will not buy or sell any such tokens (AMPL, FORTH, WAMPL & SPOT) in the 90 days following the publication of this article.
Asymmetry Finance has joined forces with Ampleforth and Paid Network to launch afUSD. This new product is a synthetic stablecoin built on Ampleforth’s infrastructure. The older stablecoins depend on collateral like currencies that back them. However, this new one has its own unique mechanism that adjusts its supply to determine its price.
afUSD Expected to Compete with Ethena afUSD is designed to be an alternative to more centralized stablecoins like Ethena. It was created to offer high yields and scalability and also have features that protect it from market volatility while at the same time ensuring decentralization and security. Since this new stablecoin won’t depend on collateral, it will use rotating AMPL tranches to ensure scalability and stability within the system.
Asymmetry Finance founder Hannah Jojo elaborated on this, explaining that their goal is to strengthen the use of synthetic dollars by offering solutions that uphold the tenets of DeFi and can compete with more centralized options like Ethena, which she suggests are controlled by the wealthy. She stated:
“We’ve proven what we can do by engineering the best place to liquid stake CVX on the market. Our primary target now is to improve the synthetic dollar market and offer a more DeFi native option compared to more centralized competitors like Ethena. DeFi has slowly become an investor’s playground rife with plutocracy; we want to break this cycle of greed.”
The initial profit from afUSD is expected to be as high as 35.4%, and it also aims to compete with the already big $3 trillion stablecoin market.
The two protocols involved in creating this product have a shared goal of making DeFi solutions that are sustainable and geared toward users’ needs. Ampleforth co-founder Evan Kuo expressed his delight about the partnership with Asymmetry and is eager to keep making such collaborations for innovative solutions.
“Asymmetry is pioneering new financial markets on top of the ever-growing pool of staked assets. We believe this is an enormous opportunity in DeFi and are proud to invest in the team. We look forward to collaborating closely with their ecosystem to continue innovating this category,” he said.
This is not the first time Asymmetry has introduced a similar solution. The protocol successfully launched the afCVX liquid staking product for Convex, which gained over 1,000,000 million in total value locked in its first week. The company also plans to expand its Liquid Restaking Token (LRT) and Liquid Staking Token (LST) offerings by introducing afeETH for Ether later this year.
Partnership with Asymmetry Asymmetry also partnered with Paid Network, which appreciates the protocol’s potential to cause a major change in the stablecoin industry. The partnership with Paid Network is expected to open up its community members to more than $1,5000,000 in ASF tokens on June 12. Paid Network’s general manager Justin Chevalier also expressed confidence in this collaboration. He said:
“We are delighted to be an early public enabler and play a pivotal part in one of the most promising rising stars within the DeFi space and strongly believe that Asymmetry Finance will disrupt the stablecoin market. Their priority to put the majority of their network’s tokens in their users’ hands is a callback to our industry’s early days’ ethos.”
So far, Asymmetry has raised more than $4 million from investors, which will help it realize its roadmap. The website also serves as a place to learn about its solutions and assess the early funding pool through Paid Network.
Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
Altcoin News, Cryptocurrency News, News
Temitope is a writer with more than four years of experience writing across various niches. He has a special interest in the fintech and blockchain spaces and enjoy writing articles in those areas. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in linguistics. When not writing, he trades forex and plays video games.
[PRESS RELEASE – San Francisco, US, California, June 12th, 2024]
DeFi Protocol, Asymmetry Finance, Announces Partnership with Ampleforth and Unveils afUSD, Redefining the Stablecoin Market
Asymmetry Finance, a leading liquid staking tokens (LST) protocol, is set to launch its afUSD product in partnership with Ampleforth, marking a significant milestone in the DeFi landscape. Designed as a fully on-chain synthetic dollar, afUSD aims to offer competitive potential yields, scalability, and resilience to market fluctuations while remaining fully on-chain.
afUSD, built on the innovative infrastructure pioneered by Ampleforth, distinguishes itself by its scalability, stability, and user-centric design. Unlike traditional stablecoins, afUSD utilizes Ampleforth’s AMPL with a unique supply-adjustment mechanism, eliminating the need for conventional collateral and associated risks. Its fully on-chain nature enhances decentralization and security, and by employing perpetually rotating AMPL tranches, afUSD aims to provide scalability and resistance to market volatility, with a design to be competitive with leading stablecoins.
“Asymmetry is pioneering new financial markets on top of the ever-growing pool of staked assets. We believe this is an enormous opportunity in DeFi and are proud to invest in the team. We look forward to collaborating closely with their ecosystem to continue innovating this category,” said Evan Kuo, Co-Founder of Ampleforth.
“We’ve proven what we can do by engineering the best place to liquid stake CVX on the market. Our primary target now is to improve the synthetic dollar market and offer a more DeFi native option compared to more centralized competitors,” said Hannah Jojo, Founder of Asymmetry.
As part of its roadmap, Asymmetry has already introduced afCVX, a staking product for Convex Finance, capturing over 1,000,000 CVX in its first week, representing 21% of the total TVL of the largest CVX wrapper in DeFi. Asymmetry also plans to launch afeETH in Q3 of 2024, a Liquid Restaking Token (LRT) in partnership with EtherFi.
To date, Asymmetry has raised $4 million from notable investors like Founders of Convex, Founder of Frax, Avon Ventures (a venture fund affiliated with the parent company of Fidelity Investments), Republic Crypto, Side Door Ventures, Comma3 Ventures, and more.
With its products and commitment to sustainability and innovation, Asymmetry is aiming to redefine the evolution of the stablecoin market through its synthetic dollar product.
Key Highlight Interested users can visit Asymmetry’s website to learn more about afUSD.
About Asymmetry: Asymmetry is a pioneering force in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, committed to providing sustainable potential yield sources and investment opportunities. With a team of experts, Asymmetry creates permissionless strategies embedded in smart contracts, enabling users to automatically accrue potential yields. Asymmetry aims to become the go-to hub for synthetic dollar, LST, and LRT high-real-yield products.
About Ampleforth: AMPL is a digital currency that adjusts its supply based on market conditions. It’s a decentralized protocol that will inflate or deflate the existing AMPL tokens in circulation based on the current market conditions. Ampleforth can be used for lending & borrowing, the creation of derivatives, and as collateral for a decentralized stablecoin.
FORTH rose as high as 15% after Binance Futures announced it will be launching a USDT-margined perpetual contract for the Ampleforth token.
According to a recent Binance announcement, the USDT (USDT)-based perpetual contract will be available for trading on the platform on April 8 at 08:30 AM UTC.
Shortly after the announcement was released, FORTH shot up as high as 15%. The price neared its monthly peak of $2.60 when it landed on $2.58, mere minutes after Binance Futures declared it would be launching the FORTHUSDT perpetual contract. It reached a new all-time low just two days ago when it dropped to $1.89 on April 6, 2025.
At press time, the Ampleforth Governance token is up 12.4% and is currently trading hands at $2.53. In the past week the token has moved modestly by 3%. However, it has been on a declining streak in the past month, going down by more than 11%.
Price chart for FORTH shortly after Binance announced it would be launching its USDT-margined perpetual contracts , April 8, 2025 | Source: CoinGecko According to the Binance notice, the perpetual contract will be offered with up to 20x leverage and is supported for multi-asset mode.
Multi asset mode lets users trade the perpetual contract across multiple other margin assets outside of the one mentioned. However, it is still applicable to varying fee cuts, depending on the chosen margin asset. This means users can trade the FORTHUSDT perpetual contract with a BTC (BTC) margin or other tokens listed on Binance.
The maximum financing rate for FORTHUSDT upon launch will be capped at +2.00% and -2.00%. The funding fee calculation frequency will occur every four hours.
FORTH is the governance token for the Ampleforth ecosystem, which is a rebasing crypto protocol. Launched in 2022, FORTH holders can propose changes to the Ampleforth protocol or delegate representatives to vote on their behalf.
PANews reported on March 27th, citing Cointelegraph, that a paper by a European Central Bank staff member points out that governance tokens in DeFi protocols are highly centralized. Approximately half or more of the holdings of governance tokens in Aave, MakerDAO, Ampleforth, and Uniswap are linked to the protocols themselves or exchanges. Major voting participants are often delegated representatives, who in many cases are neither identifiable nor able to establish a connection with token holders. This research questions whether DeFi DAOs possess sufficient decentralization to exclude them from the MiCA regulatory framework and provides a reference for policymakers to bring relevant entities under regulation.
ECB staff paper finds top 100 holders in Aave, MakerDAO, Ampleforth and Uniswap control over 80% of governance tokens. Concentrated voting blocs threaten DeFi protocols’ claims to “fully decentralized” status under MiCA. Findings raise risk that leading DeFi DAOs could be pulled inside the EU’s licensing and compliance regime. The European Central Bank (ECB) has published a working paper arguing that governance in flagship DeFi protocols like Aave, MakerDAO, Ampleforth and Uniswap is far more centralized than their “decentralized autonomous organization” branding suggests, a conclusion that could strip them of regulatory safe harbor under the EU’s MiCA regime. The staff study, titled “Who to regulate? Identifying actors within DeFi’s governance,” finds that the top 100 holders in each of the four protocols collectively control more than 80% of governance token supply, with “around half or more holdings linked” to the protocols themselves or exchanges.
According to the ECB researchers, voting power is even more concentrated than token ownership, with top voters “mostly delegates, who, in many cases, could not be identified nor linked to token holders.” In Ampleforth, the paper highlights that the top 20 voters account for roughly 96% of proxy voting rights, a structure that leaves real control in the hands of a small, opaque elite. That concentration, the authors warn, turns many DAOs into what prior academic work has called “minority rule,” where a few large token holders or delegates can effectively dictate protocol outcomes.
MiCA’s “fully decentralized” exemption under pressure Under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, crypto-asset services that are “provided in a fully decentralised manner without any intermediary” can fall outside the core licensing perimeter. The ECB paper directly questions whether Aave, MakerDAO’s Sky ecosystem, Uniswap and Ampleforth can plausibly claim that status when more than half of governance tokens in some cases are linked to founding teams or centralized exchanges such as Binance. “The concentration of governance power remains stable over time,” the authors write, arguing that decentralization here is “form over substance.”
Regulatory anchor points for DeFi For policymakers, the study’s aim is explicit: identify “regulatory anchor points” in systems that were designed to avoid having a traditional issuer, board or CEO. The authors stress that limited on-chain transparency about the real-world identities behind key delegates “complicates efforts to assess accountability and reinforces concerns about the concentration of power.” That, in turn, bolsters arguments from EU agencies and legal commentators that MiCA’s decentralization exemption must be interpreted narrowly, with regulators focusing on where effective decision-making and operational control actually sit, rather than on marketing language about DAOs.
In practice, the ECB’s approach signals that supervisors are ready to treat DeFi governance structures with the same forensic scrutiny applied to large banks’ shareholder registers and control chains. If Aave, Uniswap or MakerDAO cannot demonstrate materially dispersed and accountable governance, their DAOs may be forced into the same kind of licensing, capital, and compliance obligations now facing centralized crypto-asset service providers across the bloc.
Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins have fallen again due to the uncertainty brought about by the US-Iran war.
Bitcoin has fallen by more than 5% in the last 24 hours to around $65,000, while Ethereum and altcoins are also experiencing significant losses.
While developments in the Middle East are being closely monitored to see if these declines will continue, the European Central Bank has put four altcoins under the microscope.
Accordingly, the European Central Bank (ECB), in a recently published working paper, identified the possibility that some decentralized finance projects may not be able to benefit from the European Union Crypto Asset Markets (MiCA) exemptions.
Accordingly, the ECB found that governance across the four major DeFi protocols is highly concentrated.
The ECB report examined Aave (AAVE), MakerDAO (now SKY), Ampleforth (AMPL), and Uniswap (UNI).
The report stated that more than half of the tokens are typically tied to the protocol team or exchanges, and that the top 100 holders in each protocol control more than 80% of the supply.
It was also noted that key voting participants are often authorized representatives rather than direct token holders, and that the majority of these individuals are not publicly disclosed. More importantly, the report states that verifying the identities of these authorized representatives or linking them to the actual token holders is often impossible.
This uncertainty also creates a significant regulatory gap.
It is argued that, due to the excessive centralization of decision-making power at this point, these DeFi protocols may not be eligible for the exemptions under the MICA regulation.
Because MiCA currently excludes “fully decentralized” services. In other words, to benefit from the MiCA exemption, you need to be decentralized.
At this point, the inability to benefit from the MiCA exemption has serious consequences. Protocols that cannot benefit from the exemptions will need to obtain official authorization as crypto asset service providers within the EU. This process necessitates strict capital requirements, governance standards, and consumer protection measures.
In conclusion, this report questions whether DeFi DAOs possess sufficient decentralization to be exempt from the MiCA regulatory framework.
*This is not investment advice.
Follow our Telegram and Twitter account now for exclusive news, analytics and on-chain data!
The ECB clearly challenges one of the founding narratives of modern crypto. In practice, several major DeFi protocols remain concentrated in the hands of few, especially when looking at actual governance rather than just marketing talk. This is the gist of the working paper published this week, which observes a strong concentration of governance tokens and voting power on Aave, MakerDAO, Ampleforth, and Uniswap.
In Brief The ECB targets actual governance, not just the DeFi narrative. The study shows a strong concentration of tokens and votes. The real debate now concerns proof of sufficient decentralization. A Direct Attack Against the Crypto Narrative of Decentralization According to the study, the top 100 crypto holders control more than 80% of the governance tokens across the four protocols examined. Even more striking, the top five wallets concentrate between 36% and 59% of the supply depending on the case.
In other words, crypto DeFi may seem diffuse at the surface, with thousands of addresses visible on the blockchain, while remaining very tightly held at the top. The paper adds that the most active voters are often delegates, which can reinforce the power of a small core of actors rather than truly broadening participation.
However, an important nuance must be kept. The ECB speaks here through a working paper, meaning a research document intended to feed the debate. The institution itself clarifies that these papers are works in progress and the opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect its official position.
What the Study Actually Measures, and What It Doesn’t The paper does not claim to demonstrate that all crypto DeFi is an illusion. It mainly measures governance. Simply put, it looks at who holds the tokens, who votes, who receives delegations, and which decisions really pass through these mechanisms. This is not exactly the same as measuring the technical decentralization of a protocol.
The method relies on two observation periods, November 2022 and May 2023. The authors concentrate on Ethereum, which accounted for about 57% of the total value locked in DeFi at the time studied. The four protocols selected together comprised about 32% of this ecosystem, with 248 governance proposals included in the analysis out of 1,051 recorded.
But the study also has its blind spots. The data was manually collected from public and pseudonymous sources. The authors themselves acknowledge possible inaccuracies, missing information, and the inability to include crypto protocols like Curve or dYdX due to insufficient data. This is not a minor detail. It is actually a major limitation when trying to draw a general conclusion about all of DeFi.
The Real Controversy Lies in the Chosen Threshold The sharpest criticism comes from Bill Hughes, a lawyer at Consensys. According to him, the paper stacks real numbers, then applies a subjective reading of the spectrum between centralization and decentralization. His reproach is therefore not that the data is entirely false, but that it leads to a standard nearly impossible to meet.
This is where the debate becomes political. The document explains that crypto decentralization exists on a spectrum, while stating that “full decentralization” is not achieved in the sample studied. It also points out that there is no clear threshold to define what constitutes complete decentralization.
Yet this ambiguity matters a lot in Europe. MiCA stipulates that crypto services provided in a fully decentralized manner, without intermediaries, should not fall within its scope. At the same time, the AMF reminds that the text also targets activities provided or controlled directly or indirectly by persons or entities, including when part of the service is executed in a decentralized manner. The battle is therefore no longer only about technology. It concerns proof of absence of control.
Maximize your Cointribune experience with our "Read to Earn" program! For every article you read, earn points and access exclusive rewards. Sign up now and start earning benefits.
Join the program
A
A
Lien copié
Evans S.
Fascinated by Bitcoin since 2017, Evariste has continuously researched the subject. While his initial interest was in trading, he now actively seeks to understand all advances centered on cryptocurrencies. As an editor, he strives to consistently deliver high-quality work that reflects the state of the sector as a whole.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
Recent months have seen Theta Network continue its focus on expanding decentralized cloud capabilities, particularly through new collaborations in gaming, sports, and academia. These developments build on the platform's hybrid edge-cloud model, which combines centralized and distributed computing resources to support AI-driven applications. From integrating with major esports platforms to enhancing university research tools, Theta has rolled out several initiatives that demonstrate practical applications of its technology. This article highlights some of the most significant updates.
Theta Network has teamed up with U.GG, a popular analytics site for League of Legends, to deploy an AI-powered agent that assists players with real-time insights. Launched on October 1, this tool allows users to query builds, tier lists, leaderboards, and champion statistics directly on the U.GG homepage. The integration leverages Theta's EdgeCloud Hybrid platform, which handles the computational demands of processing vast amounts of game data efficiently. This move exposes Theta's technology to U.GG's estimated 30 million users, enabling 24/7 access to updated strategies without relying solely on traditional servers. For players, it means quicker, more personalized recommendations during matches or patch reviews, potentially streamlining how competitive gamers prepare. Theta emphasized the scalability of its hybrid model in supporting such high-traffic applications, marking a step toward broader adoption in the esports sector.
Philadelphia Union Rolls Out Theta-Powered Mobile AppIn late September, Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union introduced a new mobile app powered by Theta Network, consolidating fan experiences into a single platform. Available on both iOS and Android, the app offers features like ticket purchasing, management, and scanning, with plans for deeper integration when SeatGeek becomes the club's ticketing provider next season. Discussions are also underway with food and beverage partner Aramark to incorporate concession services, and future updates may include in-stadium navigation for Subaru Park. Development began six months prior, aiming for a launch by the end of the 2025 season, just ahead of heightened interest expected from the upcoming World Cup in the U.S. The app's design focuses on retaining new fans post-tournament by providing easy access to match highlights, news, and community features. Theta's involvement ensures robust backend support for handling user data and media streaming, illustrating how decentralized tech can enhance sports fan engagement without overwhelming central systems.
Seoul National University of Science and Technology Adopts EdgeCloud for Brain-Inspired AI ResearchMid-September brought news of Seoul National University of Science and Technology (SeoulTech) joining Theta's academic network by incorporating the EdgeCloud Hybrid platform into its BrAIn Lab operations. The lab, which specializes in brain-inspired artificial intelligence, uses Theta's tools to process complex neural network models more cost-effectively than traditional cloud services. This partnership allows researchers to distribute computational tasks across a global network of edge nodes, reducing latency and expenses for experiments involving large datasets. SeoulTech's adoption highlights Theta's appeal to institutions seeking scalable alternatives for AI workloads, with potential applications in fields like neuroscience and machine learning. The collaboration includes access to Theta's mobile edge capabilities, enabling on-device processing that could accelerate prototype testing. As part of a growing list of university partners, this development underscores Theta's role in supporting advanced research without the constraints of centralized infrastructure.
Emory University Leverages EdgeCloud for Melody Lab InitiativesEmory University in Georgia also announced its integration of Theta EdgeCloud Hybrid through its Melody Lab, led by Assistant Professor Wei Jin. The lab focuses on AI applications in music and audio processing, utilizing Theta's platform to handle intensive tasks such as generative models and sound analysis. This setup provides the lab with hybrid computing resources that blend cloud efficiency with edge node distribution, allowing for faster iterations on research projects. Emory's decision to join Theta's network reflects a broader trend among U.S. institutions toward decentralized solutions for data-heavy AI work. Researchers can now scale experiments involving vast audio libraries without prohibitive costs, potentially leading to innovations in areas like automated composition or acoustic simulations. Theta's support includes tailored optimizations for academic environments, ensuring compatibility with existing workflows and fostering collaborative opportunities across partner institutions.
Additional Developments in Platform Upgrades and CollaborationsBeyond these headline partnerships, Theta Network has pursued several other enhancements to bolster its ecosystem. In late August, South Korea's Ewha Womans University became the latest academic adopter, incorporating EdgeCloud Hybrid and mobile edge networking for AI-related studies, which expands Theta's footprint in Asian research circles. This follows a pattern seen in earlier integrations, such as Yonsei University's use of AWS Trainium chips on EdgeCloud for recommendation AI systems, announced in early August.
On the software front, Theta released updates to multiple tools. The Android Edge Node app reached version 1.2, improving compatibility with EdgeCloud, enhancing stability for extended jobs, and adding support for Android 16. Similarly, the Android Wallet app updated to version 5.3.0, optimizing for edge-to-edge devices and full Android 16 compatibility. The Guardian Node software advanced to version 4.1.0, featuring binary upgrades for better stability and networking improvements to handle up to ten times more nodes, paving the way for network expansion.
Theta also strengthened ties in the entertainment and e-commerce spaces. A notable collaboration with esports organization 100 Thieves, revealed in late August, involves building an AI agent for Shopify-integrated e-commerce, powered by EdgeCloud. This agent aims to enhance customer interactions on 100 Thieves' digital storefronts, demonstrating Theta's versatility beyond pure AI research. In sports, a high-profile partnership with French football club Olympique de Marseille was formalized in mid-August, including the launch of an AI-powered mascot and the club's operation of a Theta Validator Node.
Looking ahead, Theta's annual unstake of tokens is set to fuel further platform growth and decentralization efforts. Over the past year, the network has onboarded customers from prestigious institutions like Stanford and NTU Singapore, signaling sustained momentum. These updates collectively show Theta's commitment to practical, scalable solutions in decentralized computing, offering readers actionable insights into how developers and organizations can engage with the platform—whether through node staking, app integrations, or academic collaborations.
SourcesU.GG and Theta Bring AI-Powered League of Legends Stats: https://u.gg/lol/articles/theta-ugg-brings-ai-powered-league-of-legends-statsSeoul National University of Science and Technology Joins Theta EdgeCloud: https://medium.com/theta-network/seoul-national-university-of-science-and-technology-joins-theta-edgecloud-to-advance-brain-inspired-49ebce6597baEmory University Leverages Theta EdgeCloud for AI Research: https://medium.com/theta-network/emory-university-a-top-ranked-us-research-university-in-georgia-leverages-edgecloud-for-ai-dc5b95f3700eTheta Validator Annual Unstake Announcement: https://medium.com/theta-network/theta-validator-annual-unstake-to-accelerate-platform-growth-and-decentralization-c1d27accfd32Philadelphia Union’s Theta-Powered App Announcement: https://x.com/PhilaUnion/status/1972662654901657970
Theta Labs, the development arm of Theta Network, received U.S. Patent 12,436,819 in October 2025 for a hybrid edge-cloud computing architecture designed to support decentralized computing platforms. The patent covers a system that combines local edge devices with centralized cloud resources to process artificial intelligence workloads, addressing issues such as latency in traditional cloud setups.
Issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, this approval marks another step in Theta's efforts to build scalable decentralized networks, following the company's shift from video streaming blockchain origins to broader AI-focused infrastructure. The architecture aims to distribute tasks dynamically, assigning real-time operations to edge nodes and intensive computations to the cloud, which could aid enterprises in managing AI tasks like large language model training and inference.
Theta Network and Its EvolutionTheta Network began operations in 2017 as a blockchain protocol centered on video streaming, enabling peer-to-peer content delivery to reduce bandwidth costs for platforms. The network utilized a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and introduced tokens to incentivize users to share unused computing resources.
By 2023, Theta expanded its scope with the release of the EdgeCloud whitepaper, which detailed plans for a decentralized AI cloud platform. This document outlined a hybrid design that leveraged distributed edge nodes alongside cloud servers to handle growing demands in machine learning and data processing.
The transition reflected the shift in the crypto space, where demand for AI compute resources surged in 2025 due to advancements in generative models and real-time applications. Theta's approach positioned it within the decentralized physical infrastructure network sector (DePIN), where protocols coordinate global hardware for tasks traditionally managed by centralized providers like Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud. In this context, Theta aimed to create verifiable and profitable systems by patenting methods for automatic workload routing, allowing the network to license technology to other entities.
Company announcements, including a post on X by Theta Network, highlighted the patent's role in validating technical methods developed over the years. The post linked to a detailed Medium article explaining the patent's focus on integrating edge and cloud elements for efficiency. This evolution from streaming to AI infrastructure involved building on existing patents in areas like peer-to-peer networking and digital rights management.
What is the U.S. Patent 12,436,819The patent, "Hybrid Edge-Cloud Computing Architecture for Decentralized Computing Platform," was awarded to Theta Labs in October 2025. It describes a system that merges edge devices, such as Internet of Things sensors or local servers positioned near data sources, with cloud infrastructure to form a cohesive computing environment. The United States Patent and Trademark Office documentation specifies methods for decentralized orchestration that allocate tasks based on specific criteria like processing needs and network conditions.
According to the Medium article published by Theta Labs, "Theta Labs has now been awarded U.S. Patent 12,436,819 for “Hybrid Edge-Cloud Computing Architecture for Decentralized Computing Platform”, validating the innovative and novel approaches to a decentralized Edge Network built by the Theta team."
The patent can be accessed via the USPTO website or as a downloadable PDF. This approval builds on prior filings, with the complete list of Theta's patents searchable through Google Patents under inventor Jieyi Long.
The system targets limitations in conventional cloud computing, including high latency from data transfers and elevated costs for bandwidth. Edge devices handle local processing to minimize delays, while the cloud manages scalability for larger operations. The patent protects protocols for communication between nodes, ensuring coordination without centralized bottlenecks.
Key Innovations in the Hybrid ArchitectureAt the core of the patented system is a decentralized orchestration layer that dynamically assigns workloads. This layer evaluates tasks in real time, directing latency-sensitive operations to edge nodes for immediate response and routing compute-heavy jobs, such as data aggregation, to the cloud. Distributed networking protocols facilitate this interaction, allowing seamless data flow across the platform.
The architecture comprises three primary components:
Edge nodes form the first, encompassing devices like IoT gateways or small servers located close to where data originates. These units perform initial processing to reduce transmission overhead. The second element is the cloud backend, which supplies resources for extensive computations that edge hardware cannot efficiently manage. Finally, the orchestration layer bridges these, applying logic based on factors including resource availability, latency thresholds, and network status.This setup supports a range of users, from small enterprises needing basic processing to large institutions requiring robust scalability. The system is particularly suited for AI applications, including training and inference of large language models, where balancing local and remote resources optimizes performance.
Integration with Theta EdgeCloud PlatformTheta EdgeCloud serves as the practical implementation of this patented architecture, launched to provide hybrid computing for AI tasks. The platform uses thousands of edge nodes worldwide, combined with cloud servers, to offer access to graphics processing units for model development and deployment.
EdgeCloud incorporates dynamic supply-demand mechanisms to allocate resources based on user requirements. In operation, the platform enables cost-effective handling of video transcoding, AI inference, and other compute-intensive processes.
By automating workload distribution it reduces the need for users to manage infrastructure manually, making it accessible for developers and businesses. The patent's protection of these routing methods ensures Theta can maintain control over the technology, potentially turning it into a licensing opportunity for other cloud providers seeking edge-AI integration.
What does this mean for Decentralized Computing and AI?The hybrid model outlined in the patent addresses the 2025 surge in AI compute demand by decentralizing resources, potentially lowering costs and improving efficiency for users. In sectors such as healthcare and autonomous vehicles, where real-time data processing is critical, edge-cloud integration can enhance responsiveness by leveraging cloud power for complex analytics. Theta's system also supports blockchain elements, ensuring secure task distribution in decentralized environments.
Discussions in forums highlight the patent's potential to strengthen Theta's market position in hybrid computing. Overall, the architecture contributes to broader efforts in making high-performance computing more accessible through decentralized networks.
In the meantime, the patent's focus on automatic routing and coordination protocols could influence future standards in edge AI, where balancing local and remote resources becomes standard practice. As AI workloads grow, such systems may help mitigate bottlenecks in centralized data centers.
ConclusionU.S. Patent 12,436,819 details a hybrid edge-cloud architecture that integrates edge nodes for local processing with cloud backends for scalability, managed by a decentralized orchestration layer that assigns tasks based on latency and resource needs.
This system, embodied in Theta EdgeCloud, handles AI workloads like large language model training and inference, supporting users from small enterprises to large institutions. It builds on Theta's portfolio in decentralized technologies, including peer-to-peer methods and digital rights management, positioning the network in the DePIN sector.
The development highlights the practical application of hybrid models in addressing latency and cost issues in computing, offering a structured approach for efficient resource use in AI-driven environments.
Sources:
Theta Labs issued U.S. Patent 12,436,819 for Hybrid Edge-Cloud Computing Architecture: https://medium.com/theta-network/theta-labs-has-now-been-awarded-u-s-patent-12-436-819-for-hybrid-edge-cloud-computing-architecture-5397937b8bb6United States Patent and Trademark Office. Patent No. 12,436,819: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250123902A1/enTheta Network. X Post Announcing Patent Award. October 8, 2025. https://x.com/Theta_Network/status/1976001176769343974
San Jose, California, USA, October 31st, 2025, Chainwire
Theta Labs announced today that Deutsche Telekom, one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies, has joined the Theta Network as an enterprise validator node operator. Deutsche Telekom is the first telecommunication company to operate a validator on the Theta blockchain.
Deutsche Telekom will join Google, Samsung, Sony and other world-leading businesses as a Theta Enterprise Validator: strategic institutional nodes responsible for validating transactions and securing Theta’s native L1 network, built from the ground up for AI, media and entertainment. These validators stake THETA to ensure transactions are valid and maintain the integrity of the protocol, and earn TFUEL as staking rewards.
Deutsche Telekom enterprise validator node address:
Deutsche Telekom’s Theta Validator Node can be found at Theta address 0x5e4a3f43c34f66768961f73eccef984b71bb692a.
Deutsche Telekom Quote
“We’ve been impressed by recent Theta EdgeCloud use cases focused on reliability, performance and security, particularly in academia where large AI models are trained and served at the edge. Theta’s decentralized architecture aligns with our focus on dependable, secure infrastructure. As a digital leader, we’re happy to support this innovative technology and contribute to its growth, unlocking new possibilities and opportunities in the process.” — Dirk Roeder, Head of Telekom MMS Web3 Infrastructure and Solutions
Theta Labs Quote
“We’re thrilled to welcome Deutsche Telekom as the first integrated digital telco to Theta Network, as they have long been a pioneer in blockchain adoption and infrastructure,” said Mitch Liu, co-founder and CEO of Theta Labs. “Their decision to operate a Theta validator node underscores Theta’s growing importance as the leader in decentralized cloud services for AI, media and entertainment.”
Theta EdgeCloud: Pioneering the Future of Hybrid EdgeCloud AI
Theta EdgeCloud is a decentralized, hybrid cloud–edge computing platform built on the Theta Edge Network. It matches demand with supply from community edge nodes and cloud partners to provide distributed GPU capacity with strong price-to-performance characteristics. By offloading computation to edge nodes, it reduces latency and costs compared to traditional centralized cloud providers. It supports a variety of applications such as generative AI, video rendering, 3D modeling, and real-time data processing.
This hybrid architecture enables developers, researchers, and enterprises to access scalable, affordable, and high-performance computing resources. Theta EdgeCloud is leading the way in decentralized AI and media innovation with global partners including Ligue 1’s Olympique de Marseille, the NBA’s Houston Rockets, and AI labs of Stanford University, Seoul National University, and Singapore NTU. With the addition of Deutsche Telekom as a partner, Theta is significantly expanding its enterprise footprint and reinforcing its position as a leading player in the industrial edge cloud and AI markets.
A Longstanding Leader in Blockchain and Web3
Deutsche Telekom has played a central role in advancing blockchain technology across Europe and worldwide. Through its subsidiary Deutsche Telekom MMS, the company has supported networks such as Ethereum, Polkadot, and Chainlink, providing enterprise-grade infrastructure and security. This proven track record positions Deutsche Telekom as a trusted guardian of blockchain networks and now extends to Theta’s ecosystem.
Theta Labs is the leading provider of decentralized cloud infrastructure for AI, media and entertainment powered by a global network of 30,000 distributed edge nodes and a native blockchain. Backed by Samsung, Sony, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments and Creative Artists Agency, Theta is among the top AI tokens on Binance.com and top 10 DePIN blockchains by market capitalization on CoinGecko.
Recently launched Theta EdgeCloud is the first hybrid computing platform with over 80 PetaFLOPS of on-demand distributed GPU power. EdgeCloud now counts over 40 customers including Stanford University, top South Korean universities, professional sports clubs such as Olympique de Marseille, the NHL’s Las Vegas Knights, the NBA’s Houston Rockets, and global esports teams FlyQuest and Gen.G, among others.
Theta Network adds Deutsche Telekom to participate in its core consensus mechanism. As a validator, the telecom giant will play a direct role in verifying transactions on the decentralized L1 network.
Summary
Deutsche Telekom joined Theta Network as an enterprise validator, helping secure and verify transactions on its decentralized Layer 1 blockchain. The telecom giant will stake THETA and earn TFUEL rewards, aligning its infrastructure strategy with decentralized computing. The move expands Deutsche Telekom’s Web3 footprint, following its prior validator roles for Ethereum, Polkadot, and Chainlink. In a press release dated Oct. 31, Theta Network announced that German telecom heavyweight Deutsche Telekom will now operate an enterprise validator node on its blockchain.
The move places the telecommunications giant alongside other corporate validators like Google and Samsung, tasking it with the core blockchain function of verifying transactions and securing the Layer 1 network. The company’s specific validator address is now publicly active on the Theta blockchain.
Theta Network moves toward decentralized infrastructure for telecoms To secure its role on Theta Network, Deutsche Telekom will stake the protocol’s native THETA token. In return, the company will earn staking rewards paid in TFUEL, the network’s operational token used for gas fees and payments on the Theta EdgeCloud platform.
Deutsche Telekom framed the move as a natural extension of its existing infrastructure business into decentralized computing. The company cited Theta’s emphasis on performance and reliability in AI-heavy environments as key to its decision.
“Theta’s decentralized architecture aligns with our focus on dependable, secure infrastructure. As a digital leader, we’re happy to support this innovative technology and contribute to its growth, unlocking new possibilities and opportunities in the process,” Dirk Roeder, Head of Telekom MMS Web3 Infrastructure and Solutions, said.
This foray into Theta Network is not Deutsche Telekom’s first blockchain rodeo. The telecom giant has built a considerable Web3 portfolio through its subsidiary, Deutsche Telekom MMS, having previously provided enterprise-grade infrastructure and validation services for major protocols including Ethereum, Polkadot, and Chainlink.
Theta Network, for its part, underscored the broader context of the partnership by pointing to Theta EdgeCloud, its hybrid cloud–edge computing platform. The platform is designed to leverage a global network of community-run edge nodes and cloud partners, creating a distributed marketplace for GPU computing power.
Deutsche Telekom has become the first telecom company to become an enterprise validator on Theta Network. On October 31, 2025, it was announced that this was an important milestone for Deutsche Telekom, one of the largest telecommunications companies in Germany with technology giants like Google, Samsung, and Sony in promoting one of the leading decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) across AI, media, and entertainment.
Deutsche Telekom’s decision to launch a validator node on Theta’s blockchain marks significant progress for both companies. For the first time, an integrated telecommunications provider has assumed this role within the Theta ecosystem. The validator node will be responsible for validating transactions and maintaining protocol integrity while earning TFUEL tokens as rewards.
This is not Deutsche Telekom’s first venture into blockchain verification. Through Deutsche Telekom MMS, the company has become a top validator on several networks, including Polygon, Polkadot, Chainlink, Celo, and Flow. The corporation was working to develop Bitcoin nodes in 2023 and has also created a Bitcoin mining pilot program that is powered by renewable energy.
Importance of Theta Network for Adoption Enterprise Theta Network has quickly emerged as one of the leaders in the decentralized physical infrastructure space and Theta hybrid edge-cloud lowers operational costs while allowing enterprises access to enterprise-grade performance and reliability. The network’s infrastructure now encompasses more than 30,000 distributed edge nodes and includes partnerships with major cloud providers such as Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services. Together, these resources offer more than 80 PetaFLOPs of GPU computing power.
By taking a decentralized approach, the network can provide computing resources at a cost of up to 70% lower than centralized cloud providers. Theta has several clients, including Stanford University, Seoul National University, the NBA’s Houston Rockets, and France’s Olympique de Marseille, which illustrates how it adapts across academic research, entertainment, and sports.
Strategic Vision and Industry Impact Deutsche Telekom’s participation in Theta represents a strategic decision in the rapidly developing space of decentralized AI infrastructure. Mitch Liu, co-founder and CEO of Theta Labs noted his appreciation of the partnership with Deutsche Telekom, indicating they have been a leader in blockchain adoption.
Vanar integrated Ankr as its first AI Validator to enhance blockchain security, Deutsche Telekom’s participation brings enterprise-grade reliability and infrastructure expertise to Theta’s network. This will likely be a significant step towards accelerating institutional adoption in the ecosystem.
The alliance is a sign of a wider trend: decentralized physical infrastructure networks. DePIN protocols are enabling a shift of centralized control to community owned and managed infrastructure. The model developed by Theta can be of particular interest because it is able to provide the real-world computational requirements when the AI workloads are in high demand, and the issue of the shortage of GPUs becomes standard practice.
Conclusion Deutsche Telekom is a validating node on the Theta Network, which demonstrates an increase in the size of blockchains. It demonstrates that traditional businesses are not on the experimentation stage and are engaged in the process of decentralized infrastructures. It shows that traditional companies are beyond the experimentation phase and are actively involved in decentralized infrastructures. The combination of telecommunications expertise with blockchain technology may lead to a faster development of DePIN protocols.
Theta has been backed by major industry players such as Samsung and Sony, resulting in a surge in the blockchain market. The acquisition of Deutsche Telekom as a validator further enhances its position as a leading infrastructure provider for decentralized AI and media applications. As we move closer to 2025, the integration of traditional telecommunications with blockchain-based networks may become increasingly common, resulting in a new era where decentralized infrastructure becomes the norm.
AUTHOR
Farhan Karim is a technology writer and content strategist with 15+ years of experience writing thousands of articles, blogs, whitepapers, and ebooks on Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and other tech niches. His expertise in content strategy, SEO, and a keen eye on the ever-evolving tech space have led him to work with companies like Pepsi, Huawei, Arab News, and now Blockchain Reporter.
Germany’s Deutsche Telekom has joined Theta Network as an enterprise validator, marking a major expansion of its involvement in blockchain and decentralized computing. By taking on this role, the telecom leader becomes part of Theta’s growing group of corporate validators.
In brief Deutsche Telekom becomes the first telecom to validate transactions on Theta’s Layer 1 blockchain network. The company will stake THETA tokens and earn TFUEL rewards while helping secure Theta’s decentralized ecosystem. Theta EdgeCloud links edge nodes with cloud providers for efficient, GPU-driven decentralized computing. Partnership strengthens Deutsche Telekom’s Web3 strategy and expands its role in blockchain-based digital infrastructure. Partnership Marks a Key Step in Merging Blockchain With Traditional Telecom Theta Network announced the partnership, noting that Deutsche Telekom is the first telecommunications company to serve as a validator on its blockchain. As part of this role, the company will verify transactions and help secure the Layer 1 network through a public validator address. The move marks a significant milestone for both Theta’s enterprise ecosystem and Deutsche Telekom’s involvement with blockchain technology.
As a validator, Deutsche Telekom will stake Theta’s native THETA token and, in return, receive staking rewards in TFUEL—the operational token that powers transactions and payments within the Theta ecosystem. TFUEL also drives Theta EdgeCloud, the network’s decentralized hybrid cloud platform designed to provide distributed GPU computing power.
Theta EdgeCloud connects community-run edge nodes with professional cloud providers to supply computing resources more efficiently. By distributing workloads to edge nodes, it helps reduce latency and operating costs compared to traditional centralized systems. The platform supports applications such as 3D modeling, real-time data processing, and large-scale machine learning.
Deutsche Telekom’s participation reinforces Theta’s work in decentralized cloud computing, especially as demand increases for scalable, high-performance infrastructure. According to the company, joining Theta Network is a natural extension of its digital infrastructure strategy into blockchain-based environments.
Academic Use Cases Showcase Theta’s Technical Capabilities Dirk Roeder, Head of Telekom MMS Web3 Infrastructure and Solutions, said the decision was influenced by Theta’s performance in demanding computing environments. He noted that Deutsche Telekom was drawn to Theta EdgeCloud’s strong performance and security record.
The Telekom chief pointed to academic settings where large AI models are developed and deployed at the edge. Theta’s decentralized structure, he added, aligns with Deutsche Telekom’s focus on secure and reliable digital infrastructure.
We’ve been impressed by recent Theta EdgeCloud use cases focused on reliability, performance, and security, particularly in academia, where large AI models are trained and served at the edge. Theta’s decentralized architecture aligns with our focus on dependable, secure infrastructure.
Dirk Roeder Roeder explained that the collaboration supports Deutsche Telekom’s broader digital strategy, which aims to explore emerging technologies and open up new growth opportunities.
Theta Network CEO and co-founder Mitch Liu welcomed Deutsche Telekom’s involvement, describing it as a major step for decentralized cloud services serving media and computing industries. Liu emphasized that Deutsche Telekom’s long-standing experience with blockchain positions it as a key contributor to Theta’s validator network.
Theta Network Positions Itself at the Center of Decentralized Cloud Growth At the core of this partnership is the Theta EdgeCloud—a system designed to improve computing efficiency and accessibility for developers and enterprises. Its architecture delivers several key advantages:
Hybrid structure: Combines community edge nodes with cloud partners for greater flexibility and balanced resource distribution. Decentralized computing: Reduces reliance on centralized data centers, improving scalability and lowering costs. Performance-oriented design: Provides GPU-based processing for applications that require fast rendering and analytics. Cost efficiency: Uses idle computing resources to deliver affordable cloud capacity. Wide integration: Supports academic, industrial, and media-based projects, enabling access to high-performance computing. Through these features, Theta EdgeCloud offers a flexible foundation for real-time, data-intensive tasks. Its network already supports partners such as the Houston Rockets and research institutions at Stanford University, Seoul National University, and Singapore’s NTU.
Deutsche Telekom’s participation is expected to expand Theta’s presence in enterprise computing markets, particularly those focused on AI-related workloads.
Deutsche Telekom’s involvement with Theta Network adds to its growing Web3 portfolio, managed by its subsidiary Deutsche Telekom MMS. In recent years, the telecom provider has operated infrastructure and validator services for Ethereum, Chainlink, and Polkadot—reflecting steady progress in blockchain integration.
Last year, Deutsche Telekom also collaborated with Bankhaus Metzler on a pilot Bitcoin mining project powered by surplus renewable energy. Conducted at Rival GmbH Engineering in Backnang, the initiative used excess energy that would have otherwise gone unused due to grid limitations.
Maximize your Cointribune experience with our "Read to Earn" program! For every article you read, earn points and access exclusive rewards. Sign up now and start earning benefits.
Join the program
A
A
Lien copié
James G.
James Godstime is a crypto journalist and market analyst with over three years of experience in crypto, Web3, and finance. He simplifies complex and technical ideas to engage readers. Outside of work, he enjoys football and tennis, which he follows passionately.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
Theta Network, a decentralized cloud platform focused on AI, media, and entertainment, has entered into a strategic partnership with Spanish esports organization Team Heretics. This collaboration, announced on November 13, involves the deployment of a custom AI Agent designed to boost fan engagement across multiple esports titles, including VALORANT, League of Legends, and Call of Duty.
For Theta, the deal expands its reach into the esports sector by leveraging its EdgeCloud infrastructure, while for Team Heretics, it provides tools for real-time match analysis, personalized content, and interactive features.
The development highlights Theta's ongoing efforts to integrate decentralized computing into high-demand applications, potentially increasing the use of its native tokens, $THETA and $TFUEL, through enhanced ecosystem activity.
Before we dive into the details of what the partnership means for both protocols, let us summarize what Theta Network is, alongside the eSports organization, Team Heretics.
Exploring Theta Network and its History with SportsTheta Network is a blockchain-based infrastructure that supports video streaming, AI training, and content delivery through a combination of decentralized GPUs and edge computing. Established in 2017 by Theta Labs, the platform relies on a network of more than 30,000 community-operated nodes, supplemented by hybrid integrations with centralized providers such as Google Cloud and AWS. This enables scalable, cost-effective computing, particularly suited for live streaming and AI inference.
The network's tokens play central roles: $THETA is used for staking and governance, while $TFUEL handles transactions and rewards within the ecosystem. The recent partnership with Team Heretics is no surprise given that Theta has built a portfolio of partnerships in sports and esports, including deals with the NBA's Houston Rockets, the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, MLS's San Jose Earthquakes, and esports teams like 100 Thieves, Cloud9, FlyQuest, Method, and Gen.G.
These collaborations often center on AI-driven tools, such as chatbots for fan interaction, real-time analytics, and personalized content recommendations. For instance, Theta's work with 100 Thieves includes an AI agent for e-commerce, and with Method, it provides guides for World of Warcraft players.
Theta's EdgeCloud serves as the backbone for these initiatives, blending centralized and decentralized resources to efficiently manage data-intensive operations. This hybrid model reduces reliance on traditional cloud services, offering lower costs and improved scalability for sectors such as media and entertainment.
What is Team Heretics?Team Heretics, cofounded in 2016 by Arnau Vidal, Jorge Orejudo González, and Antonio Catena Poderoso, initially focused on games like Call of Duty and Clash Royale. Based in Madrid, Spain, the organization has expanded to compete in several major esports titles, including VALORANT, League of Legends (through its participation in the LEC), and Call of Duty via its Miami Heretics franchise in the CDL.
Team Heretics | ForbesThe team maintains a significant online presence, with over 25 million followers across Twitch, Instagram, X, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. The team’s audience is concentrated in Europe and Latin America.
Notable achievements include securing the 2025 VALORANT Esports World Cup title and entering the LEC in 2023 by acquiring a slot from Misfits Gaming.
Team Heretics has attracted sponsorships from brands including KFC, San Miguel, Movistar, Red Bull, Logitech G, and Fulllife. These partnerships emphasize fan-focused activities, such as merchandise sales, watch parties, and community events.
Integrating AI Agent with eSportsThe partnership was announced through X posts and a LinkedIn update, with the custom AI Agent scheduled for launch in the first quarter of 2026. Developed by Theta, the agent will integrate with Team Heretics' Discord and official platforms, offering features such as real-time match analysis, player statistics, and personalized content tailored to fans' expertise levels and preferences.
Powered by Theta's EdgeCloud, the AI Agent handles live data processing across the supported games: VALORANT, League of Legends, Brawl Stars, and Call of Duty. This setup demonstrates EdgeCloud's ability to manage high-volume, real-time esports scenarios by combining community nodes with established cloud providers.
Alejandro from Team Heretics noted on X, "I’ve always believed that the convergence of AI and blockchain will mark a new chapter for esports. Partnering with Theta Labs enables us to create more immersive, narrative-driven fan experiences."
This initiative mimics Theta's previous esports integrations and builds on similar AI tools deployed for other teams. It positions the AI Agent as a tool for enhancing fan interactions without relying solely on centralized infrastructure.
What it Means for Theta Network?For Theta Network, the partnership provides access to Team Heretics' large audience, introducing its technology to a broader European and global user base. This exposure could drive adoption of EdgeCloud and potentially boost overall ecosystem activity.
The deal validates Theta's technical capabilities in decentralized cloud computing, particularly for live esports applications that require efficient data handling. It adds to Theta's existing collaborations in sports and entertainment, including those with OM in soccer and the University of Oregon, reinforcing its role in AI and media sectors.
Benefits for Team Heretics?Team Heretics benefits from the AI Agent's features, which enable deeper fan engagement through real-time analytics and interactive elements. As the 2025 VALORANT World Cup champions, the organization can use these tools to maintain a competitive edge in training and content creation, complementing its existing partnerships, such as its partnership with CGN Esports.
The collaboration expands Team Heretics' Web3 involvement, building on its $TH Fan Token program with Chillz. By incorporating blockchain-based AI, the team can generate new revenue streams from personalized fan experiences, aligning with its sponsorship-driven model, which includes brands like Red Bull and Fulllife.
This move differentiates Team Heretics in the esports landscape, where fan retention is key amid growing viewership. The AI Agent's integration into platforms like Discord supports community events and watch parties, potentially increasing follower loyalty and interaction metrics.
ConclusionTheta Network's partnership with Team Heretics integrates a custom AI Agent into esports operations, leveraging EdgeCloud for real-time analytics and personalized content across multiple games. This deal builds on Theta's established collaborations in sports and esports, enhancing its ecosystem by increasing user exposure and enabling potential token use.
For Team Heretics, it strengthens fan engagement tools, aligning with its sponsorship and Web3 strategies to maintain competitiveness.
Source
Theta Network Website: https://thetatoken.org/ Theta X: https://x.com/Theta_Network Team Heretics on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/profile/team-heretics/ Theta Announcement: https://x.com/Theta_Network/status/1989042744871039157?s=20 Team Heretics Fan Token Program with Chillz: https://esportsinsider.com/2025/06/team-heretics-integrates-sport-blockchain-chili Team Heretics success story in eSports: https://www.socios.com/all-about-the-successful-esports-team-heretics-2/
Following an eventful November, Theta Network released a monthly roundup detailing updates across its ecosystem, including partnerships in sports and esports, a new subchain for AI tracking, a patent award, and technical improvements.
Posted on X along with a medium article summarizing these developments, which span adoption in media, academia, and AI startups. This article examines the key details outlined by the protocol as it continues to expand its decentralized ecosystem through new partnerships and integrations.
What Key Partnerships and Integrations Did Theta Accomplish? Theta's Partnership with Olympique de MarseilleTheta Network expanded its presence in professional sports through a collaboration with Olympique de Marseille, a tier-1 French soccer club. The partnership involved launching "cOMpagnon," an AI bot integrated into the club's mobile app. This bot, powered by Theta's EdgeCloud platform, handles tasks such as real-time match analysis, personalized content delivery, trivia games, and facilitating ticket purchases or merchandise recommendations.
🆕📱 Découvrez la nouvelle app officielle de l'OM ! 😍
Un design repensé, une interface plus moderne, et surtout une ambition claire : rapprocher encore davantage le club de ses supporters, partout et à tout moment. 💙
Pour en profiter, rien de plus simple 👉… pic.twitter.com/WhWN1cYlzD
— Olympique de Marseille (@OM_Officiel) November 12, 2025 EdgeCloud serves as a decentralized marketplace for GPU resources, enabling low-latency AI computations through edge computing and vision-language models. Olympique de Marseille also joined Theta's Enterprise Validator program, staking THETA tokens to participate in network validation and enhance security. This allows the club to earn TFUEL rewards while contributing to the blockchain's operations.
The integration builds on similar efforts, such as Theta's earlier work with Ulsan HD, where an AI chatbot provided match information and reservation services. For Olympique de Marseille, the bot ensures verifiable fan interactions and secure data handling, with potential extensions into gamified rewards like non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Esports Integration with Team HereticsIn the esports sector, Theta Network partnered with Team Heretics, a Spanish organization with 25 million followers and a 2025 Valorant Esports World Cup championship title. Announced on November 13, the collaboration introduced a custom AI agent designed for real-time match analysis, personalized content, and interactive features across games like Valorant, League of Legends, and Call of Duty.
We've officially teamed up with Spanish super-squad @TeamHeretics with 25MM followers across its Twitch team channels and the 2025 @VALORANT Esports World Cup champion title.
Coming soon, the custom AI Agent will provide real-time match analysis, personalized content, and… https://t.co/BthrroiVIe
— Theta Network (@Theta_Network) November 13, 2025 Like the Olympique de Marseille bot, this agent runs on EdgeCloud, leveraging its decentralized infrastructure for efficient processing. The partnership extends Theta's esports footprint, following integrations such as the U.GG agent, which serves over 30 million League of Legends players with build recommendations, tier lists, and statistical insights. Team Heretics' agent aims to manage high-traffic scenarios, demonstrating Theta's ability to scale AI applications in competitive gaming.
Deutsche Telekom Joins as ValidatorEarly in November, Deutsche Telekom became an Enterprise Validator for Theta Network, staking THETA tokens to validate transactions. This marks the first major telecommunications company to take on this role, joining entities like Google, Samsung, and Sony.
As a validator, Deutsche Telekom earns TFUEL rewards and bolsters network security. The partnership aligns with Telekom's broader involvement in DePIN projects, including validators for Energy Web, Chainlink, and Polkadot. For Theta, this enhances telecom integration, supporting edge computing and video streaming applications.
What Were The Technical Innovations? Introduction of TPulse SubchainA notable technical launch in November was TPulse, a subchain within Theta's Metachain architecture, announced on November 18. TPulse is designed to track and validate AI interactions across the ecosystem, recording events like user questions, video views, and predictions as blockchain transactions.
The subchain inherits security from Theta's mainnet while offering high throughput and low-cost operations. It batches events, for instance, dividing prompt tokens by 100 to create immutable records. Integration with EdgeCloud allows metrics on AI inference, data access, and content generation. This addresses limitations in centralized analytics, such as a lack of verifiability and data portability.
TPulse enables applications including loyalty programs, NFT issuance based on interactions, verifiable advertising metrics, and anonymized data for AI model training. It also increases the utility of TFUEL, Theta's gas token, through transaction fees and burning mechanisms. The rollout began at one-third scale for partner AI agents, with plans for full integration in subsequent months.
Patent for Modular LLM SystemOn November 4, Theta Labs received U.S. Patent 12,462,164 for a "Modular Large Language Model (LLM) Guided Tree-of-Thought System." The patent describes a distributed reasoning framework where multi-step AI processes are modeled as a search tree. Nodes represent individual thoughts, and branches allow concurrent exploration of reasoning paths across EdgeCloud nodes.
The system supports tasks such as query decomposition, multi-agent simulations, and self-consistency checks via model debates. It also incorporates reinforcement learning to optimize paths. This technology reduces latency and costs in decentralized environments, adding to Theta's existing patents on hybrid edge-cloud designs.
Technical Upgrades in the EcosystemSeveral upgrades rounded out November's developments. On November 7, Theta released Guardian Node version 4.1.1, featuring security enhancements like filtering outdated messages and improved block synchronization. Nodes update automatically via a dropdown menu in the interface.
On November 11, an upgraded agentic AI Discord bot was deployed, with refinements in search accuracy, reduced hallucinations, added reference links, and multi-step reasoning capabilities. Users can test it in Theta's Discord server.
These updates, along with ongoing EdgeCloud enhancements like the hybrid architecture beta from earlier in 2025, maintain the platform's technical edge. The roundup noted no slowdown in development despite the holiday season.
ConclusionTheta Network's November 2025 updates demonstrate its capabilities in decentralized AI and media infrastructure through specific integrations. These developments highlight the platform's focus on verifiable interactions and enterprise validation, as seen with Deutsche Telekom's involvement and EdgeCloud APIs.
While market challenges persist, as evidenced by token price trends, the ecosystem's progress in adoption and upgrades provides a foundation for operational reliability. Readers interested in the protocol’s developments should explore the protocol’s website and X account for the latest updates.
Sources:Theta X Account - Key Updates in November Medium Blog - November Highlights
XRP fell over 15% in eight days after peaking near $1.29 Güvenç Koçkaya 1 minute ago
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum fell over 3% to $1,615 as major funds made $100 million in new purchases despite rising outflows Levent Kurt 1 hour ago
Bitcoin (BTC)
TechLead offloads all crypto assets amid a 50 percent BTC plunge! What does this signal for the market? Levent Kurt 1 hour ago
Avalanche (AVAX)
Avalanche trades at $6.07 after falling over 6% as Summit event moves to New York in September İlayda Peker 4 hours ago
Cryptocurrency News
ESMA ordered all unlicensed crypto firms in the EU to halt operations by July 1 under MiCA rules Onur Atam 8 hours ago
Latest Posts
Bitcoin (BTC)
BlackRock link transfer worth 168.6 million dollars rocks the market! What are investors watching next? Levent Kurt 10 hours ago
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin fell to a 21 month low, major altcoins and crypto stocks extended losses İlayda Peker 11 hours ago
Stellar (XLM)
XLM backed by $3.35 billion surge in real world assets! What is driving investor interest? İlayda Peker 11 hours ago
Tron (TRX)
TRX holds above key $0.304 support despite recent market weakness İlayda Peker 11 hours ago
Hedera (HBAR)
HBAR drops 4.82 percent in 24 hours! What does this signal for investors? Onur Atam 12 hours ago
Cryptocurrency News
Ric Edelman said crypto adoption is accelerating among institutions as individual investor activity slows İlayda Peker 12 hours ago
EthereumView All
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum fell over 3% to $1,615 as major funds made $100 million in new purchases despite rising outflows🚨 ETH fell over 3% to $1,615 while top funds bought more…
Levent Kurt 1 hour ago
Ethereum Foundation cut workforce by 20% as part of new five-layer restructuring 1 day ago
Ethereum Foundation slashes annual budget by 40 percent! What does this mean for $ETH investors? 2 days ago
Ethereum Foundation laid off 54 employees, cutting about 20% of its workforce as part of restructuring 2 days ago
Ethlabs launched as independent research group to advance Ethereum’s core technology 2 days ago
EconomyView All
Bank of America raised its forecast to three Fed rate hikes totaling 75 basis points by year end 23 hours ago
US Senate blocks the FED from launching a digital dollar until 2030! What are the details investors need to know? 2 days ago
Bitmine now holds 4.7 percent of Ethereum’s supply! What does this mean for $ETH investors? 3 days ago
Altcoin NewsView All
Altcoin NewsChainlink (LINK)
Bitcoin dips below $80,400 as altcoins feel the pressure🟢 Bitcoin dropped below $80,400 amid negative news. Markets are watching $76,000…
İlayda Peker 1 month ago
Solana (SOL) Analyst Predicts Strong Rally as Correction Ends 3 years ago
Polkadot Network Ignited by Inscriptions 3 years ago
Analyst Predicts Strong Rally for Three Altcoins 2 years ago
How to Buy LTO Network Coin? 2 years ago
Market State by Cryptorank
Technical Analysis
Old bitcoin wallet moves 500 BTC as price drops 3 percent 1 month ago
BTC surges above $81,000 as accumulation signals emerge 2 months ago
Follow US
8k Like
20k Follow
1.1k Follow
Sponsored Content
Institutional Capital Shifts Toward AI-Powered Blockchain Infrastructure as SHRMiner Expands Intelligent Platform 1 month ago
As AI Infrastructure Demand Rises, SHR Miner Expands Focus on Energy Stability and Sustainable Computing Operations 1 month ago
Macro Trends in Digital Asset Velocity: The Shift from Speculation to Utility 5 months ago
XRP fell over 15% in eight days after peaking near $1.29 Güvenç Koçkaya 1 minute ago
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum fell over 3% to $1,615 as major funds made $100 million in new purchases despite rising outflows Levent Kurt 1 hour ago
Bitcoin (BTC)
TechLead offloads all crypto assets amid a 50 percent BTC plunge! What does this signal for the market? Levent Kurt 1 hour ago
Avalanche (AVAX)
Avalanche trades at $6.07 after falling over 6% as Summit event moves to New York in September İlayda Peker 4 hours ago
Cryptocurrency News
ESMA ordered all unlicensed crypto firms in the EU to halt operations by July 1 under MiCA rules Onur Atam 8 hours ago
Latest Posts
Bitcoin (BTC)
BlackRock link transfer worth 168.6 million dollars rocks the market! What are investors watching next? Levent Kurt 10 hours ago
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin fell to a 21 month low, major altcoins and crypto stocks extended losses İlayda Peker 11 hours ago
Stellar (XLM)
XLM backed by $3.35 billion surge in real world assets! What is driving investor interest? İlayda Peker 11 hours ago
Tron (TRX)
TRX holds above key $0.304 support despite recent market weakness İlayda Peker 11 hours ago
Hedera (HBAR)
HBAR drops 4.82 percent in 24 hours! What does this signal for investors? Onur Atam 12 hours ago
Cryptocurrency News
Ric Edelman said crypto adoption is accelerating among institutions as individual investor activity slows İlayda Peker 12 hours ago
EthereumView All
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum fell over 3% to $1,615 as major funds made $100 million in new purchases despite rising outflows🚨 ETH fell over 3% to $1,615 while top funds bought more…
Levent Kurt 1 hour ago
Ethereum Foundation cut workforce by 20% as part of new five-layer restructuring 1 day ago
Ethereum Foundation slashes annual budget by 40 percent! What does this mean for $ETH investors? 2 days ago
Ethereum Foundation laid off 54 employees, cutting about 20% of its workforce as part of restructuring 2 days ago
Ethlabs launched as independent research group to advance Ethereum’s core technology 2 days ago
EconomyView All
Bank of America raised its forecast to three Fed rate hikes totaling 75 basis points by year end 23 hours ago
US Senate blocks the FED from launching a digital dollar until 2030! What are the details investors need to know? 2 days ago
Bitmine now holds 4.7 percent of Ethereum’s supply! What does this mean for $ETH investors? 3 days ago
Altcoin NewsView All
Altcoin NewsChainlink (LINK)
Bitcoin dips below $80,400 as altcoins feel the pressure🟢 Bitcoin dropped below $80,400 amid negative news. Markets are watching $76,000…
İlayda Peker 1 month ago
Solana (SOL) Analyst Predicts Strong Rally as Correction Ends 3 years ago
Polkadot Network Ignited by Inscriptions 3 years ago
Analyst Predicts Strong Rally for Three Altcoins 2 years ago
How to Buy LTO Network Coin? 2 years ago
Market State by Cryptorank
Technical Analysis
Old bitcoin wallet moves 500 BTC as price drops 3 percent 1 month ago
BTC surges above $81,000 as accumulation signals emerge 2 months ago
Follow US
8k Like
20k Follow
1.1k Follow
Sponsored Content
Institutional Capital Shifts Toward AI-Powered Blockchain Infrastructure as SHRMiner Expands Intelligent Platform 1 month ago
As AI Infrastructure Demand Rises, SHR Miner Expands Focus on Energy Stability and Sustainable Computing Operations 1 month ago
Macro Trends in Digital Asset Velocity: The Shift from Speculation to Utility 5 months ago
XRP fell over 15% in eight days after peaking near $1.29 Güvenç Koçkaya 1 minute ago
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum fell over 3% to $1,615 as major funds made $100 million in new purchases despite rising outflows Levent Kurt 1 hour ago
Bitcoin (BTC)
TechLead offloads all crypto assets amid a 50 percent BTC plunge! What does this signal for the market? Levent Kurt 1 hour ago
Avalanche (AVAX)
Avalanche trades at $6.07 after falling over 6% as Summit event moves to New York in September İlayda Peker 4 hours ago
Cryptocurrency News
ESMA ordered all unlicensed crypto firms in the EU to halt operations by July 1 under MiCA rules Onur Atam 8 hours ago
Latest Posts
Bitcoin (BTC)
BlackRock link transfer worth 168.6 million dollars rocks the market! What are investors watching next? Levent Kurt 10 hours ago
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin fell to a 21 month low, major altcoins and crypto stocks extended losses İlayda Peker 11 hours ago
Stellar (XLM)
XLM backed by $3.35 billion surge in real world assets! What is driving investor interest? İlayda Peker 11 hours ago
Tron (TRX)
TRX holds above key $0.304 support despite recent market weakness İlayda Peker 11 hours ago
Hedera (HBAR)
HBAR drops 4.82 percent in 24 hours! What does this signal for investors? Onur Atam 12 hours ago
Cryptocurrency News
Ric Edelman said crypto adoption is accelerating among institutions as individual investor activity slows İlayda Peker 12 hours ago
EthereumView All
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum fell over 3% to $1,615 as major funds made $100 million in new purchases despite rising outflows🚨 ETH fell over 3% to $1,615 while top funds bought more…
Levent Kurt 1 hour ago
Ethereum Foundation cut workforce by 20% as part of new five-layer restructuring 1 day ago
Ethereum Foundation slashes annual budget by 40 percent! What does this mean for $ETH investors? 2 days ago
Ethereum Foundation laid off 54 employees, cutting about 20% of its workforce as part of restructuring 2 days ago
Ethlabs launched as independent research group to advance Ethereum’s core technology 2 days ago
EconomyView All
Bank of America raised its forecast to three Fed rate hikes totaling 75 basis points by year end 23 hours ago
US Senate blocks the FED from launching a digital dollar until 2030! What are the details investors need to know? 2 days ago
Bitmine now holds 4.7 percent of Ethereum’s supply! What does this mean for $ETH investors? 3 days ago
Altcoin NewsView All
Altcoin NewsChainlink (LINK)
Bitcoin dips below $80,400 as altcoins feel the pressure🟢 Bitcoin dropped below $80,400 amid negative news. Markets are watching $76,000…
İlayda Peker 1 month ago
Solana (SOL) Analyst Predicts Strong Rally as Correction Ends 3 years ago
Polkadot Network Ignited by Inscriptions 3 years ago
Analyst Predicts Strong Rally for Three Altcoins 2 years ago
How to Buy LTO Network Coin? 2 years ago
Market State by Cryptorank
Technical Analysis
Old bitcoin wallet moves 500 BTC as price drops 3 percent 1 month ago
BTC surges above $81,000 as accumulation signals emerge 2 months ago
Follow US
8k Like
20k Follow
1.1k Follow
Sponsored Content
Institutional Capital Shifts Toward AI-Powered Blockchain Infrastructure as SHRMiner Expands Intelligent Platform 1 month ago
As AI Infrastructure Demand Rises, SHR Miner Expands Focus on Energy Stability and Sustainable Computing Operations 1 month ago
Macro Trends in Digital Asset Velocity: The Shift from Speculation to Utility 5 months ago
XRP fell over 15% in eight days after peaking near $1.29 Güvenç Koçkaya 1 minute ago
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum fell over 3% to $1,615 as major funds made $100 million in new purchases despite rising outflows Levent Kurt 1 hour ago
Bitcoin (BTC)
TechLead offloads all crypto assets amid a 50 percent BTC plunge! What does this signal for the market? Levent Kurt 1 hour ago
Avalanche (AVAX)
Avalanche trades at $6.07 after falling over 6% as Summit event moves to New York in September İlayda Peker 4 hours ago
Cryptocurrency News
ESMA ordered all unlicensed crypto firms in the EU to halt operations by July 1 under MiCA rules Onur Atam 8 hours ago
Latest Posts
Bitcoin (BTC)
BlackRock link transfer worth 168.6 million dollars rocks the market! What are investors watching next? Levent Kurt 10 hours ago
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin fell to a 21 month low, major altcoins and crypto stocks extended losses İlayda Peker 11 hours ago
Stellar (XLM)
XLM backed by $3.35 billion surge in real world assets! What is driving investor interest? İlayda Peker 11 hours ago
Tron (TRX)
TRX holds above key $0.304 support despite recent market weakness İlayda Peker 11 hours ago
Hedera (HBAR)
HBAR drops 4.82 percent in 24 hours! What does this signal for investors? Onur Atam 12 hours ago
Cryptocurrency News
Ric Edelman said crypto adoption is accelerating among institutions as individual investor activity slows İlayda Peker 12 hours ago
EthereumView All
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum fell over 3% to $1,615 as major funds made $100 million in new purchases despite rising outflows🚨 ETH fell over 3% to $1,615 while top funds bought more…
Levent Kurt 1 hour ago
Ethereum Foundation cut workforce by 20% as part of new five-layer restructuring 1 day ago
Ethereum Foundation slashes annual budget by 40 percent! What does this mean for $ETH investors? 2 days ago
Ethereum Foundation laid off 54 employees, cutting about 20% of its workforce as part of restructuring 2 days ago
Ethlabs launched as independent research group to advance Ethereum’s core technology 2 days ago
EconomyView All
Bank of America raised its forecast to three Fed rate hikes totaling 75 basis points by year end 23 hours ago
US Senate blocks the FED from launching a digital dollar until 2030! What are the details investors need to know? 2 days ago
Bitmine now holds 4.7 percent of Ethereum’s supply! What does this mean for $ETH investors? 3 days ago
Altcoin NewsView All
Altcoin NewsChainlink (LINK)
Bitcoin dips below $80,400 as altcoins feel the pressure🟢 Bitcoin dropped below $80,400 amid negative news. Markets are watching $76,000…
İlayda Peker 1 month ago
Solana (SOL) Analyst Predicts Strong Rally as Correction Ends 3 years ago
Polkadot Network Ignited by Inscriptions 3 years ago
Analyst Predicts Strong Rally for Three Altcoins 2 years ago
How to Buy LTO Network Coin? 2 years ago
Market State by Cryptorank
Technical Analysis
Old bitcoin wallet moves 500 BTC as price drops 3 percent 1 month ago
BTC surges above $81,000 as accumulation signals emerge 2 months ago
Follow US
8k Like
20k Follow
1.1k Follow
Sponsored Content
Institutional Capital Shifts Toward AI-Powered Blockchain Infrastructure as SHRMiner Expands Intelligent Platform 1 month ago
As AI Infrastructure Demand Rises, SHR Miner Expands Focus on Energy Stability and Sustainable Computing Operations 1 month ago
Macro Trends in Digital Asset Velocity: The Shift from Speculation to Utility 5 months ago
Imperial College London has joined Theta Network's academic partner network, becoming the first university in the United Kingdom and Europe to adopt the Theta EdgeCloud Hybrid platform for security and trustworthy artificial intelligence research. The partnership directly addresses a central question in modern AI research: how leading universities can secure reliable, scalable compute infrastructure without relying exclusively on centralized cloud providers.
Announced on January 13, 2026, the collaboration focuses on adopting Theta EdgeCloud Hybrid by the Security & Machine Learning Lab within Imperial’s Department of Computing. Led by Dr. Sergio Maffeis, the lab will use the platform to support research in reinforcement learning security, foundation model robustness, and applied machine learning for real-world security challenges.
For Theta Network, the agreement represents a concrete expansion into Europe and a continuation of its strategy to support academic research with decentralized, hybrid GPU infrastructure.
Why Does This Partnership Matter for Theta Network’s Academic Expansion?With Imperial College London joining its academic partner network, Theta Network expands its research institution network to include Stanford University, Syracuse University, Nanyang Technological University, and four of South Korea’s top five universities. Until this announcement, Theta’s academic presence had been concentrated in North America and Asia.
Today, Theta is announcing that @imperialcollege will be joining Theta EdgeCloud as our first U.K./European university partner.
The Security & Machine Learning Lab will use our hybrid GPU infrastructure for cutting-edge AI security research. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/2sOpow3wkD
— Theta Network (@Theta_Network) January 13, 2026 The addition of a leading European research university signals a deliberate effort to build a geographically balanced academic ecosystem. Rather than focusing solely on industry or commercial deployments, Theta has positioned its infrastructure as a resource for universities facing increasing pressure from GPU shortages, rising cloud costs, and limited on-premises capacity.
What Makes Imperial College London a Notable Addition?Imperial College London is a public research university specializing in science, engineering, medicine, and business. Based in London, it is consistently ranked among the top universities worldwide and is widely recognized for the quality and impact of its research. In the QS World University Rankings 2025/2026, Imperial is ranked second globally and first in the United Kingdom for research quality.
Its Department of Computing has a strong international reputation in computer security, artificial intelligence, and systems research. Faculty and research groups regularly contribute to both foundational theory and applied systems work, often in collaboration with industry and public sector partners. The Security & Machine Learning Lab operates within this environment, focusing on the intersection of AI and security engineering.
How Does Imperial Fit Into Theta’s Wider Academic and Industry Ecosystem?Imperial College London joins an academic network that spans multiple regions and research traditions. Beyond academia, Theta’s infrastructure is used by organizations in media, sports, esports, and AI development, all of which rely on similar technical capabilities for training and inference workloads.
While academic research differs from commercial deployments, both depend on reliable access to flexible compute infrastructure. The inclusion of a leading European university strengthens Theta’s position as a provider of infrastructure designed for sustained, real-world AI workloads rather than short-term experimentation.
Who Leads the Security & Machine Learning Lab and Why Does That Matter?The Security & Machine Learning Lab is led by Dr. Sergio Maffeis, an Associate Professor in Computer Security at Imperial College London. Dr. Maffeis received his PhD from Imperial College London and an MSc from the University of Pisa. His research spans web security, formal methods, programming languages, and machine learning, with a sustained focus on adversarial machine learning and system robustness.
His work has been published in major peer-reviewed venues, including USENIX Security, the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security, the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, AAAI, POPL, ISSTA, and RAID. These publications reflect long-term contributions across both theoretical and applied security research. Projects associated with the lab include automated vulnerability detection systems, adversarial analysis of intrusion detection models, and multi-agent approaches to security incident analysis.
The lab’s research agenda aligns closely with the technical demands of trustworthy AI research, which often requires repeated experimentation across heterogeneous compute environments.
How Does Theta EdgeCloud Hybrid Support Security and Trustworthy AI ResearchThe central technical element of the partnership is the adoption of Theta EdgeCloud Hybrid, a decentralized computing platform designed to support a wide range of AI workloads. For research groups such as the Security & Machine Learning Lab, the value lies in access to multiple compute resource classes within a single framework.
Theta EdgeCloud Hybrid provides access to community-run NVIDIA RTX 30, 40, and 50 series GPUs for prototyping and smaller-scale inference, enterprise-grade NVIDIA GPUs including A100, H100, and H200 models for large-scale training, and AWS AI accelerators such as Trainium and Inferentia for cost-efficient training and inference.
This hybrid design allows researchers to move between exploratory experimentation and computationally intensive training without rearchitecting workflows or switching platforms. For security research, where models are frequently tested under adversarial conditions, this flexibility reduces delays caused by fragmented or oversubscribed infrastructure.
Dr. Maffeis has stated that access to a hybrid GPU network enables faster progress in reinforcement learning, security, and foundation model analysis by removing infrastructure bottlenecks that can slow academic research.
How Does This Partnership Reflect Broader Trends in Decentralized AI Infrastructure?The collaboration between Imperial College London and Theta Network reflects a broader shift toward decentralized and hybrid computing models in AI research. As demand for GPUs continues to exceed supply, alternative infrastructure approaches are gaining attention from both academic and industrial users.
Decentralized GPU networks offer several practical advantages. They increase access to high-end compute for universities and smaller research groups, reduce costs by leveraging idle or underutilized hardware, and improve resilience by avoiding single points of failure. Hybrid architectures further allow workloads to scale across heterogeneous resources while maintaining performance for compute-intensive tasks.
These systems also face challenges, including coordinating across diverse hardware, ensuring security, and verifying results. Hybrid designs that combine decentralized and enterprise-grade resources represent one approach to managing these risks.
Final ThoughtsThe partnership between Imperial College London and Theta Network represents a practical response to the growing infrastructure demands of modern AI research. By adopting Theta EdgeCloud Hybrid, the Security & Machine Learning Lab gains access to a range of GPU resources suited to both exploratory and large-scale security-focused research. For Theta, the collaboration extends its academic network into Europe and reinforces its focus on supporting research institutions with decentralized infrastructure.
Rather than introducing new research directions, the agreement provides a technical foundation that allows existing work in security and trustworthy AI to proceed with fewer infrastructure constraints. It reflects an alignment between current research needs and available computing capabilities, grounded in present-day technical realities.
Sources:Theta Network Blog: Imperial College London to Use Theta EdgeCloud in its AI ResearchTheta X: Partnership Announcement
TLDR: Deutsche Telekom and NTT Digital operate blockchain validators across multiple networks, including Theta. Telecommunications companies achieve 99.999% uptime standards matching blockchain validator requirements. Validator staking yields from blockchain networks often exceed traditional telecommunications revenue streams. Over 30,000 distributed edge nodes contribute computing capacity to Theta’s hybrid infrastructure model. Telecommunications companies are expanding into blockchain infrastructure by operating validator nodes on distributed networks.
Deutsche Telekom and NTT Digital recently joined Theta Network as enterprise validators, joining other major firms already running blockchain infrastructure.
This movement reflects operational synergies between traditional telecommunications and decentralized networks, where both industries require similar technical capabilities and infrastructure management expertise.
Infrastructure Expertise Drives Telecom Entry into Blockchain Telecommunications companies possess the technical foundation needed for blockchain validator operations.
Public blockchains demand always-on servers across multiple locations, high uptime guarantees, and round-the-clock network monitoring.
Telcos already maintain data centers targeting 99.999% uptime while employing security teams refined through decades of operations.
Running validator nodes allows these companies to monetize existing assets without significant additional investment.
Current data center capacity and operational staff can support blockchain infrastructure while generating staking yields.
These returns often surpass traditional telecommunications revenue streams, making validator operations financially attractive.
Deutsche Telekom operates validators across Ethereum, Polkadot, Chainlink, and Theta Network.
NTT Digital, part of Japan’s largest telecommunications provider with $100 billion annual revenue, runs validators on Theta and Injective protocols. Both companies leverage their existing infrastructure to participate in blockchain networks.
Deutsche Telekom’s Dirk Roeder expressed the company’s strategic interest, stating they were “impressed by Theta EdgeCloud use cases focused on reliability, performance, and security.”
These priorities align with operational disciplines telecommunications companies already maintain, creating natural compatibility between industries.
Hybrid Network Architecture Appeals to Traditional Operators Theta EdgeCloud’s infrastructure design mirrors telecommunications network architecture. Mobile networks combine centralized core systems for authentication and billing with distributed cell towers providing local coverage. Edge devices process data closer to users, reducing latency through distributed processing.
Theta’s model operates similarly by pairing cloud partners offering high-end GPU clusters with over 30,000 distributed edge nodes.
An intelligent coordination layer routes computational tasks to appropriate infrastructure based on workload requirements.
This approach matches how telecommunications companies already balance centralized and distributed systems.
Corporate partners evaluate blockchain networks differently when established telecommunications firms serve as validators.
Seeing Deutsche Telekom and NTT Digital alongside Google, Samsung, and Sony signals infrastructure credibility.
Universities making multi-year AI research commitments and enterprises deploying decentralized applications prioritize networks operated by trusted entities.
Validator participation provides telecommunications companies hands-on experience with distributed systems and token economics.
Early involvement builds internal expertise while positioning these firms as potential providers for future hybrid infrastructure models.
The arrangement benefits both blockchain networks seeking credible operators and telecommunications companies exploring emerging technologies.
As 2026 begins, Theta Network is advancing a technical roadmap focused on decentralized artificial intelligence, distributed GPU compute, and a token-based incentive system designed to sustain network use. The strategy focuses on measurable utility for THETA, TFUEL, and TDROP, supported by EdgeCloud infrastructure and AI agents built for enterprise, media, and telecom use cases.
This article outlines how Theta Network plans to expand its decentralized computing stack through 2026, with a focus on EdgeCloud compute, AI agent development, and tokenomics tied to real-world network activity. The emphasis remains on implementation details rather than aspirational claims.
Network Context: Edge Computing Meets Blockchain IncentivesTheta Network operates a blockchain optimized for decentralized video delivery and edge computing. Its EdgeCloud platform extends this model to GPU-based workloads, supporting AI inference, training, and agent execution across a distributed network of nodes.
The 2026 roadmap positions EdgeCloud as an “intelligence layer” where compute resources, AI agents, and token incentives intersect. THETA functions as the governance and staking asset. TFUEL operates as the network’s operational token, covering compute usage and transactions. TDROP is structured as the incentive layer for AI agent activity and user engagement.
First Half of 2026: Expanding Utility and InfrastructureDriving THETA and TFUEL UsageDuring the first half of 2026, Theta Network plans to increase TFUEL demand by driving adoption of EdgeCloud across academia, professional sports, esports, and enterprise research environments. These sectors are already consuming GPU resources for analytics, simulation, and AI inference.
Validator expansion remains a parallel priority. The network continues onboarding enterprise validator partners that stake THETA and participate in governance. Telecom operators are a central focus, building on existing relationships with Deutsche Telekom and NTT Digital. Telecom infrastructure aligns with EdgeCloud’s distributed design, combining edge devices, media delivery systems, and AI workloads.
EdgeCloud Compute: Inference and TrainingEdgeCloud’s Inference Engine is scheduled for several upgrades in early 2026. Integration with developer marketplaces such as RapidAPI aims to simplify access to decentralized inference endpoints. Developers can call EdgeCloud-hosted AI models via standard APIs.
Theta also plans to launch an MCP server that exposes EdgeCloud on-demand APIs. This server acts as a unified interface for inference requests, lowering integration overhead for application teams.
Template libraries are expanding to include additional open-source AI models. Each model is paired with on-demand inference APIs, allowing deployment without manual container configuration.
On the training side, EdgeCloud continues onboarding research groups onto AWS Trainium infrastructure. Advanced orchestration frameworks, including Slurm, Ray, and Volcano, are being integrated to support distributed training workflows used in academic and enterprise environments.
AI Agents in Early 2026: From Automation to AnalysisBusiness Intelligence AgentsEdgeCloud AI agents are evolving beyond basic automation tasks. Early 2026 releases include AI-powered business intelligence agents that generate structured reports with charts and graphics. These agents ingest expanded data inputs, such as IP addresses and visit timestamps, to support traffic analysis and operational monitoring.
Initial reports are static, but the system is designed to support interactive exploration, enabling users to query metrics and refine outputs as operational needs change.
Commerce and Support AgentsTheta Network is introducing task-specific agents aimed at commercial workflows:
AI Merch Agent: Provides embedded widgets for merchandise sales, with direct integration into online storefronts.
AI Support Agent: Enables automated customer support with escalation paths to human agents, supporting hybrid service models.These agents run on EdgeCloud infrastructure and are intended for deployment by media organizations, sports franchises, and digital platforms.
The AI Agent Economy and TDROP 2.0TDROP 2.0 is positioned as the incentive layer for AI agent usage. In the first half of 2026, TDROP rewards are applied to completed merchandise purchases processed through Shopify integrations. EdgeCloud also begins accepting TDROP as a payment option for compute usage.
A governance vote has extended TDROP staking rewards through 2030. This decision establishes predictable incentives for long-term participation and reduces uncertainty for developers and operators building on the platform.
Second Half of 2026: Scaling Compute and Agent FunctionalityAdvanced Inference InfrastructureThe second half of 2026 focuses on scaling EdgeCloud’s technical capacity. Advanced inference frameworks are planned to support large language model workloads. Techniques such as prefill and decode disaggregation are being implemented to improve performance during inference requests.
A core development is distributed inference. Large models will be hosted across multiple community-operated EdgeCloud nodes, rather than single machines. This approach increases the maximum supported model size while preserving decentralized execution.
Low-RAM container image optimization is also under development. These images reduce memory overhead, allowing more inference jobs to run on community nodes with limited hardware resources.
Training Engine IntegrationEdgeNode and EdgeCloud clients are being merged into a unified deployment experience. This change reduces configuration complexity for users contributing compute resources for inference or training tasks.
Advanced training integrations with Slurm, Ray, and Volcano continue in the second half of the year, supporting more complex distributed training jobs.
AI Agents: Fan Engagement and Event OperationsAI agent functionality expands beyond analytics and commerce in late 2026. New agents are designed for audience interaction and event management:
AI Ticketing Agent: Offers ticket sales and management widgets integrated into digital platforms.
AI Engagement Agent: Supports features including daily trivia, video-on-demand, and interactive fan content.These agents are designed for sports leagues, esports organizations, and entertainment platforms seeking automated engagement tools powered by decentralized compute.
Tokenomics in the Second Half of 2026TDROP integration deepens as EdgeCloud introduces usage rebates paid in TDROP. Developers and enterprises running workloads receive partial rebates based on compute consumption.
Reward mechanisms also expand to end-user interactions. Activities such as watching short videos, answering trivia questions, and purchasing event tickets generate TDROP rewards. This structure introduces tokens to a wide user base across professional sports, esports, and gaming platforms.
THETA and TFUEL continue to anchor governance, staking, and operational costs, while TDROP functions as the transactional incentive for AI agent ecosystems.
Telecom partnerships remain active throughout 2026. In the second half of the year, pilot programs focus on integrating EdgeCloud AI infrastructure with telecom edge devices and media delivery services. These pilots test distributed inference and AI agents in live network environments.
Enterprise customer acquisition continues across research, media, and digital services, supported by expanded EdgeCloud metrics published through the TPULSE subchain. These metrics provide transparency into network usage and performance.
ConclusionTheta Network’s 2026 roadmap outlines a coordinated expansion of decentralized compute infrastructure, AI agents, and tokenomics tied to verifiable network activity. EdgeCloud upgrades address inference scale, training orchestration, and developer access. AI agents move from basic automation to analytics, commerce, and engagement roles. Token incentives are directly linked to compute usage and user interactions.
The approach emphasizes operational deployment across telecom, media, and enterprise environments. By aligning THETA, TFUEL, and TDROP with defined technical functions, the network presents a clear framework for decentralized AI workloads and incentive-driven participation.
Source: Theta Medium Blog: 2026 RoadmapX Post: Announcing the Theta 2026 Roadmap with Key Highlights
San Jose, United States, April 8th, 2026, Chainwire
Theta announces that Alibaba Cloud International is joining Theta ecosystem as a strategic enterprise validator. As an ecological partner of Alibaba Cloud International, Cloudician, a leading Web3 AI infrastructure provider, is joining the Theta ecosystem as a strategic Enterprise Validator Node operator.
Through this partnership, Cloudician is reinforcing Theta’s global validator ecosystem alongside industry leaders, including Google, Samsung, Sony, CAA, Binance, and the recently announced Docomo Global and Deutsche Telekom.
Securing and Validating Theta’s Native Blockchain
Cloudician will operate an Enterprise Validator Node responsible for transaction validation, network security, and governance within Theta Network. This strengthens the institutional validator base and extends Theta’s footprint deeper into the Web3 ecosystem.
As an Alibaba Cloud International Web3 Partner, Cloudician brings enterprise-grade infrastructure expertise and deep experience in AI and Web3. The company operates validators across more than ten major public chains, including 0G.AI, Fetch.ai, Conflux, IRISnet,and ZetaChain. Cloudician specializes in staking, validator services, node API solutions, key custody, data indexing, and security – as well as offering high-performance databases, media streaming, and private data storage network solutions.
With a proven track record bridging enterprise cloud infrastructure and decentralized networks, Cloudician is uniquely positioned to contribute to the security, resilience, and scalability of the Theta blockchain.
“Joining Theta Network as an Enterprise Validator is a natural extension of our mission to power the next generation of decentralized infrastructure. Theta has built one of the most impressive validator ecosystems in the industry, and we’re proud to contribute our expertise in AI and Web3 infrastructure alongside world-class partners like Google, Samsung, and Sony. We look forward to supporting the security and growth of the Theta blockchain.” said Alex Fu, CEO of Cloudician.
“We’re excited to welcome Cloudician to the Theta validator family. As an Alibaba Cloud International Web3 Partner with a strong track record operating validators across major blockchain ecosystems, Cloudician brings world-class infrastructure expertise and deep AI and Web3 experience to the Theta blockchain. Their addition marks another major milestone in building a truly global validator network alongside Google, Samsung, Sony, Deutsche Telekom, Docomo Global, and others.” said Mitch Liu, co-founder and CEO of Theta Labs.
About Cloudician
Cloudician provides enterprise-grade AI and Web3 infrastructure services for token holders and developers building the Web3 ecosystem. As an Alibaba Cloud International Web3 Partner, Cloudician has extensive experience in staking, validator services, and node API solutions, operating validators for over ten major public chains, including 0G.AI, Fetch.ai, Conflux, BNB Greenfield, IRISnet, ZetaChain, and Oasis Network. The company specializes in key custody, data indexing, security, and ecosystem collaboration for Web3 projects.
To learn more about Cloudician, users can visit cloudician.xyz and X.
About Theta Labs
Theta Labs is the leading provider of decentralized cloud infrastructure for AI, media and entertainment, powered by a global network of 30,000 distributed edge nodes and a native blockchain. Backed by Samsung, Sony, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments and Creative Artists Agency, Theta is among the top AI tokens on Binance.com and top 10 DePIN blockchains by market capitalization on Coingecko. Theta’s enterprise validator and governance council is composed of global market leaders including Google, Samsung, CAA and Binance.
Recently launched Theta EdgeCloud is the first hybrid computing platform with over 80 PetaFLOPS of on-demand distributed GPU power. EdgeCloud now counts over 40 customers including Stanford University, top South Korea universities, professional sports clubs including Olympique de Marseille, NHL’s Las Vegas Knights, NBA’s Houston Rockets and global esports teams FlyQuest, Gen.G, among others.
The trajectories of the crypto giants seem more uncertain than ever. Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to attract attention, between hopes and doubts. The former is still perceived as a store of value, but its technical resistances slow down enthusiasm. The latter, a driver of innovations and uses, attracts institutions more. Yet, neither clearly dominates. The question remains open: which of these pillars will truly emerge victorious from this new wave of attention and capital?
In brief Bitcoin draws attention due to its scarcity, monetary role, and a record illiquid supply of 14.3 M BTC. Ethereum attracts institutions thanks to staking, DeFi, and its innovative uses. Dogecoin prepares the first US DOGE ETF, supported by an active community. Tether and MicroStrategy strengthen their institutional weight, one via gold, the other via the S&P 500. Bitcoin dominates the buzz, Ethereum gains institutions’ trust In the buzz of crypto conversations, bitcoin maintains a central place even as the market has fallen into a fear zone. Santiment notes it sparks intense debates about its investment potential, market behavior, adoption stages, and even its comparison to gold. The focus is on its scarcity, utility, and role as a digital monetary network. Discussions range from long-term holding strategies to timing advice, highlighting growing involvement from governments and institutions.
Fundamental signals confirm ongoing interest in bitcoin. Illiquid supply has reached a record 14.3 million BTC, and more than 70% of coins are stored in dormant wallets, evidencing strong long-term investor confidence.
Ethereum is not left behind. Discussions highlight its role in flash tokens and its utility in staking, gaming, and DeFi. Institutions and large wallets accumulate quietly, reinforcing the idea that ETH is becoming the preferred asset for more diversified institutional exposure.
While bitcoin still attracts traders by its aura and volatility, ether weaves another narrative: that of a structural tool of the ecosystem.
Dogecoin, Tether and MicroStrategy blur the crypto market cards The battle is not only between BTC and ETH. Dogecoin bursts onto the scene with a historic project: launching the first US DOGE ETF. According to Santiment, Dogecoin grabs attention for several reasons. The announcement of the upcoming launch of the first DOGE ETF in the US sparked keen interest.
Simultaneously, the company Thumzup, supported by Trump, is expanding mining operations with 3,500 additional rigs. The Dogecoin price holds around 0.21 dollars, supported by an active community and growing institutional interest.
Key figures to remember 14.3 million BTC now illiquid; Over 70% of bitcoins stored without notable activity; Dogecoin targets its first ETF in the United States; Tether holds over 8.7 billion dollars worth of gold. Meanwhile, MicroStrategy remains at the heart of debates with its potential inclusion in the S&P 500 index. This would make the company an unprecedented institutional exposure lever to BTC. Finally, Tether surprises by diversifying its empire. With more than 8.7 billion dollars invested in gold and expansion into refining and trading, the stablecoin giant asserts itself as a strategic player far beyond its initial role.
Meanwhile, MultiversX faces concerns about dilution of its supply and migration of projects to SUI, despite hopes placed in xPortal and xMoney.
Forecasts diverge as much as they multiply. Some predict a seven-figure bitcoin, others a five-figure Ethereum. But others speak instead of an imminent collapse, fueling the idea that unanimity does not exist among financial analysts. The crypto market feeds as much on dreams of grandeur as on fears of a crash.
Maximize your Cointribune experience with our "Read to Earn" program! For every article you read, earn points and access exclusive rewards. Sign up now and start earning benefits.
Join the program
A
A
Lien copié
Mikaia A.
La révolution blockchain et crypto est en marche ! Et le jour où les impacts se feront ressentir sur l’économie la plus vulnérable de ce Monde, contre toute espérance, je dirai que j’y étais pour quelque chose
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
PANews reported on October 27th that Binance will support the MANTRA (OM) and MultiversX (EGLD) network upgrades, according to an official announcement. MANTRA (OM) will undergo a network upgrade at block height 9,664,888. Binance anticipates suspending MANTRA (OM) token deposits and withdrawals at 15:51 GMT+8 on October 27, 2025. MultiversX (EGLD) is expected to undergo a network upgrade at 01:00 GMT+8 on October 31, 2025. Binance anticipates suspending MultiversX (EGLD) token deposits and withdrawals at 00:00 GMT+8 on October 31, 2025.
Binance has announced that it will support upgrades to the MANTRA (OM) and MultiversX (EGLD) networks to improve user experience.
Binance to Support MANTRA (OM) and MultiversX (EGLD) Network Upgrades According to the exchange's announcement, the MANTRA (OM) network upgrade will occur at block height 9,664,888. During this period, Binance will temporarily suspend token deposits and withdrawals on the OM network starting at 10:51 AM on October 27, 2025.
Meanwhile, the MultiversX (EGLD) network upgrade will begin around 8:00 PM on October 30, 2025. Token deposits and withdrawals on this network will also be suspended one hour before the upgrade, starting at 7:00 PM on October 30, 2025.
Binance emphasized that token trading for these networks will not be affected by the upgrade. It also stated that the entire process will be handled automatically by the exchange, without requiring any technical intervention from users.
The platform stated that deposits and withdrawals will be reopened once the upgrade is complete and the networks are confirmed to be operating stably, but no additional announcements will be made on this matter.
Binance aims to ensure that users have an uninterrupted and secure trading experience with regular network maintenance and upgrade support.
*This is not investment advice.
Follow our Telegram and Twitter account now for exclusive news, analytics and on-chain data!
PANews reported on November 19th that Binance's Earn Earn program has added five new tokens to its list: Tron (TRX), Aptos (APT), IOTA (IOTA), ApeCoin (APE), and MultiversX (EGLD). With these additions, the tokens currently supporting Earn Earn Earn are: BNB, SOL, TRX, ADA, SUI, TON, NEAR, APT, POL, ALGO, IOTA, S, APE, EGLD, and AXS. To earn Earn Earn Earn rewards, users must meet the minimum holding requirements for each token. There is also a cap on the amount of holdings eligible for earnings; holdings exceeding this cap will not earn additional rewards.
