Theta Network(THETA) is a blockchain-powered network purpose-built for video streaming. The Theta mainnet operates as a decentralized network where users share bandwidth and computing resources on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis. ^[3]

Theta Network was co-founded by Mitch Liu and Jieyi Long in July 2017. ^[1][2][3]

Overview

Theta Network is a media and entertainment-focused blockchain. Its infrastructure enables existing video and media platforms to drive revenues and reduce content delivery CDN costs while rewarding end-users for sharing their storage and/or bandwidth on any PC, mobile, Smart TV, or IoT device. ^[4]

Theta supports Turing complete smart contracts and is fully compatible with Ethereum. This enables Web3 applications to be built on the Theta Network. Examples include NFTs decentralized exchanges (DEX/DeFi), and DAOs. ^[4]

Technology

Theta Network is a "dual network" consisting of two complementary subsystems, the Theta Blockchain, and the Theta Edge Network.

Theta Blockchain

Consensus Mechanism

Theta’s multi-level BFT consensus design combines a committee of Enterprise Validator Nodes^[5] with a second layer of community-run Guardian Nodes^[6]. Validator Nodes propose and finalize new blocks in the chain, while Guardian Nodes seal blocks and act as a check on malicious or otherwise non-functional Validator Nodes. While the validators alone provide security on par with other PoS chains (e.g. Solana, Polygon, etc), the guardians offer another layer of security guarantee similar to the Gasper consensus protocol^[7] governing the ETH2.0 beacon chain. ^[4]

Smart Contract Support and EVM Compatibility

The Theta blockchain mainnet supports Turing-complete smart contracts^[8], which can enable new user experiences and attribution models for DApps built on the Theta network. Examples of potential applications include digitized item ownership, payment-consumption models, royalty distributions, and crowdfunding mechanisms. This additional layer of interactivity can enhance the platform's core functionality of video and data delivery, leading to increased engagement and retention of users. ^[4]

The Theta Virtual Machine is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Thus, porting over existing Ethereum-based contracts is efficient for smart contract developers on Theta. ^[4]

Theta Metachain

The Theta Metachain was introduced in April 2022. It is an interconnected network of blockchains, a “chain of chains” whose goal is to allow permissionless horizontal scaling of the Theta blockchain network in order to achieve unlimited transactional throughput, and 1-2 seconds block finalization time. ^[4]

The Theta Metachain is composed of a "main chain" and numerous "subchains." The prefix "meta-" indicates that the Metachain is more extensive than the subject, with the "main chain" serving as the overarching chain above several purpose-specific "subchains." The Theta mainnet is the current "main chain." Developers can use an SDK to launch a subchain and connect it to the main chain, allowing for independent transaction execution on each subchain. This method provides a feasible solution to scale Metachain's processing power indefinitely. The subchain SDK will implement a built-in interchain messaging channel that connects the subchains and the main chain and thus allows crypto assets like TNT20/721 tokens to flow across the chains. The process of creating a subchain is permissionless, therefore anyone can register and launch a subchain without approval from Theta Labs. ^[4]

Theta Metachain was launched generally on December 2, 2022. The Metachain launch featured a new Metachain Explorer design which showcases the Mainchain and the Playground subchain.^[11] Launch partners such as Replay, Symbiote Creatives / Fuse Wars, Order of the Tigons, Fuse Media, Immersive Enterprise Laboratories (IEL), Metapass, and TrooVRS also collaborated to create their own subchains on Theta Metachain. ^[10]

Dual Token Design

Theta Token (THETA)

The Theta Token (THETA) is the governance token of the Theta protocol. THETA is used to stake as a Validator or Guardian node, contributing to block production and the protocol governance of the Theta Network. By staking and running a node, users will earn a proportional amount of the new TFUEL generated. The supply of THETA is fixed at 1 billion and will never increase. ^[4][2]

The initial token launch date for THETA was in December 2017. THETA was launched as an ERC20 token on Ethereum and then upgraded to mainnet on March 15th, 2019. ^[23]

The initial token distribution of THETA is as follows:

• 30.00% allocated to Private Sale
• 7.49% allocated to Team
• 1.23% allocated to Advisors
• 12.50% allocated to Partners
• 12.50% allocated to Network Seedings
• 36.28% allocated to Lab Reserve

Theta Fuel (TFUEL)

TFUEL is the operational token of the Theta protocol. TFUEL is used for on-chain operations like payments to Edge Node relayers for sharing a video stream, or for deploying or interacting with smart contracts. Relayers earn TFUEL for every video stream they relay to other users on the network. The TFUEL concept is similar to the “gas token” of the protocol. There were 5 billion TFUEL at genesis of Theta blockchain, and the supply increases annually at a fixed percentage set at the protocol level. ^[4][2]

Theta Edge Network

Theta Video API

Decentralized video-on-demand: Theta announced the Theta Video API in November 2021, which uses the Theta Edge Network to enable developers to add decentralized video to any website or application without central servers, content delivery, or video hosting software. The API allows for easy integration and decentralized video handling, with users being able to relay video over the Theta Network on a peer-to-peer basis. This feature enables anyone to upload any video to their website with a few clicks in a permissionless process, rather than simply embedding an existing video stream. ^[4]

Decentralized Livestreaming: This technology stack adds the ability to capture live video, transcode it in real-time, cache and relay live stream video data to users globally - all through Theta’s P2P edge network run by thousands of community members. It doesn't make use of a central server or service. ^[4]

NFT-based Digital Rights Management (DRM): Theta Labs has received patent application approval for USPTO Application №17/218,245, a technology developed to enable decentralized digital rights management (DRM) using NFTs on a decentralized network. This technology has numerous applications for managing rights in various domains, including ticketed events such as live performances and concerts that require authentication. The use of an NFT provides users with true digital ownership that cannot be revoked, ensuring secure and reliable management of rights. ^[4]

Theta EdgeStore

Decentralized data storage: The Alpha Preview version of the Theta EdgeStore software was released in February 2022.  It is an append-only, content-addressing, decentralized key/value storage network for the permanent web. It also acts as a decentralized content delivery network (dCDN) for any type of file. ^[4]

Collaborations & Partnerships

Theta Labs x Sony

In May 2022, Japanese Conglomerate, Sony Electronics partnered with Theta Labs to introduce nonfungible tokens (NFTs) that can be viewed in mixed reality using Sony's Spatial Reality Display. This monitor allows users to perceive 3D images without the need for traditional 3D accessories. ^[9]

"We believe that NFTs and metaverses now have a huge potential for 3D visualization." -
Mitch Liu, co-founder and CEO of Theta Labs.

Theta Network x World of Women (WoW)

On December 2, 2022, Theta Network announced that they have partnered with the World of Women (WoW) NFT collection to stream its first-ever WoW Gala in Miami. The event during Miami Art Week was live-streamed using the ThetaDrop Video Portal powered by Theta Metachain for any holder of a WoW NFT. ^[12]

Theta x Earworm Media

On January 31, 2023, Theta Network announced a partnership with Rob Feldman’s Earworm Media, a leading NFT project on ThetaDrop (Cyko KO, Cyko Headz). Feldman’s Cyko KO, a leading NFT project on Thetadrop, utilizes multiple aspects of the NFT experience from gated comic book content, unique physical redeemables, and a series of 2D arcade-style games that use NFTs to “power up” and boost player scores. ^[13]

“We are beyond excited to partner with Theta. I was a fairly early adopter when I started streaming on Theta TV and never lost sight of its capabilities, particularly with their rollout of Thetadrop NFTs” - Rob Feldman, owner of Earworm Media.

Theta Labs x FedML

On February 16, 2023, Theta Labs partnered with the artificial intelligence (AI) platform FedML to enable collaborative machine learning on content recommendation and generative AI.  In an announcement, the two firms said that the partnership would focus on the collaborative training of large-scale generative AI models, allowing the Theta TV community to contribute personal preferences and compute resources in training and deploying AI models to enhance personalized recommendations and advertisements through FedML. ^[14]

Theta Labs co-founder and CEO Mitch Liu said that the partnership unlocks a new use case for Theta’s edge nodes by unlocking AI and machine learning development at a “distributed, global level.”

Theta Labs x ABS-CBN

On March 21, 2023, Theta Labs announced a partnership with ABS-CBN, a prominent content company in the Philippines. Theta will serve as the Web3 video infrastructure partner for ABS-CBN's business units and digital collectibles NFT business, building upon the prior success of "Idol Philippines" on ThetaDrop. ^[15]

“The widespread adoption of subscription and ad-supported streaming services, original IP and content in Southeast Asia, coupled with the success of the ‘Idol Philippines’ digital collectibles on the Theta blockchain, demonstrates the potential for exponential growth in the region,” - Mitch Liu, CEO at Theta Labs.

“Through this partnership with ABS-CBN, we are thrilled to bring Theta’s video and Web3 infrastructure to millions of viewers in the media and entertainment industry.”

Theta Network x MetaCannes Film3 Festival

On May 2, 2023, Jordan Bayne, founder of The Squad announced^[24] the launch of the MetaCannes Film3 Festival in collaboration with Theta Network. The festival will take place from May 16th to May 29th, 2023, during the Cannes Film Festival and it will be powered by Theta Network’s NFT-based digital rights management (DRM). ^[25]

The METACANNES Streaming Pass was made available for sale on Theta Drop, the Theta Network’s native NFT Marketplace, from May 2nd, 2023. ^[25]

“The MetaCannes Film3 Festival is the perfect opportunity to showcase Theta’s token-gated digital rights management solution that empowers filmmakers and event organizers to reach a global audience like never before.” - co-founder, Mitch Liu on Partnership with Metacannes. ^[25]

Theta US Patent for Decentralized Edge Storage Network with Flexible File Sharding

On March 28, 2023, Theta Labs announced the company has now been awarded U.S. Patent 11,611,615 B1 for “Decentralized Edge Storage Network With Flexible File Sharding”, validating its approach to a decentralized Edge Network built by the Theta team. ^[16]

This patent approval follows previous Theta patents issued for decentralized data streaming and delivery, awarded in September 2020^[17], ultra-high transaction throughput micropayments awarded in March 2021^[18], methods and systems for peer node discovery awarded in April 2021^[19], decentralized DRM via NFTs in June 2021^[20], and preventing denial-of-service attacks in decentralized edge networks in July 2021^[21], creating a portfolio of patents to further differentiate and protect the Theta technology and ecosystem. ^[22]

Theta Edge Nodes support decentralized streaming and encoding/transcoding. With the inclusion of decentralized storage, the Edge Node will provide a comprehensive end-to-end decentralized service for video streaming, along with other forms of file transfer or streaming. ^[22]