What is AI?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human learning, understanding, problem solving, decision making, creativity, and autonomy. AI-powered applications and devices can see and identify objects. They can understand human language and respond to it. They can learn from new information and experiences. They can provide detailed recommendations to users and experts. They can act independently and eliminate the need for human intelligence or intervention.
In crypto, AI combines blockchain technology with artificial intelligence to improve platform efficiency, data analysis, and decision-making. These tokens aim to automate and optimize various industries and make life easier using algorithms and models.
Has the Hype in The AI Sector Ended?
The crypto industry has integrated AI technology in various ways, with AI agents receiving the most attention. Tokens related to AI projects reached a total market value of approximately $69.92 billion on June 12, 2024, demonstrating intense market interest. However, this interest was short-lived. Most projects failed to meet development expectations, and token prices dropped by over 70% from their peak values.
Nevertheless, the price declines do not indicate a decline in the technology. AI projects continue to be an important technical area in crypto, and as discussions about practical use cases become more concrete, teams continue to test new approaches.
The AI sector in the cryptocurrency industry began to attract attention in late 2024. The ElizaOS team from Ai16z and the G.A.M.E development stack from the Virtuals Protocol team significantly reduced agent development barriers. Launch platforms such as DAOS.fun and Virtuals Fun provided platforms to easily tokenize developed agents. By simplifying the process from development to launch, market interest exploded, and numerous artificial intelligence projects emerged rapidly.
Most projects presented ambitious roadmaps utilizing AI technology, and investors drove up token prices with expectations for innovative services. In reality, these projects were merely repackaged versions of finely tuned or quickly designed OpenAI or Anthropic base models. Most projects focused on creating advanced chatbots for X or Telegram rather than developing independent services. Projects emphasized innovative visions and technical differences, but their actual activities were scarcely different from memecoins. Some projects introduced relatively useful service and technology-focused features. However, even relatively successful stories couldn’t overcome structural limitations. Unstable revenue structures dependent solely on token price increases hindered progress. With technical competitiveness lagging behind Web2 companies, token prices eventually fell, and operating funds were depleted.
Source: Coinmarketcap.com
Defai Projects Revive Hope in the Sector:
AI technology faced excessive expectations that entered a correction phase. However, the DeFAI sector is regaining interest by proving its practical value. DeFAI agents provide easy access to complex DeFi services through simple natural language commands by implementing 24/7 automated investment strategies. This sector was a foundational narrative in the early AI agent space. Most projects remained in the roadmap phase and faced difficulties in real-world implementation. As a result, the sector temporarily lost interest, but recently launched products are reshaping market expectations.
Representative projects include Wayfinder and HeyAnon. Wayfinder performs tasks on-chain through specialized AI agents called “Shells.” Shells execute transactions directly on-chain through embedded private wallets. The system utilizes a specialized multi-agent architecture with transaction agents, persistent agents, and contract agents. Each agent type focuses on specific roles to automate various investment strategies, allowing users to easily execute simple cross-chain transactions or advanced strategies such as basic trading and leveraged DCA. This shows us that this field may be reviving.
Top 5 Artifical Intelligence Projects by Market Cap
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Bittensor (TAO)
Bittensor is a blockchain designed to revolutionize the way intellectual and computational resources are exchanged. Its goal is to create an open, decentralized peer-to-peer marketplace that promotes technological innovation through the exchange and valuation of artificial intelligence (AI) models. Unlike traditional blockchains focused on monetary transactions or smart contracts, Bittensor positions itself as a marketplace dedicated to collaboration and innovation in the AI field.
Bittensor consists of a main network called Subtensor and is built around a subnetwork system called Subnets. These Subnets create a competitive environment where market participants (miners and validators) perform a wide variety of computationally and expertise-intensive tasks. One of Bittensor’s core elements is Yuma, a unique consensus mechanism based on the quality of contributions. Participants are rewarded with TAO tokens in proportion to the relevance and effectiveness of their responses. This competitive model encourages participants to continuously improve their computational models to achieve better results and earn more TAO rewards, thereby supporting technological innovation.
a) Key Details
One of blockchain’s most transformative features—the ability to align the actions of a decentralized group of participants who do not know each other but work toward a common goal through financial incentive mechanisms—can easily be overlooked.
Bittensor builds on this powerful concept but extends it to a new domain: artificial intelligence. Rather than relying on a narrowly defined incentive system, such as ensuring transaction security, Bittensor provides a framework that allows anyone to design specialized incentive systems for various computational tasks.
The network revolves around Subtensor, the main blockchain that hosts and coordinates multiple sub-networks. Each sub-network is configured to meet specific needs, such as text or image generation through artificial intelligence, lending computational power, financial predictions, and more.
Bittensor offers an open framework where individual performance within the network is rewarded, and collective competition encourages the emergence of more effective and sophisticated solutions to real-world computational challenges. Thus, Bittensor not only creates a marketplace where digital resources are exchanged, but also redefines how different assets can collaborate to solve complex problems at an unprecedented scale.
b) Technical Details
Subtensor serves as the backbone of the Bittensor network. As the main blockchain, it is responsible for two core functions:
Task Coordination: It records summaries of all tasks completed in subnetworks and ensures transparency regarding contributions.
Reward Distribution: Through the Yuma consensus mechanism, Subtensor automatically calculates and distributes TAO rewards to all participants based on the quality of their contributions.
Subnetworks: Subnets are autonomous subnetworks connected to Subtensor. Each subnet is dedicated to a specific task and operates with a unique incentive system designed to motivate contributors to achieve their goals. Subnets consist of three main actors:
Subnetwork Owners: Responsible for creating and managing the subnetwork, subnetwork owners define the tasks to be performed and the incentive system. They also provide the methodology to promote the subnetwork to validate results and attract contributors.
Miners: These individuals perform the tasks assigned to them using computational models that they can optimize over time to increase their efficiency and maximize their rewards.
Validators: Validators assign and distribute tasks to miners, evaluate the results, and send their ratings to Subtensor. These ratings determine the rewards for each contributor.
Using Subnetwork 1, which specializes in developing speech AI models, as an example, let’s examine the lifecycle of a task within a Subnetwork:
Task Creation: A validator within Subnetwork 1 creates a task. This task may originate from the validator itself or from an external service accessing the validator’s API (e.g., an application like ChatGPT).
Task Assignment: The validator formats the task according to Subnet standards and assigns it to multiple miners.
Task Execution: Each miner responds to the task using the computational model and sends its output to the validator.
Evaluation: The validator evaluates and ranks all responses based on quality, selecting the best one to forward to the external service that made the initial request.
Reward Distribution: Validator ratings are sent to Subtensor, where the Yuma consensus determines and distributes TAO rewards to Subnet participants.
The Yuma consensus is central to Bittensor’s functionality, particularly in the distribution of rewards. Each validator assigns points to miners based on the quality of their work. These points are aggregated by Subtensor, which uses the Yuma consensus to calculate the rewards for all network participants.
Generally, the higher the score a miner receives from multiple validators, the more TAO they earn. Similarly, validators whose scores are close to the average score of all validators in the Subnet are also rewarded with a higher TAO allocation.
TAO is much more than a simple token; it is the cornerstone of the Bittensor economy and plays a vital role in value distribution and coordination within the network. Its main use cases are:
Rewarding Network Participants: Subnet owners, validators, and miners receive TAO in exchange for their contributions.
Staking and Network Security: Users can stake TAO with validators to participate in verifying miners’ contributions.
Transaction Fees: TAO is required for TAO transfers and to use the EVM on Subtensor.
Subnetwork and Role Registration: TAO must be deposited to register new subnetworks or sign up as a miner or validator.
With a maximum supply capped at 21 million, TAO follows a Bitcoin-inspired model with no pre-mining, private investors, or team allocations. Tokens are minted at a linear rate of 1 TAO every 12 seconds, equivalent to 50 TAO every 10 minutes. Currently, approximately 8.1 million TAO are in circulation, with 75% staked through validators, demonstrating strong community participation.
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Near Protocol (NEAR)
NEAR Protocol is a Layer 1 blockchain designed to help developers launch decentralized applications (dApps) in areas such as DeFi, NFTs, payments, and gaming. It uses sharding to increase speed and keep transaction fees low. Sharding makes NEAR highly scalable by allowing validators to process only a portion of the network. The NEAR token is used for fees, storage, and staking. Token holders can also participate in governance.
NEAR launched its mainnet in April 2020 and was founded by former Google engineers Illia Polosukhin and Alexander Skidanov. Today, the platform is supported by a large global team and has millions of account holders. NEAR stands out for being environmentally friendly, having a much smaller carbon footprint than Bitcoin. It is also fast — transactions finalize in about one second. The blockchain can process up to 100,000 transactions per second. While current usage is lower, the potential is there. NEAR also offers low fees, typically less than a penny per transaction, making it cost-effective for both users and developers. The Aurora Bridge and Octopus Network facilitate easy transfers between NEAR and other chains.
NEAR also supports smart contract coding in Rust and AssemblyScript, making it easier for developers. Instead of complex wallet addresses, it even offers human-readable wallet names like your name.
a) Key Features
The NEAR Protocol ecosystem consists of various components that work together to provide a scalable and secure blockchain architecture. The primary component is the NEAR protocol itself, designed to optimize blockchain performance and overcome the limitations of previous blockchain architectures. The protocol uses innovative sharding technology to distribute the network’s load across multiple parallel chains, thereby increasing transaction speed and scalability.
Additionally, the NEAR ecosystem offers various tools and services for developers, including the Near Software Development Kit (SDK) and the online development environment Near Studio. These tools make it easier for developers to build dApps on the NEAR protocol.
The protocol also features several native dApps, such as Mintbase, a platform for creating and trading non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and Paras, an NFT marketplace. Furthermore, the NEAR ecosystem supports interoperability with other blockchains, allowing users to easily communicate and transact across different blockchain networks.
b) Technical Features
Near Protocol offers developers a simple, fast, and cost-effective way to build dApps. NEAR uses a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism and innovative sharding technology to achieve high throughput and fast confirmation times. Additionally, NEAR provides developers with a web-like development environment, enabling them to easily build and deploy dApps regardless of programming language. Other unique features include the ability for smart contracts to communicate with applications outside the blockchain and the ability to create tokens customized for specific purposes.
The technology behind NEAR uses a sharded blockchain architecture designed for scalability and optimal performance. The blockchain consists of multiple parallel chains, each known as a shard, which manage a portion of the network’s transaction load. Near Protocol uses a Proof of Stake consensus protocol called Nightshade, which increases transaction speed. Furthermore, this mechanism provides security against 51% attacks, where malicious actors attempt to seize control of the majority of the network and manipulate transactions.
Near Protocol also uses Rust, a programming language optimized for blockchain applications. Thanks to smart contracts, developers can create various types of dApps on the network.
Advantages of Near Protocol: Open-source, programmable blockchain, interoperability with other blockchains, low transaction costs, high efficiency thanks to sharding technology, well-developed security protocols.
Disadvantages of Near Protocol: Direct competition from major players like Ethereum, relatively low global adoption rate, relatively high degree of centralization compared to other blockchains.
Near Protocol has its own native cryptocurrency, the NEAR token. This token is used as fuel for transactions on the network and as a reward for validators and developers. The token has a maximum supply of 1 billion and is distributed through a combination of token sales, mining, and rewards for validators. NEAR holders can also participate in the network’s governance by voting on proposals to improve the network. Additionally, developers can use NEAR to build dApps on the network and accept it as payment for their services.
STORY (IP)
Story Protocol is a Layer 1 blockchain created to manage and protect intellectual property rights (IP) in a transparent and decentralized manner. It enables creators to tokenize their intellectual property rights, such as songs, AI models, images, and real-world assets, while placing copyright terms, usage rights, and attributions directly on the chain. This structure ensures that original creators are automatically credited and fairly compensated when their works are used or remixed. In an era where AI-generated content is exploding, traditional IP laws often fall short. AI models frequently use copyrighted material, and creators are rarely properly recognized. Story solves this problem by creating IP protections at the protocol level. Whether a song goes viral or an AI-generated image becomes popular, the original IP owner is rewarded.
The protocol is particularly useful in AI-focused industries where content is rapidly created and shared. With Story, intellectual property becomes a programmable asset, making it easier for creators and developers to collaborate and profit from their work.
Founded in 2022 by Jason Levy, Jason Zhao, and Seung Yoon Lee, Story possesses deep expertise in technology, artificial intelligence, and storytelling. Lee is also known for selling the fiction platform Radish for $440 million. Backed by major investors such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Samsung Next, and Polychain Capital, Story has raised over $134 million to build the future of intellectual property rights on the blockchain.
a) Key Features
The Story Protocol ecosystem focuses on IP creation, development, and monetization. The Story (IP) token connects to these flows in various ways, depending on how governance and utility features are activated and managed over time.
Key use cases include
IP registration and provenance: Creators can register original assets and define terms for derivative use. Provenance is recorded on-chain, ensuring a transparent lineage when derivative works are published or licensed.
Licensing frameworks: Standard, programmable licenses make it easy for developers and creators to remix content while respecting rights and guaranteeing compensation. This enables “open franchise” models.
Copyright distribution: Smart contracts automate payments to rights holders upon publication, resale, or usage events, aligning incentives for collaborative creation.
Developer integrations: Marketplaces, games, and creative tools can connect to Story Protocol contracts to dynamically reflect license terms and attributions in user interfaces.
Governance and coordination: The Story (IP) token can be used to vote on protocol parameters and ecosystem initiatives, as outlined in official materials.
By coding these mechanisms into smart contracts, Story Protocol aims to reduce the friction associated with traditional IP licensing markets (manual negotiations, opaque revenue sharing, and enforcement challenges). The ability to create and expand creative works with open, enforceable, on-chain rules is a key value proposition for artists, writers, game studios, and community-focused IP brands.
Story Protocol and story (IP) offer many potential advantages for creators, developers, and market participants seeking a programmable IP infrastructure:
Interoperability: On-chain IP objects and licenses are machine-readable, enabling applications to automatically comply with attribution and copyright rules.
Transparent source: Public ledgers allow anyone to verify who created what, when, and under what license terms.
Automated revenue sharing: Copyright logic reduces the administrative costs of paying multiple contributors in collaborative projects.
EVM access: As an ERC-20 token, story (IP) integrates with widely used wallets, exchanges, and DeFi protocols, subject to specific application support.
Governance alignment: Token-based governance allows stakeholders to influence the protocol’s roadmap and rules.
Open innovation: Standardized licensing can potentially expand an IP’s network effects by encouraging the creation of derivatives and fan participation.
For those new to blockchain fundamentals, Cube.Exchange provides information explaining concepts such as Consensus Algorithm and Execution Layer, helping users understand how IP systems on the chain ensure security and determinism in context.
b) Technical Features
IP Registration and Ownership Verification: Creators begin by registering digital works such as art pieces, stories, or videos on the chain. Each asset is minted as a unique NFT and paired with an IP Account. This account is a programmable wallet that defines and enforces how the IP can be used, who owns it, and which copyrights apply. It stores license terms, usage rules, and attribution settings directly on the blockchain, providing verifiable and transparent ownership.
Combinability for Collaboration and Derivative Creation: Unlike traditional NFTs, Story Protocol supports collaborative creativity. Multiple IPs can be combined to create new derivative works through Story’s “IP graph.” This graph illustrates the legal and economic relationships between assets. For example, creating a new animation using characters from multiple NFT collections can be done seamlessly, without paperwork or legal negotiations. Licensing terms and copyrights are managed through embedded smart contracts, enabling easy, modular collaboration.
Automation of Licensing and Agreements: Story Protocol eliminates traditional licensing bottlenecks. Creators pre-define terms such as usage rights, royalty rates, and fees. These terms are incorporated into smart contracts. When someone wants to license an intellectual property right, they interact with the contract, accept the terms, and instantly receive the rights. Payment is automatically made to the creator. No intermediaries, no delays—just scalable, programmable, and streamlined licensing.
Story Protocol’s Programmable IP License: The Programmable IP License (PIL) is one of Story Protocol’s most important features. It automates the licensing and use of intellectual property (IP) by combining traditional legal contracts with blockchain smart contracts. Every IP asset on Story Protocol is backed by a real legal contract. This contract is directly linked to the smart contract on the chain, making transactions and royalties automatically enforceable.
PIL complies with global IP laws such as the Berne Convention, making it valid in most countries. It also provides flexibility to creators. They can choose terms such as upfront fees, royalty rates, usage rights, and limits on how and where the IP can be used. Think of it as a dropdown menu with licensing options tailored to different needs, from major studios to independent creators. Once an intellectual property right is registered, anyone can interact with the smart contract and obtain a license by paying the required fee. There is no need for lawyers or paperwork. Everything is handled on-chain. PIL also enables licenses to be converted into NFTs, making them tradable. This “liquid licensing” feature allows creators to sell or transfer licenses, opening up new ways to monetize their work. It transforms licensing into a scalable, flexible, and modern process.
The IP token is Story Protocol’s native utility token and plays a key role in powering its ecosystem. It is designed to tokenize intellectual property and add real value to creators and developers. The IP token has multiple functions. It is used for staking to secure the network and serves as a gas token for all on-chain transactions. As usage increases, tokens are burned, which may eventually lead to IP becoming deflationary over time. It also grants governance rights to its holders, enabling them to vote on important protocol decisions. The total supply is capped at 1 billion tokens, with 25% unlocked at launch. Distribution is as follows: 38.4% for the community and ecosystem, 10% for initial incentives, 10% for the foundation, 21.6% for early investors, and 20% for core contributors.
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Interne Computer (ICP)
ICP is a public blockchain that provides cloud computing functionality to the internet. It combines decentralized control, scalable smart contracts, and hardware owned by independent operators. ICP enables software to run as smart contracts and offers an alternative to traditional cloud services like Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud. The goal is to make smart contracts as powerful and flexible as traditional software, enabling them to perform complex tasks, host websites, and communicate with users through standard web browsers. With this framework, developers can build applications on the chain without relying on centralized infrastructure, contributing to increased transparency and security.
a) Key Features
The Internet Computer (ICP) functions like a massive, decentralized brain that spans the entire globe. At its core, it consists of nodes that are like small internet servers spread out everywhere. These nodes come together to process transactions and store data, creating a super-secure, decentralized alternative to traditional servers.
What sets the ICP apart is its cutting-edge architecture, which enables it to manage operations at scale and run applications. This means it can process tasks at lightning speed, making it one of the most powerful networks on the market.
ICP utilizes a technology called Chain Key Technology in the background. This is a fancy term used for a series of systems such as Threshold Relay consensus, Network Nervous System (NNS), and Internet Identity (IID). These systems work together to ensure the network runs smoothly and securely. The ICP network consists of 48 data centers worldwide, each filled with thousands of nodes. These nodes form sub-networks like mini blockchains and use the Proof-of-Stake mechanism to validate transactions and earn rewards.
ICP uses contracts called “canisters” instead of traditional smart contracts. These canisters are like super-powerful smart contracts that can replicate and update themselves on the network without any assistance. This makes ICP incredibly efficient and fast. Furthermore, since users don’t have to pay gas fees to use canisters, they become even more user-friendly. To ensure everything runs smoothly, ICP has a Network Nervous System (NNS) that monitors processes like node performance and subnet creation. In conclusion, the Internet Computer is revolutionizing the way we think about the internet. With its decentralized power and lightning-fast speed, it paves the way for a more open, secure, and efficient digital future.
b) Technical Specifications
Network Nervous System: The Internet Computer is based on a blockchain computer protocol called the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP). The network itself consists of a hierarchical structure of building blocks. At the bottom are independent data centers that host specialized hardware nodes. These nodes combine machines to form subnets. Subnets host canister smart contracts, which are compatible computing units that contain both code and state uploaded by users.
Subnets: To understand the Internet Computer, you need to understand the concept of subnets, which are the fundamental building blocks of the overall network. A subnet is responsible for hosting a separate subset of software canisters hosted by the Internet Computer network. A subnet is created by bringing together node machines from different data centers in a manner controlled by the NNS. These node machines collaborate via ICP to symmetrically replicate the data and computations belonging to the software canisters they host.
Boxes: The purpose of the subnet is to host boxes. Boxes run within dedicated hypervisors and interact with each other via a public API. Inside the box, there is WebAssembly bytecode that can run on the WebAssembly virtual machine and the memory pages it runs on. Typically, this WebAssembly bytecode is created by compiling a programming language such as Rust or Motoko. This bytecode contains a runtime that makes it easy for the developer to interact with the API.
Orthogonal persistence: One of the most interesting things about the Internet Computer is how developers make data persistent. Developers don’t have to worry about persistence; they just write their code, and persistence happens automatically. This is called orthogonal persistence. This is because the Internet Computer makes the memory pages where the code runs persistent.
Scalability: Now, we will give a high-level explanation of scalable internet services. Canisters have upper limits on various capacity types. For example, a canister can only store 4 GB of memory pages due to the limitations of WebAssembly applications. Therefore, when we want to create internet services that are scalable to billions of users, we need to use multi-canister architectures.
What is an ICP Token?
Simply put, the ICP coin is the digital currency that powers the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP). It uses a special agreement model called Threshold Relay to ensure transactions are secure, fast, and as low-cost as possible.
The ICP token is awarded as a reward to node owners who contribute to the network’s computational power. There are a total of 1 billion tokens available. It is designed to be deflationary, meaning that some tokens are periodically destroyed to reward miners and node owners. This helps stabilize the token’s value.
ICP tokens serve various purposes within the ICP network:
- Governance: Holders can stake their tokens to create Neurons and thus participate in network governance by voting on proposals and earning rewards.
- Canister fees: ICP tokens can be converted into Cycles, fixed-price units used to pay fees for using canisters (smart contracts) within the network. Cycles used are burned to prevent inflation.
- Rewards: Users who lock their ICP tokens can vote, and the network rewards them based on the number of tokens locked. Data centers also receive rewards for securing the network.
- Burning for Cycles: Excess ICP tokens can be burned to create Cycles, which are then used to run smart contracts on the network. This process helps regulate token supply and ensures the stability of network transactions.
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Render (RENDER)
Render Network (RNDR) is a decentralized global rendering platform designed to meet the growing demand for GPU computing power in next-generation media production. Render Network connects content creators who lack computing power with GPU providers who have excess computing power by utilizing unused GPU cycles. This project enables more efficient use of resources by putting underutilized GPUs to work and allows content creators to access affordable GPU resources for their projects.
Render Network distributes GPU-based rendering tasks across a peer-to-peer network. This simplifies the rendering and streaming process for virtual content and makes it easier for users to interact with immersive 3D environments, models, and objects. RNDR tokens incentivize nodes to provide excess computational power to the network. Use cases and applications of Render Network include visual effects and motion graphics, virtual assets and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), virtual production, projection mapping, product design, architecture, simulation, and visualization. Render Network also has new applications in augmented reality, gaming, and artificial intelligence.
Render Network was first launched on the Ethereum blockchain and was recently launched on the Solana blockchain. The eventual plan is to transition to the Solana blockchain. The blockchain layer manages payments. Here, public ledgers ensure transparency for all Creator-Node Operator interactions, and all parties (including the Foundation Team) can verify that all transactions are processed correctly and identify and correct them if necessary.
a) Key Features
Render Network aims to overcome the bottleneck surrounding computing infrastructure, where centralized GPU clouds cannot meet computing power demands, leading to high prices and lack of availability. Render Network connects individuals or organizations that need GPU power (called “Creators”) with those who have idle GPU resources (called “Node Operators”). Render Network transcends the limitations of centralized clouds by leasing idle GPU power to Creators or other protocols. Device owners worldwide can become Node Operators by dedicating their idle GPUs to Render Network and earn RNDR when their GPU power is used to complete a job. This means Creators and applications can easily obtain GPU power through this configuration to create high-resolution graphics or train an AI model, paying significantly lower fees than a centralized GPU cloud. It has also led to the Render Network becoming an important protocol to watch in both DePIN, which large studios use in their production workflows, and the AI field.
The Render Network operates as follows:
A blockchain network
Creators who generate tasks requiring GPU power
Node operators, who are GPU owners that allocate their idle GPUs to the network
OctaneRender, the engine used in the Render Network client
A multi-layered pricing protocol, and
Proof-of-Render, a consensus system that governs overall operations.
b) Technical Specifications
Creators who want to rent GPU power from the Render Network create a job. The job contains the details of the task, and the fee is determined based on the job’s parameters and the network’s resource availability.
Node Operators use OctaneRender, a rendering application developed by OTOY, the graphics development company behind the Render Network. To ensure the privacy and security of assets and Creators on the network, the system uses end-to-end encryption and hashing, among other measures. A multi-layered pricing protocol manages job allocation. It uses a reputation-based system to rank node operators and allows creators to choose from three pricing tiers. Tier 1 services are used by the project’s trusted partners. Creators seeking high-quality service can choose Tier 2. Tier 3 is the economical tier. Tier 1 services are managed by high-rated node operators and are typically executed faster. Once node operators begin processing the job, creators can track the progress of their work in real time using OctaneRender. High-rated node operators also receive more job assignments.
Render Network’s Proof-of-Render (POR) consensus algorithm coordinates the processing of jobs. Similar to how the Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm works, the node operator commits computing resources (GPUs) to process the task. However, here the task is a graphics processing task rather than a mathematical puzzle. When the task is delivered, the POR algorithm updates the node operator’s status, including changes to its reputation score based on the quality of the delivered task.
Cost efficiency: Traditional cloud rendering services can be expensive, especially for small studios or individual artists. Render’s decentralized approach reduces costs by utilizing idle GPU resources from various nodes across the network. This model allows creators to access high-quality rendering services at a much lower cost.
Accessibility: Render democratizes access to rendering power, making it available to a wider audience. Even those without expensive, high-end GPU hardware can access the computational power needed for their projects. This inclusivity encourages creativity and innovation across various fields.
Speed and scalability: Render can significantly speed up the rendering process by distributing rendering tasks across multiple nodes. This scalability increases productivity and enables projects to be completed faster by allowing large-scale projects requiring high computational power to be completed more efficiently.
Security and trust: Blockchain technology and smart contracts ensure that transactions on the Render network are secure and transparent. Both creators and node operators can trust that their contributions and payments are processed fairly and automatically, reducing the risk of fraud or disputes.
Film and animation: The film and animation industry requires significant computing power to create high-quality visual effects and animations. Render offers studios and independent filmmakers a faster and more cost-effective solution at , enabling them to produce stunning visuals without the high costs associated with traditional rendering services.
Gaming: Game development often involves creating complex in-game graphics and assets. Render’s decentralized network can accelerate the rendering process, enabling game developers to bring their visions to life faster and more efficiently. This speed is crucial in the fast-paced gaming industry, where timely release determines a game’s success.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR): VR and AR applications require immersive and interactive experiences that demand high-quality rendering. Render’s technology supports the development of these experiences, making it easier for creators to design and render realistic environments and objects.
Architecture and design: Architects and designers often need to create high-resolution 3D models and visualizations for their projects. Rendering provides a cost-effective and efficient way to produce these visualizations, helping professionals present their ideas to clients and stakeholders more effectively.
Possible Scenarios
Artificial Intelligence continues to evolve even after the initial wave of excitement has subsided. Speculation has ended, but projects continue to develop new features and services with AI agents. Two changes stand out:
First, AI is becoming fundamental infrastructure. It is no longer a separate sector but is being integrated as a core function of crypto projects. Blockchain data platforms are developing research agents to facilitate the discovery of complex on-chain data, and DeFi projects are adding agents to improve user access. Artificial intelligence will become the final-stage interfaces connecting users to the blockchain, rather than optional features.
Second, AI trading will grow. As artificial intelligences become standard, they will interact more with each other and with humans, and secure transaction protocols and trust mechanisms will become increasingly important. Projects like Virtuals Protocol’s ACP are laying the groundwork for this. These changes appear poised to simplify the complexity of crypto, enhance the user experience, and create new economic opportunities.
Disclaimer
The information, analysis, and opinions provided in this article are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence (AI) projects are subject to high market volatility, regulatory changes, and technological risks. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Readers should conduct their own research and consult with a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Darkex and the author assume no responsibility for any financial losses incurred from the use of this content.
