TPLAY Wins at Theta Hackathon: A New Era of Decentralized Video Sharing

In a significant announcement to the Streamr Network community, Mark Little has been appointed as the new CEO, marking a crucial phase in the project’s journey towards mainstream adoption. Over the past two years, Streamr has made notable progress, including the launch of its 1.0 Mainnet and the establishment of strategic partnerships aimed at enhancing protocol adoption. However, Little acknowledges that the network has not yet achieved the desired volume of data flow, a challenge faced by many Web3 infrastructure projects. To address this, the focus will shift to the application layer, aiming to attract a larger user base and enhance the overall utility of the technology. Little highlighted the potential of live video streaming, referencing previous explorations through the Subcast project, which were ultimately set aside due to commercial challenges. However, with the MVP1 of StreamrTV now live and receiving positive feedback, the Streamr Council believes that prioritizing live video streaming could lead to significant adoption. Current market players like X Spaces, Zoom, and Twitch are criticized for their suboptimal user experiences, particularly in terms of security, privacy, and censorship resistance—areas where decentralized technology excels. Streamr aims to leverage its core technology to create superior solutions while addressing the Web3 user experience problem. To accelerate progress, Little has announced the appointment of Petri Savolainen as CTO, who brings extensive expertise in peer-to-peer and video streaming technologies. This leadership change is part of a broader initiative to foster a leaner, more focused start-up culture within the team. Little expressed gratitude towards former team members Matthew Fontana and Eric Andrews for their contributions, wishing them well in their future endeavors. He invites the community to engage with the team during the fortnightly Build in Public sessions, emphasizing the importance of collaboration in achieving product-market fit and driving the project forward.

TAO Synergies, a prominent digital asset treasury focused on the Bittensor (TAO) ecosystem, has successfully raised $11 million through a private placement financing round. This funding round attracted both existing investors, including digital asset strategy advisor James Altucher, and new investor Digital Currency Group (DCG), a significant player in the crypto investment space. The capital raised will be utilized to enhance TAO Synergies' investments in TAO tokens, thereby increasing its potential for revenue generation within the decentralized AI (DeAI) framework powered by Bittensor. Altucher expressed strong optimism regarding the Bittensor network, highlighting its potential to become a leading source of AI innovation and value creation in the near future. The financing involved the issuance of 11,000 shares of Series E convertible preferred stock, priced at $1,000 each, which can be converted into common stock at $8 per share. Additionally, the deal includes five-year warrants for purchasing more common stock at the same exercise price, indicating investor confidence in TAO Synergies' growth trajectory. The participation of DCG in this financing round signals a growing institutional interest in the intersection of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence, reinforcing the strategic importance of this investment. Bittensor operates as a permissionless system designed to reward contributors who enhance AI systems, with participants receiving TAO tokens for their valuable inputs. This open-source platform fosters the collaborative development of AI alongside blockchain technology. TAO Synergies, evolving from its previous focus as biotech company Synaptogenix, now positions itself as an AI-native digital treasury, mirroring the strategies of other crypto treasuries like MicroStrategy in Bitcoin. The positive investor response to this news has led to a 38% surge in TAO Synergies' share price, reaffirming confidence in the innovative potential of the Bittensor ecosystem in decentralized intelligence.

The Streamr Network has introduced the AutoStaker plugin, a significant advancement aimed at simplifying the staking process for operators. This new feature automates staking decisions, allowing operators to focus on managing their nodes rather than manually monitoring sponsorship opportunities. By automatically discovering and staking into new sponsorships, the AutoStaker enhances the efficiency of the network, ensuring that operators can capitalize on high-yield opportunities without the risk of overlooking them due to manual oversight. The plugin is available starting from Streamr Node version 103.1.0. The AutoStaker operates seamlessly within operator nodes, scanning for available sponsorships and allocating stakes based on configurable parameters. It prioritizes the DATA/day emission rate of sponsorships, which helps in minimizing gas costs and avoiding excessive competition among operators. The plugin also periodically rebalances stakes to maintain optimal allocations across various opportunities. Operators need to enable the AutoStaker, assign staking agent roles to their nodes, and configure the plugin according to their fleet's needs to get started. This streamlined approach allows for a more responsive network and better overall performance. Looking ahead, the AutoStaker is poised to become a foundational tool for dynamic and automated sponsorships within the Streamr Network. Future developments may include enhancements that support live video streams, taking into account bandwidth and CPU requirements before staking. As operators are incentivized to support these broadcasts, the AutoStaker will not only maximize APY but also contribute to the overall robustness of the network. By adopting the AutoStaker, operators can ensure their competitiveness and efficiency in the rapidly evolving landscape of decentralized data streaming.

In the third quarter of 2024, IoTeX has marked significant achievements within the rapidly growing DePIN sector, further establishing its leadership in the ecosystem. The launch of IoTeX 2.0 stands out as a pivotal moment, introducing a modular infrastructure that supports verifiable DePIN data. This upgrade is designed to facilitate the development of DePIN projects, making it easier for developers to build and scale their solutions. Alongside this, IoTeX has formed strategic partnerships with major industry players like OKX, Solana, and Polygon, enhancing its visibility and collaborative potential in the blockchain space. Following a successful $50 million funding round in Q2, the network has seen a surge in user engagement, with over 218 projects now built on the IoTeX platform, including 51 dedicated to DePIN. The IoTeX network's on-chain activity has also experienced remarkable growth, with daily transactions reaching 26,100, a 107% increase from the previous quarter. The ecosystem supports over 100 tokens and boasts more than 100,000 monthly active users. The rise in staking activity is notable, with over 3.8 billion $IOTX staked, representing approximately 41% of the circulating supply. Additionally, the DePINscan platform has registered over 280 DePIN projects and 18 million devices, solidifying its role as a key data aggregation tool in the industry. Looking ahead, IoTeX is set to launch several innovative products, including ioID and W3bstream, which aim to enhance the verifiability of DePIN devices and provide zero-knowledge proofs for developers. The upcoming Get GOATed Season 2 event is expected to attract even more community members, with substantial rewards on offer. As IoTeX continues to expand its ecosystem and partnerships, it is poised to play a crucial role in the future of decentralized infrastructure and real-world applications in the blockchain space.

Akash, a decentralized compute project founded by Greg Osuri, has announced plans to deprecate its current Cosmos SDK-based chain and migrate to a new network that can better secure its operations. This decision marks the beginning of a public evaluation process for potential candidates both within and outside the Cosmos ecosystem. While the specific destination chain has not yet been disclosed, Osuri emphasized the importance of strong security, a vibrant community, deep liquidity, and growth potential in selecting the new home for Akash, which will maintain IBC compatibility. Originally launched as a Cosmos appchain, Akash operates a decentralized marketplace that connects AI and cloud buyers with independent providers of GPU and compute capacity. The recent Mainnet 6 upgrade introduced Nvidia GPUs, allowing users to benefit from lower costs compared to traditional centralized cloud services. Osuri also reassured users regarding staking concerns, indicating that while staking may appear to be disappearing, it is actually evolving into a more advanced model. He mentioned that Solana is a strong contender for Akash's new network, but the team will be cautious in making their final decision. This shift to a new base-layer represents a significant architectural change for a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN). Osuri's criteria for the migration reflect a broader search for scalable solutions as demand for AI compute rises. The Block's data indicates that DePIN is becoming a multi-billion-dollar asset class, with web3 cloud and AI compute identified as leading segments. However, challenges such as hardware access, network scalability, and regulatory uncertainties remain. The Akash team has not set a timeline for the migration, but they plan to engage the community in an open discussion about the trade-offs involved in the decision-making process.

Grayscale, a leading digital asset manager, has made a significant move in the cryptocurrency space by filing Form 10 with the SEC for its Bittensor Trust ($TAO). This filing marks the initial step toward becoming a reporting company under U.S. securities law, which could potentially reduce private placement holding periods from 12 months to 6 months. If successful, this would facilitate public trading on OTC markets and bolster institutional confidence in AI-driven crypto assets, paving the way for broader adoption of Bittensor’s decentralized AI network. The announcement was made via Grayscale's official X account, emphasizing the importance of increased accessibility, transparency, and regulatory standing. Should the SEC approve the Form 10, the Bittensor Trust will be required to file quarterly, annual, and current reports, similar to public companies. This level of transparency is expected to enhance investor trust in $TAO, the native token of Bittensor, which incentivizes AI model contributions through cryptocurrency. Grayscale's intent to seek public quotation of Bittensor Trust shares on OTC Markets further indicates its commitment to regulatory compliance and market legitimacy. The timing of this filing is particularly strategic, as AI-related tokens have seen significant growth, attracting both speculative and institutional interest. Bittensor operates as a decentralized AI marketplace, allowing developers to train models and earn $TAO based on performance. The trust provides institutional investors with a regulated investment vehicle to gain exposure to AI infrastructure without the complexities of managing data centers. Following the announcement, $TAO experienced a surge in trading volume, with analysts predicting continued bullish momentum as Grayscale's compliance efforts progress, potentially leading to increased liquidity and market activity for the token.