Riding the stream: A review of the Theta coin and Theta Network

THETA, the governance token of the Theta Network ecosystem, was launched on January 17th, 2018. The project is being developed by Theta Labs, Inc. led by co-founders Mitch Liu and Jieyi Long.

Mitch Liu, who holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a Master's in Business Administration, is an experienced professional in gaming and streaming technology. He has four patents related to VR blockchain technology. On the other hand, Professor Jieyi Long is a scientist specializing in automation design and large-scale distributed systems. Theta Network has also enlisted the expertise of YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, Twitch co-founder Justin Kan, and other industry experts as advisors.

The creators of Theta Network position it as a next-generation blockchain designed for media and entertainment. The project's infrastructure allows partner video and media platforms to reduce content delivery costs by 50-70%, while also stimulating subscriber growth. Additionally, users have the opportunity to earn rewards by sharing their storage and/or computing bandwidth on their PCs, smartphones, Smart TVs, or IoT devices.

Theta is fully compatible with EVM and Ethereum smart contracts. The Theta network offers the ability to create NFTs, DEX/DeFi, and DAOs as building blocks for media and entertainment platforms. 

Its architecture consists of three components.

1. 20-30 Enterprise Validator nodes that propose and finalize new blocks, requiring a minimum stake of 1 million THETA. The Enterprise Validator pool reportedly includes Google, Blockchain Ventures, Samsung, Sony Europe, Binance, Gumi Cryptos, Creative Artists Agency, Theta Labs, and others.

2. 1000 Guardian Nodes, which oversee the transactions processed by Enterprise Validators and handle any malicious or non-functioning nodes. A stake of at least 1,000 THETA is required to participate in this role. 

3. Edge Nodes. The end-users who share their bandwidth and computing resources to relay video streams on the network.

Theta Network is a system that rewards its node operators with TFUEL, the operational token of the Theta protocol. Whether you're an Enterprise Validator, a Guardian Node, or an Edge Node, your earning potential is directly correlated to the amount of THETA you have staked and the performance of your node. In addition to earning rewards for your contributions, you also gain voting rights on protocol decisions and network updates.

Back in 2017, the Theta project raised $20 million through private sales of 300,000 THETA tokens (which accounted for 30% of the total supply) at a price of around $0.067 per token. 

The token allocation for the Theta project is as follows:

Theta Network has garnered support from strategic corporate investors, including Samsung NEXT, Sony Innovation Fund, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and Silicon Valley venture capitalists such as DCM and Sierra Ventures.