Streamr Announces the Start of Testnet 2 for the Decentralized Streamr Network 1.0

[PRESS RELEASE – Zug, Switzerland, December 21st, 2023]

After the successful launch of Testnet 1, paving the way for the upcoming Streamr Network 1.0 milestone, Streamr is excited to announce the start of Testnet 2! This second incentivized testnet, starting on 21st December and concluding on 8th January 2024, will see a reward pool of 1.5 million DATA tokens (approx. $104k USD as of 21/12/24) available for node Operators to bootstrap a next-generation decentralized data broadcast network.

Key dates and rewards

• Testnet 1 (completed): 5th December – 12th December (Reward Pool: 1 Million DATA ($69k))
• Testnet 2: 21st December – 8th January (Reward Pool: 1.5 Million DATA ($104k))
• Testnet 3: 15th January – 29th January (Reward Pool: 2.5 Million DATA ($173k))
• Streamr 1.0 Official Release: February 2024

How to participate in Testnet 2

As with Testnet 1, to earn a share of the DATA rewards, participants will either need to download the latest version of the Streamr Node and become an Operator, or simply delegate their DATA tokens to a reliable Operator.

An Operator’s nodes follow the protocol rule of properly forwarding messages to other connected nodes with good uptime and sufficient hardware resources to handle the traffic of the available incentivized streams. Delegators support these operations by providing liquidity in the form of DATA tokens.

Stream Sponsorships are smart contracts that release funds over time to Operators (node runners). This system mirrors service level agreements (SLAs) in traditional networks, ensuring reliable data distribution. The amount of DATA tokens the Operator stakes on the Sponsorship determines the size of their share of the token flow.

Read more on how the various roles fit together in this blog.

Testnet 2 details

Testnet 2 will be funded with 1.5 million DATA tokens ($104k). These stream Sponsorships will run until the end of Testnet 2, which finishes on 8th January 2024. Node Operator penalties will stay at the same low level as in Testnet 1.

Next-gen use cases to unlock in 1.0

The 1.0 milestone marks the culmination of the 2017 roadmap, unlocking the peer-to-peer market forces between Sponsors and Operators so that distribution is paid for with the currency of the Streamr Network—DATA. This makes the Network fully decentralized, production-ready, and paves the way for the team to explore some exciting new use cases:

DePIN

The 1.0 release will make the Streamr Network better positioned to enhance the data broadcasting capability of Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePINs). As DePINs move away from centralized data centers towards a network of individual contributors, the Streamr Network’s serverless, secure, and scalable design shows promise to align and offer a platform that helps DePINs to progressively decentralize their tech stack.

Decentralized AI

Streamr also has the potential to serve as a neutral data layer, providing AI with reliable, tamperproof access to real-time data streams. This is crucial for AI reliability, development and ensuring transparency and safety in AI operations. The Streamr Network might further be deployed in communication and coordination between AI Models. These models could gather and share real-time insights amongst each other to level up their collective intelligence. There’s a lot to be explored, and with concerns about the future dangers of AI, verifiable communication through neutral and decentralized networks such as Streamr show promise to contribute towards the mainstream adoption of AI in our everyday lives.

Decentralized video streaming

Behind closed doors (for now at least) Streams has been testing the scalability and stability of decentralized live video feeds. Live video streaming with a P2P protocol such as Streamr may offer a path to eliminate the need for centralized intermediaries used today to distribute content around the world. The Streamr protocol allows the live video feed consumers to become the video feed’s distribution pipeline, which could make for a more efficient, greener and scalable distribution mechanism.

Earlier this year Streamr streamed the MapMetrics bitcoin live feed directly from YouTube. The team promises to have more to share on this track in the coming weeks.

Get started with Testnet 2

Streamr invites users to join this journey towards a fully decentralized data economy. Users can prepare nodes to claim a share of the remaining 5 million DATA tokens and be a part of the future of decentralized real-time data.

For support, feedback, and updates, users can join the Streamr Discord community, focusing on the #⁠testnet-general and #testnet-announcements channels.

About Streamr

Streamr is building the real-time data protocol of the decentralized web. This includes a scalable, low-latency and secure P2P Network for data broadcasting, delivery, and exchange. As part of the vision, Streamr has built The Hub—a dApp that champions open data to help DePin, AI, and Web3 builders decentralize their tech stack with real time data flows. The Streamr project was started by real-time data veterans with backgrounds in algorithmic trading and finance markets.