ThreeFold

“This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation.”

🔗ThreeFold in the News:

Why A Decentralized Internet Could Tackle Internet Poverty And Improve Data Protection (via International Business Times)

🔗Community Updates:

Read last week’s update on our validator programs to learn more about the engineering and deployment status of the L2 and L0 validators. The update also includes a new set of FAQs, e.g. on rewards and hardware requirements.

Influencer Your Friend Andy, who has about 75.7k subscribers on YouTube, announced ThreeFold as one of his next projects in this video.

Check out the ongoing podcast series about ThreeFold’s efforts towards building the Internet of Internets here!

🔗Technology Developments:

ThreeFold Grid V3.6.0 is live on testnet and available for public testing! Get the full update here and join our TF Grid Tester Group now!

🔗ThreeFold Grid:

There’s a new 3Node partner for North America on the Global 3Node Marketplace: Duck Farm Data – started by farmer and community member Nelson! Find out more in the official announcement.

We urge you to migrate your 3Nodes to V3 asap. Just follow the simple steps of the migration process.

If you ordered a Titan, please fill in your information for your 3Node to ensure quick delivery. Global Titan shipping continues.

Until next week, ThreeFolders! 🙌

If you’re a community member interested in sharing your story or being featured in ThreeFold content, please reach out!

You can find the previous editions on our blog. For older editions of ThreeFold Weekly (Vol 1-11), go to our forum.

“This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation.”

🔗Community Updates:

The team spent a few eventful days in Austin, Texas, to celebrate the festival of the decentralized world: Consensus by CoinDesk. Over four days, we met hundreds of people, re-engaged with partners, took part in several interviews with the press, and co-hosted a gathering to lay the foundation for a sovereign Regional Internet in Austin – by and for the people of the Austin community. Read the full recap here.

There’s a new episode available on our ThreeFold Podcast. Listen to Kyle and Weynand as they dive into everything from space to self-hosted data centers to the ownCloud partnership – you can listen to the episode here!

🔗Technology Developments:

Wondering what the team is working on in June? Well, it’s a lot – including many updates and new functionalities for the Planetary Network, TF Wallet, the ownCloud freemium experience, and more.

Also, check out this sneak peak on ThreeFold Grid V3.0.0 Alpha-7!

🔗ThreeFold Grid:

A new Grid Enhancement Proposal for Green Farming with 100% Renewable Energy was shared and is now open for voting. Make sure to participate – planet first, people first!

Global Titan shipping continues, so don’t forget to provide all information for your Titan order to ensure quick delivery.

Sending you positive vibes from Austin, ThreeFolders! 🙌

If you’re a community member interested in sharing your story or being featured in ThreeFold content, please reach out!

You can find the previous editions on our blog. For older editions of ThreeFold Weekly (Vol 1-11), go to our forum.

“This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation.”

🔗Major ThreeFold News:

ThreeFold and the Institute of Emerging Technologies of South Africa (IETSA) are partnering to expand the ThreeFold’s decentralized Internet infrastructure across South Africa, and to provide education in blockchain protocols and digital technologies. Learn more about this amazing collaboration here!

🔗Community updates:

The ThreeFold team and community are heading to Austin to celebrate the festival of the decentralized world: Consensus 2022 by CoinDesk. Meet the ThreeFold team at Booth 310 to connect, find resources that will empower you to get involved, and to learn about our gathering this Sunday!

Have you read our updated ThreeFold Litepaper? Dive right in and let us know what you think – especially with regards to the structure of the Internet of Internets!

A community-initiated poll on locking farming rewards is live. Leave your votes on questions around locking and the different parameters that could be applied.

Registered to become a validator? We’ll be sharing an update on next steps asap. If you have any specific questions please get in touch with @samtaggart on Telegram.

🔗Technology Developments:

Take a look at the ThreeFold Grid V3.0.0 Alpha-6 highlights and learn more about what the team is working on in June here!

🔗ThreeFold Grid:

Give this post a read to learn more about the TF Grid DAO, who can vote and what areas can be voted on, as well as to find more about Grid Guardians, solutions rewards, and more!

A Grid Enhancement Proposal on offering a 40% discount by default on Grid pricing is currently open for voting. Make sure to participate!

Another Grid Enhancement Proposal was started on Gold-Certified Farming Specs. Check out the suggested quality requirements and leave your vote!

Please migrate your 3Nodes to V3 asap. Simply follow the migration process.

If you ordered a Titan, please fill in your information for your 3Node to ensure quick delivery. Global Titan shipping continues.

See you next week, ThreeFolders! 🙌

You can find the previous editions on our blog. For older editions of ThreeFold Weekly (Vol 1-11), go to our forum.

“This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation.”

What started out as an idea for a better Internet about a decade ago has evolved into a global movement that’s building a decentralized, open and inclusive future through the Internet of Internets. The journey towards our ultimate vision of a better future for all is a big one, but can be divided into four digestible phases: creation, expansion, Web 4 and velocity.

🔗1 The Phase of Creation

For the past six years, we’ve been building up an incredible full-stack, open-source, decentralized Internet infrastructure, all from the ground-up. From creating our own decentralized operating system, to building a Quantum Safe Storage System, a complete far edge cloud computing platform and planetary peer-to-peer network all accessible via a unique Smart Contract for IT on the ThreeFold Blockchain, we’re proud to have the most complete edge infrastructure to power the next-generation Internet era. A new world is coming, and our technology has the potential to revolutionize digitization on a global scale, across sectors.

The creation phase was about developing the key tech components and an initial deployment of our infrastructure worldwide. The ThreeFold Grid is now live in its third generation and the stack is fully functional. As of today, people from all across the world have connected more than 3,000 nodes across +78 countries to create the world’s largest decentralized Internet infrastructure, and new capacity is being connected every day.

In addition to fully comprehensive decentralized edge cloud solutions, the ThreeFold ecosystem is also developing a range of applications and experiences across IoT, metaverse, blockchain, DeFi, banking, education and beyond.

The phase of creation is almost complete. The ThreeFold team is currently working on the Digital Twin solution that will allow the ecosystem to tap into Web 4 principles – a paradigm that overcomes the limitations of Web 2 and the inefficiencies of Web 3. By advancing our technology further, ThreeFold will be in a unique position to open new frontiers and support emerging global trends.

🔗2 The Phase of Expansion

The second phase is all about the growth of the ThreeFold Grid and connecting the dots. From individual farmers and farming cooperatives connecting Internet capacity independently to our global network, to building Community Clouds and Regional Internets for countries, various pathways to Grid growth have been established by the Internet of Internets concept.

The Internet of Internets will interconnect us all, while providing us with digital sovereignty, privacy and meaningful experiences. It focuses on incentivizing local communities to build their own resilient Community Clouds to support their city, town or village with the foundation to build their decentralized future.

Depending on their geographic proximity, Community Clouds will be able to form Regional Internets. Each Regional Internet will be equipped with their own blockchain, validators and liquidity providers as well as local digital experiences in order to remain independent from the rest of the world. In that sense, whatever would happen to the Internet infrastructure outside of the borders of that region would not affect local connectivity and digital economies.

Ultimately, Regional Internets will be interconnected by the ThreeFold Hub on a global level to create the Internet of Internets. This model is infinitely scalable. Instead of relying on one global network and blockchain, ThreeFold will allow for many independent and interoperable Internet infrastructures that support local communities with a platform to build their own blockchain, DeFi, metaverse, IoT, eCommerce solutions, and much more. Each layer has its own distinct purpose and enables seamless ecosystem-wide interactions.

With the Paradise Hills partnership as the first proof of concept for Community Clouds and our team working with governments in multiple countries, we’re following the glocal approach of applying the global Internet of Internets concept locally with regional context. With our growing community and ecosystem supporting us, and building new relationships, we’re well set to turn the Internet of Internets into reality in the upcoming years.

The phase of expansion will probably never end. ThreeFold is infinitely scalable, and there are many reasons to continue growing the ThreeFold Grid as it is best positioned to service the emerging demand for edge computing and sovereign Internet infrastructure for decades to come.

🔗3 The Phase of Web 4

In parallel with the expansion phase, the rollout of the Web 4 phase is expected to kick off later this year to re-imagine business, governance, finance, education and more in order to provide better alternatives for people, enterprises and governments. Essentially, the Internet of Internets is laying the foundational infrastructure, and Web 4 technology will open a world of new possibilities around peer-to-peer and self-sovereign systems.

The Web 4 phase will empower people to become 100% self-sovereign with a range of decentralized alternatives to Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Chrome, Zoom and much more.

A multitude of valuable and meaningful experiences are being built by the ThreeFold ecosystem and partners to empower people with equal chances to learn, create, and thrive in a decentralized digital economy – what we like to call an abundance-based future for humanity.

The key to all of this is ThreeFold’s open-source Digital Twin technology. It provides a unique digital identity that can serve as the key to an open, self-sovereign and complete digital future. The Digital Twin technology allows ThreeFold to flip the current centralized client-server model upside down, empowering people to become the masters of their own destiny. No more data being collected by servers and sold to third-parties – you become the center of your digital life. There will be more on Digital Twin and its potential to change everything coming very soon.

Along with strategic partnerships being formed across the four corners of the globe, the Web 4 phase will support the ThreeFold Foundation’s vision of providing access to a better Internet paradigm to a billion people by 2030.

🔗4 The Phase of Velocity

The rise of the Internet of Internets and the build-up of powerful experiences on Web 4 technology will bring the ecosystem to its fourth phase – Velocity. At that moment in time, it will be all about utilization, economic growth and the acceleration of our collective vision.

The ThreeFold tokenomics have been designed to support a decentralized Internet economy that incentivizes participants to host nodes, validate the blockchain and build applications on the ThreeFold Grid. The moment utilization kicks in at a large scale on Web 4, the ThreeFold Ecosystem will be ready to reach millions – and eventually, billions – of users through powerful digital experiences that provide a better alternative than today’s paradigm. As of today, 35% of ThreeFold Token transactions under Proof of Utilization are burned to create a deflationary economy. This will create additional value for the token ecosystem as it will reduce the circulating supply in relation to the increasing demand for ThreeFold’s infrastructure.

Simply put, the fourth phase will drive significant utilization of the ThreeFold Token and support in positioning it as the Bitcoin for Internet capacity. It will open up a decentralized Internet economy full of opportunities, empowerment and meaningful experiences for people all around the world.

🔗Bringing Abundance & Opportunity to the World

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.” – John Lennon

We’ve reached a pivotal moment in the evolution of ThreeFold to support our world in solving some of its greatest challenges. A complete and resilient Internet infrastructure owned by local communities is an essential way to build a circular and participatory economy. Considering that the Internet is the second largest and fastest growing economy in the world, the Internet of Internets represents a foundation for a decentralized and abundant world.

The Internet of Internets model supports ThreeFold in achieving its vision of providing Internet access to more than a billion people worldwide. And we believe that if we work together, we can connect all of humanity responsibly. Driven by our planet-first, people-first philosophy, the ThreeFold movement is shaping the world we want to live in and laying the foundation for an open, inclusive and abundance-based future.

The current phase of expansion is vital to turn our vision into reality and to fulfill our mission. Let’s build this world of opportunity and abundance together.

Join the ThreeFold movement now
Be the Internet
Help us realize our vision for a better future

The Internet of Internets is owned by the people.
It interconnects us all, directly, without any intermediaries.
We store our data in full sovereignty and privacy.
On top of it, we build valuable experiences, useful experiences.
Not to control. Not to polarize. Not to addict. Not to manipulate.
Rather to connect. To exchange. To share. To provide value for each other.
A circular economy, to benefit the collective and, as a result, each of us individually.
As believers in a better world who choose to act.

The Internet is the backbone for the Web, a global infrastructure that makes our digital experiences possible. It represents a network of billions of interconnected computers and other electronic devices, communicating with each other and carrying all of the online information and services that we use on a daily basis.

Hyperscale data centers owned and operated by big tech corporations make up the “housing” of the Internet today, where all of our digital information, services, and data reside. While these data centers are mainly located in North America, Europe, and parts of Asia, no matter where you live in the world, you rely on them to go about your daily digital life.

At first glance, you might not see any glaring issues here. After all, the Internet is one of humanity’s greatest achievements, and these data centers have until today made the Internet accessible to billions of people around the world.

Yet, this also means that for those of us who are connected, we depend on a few large tech corporations to act as the gatekeepers of the Internet. They own 80% of the infrastructure and most of the major online platforms, thus owning and capitalizing on our data and turning us all into products. And today, 3-4 billion people still remain unconnected, as these data centers are extremely expensive to build and difficult to maintain.

The current Internet paradigm is also highly unsustainable, requiring enormous amounts of energy to connect the digital world. We have no choice but to find more regenerative solutions to provide humanity with the tools and infrastructures needed to solve the world’s greatest challenges.

So, here we face a paradox. Today’s Internet would not exist in its current form if it were not for the centralized model. Yet, how can we continue down a path that has serious implications for humanity and our planet, while being incapable of scaling with emerging demand? Is there another viable solution?

It now exists. Welcome to the Internet of Internets.

🔗It starts locally, and ends globally

The Internet of Internets is owned by the people.
It interconnects us all, directly, without any intermediaries.
We store our data in full sovereignty and privacy.

Until today, people have been relegated to Internet “users,” or “clients” in a client-server model – either way, cogs in a big machine (the Internet) that ultimately benefits the few (big tech). But what if we reversed that model? We believe there should not be just one Internet, owned and operated by the few, rather a network of thousands of interconnected Internets, owned by and benefiting local communities.

The basis of this new model, community or neighborhood clouds. Essentially acting as a community-owned, decentralized alternative to building data centers, neighborhood clouds provide high-bandwidth capabilities for regional Internets. With high-quality hardware installations and optimized networking infrastructure, neighborhood clouds provide more efficiency and interoperability than any traditional data center setup.

Local enterprises and developers can now customize and scale their solutions in ways never before possible. And people living in and around these community clouds can utilize the capacity as they wish, all while taking full control of their own data and interconnecting without intermediaries. This allows for a completely decentralized and localized Internet by the people, for the people. The foundation of the Internet of Internets.

Community clouds in proximity connect directly with each other to form a network, what we call a regional Internet. These regional Internets have their own blockchains and can operate 100% independent from other regional Internets. A regional Internet starts with 99 founding fathers and mothers who deploy blockchain nodes, with integrated support for DeFi. Each regional Internet has its own ThreeFold Token, and differences in farming and cultivation models are possible depending on the decisions of the regional Internet’s DAO. Further, each regional Internet has its own DeFi pool to allow frictionless exchange between TFT and the regional TFT.

The ThreeFold Hub interconnects the Regional Internets to form the Internet of Internets. Secured by 100 L2 Validators, this is the home of the TFT and the base governance layer for ThreeFold. Here you can see a model which starts locally and scales forever. Each layer has a distinct purpose and allows the ecosystem to interact. And while being hierarchical, it’s still 100% peer-to-peer and decentralized. An Internet of Internets, by the people, for the people – safe, sovereign, and sustainable.

🔗A world of endless possibilities lives on top

On top of it, we build valuable experiences, useful experiences.
Not to control. Not to polarize. Not to addict. Not to manipulate.
Rather to connect. To exchange. To share. To provide value for each other.

The Internet of Internets empowers people to build their own Internet infrastructure. Along with building community-owned Internets, our ecosystem is reimagining education, business, governance and finance for a fairer, more inclusive and regenerative future. The Internet of Internets is opening up a new world of possibilities, and we’re just getting started.

The Internet of Internets provides a regenerative, safe and sovereign Internet infrastructure layer. It offers a secure, private, reliable and high-performing Internet experience. Moreover, it will include a set of experiences, solutions and knowledge that enable all people to equally learn, create, exchange, and thrive online.

With the Internet of Internets, we’re laying the foundation for a world built on abundance, rather than scarcity.

🔗The foundation for a better (digital) world

A circular economy, to benefit the collective and, as a result, each of us individually.
As believers in a better world who choose to act.

We strongly believe in the ThreeFold Law which states that any good you do will return to you threefold in this lifetime. By making our technology actionable, we energize a collective approach towards a single mission – empowering humanity while regenerating our planet.

The Internet of Internets provides a much-needed alternative to big tech that can bring the Internet to even the most remote places in the world in an ethical, sustainable and secure way. It starts locally and ends globally.

The Internet of Internets is based on an equality- and abundance-based paradigm to benefit and provide fair value exchange for the collective and each of us individually. We are driven by a planet-first, people-first philosophy that shapes the future we want to live in. Without our planet, we have nothing. And we believe people need a better system. One they can depend on. One that allows everyone to provide economic flow. One that gives them the opportunity to thrive. One that is able to empower local communities all over the world.

Together, we’re building our own future through the Internet of Internets – decentralized, open, inclusive, regenerative, and resilient.

Join the ThreeFold movement today and drive a new Internet era.
Learn how to be the Internet.
Help us connect the dots.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be diving deeper into the Internet of Internets model, to share more about the different layers, how they come together, and how you can get involved.

“This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation.”

🔗Community Updates:

On the UAE Tech Podcast, ThreeFold co-founder Weynand Kuijpers explains how Threefold works in simple terms and why an Internet by the people for the people is so important. Tune in here!

Give this conversation between Kyle Ellicott and Scott Yeager a read. The two cover a lot of topics – from Scott’s experience as a DIY farmer and his journey into ThreeFold to advice for fellow farmers.

Some of the team and members of the ThreeFold ecosystem finished two weeks of gatherings on the Nile to educate and evangelize. With new advocates for the ThreeFold movement (e.g. farmers, investors) by our side, we’ll continue to build a better future through the Internet of Internets.

We just launched our new ThreeFold Podcast. Listen to the first four episodes here!

If you’re a community member interested in sharing your story or being featured in ThreeFold content, please reach out.

Registered to become a validator? Follow the verification process asap to secure your spot.

🔗Technology Developments:

Curious about what the team has been up to in May? Check out the highlights shared in this update on ThreeFold Grid V3.0.0 Alpha-6!

🔗ThreeFold Grid:

To learn how to verify your 3Nodes’ payouts on Stellar Blockchain, read this post!

If you ordered a Titan but have not yet received it, please make sure you have created your V3 farm to ensure quick delivery. Global Titan shipping is ongoing in all regions! Our support team is available via threefold.io or on the ThreeFold Connect app with any questions.

And if you’re an existing farmer, we urge you to migrate 3Nodes to V3 asap. It just takes a few steps, the migration process is quite simple and fast.

Until next week, ThreeFolders! 🙌

You can find the previous editions on our blog. For older editions of ThreeFold Weekly (Vol 1-11), go to our forum.

“This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation.”

🔗Community updates:

Some of the team, investors, partners, and other contributors (new and old) are gathering on the Nile to help take ThreeFold to the next level. More precise developments and outcomes to be shared as soon as possible!

ThreeFold’s Sacha Obeegadoo appeared on Macro Visions by Mainstay Digital for an insightful conversation on ThreeFold’s vision and Internet infrastructure, the future of blockchain, digital sovereignty, and more.

Check out the ThreeFold Meme Gallery, some community members are creating and sharing fun memes. Enjoy!

Take a look at this cool investment ratio to compare different 3Node builds!

Registered to become a validator? Don’t forget to follow the verification process to secure your spot!

🔗Technology Developments:

In May, the engineering team is working on upgrades, new features and functionalities for Zero-OS, TF Chain, ThreeFold Wallet, and more. Dive into the highlights of TF Grid V3.0.0 Alpha-6 here!

A small group of community members are working on a weblet to deploy a Hydra node on the ThreeFold Grid. They’ve made incredible progress already and are proof of what a dedicated, talented community we have. Check out their work here!

🔗ThreeFold Grid:

An initiative to power 3Nodes exclusively with renewable energy is gaining momentum. Take a look at this post to learn more!

Please migrate your 3Nodes to V3 asap. Simply follow the migration process.

If you ordered a Titan, please fill in your information for your 3Node to ensure quick delivery. Global Titan shipping continues, though Europe is still facing some delays.

🔗ThreeFold Token:

After measuring the ThreeFold Token’s performance for five days, the InvestorsObserver gave the TFT a “bullish” rating for going up by 0.28% while the broader crypto market went down 9.83%. (ThreeFold believes in building strong technology that respects people and our planet and creates real value, and driving profit only as a result.)*

See you next week, ThreeFolders! 🙌

If you’re a community member interested in sharing your story or being featured in ThreeFold content, please reach out!

You can find the previous editions on our blog. For older editions of ThreeFold Weekly (Vol 1-11), go to our forum.

*(TFT is not an investment instrument and this is not investment advice, everyone is free to make their own choices.)

“This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation.”

It’s that time of the year when believers and builders of a decentralized tomorrow gather to celebrate the festival for the decentralized world. About 15,000 people will attend Consensus 2022 by CoinDesk from June 9 through June 12. Throughout the festival, key topics around decentralization, blockchain, crypto, Web 3 and the metaverse will be explored and discussed.

Why is ThreeFold attending Consensus? Excellent question. The ThreeFold community truly believes that collaboration, decentralization and peer-to-peer systems are the foundation for a better Internet, and subsequently, a better world. And together we are making that world a reality. But we need to grow and extend the community on the ground with the right people, dreamers who choose to act now.

As many consider Consensus the festival for the decentralized world, some questions linger:

How committed are the projects and participants to decentralization, and for what reasons? How far are they willing to go to bring that world to life?

It’s no secret that many projects in the space still rely on centralized infrastructure – at least to some degree. So, are they really delivering on their promise of decentralization?

🔗A decentralized world needs a decentralized foundation

I think we’ve already come to Consensus that decentralization has to start at the foundational level. See what I did there? The ThreeFold co-founders have more than 20 years of experience in setting world records in Internet storage and cloud automation technologies. With ThreeFold, they started from scratch to build a fully decentralized Internet infrastructure that’s peer-to-peer and open source. We’re realizing the promise of an Internet built and owned by the people, back to the vision of Web 1 through the implementation of Web 4 technology. For us, it’s obvious that we simply cannot build a fair and equal digital world on top of today’s old-world infrastructure which is owned by the few.

With our fair, inclusive and decentralized Internet infrastructure, we’re laying the foundation for a better world. Following our ethos of planet first – people second – profit (value) only as a result, we’re striving to regenerate our planet and to empower the collective – the many and not the few. By putting our planet and people first, we create real sustainable value. We believe that, together, we’re strong enough to build new regenerative systems powerful enough to enable anyone to have a sovereign, safer and more fulfilling life.

As of today, people from 77 countries are connecting thousands of computers (3Nodes) to the ThreeFold Grid – all contributing to ThreeFold’s open-source peer-to-peer Internet infrastructure. And any node or dApp, actually anything that can run on Linux, can run on top of the ThreeFold Grid in a truly decentralized way. With ThreeFold’s infrastructure and thriving ecosystem, there’s an abundance of potential and opportunities – really anything is possible.

🔗ThreeFold @Consensus

The ThreeFold team and community will soon gather at the Austin Convention Center, 500 E. Cesar Chavez Street, Austin. Meet the ThreeFold team at Exhibit Booth 310 not far from the Networking Lounge. We’ll be there throughout the entire exhibit to connect with participants, share the ThreeFold story and extend the community – Friday, June 10 through Saturday, June 11 from 9am until 6pm.

At our booth, you’ll be able to meet the team, see and hold a Titan 3Node, have the chance to win a free 3Node of your own, find resources that will empower you to get involved, and more.

ThreeFold will also host a gathering outside of the Convention Center. We will share more via our Telegram News Channel when the details are finalized, so stay tuned.

ThreeFold is more than an Internet. It is the foundation for a truly decentralized world. Are you ready to join the global ThreeFold movement?

Check out the full Consensus agenda and take advantage of our 25% discount code to buy tickets.

And don’t forget to let us know if you’ll be joining ThreeFold at Consensus – we’d love to connect with you!

With new devices being connected every day and emerging technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), the metaverse and Web 3 gaining popularity, the demand for Internet capacity is booming. Already, these developments are shifting the Internet’s “center of gravity” from its core to the edges in order to keep up with the growing demand. In an increasingly interconnected world, centralized cloud architectures are proving to be bottlenecks hindering future growth.

Here are some interesting numbers to emphasize the explosive growth of connected devices and the impending data explosion:

Back in 2018, 90% of global data creation took place within the two previous years.
In 2022, 4.95 billion people are using the Internet and about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created on a daily basis.
About 2 billion computers, 15 billion mobile devices and more than 22 billion IoT devices are active worldwide on a daily basis.
By 2025, more than 1 billion people and 75 billion IoT devices are expected to join the Internet.

And yet, the expansion of Internet capacity still largely occurs in the same centralized and inefficient way. The client-server model of hyperscale data centers is unable to meet this rapidly growing demand due to high building and operational costs to fulfill bandwidth, performance and cybersecurity requirements. As data centers are primarily built in the US, China and Europe, emerging countries have to be connected via sea cables which makes the model’s limitations particularly severe for these countries. And even in countries where many data centers are located, they are built in regions where land and electricity are as cheap as possible. Consequently, the bulk of data centers is still far away from where the majority of users and connected devices reside, and where huge amounts of data are generated that require processing – resulting in a weak distribution of Internet capacity.

About 175 Zettabytes of data will be created by 2025, as our economy becomes increasingly digital and data driven. And this amount of data needs to be captured, stored and activated in a secure, efficient and high-performing way. So, the aforementioned technological use cases will not only accelerate the demand for Internet capacity but also require edge capabilities, such as low latencies, in order to run and scale successfully. In fact, the centralized data center model poses one of the biggest obstacles to the success and spread of the Internet of Things and related applications. This will have to change. Actually, industry experts expect 75% of data to be processed outside of the traditional data center or cloud model by 2025.

🔗The rise of edge computing

Computing needs to be pushed from centralized data centers to the edge to support the massive data consumption coupled to the rise of connected devices and emerging technologies. For instance, as more and more home appliances and devices are getting interconnected through the IoT economy, the amount of real-time data generated within our homes on a daily basis is rapidly expanding. Edge computing tackles the shortcomings of the centralized model in terms of bandwidth, latency and autonomy. It enables applications and solutions to be hosted closer to where their data is being produced and consumed, thereby allowing for low latencies, rapid data processing and real-time decisions.

The industry analyst company IDC estimates the global spending on edge computing to increase by 14.8% compared to 2021 – amounting to roughly $176 billion in 2022. By 2025, this number is predicted to reach about $274 billion.

The idea of edge computing’s ability to process data on-site is simple enough. Nevertheless, edge computing fails to deliver on its promise as it still remains somewhat centralized today. Granted, so-called edge data centers are closer to where the data is being consumed than hyperscale data centers. But while they do provide an improvement from traditional data centers, they are not able to provide far-edge capabilities, i.e. moving as close to the user and point of data creation as possible. They are simply smaller types of data centers that are still operated in a centralized manner, require the same infrastructure elements as centralized data centers, and usually rely on bigger, central data centers. Quite edgy isn’t it?

As the need for Internet capacity – specifically at the edge – is rapidly intensifying, a new approach to Internet infrastructure is clearly needed. The Web 3 movement created a spur of interest across industries due to its promise to decentralize the Internet and cloud as we know it. Future data will be generated at the edge of the network and Internet which certainly requires an architectural shift away from the current model.

🔗Realizing an interconnected future

Ironically, decades after the spark of the open-source peer-to-peer Internet movement was steamrolled by large tech companies and governments eager to centralize the global Internet, we seem to enter an era of decentralization again. There’s no doubt that large tech companies did bring a lot of innovation to our global Internet and cloud stack. Technically though, peer-to-peer systems have always been the most scalable option. Moreover, open-source architectures have built a strong reputation for providing high levels of security and flexibility.

In a peer-to-peer model, people and devices are able to exchange directly, without intermediaries or servers in the middle – leading to a more energy-efficient, scalable and flexible paradigm that can expand on-demand. And undoubtedly, open-source will play a key role in edge computing by simplifying and enhancing the building and deployment of software at the edge.

By leveraging open-source and peer-to-peer technologies, ThreeFold has come up with an Internet infrastructure that is capable of far-edge computing. ThreeFold offers a powerful set of compute primitives that provide the agility to create and deploy containers, Virtual Machines (VMs) and Kubernetes environments at the edge. Having integrated all leading industry-standard tools, ThreeFold’s solution allows for a seamless migration of any digital workload, making ThreeFold the ideal infrastructure for edge workloads. And all data produced by these workloads can be stored in a way that is ultra safe, highly reliable and unbreakable. Combined with end-to-end encrypted peer-to-peer networking, applications can be hosted closer to where the data is being consumed – representing the ideal underlying layer for IoT networks, blockchain-based workloads and more to run and scale at the edge seamlessly, efficiently and privately.

The shift towards the edge is inevitable. ThreeFold is the first full-stack, decentralized, peer-to-peer Internet infrastructure in the world that combines compute in the form of highly-optimized containers, storage and network capacity in an all-in-one solution. With more than 81 Petabytes of capacity distributed across thousands of 3Nodes and 76 countries as well as plans to sponsor the expansion of the Internet to developing regions, ThreeFold is the foundation for a thriving interconnected future that is secure, borderless and at the edge.