Reflecting on 2024: A Year of Growth and Innovation for Crust Network

Crust Network
CrustNetwork

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As we close the chapter on 2024, we want to express our deepest gratitude to the Crust community. Your unwavering support has empowered us to achieve significant milestones and advance our mission in decentralized storage. Together, we’ve accomplished so much this year, and we look forward to an even brighter future in 2025. Wishing all our community members a Happy New Year filled with success and happiness!

Mainnet Achievements

This year, Crust Network reached remarkable new heights in decentralized storage. The network now hosts over 3.11 million files, a testament to its growing adoption and trust within the Web3 ecosystem.

On the infrastructure side, Crust maintained a stable node count of 1500+, with a total storage capacity exceeding 700 PB. These numbers underscore the network’s immense potential to support a wide range of high-volume storage needs, setting the stage for expanding our services in 2025.

Data Sources: Crust Subscan Storage

Additionally, we relaunched our Community Gateway Recruitment Program this year. The initiative is specifically focused on recruiting gateways from the US and Europe. To incentivize participation, gateway providers in these regions are eligible for extra CRU rewards. Learn more about the program here: https://medium.com/crustnetwork/crust-gateway-collection-program-season-2-22d2434b5d5f.

Technical Developments

1. Launching EthDA
This year, we unveiled EthDA, a groundbreaking Data Availability (DA) network native to the Polygon CDK. This marks a significant step forward in delivering seamless DA services to support the aggregated growth of Ethereum Layer 2 solutions.

The EthDA Devnet has successfully integrated support for Polygon zkEVM, making Polygon the first ecosystem EthDA supports. The following contracts are now live on the Devnet:

  • CDKValidium: 0x6af6A2F1ed424097b29609CC0dD12e4812155295
  • PolygonZkEVMBridge: 0x1d981B754EF5daA27AB0Be566a3F052c3E020186
  • PolygonZkEVMGlobalExitRoot: 0x54af4E46E26feAb73f9089583fF4D79a31C243eC
  • CDKDataCommittee: 0xf35Cd7211737792D14BC6D2A992714C71C21C6D3

For a comprehensive overview: Introducing EthDA

2. Strategic Adjustments for EthDA
While EthDA remains an integral part of Crust’s product offerings, we have reevaluated its positioning to better align with market demand and technical developments. The team is currently working to integrate EthDA into Crust’s existing components, optimizing resource allocation and reducing redundancy. Moving forward, we will adjust EthDA’s development strategy and mainnet launch timeline based on evolving market conditions.

3. Enhancing Crust Ecosystem Products

  • Crust Files: Now supporting 70,000+ users, Crust Files ensures accessible decentralized storage. Users can experience the service for free via Crust Wallet. Explore it here: Crust Files.
  • Crust Cloud: Expanded to support Arbitrum, Base, Ethereum, Optimism, and Algorand. We introduced a limited-time offer on Base: 1GB W3Bucket for just $1. Users can also trade their W3Bucket NFTs on OpenSea and transfer them via MetaMask. Check it out: Crust Cloud.
  • IPFS Scan: A crucial tool for the IPFS ecosystem, enabling users to instantly verify file backup details, node information, and storage status by simply entering a CID. Discover it here: IPFS Scan.

4. Contributions to the Ethereum Ecosystem
Crust’s technical team contributed to EIP-7588 and EIP-5625, both of which have been officially approved by the Ethereum community.

EIP-7588 introduces a standard for attaching metadata to blobs carried by blob transactions, as outlined in EIP-4844. The metadata is represented as a JSON object adhering to a predefined schema, and its string representation is placed in the data field of the blob transaction.

EIP-5625 extends the NFT metadata JSON schema defined in EIP-721 and EIP-1155, adding a dStorage key that provides information about how the NFT data is stored.

https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7588

https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-5625

5. Network Optimizations
This year, Crust implemented significant optimizations to its network infrastructure:

  • Improved Efficiency: Database read/write operations were reduced by 97%, significantly enhancing system performance.
  • Enhanced Scalability: Lower computational costs enable the network to accommodate more nodes and users.
  • Faster Rewards: Miners now receive rewards within 1 day, compared to the previous 3-month cycle.

For more details on these advancements: System Optimizations.

Over the years, Crust has strategically expanded beyond the Polkadot ecosystem, extending its support to a diverse range of Ethereum Layer 2 solutions such as Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, Base, and Zksync. Through the deployment of the EthDA protocol, Crust incorporates advanced innovations like EIP-4844 to deliver efficient data availability, effectively mitigating high gas fees and potential congestion challenges on Ethereum.

Looking ahead, Crust is preparing to launch a dedicated storage protocol and a suite of tools specifically designed for the TON ecosystem. These initiatives align with Crust’s overarching mission to deliver robust decentralized storage solutions tailored to the unique requirements of various blockchain ecosystems.

These advancements highlight Crust’s commitment to pioneering multi-faceted storage solutions that address the evolving demands of the decentralized web. As Crust continues to innovate and expand, it remains steadfast in its goal to become the foundational infrastructure for decentralized storage — delivering scalable, efficient, and versatile solutions to power the ever-expanding Web3 landscape.

Ecosystem Collaborations

In 2024, Crust formed partnerships with over 200 projects, many of which integrated Crust as their storage solution. These partnerships have further solidified Crust’s reputation as a foundational decentralized storage provider.

Highlights include collaborations with Movement Labs, Blast, Base, and TON. Through Crust’s EVM Storage, users can seamlessly store files on public chains with minimal fees, expanding accessibility and adoption.

Within the Polkadot ecosystem, Crust provided liquidity through the Hydration Omnipool, hosted joint events with Phala, Kilt, and Apillon, and established XCMP channels with Moonbeam and Bifrost.

Crust collaborated with the $pink community to host multiple community-focused airdrop events, fostering engagement and rewarding participants. Additionally, Crust played an active role in the Polkadot 2024 Bangkok Hackathon, not only participating but also serving as a judge for the competition, contributing expertise and insights to the event.

In Hong Kong, Crust organized and hosted a successful Polkadot & Friends offline event, bringing together blockchain enthusiasts, developers, and ecosystem partners to share ideas, strengthen connections, and discuss the future of the Polkadot ecosystem. These initiatives highlight Crust’s dedication to community building and its commitment to supporting the broader Web3 landscape.

Crust actively participated in the Polkadot Challenges for the “180 Days of Polkadot” campaign, designed by EasyA App, to engage with developers and introduce innovative ways to build on Crust.

To further support the Polkadot ecosystem, Crust joined the Hydration Omnipool, providing liquidity for Polkadot ecosystem trading pairs, thereby enhancing market efficiency and accessibility. These efforts underline Crust’s dedication to fostering innovation and community growth within the Polkadot network.

In the Algorand ecosystem, Crust established three key partnerships this year, showcasing how decentralized storage can empower diverse use cases and projects. These collaborations highlight Crust’s capability to seamlessly integrate with Algorand ecosystem and its commitment to driving innovation.

  1. Wendotools: Enabled no-code NFT creation with decentralized and permanent NFT storage, providing a smooth and efficient minting experience.
  2. GoPlausible: Focused on maximizing decentralization, permanence, and accessibility for NFTs, DIDs and Verifiable Credentials, leveraging Crust’s infrastructure for secure and reliable storage.
  3. Appwecoop: Implemented decentralized IPFS pinning for media content such as pictures and videos, providing efficient and reliable storage solutions for creators.

These successful integrations underline Crust’s value as a fully decentralized storage protocol that is natively accessible to all builders and users in the Algorand ecosystem.

Looking ahead to 2025, we are confident that these partnerships are just the beginning, and we anticipate even more collaborations and innovations within the Algorand ecosystem. Together, we are shaping the future of decentralized storage.

As a foundational storage infrastructure, Crust primarily collaborates with infrastructure-focused projects, delivering decentralized storage solutions to enhance the functionality and scalability of Web3 ecosystems.

In the Messari 2024 DePIN Report, the categorization of DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) has expanded, reflecting the growing diversity within the sector. Crust’s contributions align with several DePIN sub-sectors, including:

  • Decentralized Gaming Infrastructure (DeGIN) — Compute Network
  • AI Data Layer — Bandwidth Network
  • Robotics — Mobility Network
  • Manufacturing — Mobility Network

This classification underscores Crust’s relevance in the broader blockchain narrative. Notably, AI and DePIN have also emerged as distinct categories in recent Coinbase and Arbitrum ecosystem reports, with Crust prominently featured as a significant player in both.

The rapid growth of DePIN further validates its potential, with fundraising volumes up 296% year-over-year and the total market cap surging by 400% to $20 billion. This momentum presents a compelling opportunity for Crust to focus on the AI Data Layer, a sector we aim to support more extensively in 2025.

The intersection of Crypto and AI can be segmented into several critical layers:

  1. Compute — Networks providing latent GPU resources for AI developers.
  2. Data — Networks enabling decentralized access, orchestration, and verifiability of AI data pipelines.
  3. Middleware — Platforms facilitating the development, deployment, and hosting of AI models or agents.
  4. Applications — End-user products (B2B or B2C) leveraging on-chain AI mechanisms.

Coinbase Ventures highlights the significant potential in these areas, and Crust is strategically positioned to advance its role within this landscape.

Crust has established partnerships with SightAI and Phoenix, further solidifying its position in the intersection of decentralized storage and AI. Collaborations with other AI-focused projects, such as Olas Network, are ongoing. These partnerships demonstrate Crust’s commitment to supporting innovative AI initiatives and advancing the integration of decentralized storage solutions within the AI ecosystem.

To further strengthen our ecosystem, Crust has also joined IoTeX’s DePIN Liquidity Hub, a collaboration designed to enhance liquidity, extend our reach, and accelerate growth across the decentralized infrastructure space. These efforts position Crust as a key enabler for the evolving DePIN narrative, ensuring robust support for a wide range of blockchain-powered applications.

Community Growth

This year, the Crust community saw substantial growth:

  • Twitter: Followers exceeded 125,000, with an average monthly reach of 200,000+.
  • Community Reward Program: Hosted engaging events like the AI Video Contest, AI Music Contest, Meme contest, etc. which brought exciting new content and visibility to the Crust community. Every month, over 200 members participated in our Sprint initiatives, with 100+ members completing at least 10 tasks each, demonstrating strong engagement and commitment.
  • Crust has proudly sponsored ChainSpace’s offline meetup series in Africa for the past four months, actively contributing to the growth of the African offline community. At this event, our OCP member delivered an insightful educational series to the Crust community, enriching our knowledge-sharing culture.
  • Looking ahead to the end of this year, Crust is excited to launch a new round of recruitment for our Open Community Program (OCP), welcoming exceptional new members to join and help lead the growth of the Crust community.
  • Crust also hosts monthly community calls on Telegram, providing an interactive space for discussions and updates. For additional content, be sure to check out our YouTube channel: @Crustnetwork.
  • The Crust community, driven by our passionate ambassadors, is rapidly expanding worldwide. This year, Crust hosted offline meetups in key global cities including Hong Kong, Brazil, the United States, Thailand and more. Crust also participated in major industry events such as ETHDenver, Sub0, Devcon, Consensus, Web3 Festival and met new friends in Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Japan, Dubai, Mexico and Los Angeles. The global growth of our community reflects the strong and expanding presence of Crust across the globe.

Looking Ahead to 2025

In the past year, Crust has made significant strides in enhancing network quality and optimizing the stability of its existing products. Additionally, we introduced EthDA, a new protocol that aligns with Crust’s narrative of Data Layer Infrastructure — encompassing Data Storage, Data Availability, and Data Intelligence. This foundational vision continues to guide Crust’s direction into 2025 and beyond.

Deepening Focus on DePIN

Crust is committed to furthering its contributions to the DePIN sector. DePINs transform traditional infrastructure, such as energy grids, transportation systems, and communication networks, by making them more accessible, efficient, and resilient.

Unlike centralized systems controlled by single entities, DePINs leverage blockchain technology to create distributed systems, empowering individuals rather than large corporations to control essential infrastructure like electricity, internet access, and data storage. This decentralized approach ensures:

  • Accessibility: Services remain available to all, even during disruptions or crises.
  • Innovation: A competitive environment fosters cost reduction and diverse offerings.
  • Adaptability: The removal of upfront investments and bureaucratic delays enables faster deployment and local customization.

Cloud and storage networks are pivotal components of the DePIN sector, with experts predicting they will dominate the DePIN narrative in 2025. Messari’s “DePIN Storage Wars” report emphasizes the economic feasibility and potential of decentralized networks, describing them as the “Airbnb for digital storage”. If decentralized networks capture even 10% of the cloud market, the impact could be transformative.

This bullish sentiment stems from the growing demand for storage solutions driven by AI and Big Data industries. Tokenization further accelerates this trend by allowing globally distributed individuals to collectively bootstrap networks in a permissionless and trustless manner. These networks incentivize participants with tokens, creating a virtuous cycle of supply and demand that sustains long-term growth.

In 2025, Crust plans to innovate in ways that expand its user base and network accessibility. A key focus is on developing lightweight storage nodes — compact devices integrated with Crust’s storage services. These devices will enable users to become active participants in the network with minimal barriers, turning small devices into functional nodes that further decentralize the Crust Network.

This approach will also foster collaborations with other DePIN projects, expanding Crust’s user base and achieving true zero-barrier access, allowing anyone to join the Crust ecosystem effortlessly.

Returning to Crust’s original vision: enabling developers to build P2P content delivery network (CDN) services using the Crust/IPFS Network. Crust incentivizes nodes to act as CDN edge nodes, accelerating data transmission for users. As demand for media, networking, and communication services grows, Crust’s infrastructure will play a critical role in meeting these increasing needs.

To support this vision, Crust remains dedicated to providing substantial funding to fuel the growth of its network and ecosystem. This includes financing new initiatives and projects that deliver tangible benefits to the community.

Additional incentives will also be offered to contributors, such as storage providers and developers who innovate within the Crust Network. By fostering a robust and inclusive ecosystem, Crust aims to empower users and partners to drive the next wave of decentralized infrastructure adoption.

With these initiatives, Crust Network continues to lead the way in decentralized storage, staying at the forefront of innovation and providing scalable, efficient, and accessible solutions for the ever-evolving Web3 landscape.

Looking ahead to 2025, Crust aims to empower even more developers and projects with scalable, efficient, and decentralized storage solutions, unlocking new possibilities for innovation. With the rapid growth of Web3 and decentralized ecosystems, we believe that Crust’s role as a foundational infrastructure will continue to expand. Here’s to another year of breakthroughs, partnerships, and building a stronger decentralized future together!

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Crust Network
Crust Network

Written by Crust Network

Crust Network is a decentralized cloud storage provider which was designed to realize our three core values: decentralization, privacy, and assurance.

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