NFT Torrent: Launching a New Era of File Storage
Xeenon | Twitter | Discord | Graviton
NFTs: So much more than metadata
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) comprise any digital work, including, but not limited to: art, videos, digital wearables, event tickets, virtual land, domain names, and other media. Though most NFTs are not the work itself, only metadata of the work — i.e., information about the NFT including name, description, and attributes, plus instructions on how to locate the file — as it’s expensive to store images, videos, and other media files on the blockchain. Nine percent of actual NFT assets are stored directly on chain, 55% are on private servers, and 36% are on IPFS (Interplanetary File System).* On-chain storage is inefficient and expensive, private servers are centralized and therefore subject to a single point of failure, and IPFS content can disappear when users stop paying to ‘pin’ (or host) it on the network. This means that NFT investors, traders, and collectors can easily lose access to the NFT media files they thought they had paid for.
That’s why we built NFT Torrent.
What is NFT Torrent?
NFT Torrent is a free, decentralized storage solution for NFTs. We have leveraged the underlying technology BitTorrent, the most popular peer-to-peer file-sharing and storage system in the world, to give NFT artists and creators the power to ensure their minted NFT digital works will always be accessible alongside their metadata without centralized storage.
Key torrent terms
- Seeder: Seeders are those sharing one or more tNFTs.
- Seed: A seed is a complete torrent file that others can download.
- Peer: Peers are those downloading one or more tNFTs.
- Tracker: Trackers monitor NFT seeders and help seeders and peers find each other.
- Client: A client is the application or web service used to access the network.
- Magnet link: A link -similar to a URL- to instructions required for a client to locate the torrent file.
- tNFTs: tNFTs are NFTs with a connected torrented media file.
Distributing tNFTs
To ensure NFT media files remain accessible, users always create a torrent file from the metadata’s corresponding media file when they mint an NFT or NFT collection on our app. To mint a tNFT or a tNFT collection, go to: https://app.graviton.xyz/torrent/mint and follow the instructions. A corresponding magnet link is automatically generated for the underlying media of all NFTs minted inside NFT Torrent. Users can also specify how much of the NFT royalties will be paid as a reward to those sharing the torrent file on the network.
Accessing tNFTs
Once uploaded, the torrent data can be accessed from more than one server. When a tNFT is accessed, peers download the torrent file in separate bits from multiple seeders who are actively sharing it until they’ve downloaded the entire file.
Security of NFT Torrents
Wait, so anyone can steal NFTs with NFT torrent?
No, NFT Torrent is about building a robust network to distribute the media where each NFT is stored. When you mint an NFT with NFT Torrent, a unique NFT magnet link to the original media file is stored and paired with the NFT metadata on-chain; consequently, the media file cannot disappear.
Incentives and rewards
Anyone can be a seeder; however, seeders will only be rewarded if they connect to the Universe XYZ DAO and stake 2000 $XYZ. Seeders are compensated in $XYZ tokens for donating their computing power to the network, and trackers distribute $XYZ rewards proportionately from the Seeding Rewards Pool. Contributions are paid to the Seeding Rewards Pool from:
- Royalties when tNFTs are traded.
- Royalties when tNFTs require payment to view, listen to, or install, e.g., video-on-demand.
Once a week, the $XYZ in the Rewards Pool is distributed proportionally to each eligible seeder based on how much time they spent seeding the previous week.
Download
Never want to lose your NFTs again? Download NFT Torrent today. NFT Torrent is available on Mac, Linux, and Windows: https://app.graviton.xyz/torrent
DAO Governance
The Universe DAO, has control over two parameters in the smart contract that rewards royalties. These parameters determine the amount of royalties that will be distributed to Graviton for running the torrent tracker of as well as the specific conditions that must be met in order for a contribution to be eligible for a royalty payment.
setMinStakeAmountYou can see that here. This parameter determines the amount of $XYZ you need staked in the DAO to be qualified for royalty payments. This is currently set to 2000 $XYZ, as of December 9th 2022.
setTreasuryFeeBpsYou can see that here. This parameter determines the amount of royalties that Graviton takes at the aggregate for maintaining the torrent tracker. This is currently set to 0%, as of December 9th 2022.
The DAO has the ability to adjust these parameters at any time, allowing it to adapt to changing market conditions and ensure that the contract continues to operate in the best interests of all involved parties.
More information
For more information about NFT Torrent and our other upcoming product launches, follow us on Twitter @ Graviton_XYZ!
* Source: YourNFTs: I Downloaded Them All
