Theta Network: Collaboration with Suterusu to incorporate new privacy features to the Theta blockchain, New Head of Content — Jerry Kowal, bringing executive experience from Netflix, Amazon, and numerous video startups, Mainnet 2.0 in two months

Published in

Paradigm

12 min readMar 26, 2020

Biweekly update 12th March — 26th March

Welcome, Theta community to Paradigm’s regular update on the Network! These two weeks made a lot of great news for you!
One of the big news is, the Theta team announced that Theta Labs will be working with Suterusu to incorporate new privacy features to the Theta blockchain. Suterusu brings ZCash-level privacy to any blockchain platform or application. It integrates a state of the art trustless ZK-SNARK scheme with nearly constant size proofs, and efficient proof generation /verification. Suterusu provides privacy protection for several major blockchains and dapps, such as BTC and ETH, as well as DeFi products like Standard Tokenization Protocol and SWFT. Other public blockchains such as Neo and IOST have also negotiated with Suterusu to build layer-2 protocols to support privacy protection on their networks. Adding robust privacy features will be just part of the continued technical improvements made to Theta Mainnet 2.0 throughout 2020, all designed around the primary goal of adoption — making the Theta protocol easier for platforms to use and more aligned with their goals and needs.
Moreover, the team named new Head of Content — Jerry Kowal. Jerry has spent 20 years building and operating businesses operating at the intersection of technology and media. He has held multiple senior executive positions in content acquisition, business development and strategy for leading technology and media companies such as Netflix, Amazon and CBS, served as North American Digital Head for Endemol Shine Group, and founded and/or joined as senior executive several early stage technology startups (BitMovio, Vadio, GameDay) which collectively raised multiple rounds of capital and managed successful exits. He has also served as an independent consultant advising companies such as Twitch, Disney and Comcast on digital content strategy and business development. Adding Jerry to the Theta team is a key part of team’s strategy to integrate Theta Network with top video platforms and media companies like the ones Jerry has worked for in the past. Additionally, his expertise in content development and acquisition will allow THETA.tv to significantly expand its content beyond esports into mainstream, brand-name content offerings. As the team ramps up for Theta Mainnet 2.0 release on May 27th, they’ll have exciting new content debuting on THETA.tv soon and will share other ways that content will drive their adoption strategy in 2020.
Can’t wait to see you in two weeks with more exciting updates!

Development

GitHub metrics:

THETA has public repositories and private repositories. Overall, the Project has frequent commits to the collection of repositories.

Developer activity (from Coinlib.io):

Notice on launch of Theta Mainnet 2.0

After careful deliberation, the Theta team has decided to move the official launch of Theta Mainnet 2.0 to Wednesday, May 27th. Roughly two weeks prior to that date, the exact block height will be announced that Theta blockchain will switch to Mainnet 2.0 code.

The primary reason for pushing back the release date is simply to allow for more testing of the Mainnet 2.0 code. While the Mainnet 2.0 code is complete, and as some noticed already has been released on the Theta GitHub, there are significant changes and having just a few weeks to fully test before the projected Q1 release date was a tight window. In addition to the hundreds of Guardian Nodes that would come online on mainnet, the Mainnet 2.0 code must be run by all the major exchanges that list Theta, as well as Enterprise Validator Nodes (Binance, gumi Cryptos, Samsung NEXT, and Blockchain). Any issues arising from untested code could be disruptive to a lot of key stakeholders in Theta, so out of an abundance of caution, the decision was made to allow more time to observe the Mainnet 2.0 code functioning properly and make any improvements as needed. Also, delaying the release of Mainnet 2.0 won’t have any negative effect on work in progress with video platform partners, so that potential risk factor did not present an issue.

The Theta community, including the 300+ Guardian Nodes operating on Theta testnet, are excited to get started on Mainnet 2.0. More Guardian Nodes are being onboarded to testnet_sapphire so that when Theta Mainnet 2.0 launches the protocol will be as decentralized as possible. At the same time, the team will be running stress tests on testnet_sapphire to ensure that Theta can accommodate the necessary level of concurrent users that video platforms require.

Stress testing will tentatively follow this schedule between now and the release of Mainnet 2.0:

Testing of peak concurrent viewers on Theta Network:

March — 100k concurrent viewers
April — 500k concurrent viewers
May — 1m+ concurrent viewers

Testing of number of Guardian Nodes participating in Theta consensus

March — 500 Guardian Nodes
April — 600 Guardian Nodes
May — 750+ Guardian Nodes

Another silver lining of pushing Mainnet 2.0 launch to May is that it gives Theta community time to get involved in building tools and applications for the Theta ecosystem. The team has enlisted DevPost, the leading hackathon community (they are currently running hackathons for Facebook, Samsung, and EOS among many other top names), to host the 1st Theta Network virtual hackathon beginning in early April. The hackathon will run for 2 months and feature project feedback from Theta team, as well as other marquee advisors and supporters of the Theta Network. Additionally Theta Labs is setting aside a hackathon prize pool of $25,000 in tokens, 100% of which will be awarded to the top 3 community projects at the end of the hackathon. The team has got a few ideas of Theta blockchain tools and apps they’ll propose, but want to also give the Theta community the flexibility to build the projects they want to.

Got a project idea? Email them at support@thetatoken.org, or reach out to Wes on Telegram at @wlevitt so we can make sure you have the tools you need!

Theta Mainnet 2.0:

Why the team is creating the Theta blockchain?

The team’s long-term vision for the Theta Network is a decentralized end-to-end protocol for processing and delivering data, not just video but all types of data. Decentralized data delivery, at the edge, powered by you. That vision encompasses three main components that are to be powered by Theta edge nodes, run by the community:

Data Delivery — Initially focused on video delivery, and implemented on THETA.tv and multiple other video platforms coming soon. But the scope of decentralized data delivery goes beyond video into file updates, game patches, OS and app updates, web content, and any other form of data delivery.

Data Storage — As Theta expands from livestreaming applications to Video-on-Demand (VoD), app updates, and game patches, it becomes necessary to have a decentralized solution to data storage. Theta nodes can cache the most in-demand live and static content and files to ensure they are able to contribute to the network and earn TFUEL.

Data Encoding — By allowing Theta nodes to perform ingest/encoding of raw video and data as close to the source as possible, particularly for live events (professional sports, concerts, conferences, for example), the Theta Network will truly become an end-to-end solution for video and data. Building out this functionality is a natural extension for the Theta team, based on the team’s experience encoding live VR events in 2016 for SamsungVR, Intel IEM, ESL, and others.

For performing each of these three services (or all three at once), users earn TFUEL as a reward, incentivizing them to support and grow the Theta Network. If you are one of the 2,690 users running the PGN / Beta Edge Cacher client now, you are part of the very beginning of this edge network encompassing end-to-end data transfer. Contributing your excess bandwidth to THETA.tv is just the beginning!

Awareness and social encounters

Theta Network was recently featured by NEC at a private enterprise forum as a potential 5G use case for streaming VR and other bandwidth-intensive content. Coming soon the team will have a more public exhibition at NANO OPT Media in Tokyo in April.

The team also had planned a major marketing push in the lead up to Mainnet 2.0, including a marketing tour through South Korea, Hong Kong, and Vietnam and a meetup held with a Korea-based partner. With the unfortunate and tragic spread of the COVID-19 virus, their travel plans to these countries had to be postponed. While these travel restrictions may still be in place in May, this at least gives the time to re-tool the marketing efforts for Mainnet 2.0 in other directions, and give it the push that the release and the community deserves.

Finance

Live Network Statistics: March 26th, 2019

You can now see the distribution of Pre-Guardian Nodes, Edge Cachers, and Enterprise Validator Nodes in real-time at thetatoken.org! Scroll down to “Live Network Stats”, which will update each time you refresh the page.

Pre-Guardian Nodes / Edge Cachers: 760

Enterprise Validator Nodes: 10

Information from Theta explorer:

For information on Theta Guardian Nodes and how to join, see the announcement blog.

A step by step video on how to install the PGN/UEC.

Latest PGN client download link for Windows only.

If you want to become a Guardian node click here.

Theta markets:

Information from Coinlib.io:

Network

For those, who are a little behind of times, this January, the SIVER.tv team announced that SLIVER.tv officially renamed THETA.tv.

THETA.tv will now exclusively feature 100% blockchain-based direct livestreams and no longer embed other websites. Furthermore, the community will now collectively decide the top creators on the platform with the brand-new Partner Royale — a season-based streamer XP leaderboard that awards the top 10% of streamers with the coveted Theta Partner title. For those looking to stream on THETA.tv, they will have to get their hands on a stream key and from there work their way up to Affiliate, Partner, and finally Partner Prestige. More info on streaming to THETA.tv can be found here.

THETA.tv Launch AMA:

THETA.tv statistics (March 26th, 2019):

The information is taken from Similarweb.com.

Roadmap

Theta Roadmap:

Q1 2020

Theta Mainnet 2.0 goes live with Multi-BFT consensus mechanism and growing number of enterprise validator nodes
Guardian Nodes launch on Theta Mainnet 2.0
Release of specialized smart contract support
Theta streaming protocol supports full Video-on-Demand (VoD)

Q2 2020

Beta launch of decentralized data storage
Beta launch of decentralized file delivery of any content type, such as game patches, applications, OS updates
Beta launch of Theta protocol adapted to Smart TVs and IoT devices

H2 2020

Release of generalized Turing-complete smart contract support
Beta launch of decentralized encoding protocol
Production release of the end-to-end Universal Edge Cacher

THETA.tv Roadmap:

Partnerships and team members

Theta collaborates with Suterusu to add privacy features to Theta blockchain:

The team announced that Theta Labs will be working with Suterusu to incorporate new privacy features to the Theta blockchain.

Suterusu brings ZCash-level privacy to any blockchain platform or application. It integrates a state of the art trustless ZK-SNARK scheme with nearly constant size proofs, and efficient proof generation /verification. Suterusu provides privacy protection for several major blockchains and dapps, such as BTC and ETH, as well as DeFi products like Standard Tokenization Protocol and SWFT. Other public blockchains such as Neo and IOST have also negotiated with Suterusu to build layer-2 protocols to support privacy protection on their networks.

“We are excited to be working with the Suterusu team to incorporate their blockchain privacy innovations into the Theta blockchain,” said Jieyi Long, CTO of Theta Labs. “Many enterprise users of the Theta Network will require their on-chain transactions to be confidential, so adding these features from Suterusu will help to speed up the path to adoption of the Theta protocol. Additionally, by reducing the amount of transaction data that needs to be verified on-chain through mechanisms like zk-rollups, these privacy features can increase the effective number of transactions handled by Theta blockchain over a given period of time, so Theta Network can support more users and platforms overall.”
“As a second-layer protocol that aims to democratize zero-knowledge proof and more generally privacy-preserving technologies in the blockchain sphere, it’s very exciting that we can partner with Theta, one of the top blockchain projects, to integrate our own design of anonymous payment scheme to the Theta network. By introducing our original zk-conSNARK and anonymous payment solution, we aim to bring both scalability and maximal security to the Theta network. We believe the collaboration between Suterusu and Theta, like our collaboration with several other renowned public blockchain projects, would undoubtedly be a win-win choice for both projects. ” said Huang Lin, CTO of the Suterusu project.

Adding robust privacy features will be just part of the continued technical improvements made to Theta Mainnet 2.0 throughout 2020, all designed around the primary goal of adoption — making the Theta protocol easier for platforms to use and more aligned with their goals and needs.

Theta Labs names new Head of Content — Jerry Kowal, bringing executive experience from Netflix, Amazon, and numerous video startups:

The Theta team announced the latest addition to the Theta Labs team, their new Head of Content Jerry Kowal!

Jerry has spent 20 years building and operating businesses operating at the intersection of technology and media. He has held multiple senior executive positions in content acquisition, business development and strategy for leading technology and media companies such as Netflix, Amazon and CBS, served as North American Digital Head for Endemol Shine Group, and founded and/or joined as senior executive several early stage technology startups (BitMovio, Vadio, GameDay) which collectively raised multiple rounds of capital and managed successful exits. He has also served as an independent consultant advising companies such as Twitch, Disney and Comcast on digital content strategy and business development. Much earlier in his career he worked on technology financings and mergers and acquisitions as a corporate attorney for Ropes & Gray LLP in Boston. Jerry received an MBA from Stanford University and BBA and JD degrees from the University of Michigan — Ann Arbor.

Adding Jerry to the Theta team is a key part of team’s strategy to integrate Theta Network with top video platforms and media companies like the ones Jerry has worked for in the past. Additionally, his expertise in content development and acquisition will allow THETA.tv to significantly expand its content beyond esports into mainstream, brand-name content offerings. This includes film and TV content across key genres such as gaming, sci-fi, horror, action/adventure and others that THETA.tv’s streamers and users will be able to enjoy in a wide variety of formats, such as live-streamed ‘always-on’ digital channels, movie nights and watch parties, among others. As the team ramps up for Theta Mainnet 2.0 release on May 27th, they’ll have exciting new content debuting on THETA.tv soon and will share other ways that content will drive their adoption strategy in 2020.