Binance Launchpool recently launched a series of new coin activities, and last week announced the launch of the highly discussed DePIN project by io.net. The mining activity for the new coin attracted over $4 billion in funds to participate in IO token mining. However, many investors participating in the activity are not familiar with io.net. Therefore, today we will introduce what io.net project is and why it has generated such high discussion in the market.
As we all know, the emergence of ChatGPT signifies that the world is entering a new era of artificial intelligence (AI). Apart from building artificial intelligence models, the entire AI industry chain includes essential elements such as data resources, computing resources, and power resources. io.net focuses on computing resources, which is a fundamental need for the future technology industry.
What is io.net?
io.net network architecture
Native token IO
The DePIN+AI market demand
Specifically, io.net is a Solana blockchain network project that focuses on establishing an enterprise-level decentralized computing network. Its main goal is to provide a cost-effective way for machine learning (ML)/artificial intelligence (AI) engineers to process large-scale computing tasks through a distributed cloud cluster. According to the official statement, this cost is much lower than traditional centralized cloud services.
The vision of this project is to develop the IO token into a “computing resource” currency and create an ecosystem where computing resources can be accessed as both a resource and an asset to support a wide range of products and services.
In the AI industry, training models involve more than simple computations on a device but require utilizing GPU networks that collaborate, using parallel and distributed computing to optimize performance, especially when dealing with large datasets or complex models.
With the advancement of AI technology, the supply of space, power, and cutting-edge equipment is not keeping up with demand, limiting the growth of technology. Traditional cloud services on the market often fail to meet the high demand for computing resources from AI/ML companies, leading to issues such as GPU limitations, limited choices, and high costs. io.net aims to solve this problem with the DePin project, which aims to aggregate idle graphic processing unit (GPU) capacity from users and provide computing power to AI companies in need.
io.net builds a DePIN (decentralized physical infrastructure network) by integrating underutilized GPU resources from independent data centers, crypto miners, and other hardware networks like Filecoin and Render. This network allows engineers to access a large amount of computing power on demand, ensuring usability, customization, cost efficiency, and ease of implementation.
The current io.net ecosystem framework mainly consists of io.net (a development company that maintains the IOG network and builds products and services on top of the network), the IOG network (also known as the “GPU Internet”), and the IOG framework (aimed at building an open-source, developer-friendly SDK).
In conclusion, io.net’s solution aims to overcome the limitations of traditional cloud computing services with an innovative decentralized computing platform, providing faster and more economical solutions for various high-performance computing needs.
IO is the native utility token of io.net, serving purposes such as computing service payment medium, staking, governance, etc. io.net has raised $40 million through two rounds of token private placement, accounting for 36.24% of the genesis token supply and 22.65% of the maximum supply. In the Binance Launchpool activity, 4% of the initial supply will be distributed to participants.
The maximum supply of IO token is 800 million, with 500 million distributed at launch (500 million will not be immediately circulating), and the remaining 300 million will be distributed hourly as rewards to suppliers and their stakers. However, the rewards will decrease continuously based on the deflation model over the next 20 years, starting at 8% in the first year and then decreasing by 1.02% monthly (approximately 12% annually).
In addition, the io.net ecosystem includes an automated IO token burn mechanism where income generated during io.net network operation will be used to repurchase and burn IO tokens.
It is reported that the latest valuation of io.net is $1 billion, with investors including Multicoin Capital, Delphi Digital, Animoca Brands, OKX, Aptos Labs, and Solana Labs among other well-known institutions. However, based on the current Pre Market contract market price of $4.5, the total valuation of IO tokens has risen to $3.6 billion.
DePIN+AI is a concept sector with great development potential in the cryptocurrency industry. With the evolution of artificial intelligence technology, the demand for infrastructure like io.net will continue to grow. Multicoin Capital, a renowned investment institution, has commented on io.net in its research report:
“io.net is a classic example in the DePIN race, its token incentive measures structurally reduce the cost of acquiring and retaining supply-side resources, ultimately lowering the cost for end consumers. The network pools a large number of heterogeneous GPUs for use by AI developers and companies. Today, the network is supported by thousands of GPUs from data centers, mining farms, and consumer-grade devices.”
As a decentralized infrastructure that competes with cloud computing giants like AWS, io.net can provide cloud computing services that are cheaper and more efficient than AWS (allegedly up to 30%~90% cheaper), making it highly attractive to AI model development companies in need of significant computing resources.
