Aethir: A decentralized cloud computing powerhouse with triple-track capabilities

The development of LLM large models and AI is a significant technological advancement in human history, marking the entry of humanity into the AI era. In this new world, computing power has become the most scarce resource. The trend in the development of computing power is edge computing, which can effectively reduce physical latency and serve as the cornerstone for the development of industries with low latency demands, such as the metaverse. Decentralization distributed cloud computing has advantages of flexibility, low cost, and resistance to censorship, with broad prospects for development.

Aethir is a decentralized real-time rendering platform based on the Arbitrum network, which provides computing power services for enterprises in gaming, AI, and more by aggregating high-performance GPUs like the H100. Aethir has partnered with top cloud computing projects such as io.net and Theta, as well as several game studios and telecom companies, with an expected annual recurring revenue exceeding $20 million in the first quarter of 2024.

Aethir Edge significantly lowers the threshold for ordinary users to sell idle computing power, greatly expanding the geographical coverage of the Aethir network. Aethir has raised $80 million by selling checker node NFTs, proving that its project prospects and economic model are highly attractive to users. The hourly usage cost of A100 on the Aethir network is significantly lower than that of competitors, providing a clear advantage.

Core of the Project

Aethir Cloud is a decentralized real-time rendering platform based on the Arbitrum network, which aggregates and intelligently reallocates new and idle GPUs from enterprises, data centers, cryptocurrency mining businesses, and consumers to help gaming and AI companies deliver products directly to consumers.

One of the key innovations of the project is the resource pool, which gathers decentralized computing power contributors under a unified interface to provide services for global customers. The characteristic of the resource pool is that GPU providers can freely connect or disconnect from the network, enhancing the flexibility and utilization of the equipment for the suppliers.

The operation of the Aethir ecosystem is based on three core infrastructures:

• Container (: Provides real-time remote rendering services, offering a "zero latency" experience. The container is the actual location of cloud computing, serving as a virtual endpoint to execute and render applications.
• Checker ): Ensures network integrity and service quality by checking the Container and its service processes.
• 索引器(Indexer): Matches consumers with suitable containers to ensure rapid startup of cloud applications and services.

Team and Achievements

Aethir has a strong team and a solid resource background, as evidenced by the following achievements:

• A cooperation agreement has been reached with io.net, and the two ecosystems will integrate to provide a complete GPU computing experience. Both parties will conduct a $50 million airdrop exchange.
• Partnering with Theta EdgeCloud to launch the world's largest hybrid GPU market.
• Signed a contract with the cloud gaming company WellLink, which has 64 million monthly active users.
• Signed a contract with the world's largest telecommunications company, with an annual recurring revenue of 5 million USD.
• Become the exclusive GPU cloud computing service provider for the Meta48 mixed reality product.
• There are another 10 contracts in negotiation in the gaming sector.

Aethir's node sales reached $80 million in Q1 2024, setting a record for sales in Depin and AI projects. Three existing contracts are expected to generate over $20 million in annual recurring revenue in Q1 2024. Since the project's launch, service fee revenue has reached $1.8 million.

Hardware Device Aethir Edge

Aethir Edge is a hardware device powering next-generation GPU cloud computing, utilizing the most advanced technology, including the Qualcomm® Snapdragon 865 chip and 12GB LPDDR5 memory.

Aethir Edge has 256GB UFS 3.1 storage capacity, 1000M GE LAN network port, and WIFI6 2T2R + BT5.2 connectivity, providing enterprise-level computing power. It can aggregate various idle GPU resources through the Aethir network and directly deliver them to end users, greatly enhancing computing power supply and availability.

Aethir Edge allows ordinary users to participate in the network as computing power providers and earn token rewards without the need for professional graphics cards. Users can connect it to the network via wireless or wired connections and manage device performance through a dedicated mobile application.

The portability and flexibility of Aethir Edge allow it to be distributed over vast geographic areas, enabling Aethir's GPU cloud to cover a broader range, significantly reducing network latency and allowing users in remote areas to enjoy the convenience of cloud computing.

Token Economic Model

The ecosystem token of the system is $ATH, with a total supply of 4.2 billion. 50% of the total tokens are allocated to miners:

• 35% allocated to computing power providers: 23% to Edge, 12% to Enterprise and IDC.
• 15% allocated to inspector nodes: 10% distributed over four years, 5% for performance incentives.

Both the private placement and team member tokens have a lock-up period of one year or more.

Three types of uses for $ATH:

1. Transaction Purpose: Purchase computing power and compensate miner services.
2. Governance Purpose: Token holders can propose governance opinions and participate in voting in the DAO.
3. Staking: Node operators are required to stake tokens as a guarantee; if they act maliciously, their stake will be reduced.

Rewards are distributed in phases, depending on the workload and performance completed by the container. For invalid calculations, the system will deduct rewards and redistribute them.

Node Sales

Miners need to purchase Aethir Checker licenses to become Checker nodes. The node sales adopt a pyramid hierarchical pricing structure, with a starting price of 0.1259 wETH and a total of 100,000 units. The current sales have exceeded 80 million USD.

The project adopts a commission system, where buyers using the referral code receive a 10% or 5% rebate, and the referrer receives a 10% or 5% commission.

After purchase, you will receive an NFT that represents a permanent license. NFT owners can run nodes to earn mining rewards either through self-hosting or managed hosting. The NFT is non-transferable in the first year to ensure network stability.

To alleviate selling pressure, the $vATH scheme has been designed. Rewards are distributed in the form of $vATH, with a lock-up period of either 30 days or 120 days. After the lock-up period, it can be converted to $ATH for sale. If withdrawn early, 75% will be taken as a penalty and the eligibility for bonuses will be lost.

Comparison with Similar Projects

Select io.net, Render, Akash, and Gensyn for a detailed comparison:

io.net

• Built on Solana, focusing on consumer and enterprise-level AI/ML
• A total of 648,043 GPUs and 94,750 CPUs.
• A total of 44,398 H100 and A100.

Render

• Focus on rendering services
• A total of 23651 GPUs, 1006 CPUs
• H100 PCIe 141 pieces, H100 80GB HBM3 2 pieces

Akash

• A total of 21,500 CPUs and 374 GPUs.
• A total of 149 pieces of H100 and A100

Gensyn

• Aim to gather idle computing resources from around the world
• In Devnet mode, no public statistics available.

In contrast, Aethir has a total of 41,756 GPUs, including 3,000 H100s and 440 online H100s. The number of enterprise-grade high-performance graphics cards is more advantageous compared to RNDR, Akash, and Gensyn.

Aethir can provide A100 device rentals at a cost of $0.33 per hour, with a clear competitive advantage in pricing.

Conclusion

Aethir, as a strong player in the AI + DEPIN + GAMEFI triple track, has achieved numerous accomplishments even before the token launch. Its powerful team strength and resource background indicate a broad prospect for the project.

The launch of Aethir Edge breaks the bottleneck of high latency in edge computing, allowing everyone to contribute and obtain computing power. Aethir Cloud can be deployed worldwide, ushering in a new round of computing power revolution.

I believe that after the token is launched, Aethir will become a shining new star in the market, standing out among many projects!