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---
title: "About"
description: "Our mission is to empower individuals and organizations with secure, private, and autonomous access to computing resources, ensuring fair cloud access for everyone." # quotation marks to allow colons where used
template: "page.html"
insert_anchor_links: "left"
extra:
author: Your name here
imgPath: about/about_hero.png
---
<!-- section 1 (header) -->
<div class="container mx-auto">
{% row(style="header center") %}
<div class="max-w-none lg:max-w-4xl leading-normal mx-auto">
# **The Internet as <br><span class="blue">Hope for Humanity</span>**
ThreeFold was started by a group of passionate Internet & Cloud veterans<br>
who wants to restore the Internet to its original glory
<br><br>
*The Internet is a network of computers which are typically hosted in large data centers. These data centers are owned by a few large corporations. **This is not how the Internet was designed**. The Internet was designed to be decentralized, open, and available to everyone.*
<br><br>
**We have invented a new data, cloud, and network system as an engine for an upgraded Internet.**
<br>
<!-- <button class="blue_b">[Host the cloud](/host)</button>
<button class="green">[Deploy](/deploy)</button> -->
</div>
{% end %}
</div>
<!-- section 5 -->
<div style="background-color:#F6F6F6">
<div class="container mx-auto">
{% row( style="mtop") %}
#### <span class="blue uppercase">ROADMAP</span>
## **Expanding ThreeFold**
{% end %}
{% roadmap() %}
## **roadmap**
{% end %}
</div>
</div>
<!-- section 2 our Story -->
<div class="container mx-auto">
{% row( style="center semiNarrow mtop") %}
#### <span class="green_text uppercase">rethinking the way the internet works </span>
## **ThreeFold’s Journey**
<br>
![Image](about_journey2.png#mx-auto)
{% end %}
{% row( style="center semiNarrow mbottom") %}
#### OUR JOURNEY BEGAN<br><span class="green_text uppercase">+10 YEARS AGO</span>
<br>
Years ago, we realized that the existing Internet Infrastructure isn’t sustainable nor secure, lack sovereignty and will not succeed to meet future Internet demands.
<br>
In response, we came together with a shared mission- to design a revolutionary decentralized, open-source, inclusive and sustainable cloud solution for all.
|||
#### WHERE WE ARE<br><span class="blue uppercase">TODAY</span>
<br>
The ThreeFold Grid is in its third generation technology and live in +50 countries.
<br>
We are at the start of a journey to millions of nodes and will soon launch the fourth generation of the ThreeFold Grid.
For this, a token called $INCA will been created.
{% end %}
<!-- section 6 TEAM -->
<div class="container mx-auto">
{% row( style="mtop") %}
#### <span class="blue uppercase">MEET THE TEAM</span>
## **Founded by <span class="green_text">Internet 1.0 Pioneers</span>**
We are a dedicated group committed to advancing a new digital era. Some of us have been working on Internet technology since the early days, when it was a decentralized network. We aim to help bring that vision to life once more. Beyond those below, we have more than 50 engineers, developers, and [other team members](/people) supporting the project.
{% end %}
<br>
{% row( style="") %}
<div class="person flex md:flex-row flex-col items-start mb-4">
<div class="">
![Image](kristof_de_spiegeleer.jpeg#mx-auto)
</div>
<div class="mx-3">
**KRISTOF DE SPIEGELEER** <br>
<p class="blue text-base font-semibold">Co-Founder & CEO</p>
<p class="text-base leading-tight">Serial entrepreneur with 30 years of experience in Internet infrastructure and cloud technology. Passionate about tech for good. +600m $ exits.</p>
</div>
</div>
|||
<div class="person flex md:flex-row flex-col items-start mb-4">
<div class="">
![Image](florian_fournier.jpeg#mx-auto)
</div>
<div class="mx-3">
**FLORIAN FOURNIER** <br>
<p class="blue text-base font-semibold">Co-Founder & CMO</p>
<p class="text-base leading-tight">Ex Apple marketing director, serial entrepreneur living between Africa and Latin America.</p>
</div>
</div>
|||
<div class="person flex md:flex-row flex-col items-start mb-4">
<div class="">
![Image](adnan_fatayerji.jpg#mx-auto)
</div>
<div class="mx-3">
**ADNAN FATAYERJI** <br>
<p class="blue text-base font-semibold">Co-Founder</p>
<p class="text-base leading-tight">Tech entrepreneur with multiple exits. Based in Dubai for 20 years. Head of Partnerships and Business Development.</p>
</div>
</div>
{% end %}
{% row( style="mbottom") %}
<div class="person flex md:flex-row flex-col items-start mb-4">
<div class="">
![Image](jan_de_landtsheer.jpeg#mx-auto)
</div>
<div class="mx-3">
**JAN DE LANDTSHEER** <br>
<p class="blue text-base font-semibold">Co-Founder & CTO</p>
<p class="text-base leading-tight">40+ years of experience in deep tech, networking, cloud and storage.</p>
</div>
</div>
|||
<div class="person flex md:flex-row flex-col items-start mb-4">
<div class="">
![Image](alexandre_hannelas.jpeg#mx-auto)
</div>
<div class="mx-3">
**ALEXANDRE HANNELAS** <br>
<p class="blue text-base font-semibold">CFO</p>
<p class="text-base leading-tight">Finance lead with experience in Investment Banking and Administration.</p>
</div>
</div>
|||
<div class="person flex md:flex-row flex-col items-start mb-4">
<div class="">
![Image](sacha_obeegadoo.jpg#mx-auto)
</div>
<div class="mx-3">
**SACHA OBEEGADOO** <br>
<p class="blue text-base font-semibold">Business Development & Community</p>
<p class="text-base leading-tight">Business development lead with strong network on African continent. </p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
{% end %}
<br>
<br>
<!-- section ACHIEVEMENTS -->
{% row( style="center semiNarrow") %}
#### <span class="blue">KEY ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE</span>
## **Milestones in Our Journey**
{% end %}
{% row( style="semiNarrow mbottom") %}
<p class="bg-gray-50 p-2 road_border">The ThreeFold Grid: connected across +50 countries by independent people and organizations called ThreeFold farmers, live and usable in its third generation opensource technology.
</p>
<br>
<p class="bg-gray-50 p-2 road_border">Partnerships with governments, to deploy physical infrastructure and introducing coding academies and innovation hubs across the country, to deploy physical infrastructure locally.
</p>
<br>
<p class="bg-gray-50 p-2 road_border">An extensive community of 1000+ farmers and several thousand others – grid users and supporters / advocates of the project
</p>
<br>
<p class="bg-gray-50 p-2 road_border">Our strategic partnerships with key DePIN players: more will be announced soon</p>
{% end %}
</div>
</div>
<!-- section 3 -->
<div style="background-color:#F6F6F6">
<div class="container mx-auto">
{% row( style="center between margin") %}
#### <span class="green_text uppercase">OUR MISSION & VISION</span>
## **Empowering <span class="blue"> Human Potential</span>**
<br>
*We believe that the Internet should be affordable, accessible, and available to everyone on the planet.*
<br>
We envision a global, community-driven network of interconnected computers that democratizes the deployment of the Internet.
<br>
We support an open ecosystem that facilitates the seamless exchange of Internet network, data and cloud capacity.
<br>
**This internet needs to be available in every region, reliable, secure, private, and sustainable.**
{% end %}
</div>
</div>
<!-- section 7 -->
<div class="container mx-auto">
<div class="relative lg:p-4 p-1 flex flex-col sm:grid sm:grid-cols-2 sm:gap-10 xl:flex xl:flex-row lg:items-center lg:pt-24 pt-2">
<div class="flex-1 w-2/3 mb-6 md:mb-0 px-2 md:px-4 m-2 lg:m-0">
#### <span class="green_text uppercase">BE PART OF OUR JOURNEY</span>
## **Let’s redefine our digital <br>landscape <span class="blue"> together</span>**
</div>
<div class="w-1/3 mb-6 md:mb-0 px-2 md:px-12 m-2 lg:m-0 road_border">
<h3 class="mt-0 font-semibold">JOIN IN</h3>
<div class="my-4">
<a href="https://manual.grid.tf" target="_blank">
<h4 class="green_text font-normal my-0">Manuals</h4>
<p class="white-gray font-normal">Dive deeper into our technology</p>
</a>
</div>
<div class="my-4">
<a href="https://threefoldfaq.crisp.help/en/" target="_blank">
<h4 class="green_text font-normal my-0">Support</h4>
<p class="white-gray font-normal">Get assistance from our Support Team</p>
</a>
</div>
<div class="my-4">
<a href="/community" target="_blank">
<h4 class="green_text font-normal my-0">Community</h4>
<p class="white-gray font-normal">Be part of our journey and participate</p>
</a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<style>
.rounded_img img {
border-radius: 8px;
}
.person img{
border-radius: 100%;
max-width:100px;
}
.myscale{
transition: transform .5s;
}
.myscale:hover{
transform: scale(1.2);
background-color: whitesmoke;
}
.road_border{
border-left: 1px solid rgb(156, 156, 156);
}
.white-gray{
color: #9f9f9f;
}
</style>

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---
id: an_org_building_a_decentralized_internet
title: "ThreeFold: An Organisation Building a Decentralized Internet"
image_caption: "ThreeFold: An Organisation Building a Decentralized Internet"
description: Greetings fellow decentralization lovers, I am in search of people looking to contribute to what is now the largest decentralized network in the world, working towards the goal of providing a decentralized internet that breaks down barriers to information and compute resource access. Our network provides digital equality to all users while placing the control of their data back into their hands.
date: 2022-11-09
taxonomies:
people: [threefold_community]
tags: [community, decentralization, why]
categories: [community, decentralization, why]
extra:
imgPath: an_org_building_a_decentralized_internet.png
---
## ThreeFold: An Organisation Building a Decentralized Internet
_*Disclaimer: This blog has been written by ThreeFold community member Drew Smith, and was originally a Reddit post. The team found so much value within it that we felt it was important to give it a permanent space within the ThreeFold Blogs collection, and Drew agreed to this. Besides a few grammatical corrections and minor contextual tweaks, the content has not been edited – and you can find the original post [here](https://www.reddit.com/user/DrewSmith214/comments/yhym2f/an_organization_building_a_decentralized_internet/).*_
<br>
Greetings fellow decentralization lovers, I am in search of people looking to contribute to what is now the largest decentralized network in the world, working towards the goal of providing a decentralized internet that breaks down barriers to information and compute resource access. Our network provides digital equality to all users while placing the control of their data back into their hands.
<br>
The project I’m discussing is [Threefold.io](https://threefold.io/), this is a project that currently has nearly 3000 Bare-Metal\*\* \*\*nodes in 64 countries allowing anyone in the world to deploy an industry standard VPS on the decentralized infrastructure with no involvement of the centralized cloud providers, This is a network meant to be used by everyone that can be expanded by anyone. You can check out a current map of the nodes online on the [ThreeFold Explorer](https://dashboard.grid.tf/explorer/statistics)
<br>
The ThreeFold Grid consists of three synergistic layers: The Nodes, The Network, and the BlockChain.
<br>
- **The Nodes:** These are hardware that gives its grid its power, The requirements for running a 3Node are a bare metal x86_64 machine and a reliable internet connection. These nodes can be hosted in a variety of environments spanning at home deployments to rented-space DC's. This includes DC's themselves being able to bring capacity online so long as it’s a fully bare metal device.
- You can find **_plug and play solutions_** for bringing a 3Node online on the [3Node marketplace](https://marketplace.3node.global/index.php?dispatch= categories.view&category_id=167), this marketplace includes node offerings from both the organizations itself as well as multiple independent businesses that have become certified 3Node Resellers.
- If you're familiar with the concepts of building a server/pc you can also bring your hardware online as **_D.I.Y 3Node_** this allows you to contribute any additional hardware you may have in your deployment to the support of both the grids network and compute capacity. you can find documentation on D.I.Y nodes on the [Forums](https://forum.threefold.io/t/diy-nodes-guide/837) or in the [Wiki](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__diy_guide)
Each node is booted using a fully in house developed autonomous operating system that automates both node deployment and workloads being deployed on the node after its online, called [Zero-OS](https://github.com/threefoldtech/zos). This OS is a hypervisor environment that accepts commands from and is managed by the block-chain.
<br>
- **The Network(s):** The grid is supported by multiple internal and external networks that allow for the nodes to function as a decentralized data center. This is made of two major components.
- **Z-Net**- is an internal private overlay network between VMs, Kubernetes Nodes, Containers and the grid. This network allows for minimal usage of Public ipv4 space while still allowing for global deployment solutions encompassing multiple 3Nodes.
- **Planetary Network-** This is a peer to peer end to encrypted network solution based on opensource technologies (yggdrasil) that allow grid users to create, develop and overlay networks designed to protect users ability to communicate and access information. You can find the github Repo [here](https://github.com/threefoldtech/planetary_network), with 3000 endpoints all controlled by a single DAO, the potential exists to create the most reliable peer to peer mesh in existence.
- **Public IPv4-** Threefold farmers have the ability to add Public Ipv4 to the grid in addition to their compute capacity, these IPs can be deployed as gateway addresses in support of the grid, or rented by end users for their workloads, at the time of this writing the threefold grid has 1114 Public Ipv4 addresses available for use. you can find documentation on adding I.P addresses to the grid [here](https://forum.threefold.io/t/diy-public-node-guide/3340)
<br>
- **The BlockChain:** the blockchain technologies built into the Threefold Grid represent what makes the grid truly unique and allows it to be utilized to support customer facing workloads or provide a decentralized compute resource pool. grid utilization is supported and created through two avenues
- **Individuals:** can deploy any workload they need on any node on the grid, if it can run on Linux it can run on the grid, this type of use is supported by the [Threefold Playground](https://play.grid.tf/#/), a decentralized deployment solution that provides industry standard Linux vps deployments as multiple use case specific deployment solutions for [Kubernetes](https://kubernetes.io/), [Caprover](https://caprover.com/), [Peertube](https://joinpeertube.org/), [Funkwhale](https://funkwhale.audio/), [Mattermost](https://mattermost.com/), [Discourse](https://www.discourse.org/), [Taiga](https://www.taiga.io/), [Owncloud](https://owncloud.com/), [Presearch](https://presearch.io/), [SubSquid](https://subsquid.io/), [CasperLabs](https://casperlabs.io/), and [Node Pilot](https://nodepilot.tech/)
- Custom VM images cab be uploaded to the [Threefold Hub](https://hub.grid.tf/) allowing full deployment customization with any Linux os image supporting cloud-init. Documentation on creating custom images can be found [On the Forums](https://forum.threefold.io/t/manipulating-cloud-images-for-the-grid/3380)
- Storage workloads can be deployed using [Terraform](https://github.com/threefoldtech/terraform-provider-grid) with offerings of HDD, SSD and [Quantum Safe File Storage](https://github.com/threefoldtech/terraform-provider-grid)
- **Solution Providers**: these are developers of user facing services that utilize the grid as their hosting platform. These organizations/individuals are able to develop customized solutions that provide needed services in their market and receive rewards for the utilization that their developments bring. A great example of this is [Zonaris](https://zonaris.con/), which is a third party organization that is quickly taking the lead in grid solution development. They have recently released an interface that allows end users to deploy [Streamr](https://streamr.network/discover/network/) nodes on the Threefold grid while paying in fiat currency. you can get started with them at [Get Zonaris](https://get.zonaris.com/).
- This allows developers to invest in only their code while having the infrastructure of a worldwide virtual data center at their disposal to scale their solutions with their business needs.
- Solution providers are able to automate their tools being deployed on the grid using [Terraform](https://github.com/threefoldtech/terraform-provider-grid).
<br>
What this has all truly come together to form is an organization where anyone can contribute to building a more private and secure internet that is designed to allow universal access to information and compute power regardless of the end user's nationality or beliefs. Threefold truly exists to capitalize on the ideal economies from every corner of the world, in order to provide a better digital future for all.
<br>
**What Can You Do?**
Much of what you see today at Threefold.io is the work of 100s of decentralized contributors working together towards a common goal. The grid is designed so that anyone can contribute whether you're a developer, a property owner, an I.S.P, or just someone with a spare computer and a network connection. As it stands the grid is strong and well supported across the world. The biggest impact that can be made today is by developing solutions that leverage the grid and use its resources to bring affordable and accessible hosting to end users.
<br>
There are many discussions happening on the [Threefold Forum](https://forum.threefold.io) about partnerships with other projects and how we can better support both the crypto landscape and the general internet user base. Even by just joining discussions on the Threefold Forum and providing your input and ideas you can help to make sure that the internet of tomorrow is built for and by the users of tomorrow. but there are lots of ways to contribute:
- You can purchase the TFT token following [this guide](https://www.manual.grid.tf/documentation/threefold_token/buy_sell_tft/tft_lobstr/tft_lobstr_short_guide.html).
- You can learn about farming [here](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__farming_intro).
- You can learn more about the Threefold Cloud and Deploying [here](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/cloud/threefold__cloud_home).
<br>
_*Written by Drew Smith*_

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---
id: big_datacenter_myth
title: Datacenter Myths
image_caption: internet servers
description: Hyperscale realities are very different to what most people think. Myth 1 - Bigger data centers are more efficient.
date: 2017-10-12
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [decentralization, why, cloud, tech]
categories: [decentralization, why, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: big_datacenter_myth.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Andreas Hartl, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
## Hyperscale realities are very different from what most people think
### Myth 1: Bigger data centers are more efficient
There are advantages in building larger-scale data centers, like economies of scale and sheer bulk buying power, but these are not as significant as what people think. The average cost per rack in a hyper-scale data center is $20-35K USD including all energy requirements and safety systems. The cost of hardware per rack is around the $200-300K USD mark.
<br/>
<br/>
What is often forgotten is that anything that is of enormous scale and highly concentrated comes with complexity and specific problems to deal with. For example. resource requirements such as investment, operational costs, knowledge, and people increase significantly with size.
<br/>
<br/>
In reality, keeping things simple, small, and distributed is much more cost-effective than large complex environments.
### Myth 2: Big data centers can be sustainable
The carbon footprint of a big data center is enormous. To improve the power usage effectiveness (PUE) of most data center farmers have adopted wind, hydro, and/or solar power technologies, which indeed helps drop their PUE by an estimated 20%. But is this leading to more sustainability?
<br/>
<br/>
This 20% looks great on paper and in the farmers' corporate social responsibility reports. However, it just represents an improvement in the cooling technology and sourcing of energy. It doesn't actually impact the energy consumed by the equipment that runs in their data centers (servers, storage chassis, physical disks, etc.) which is the equipment responsible for the carbon footprint. PUE only refers to overhead power consumption, i.e. cooling the facility, opening, and closing doors, maintaining power security systems, etc.
<br/>
<br/>
Real improvement lies in deploying technologies that actually consume less power to deliver the actual Internet capacity to run workloads, real CPU chassis, physical disks, and storage cabinets. Improving on how hardware is being more effectively used can have an impact of up to a thousand percent and lead to ten times more power-efficiency.
### Myth 3: Redundant systems have better uptime
A lot of us believe that systems need redundancy mechanisms to improve their operational uptime and reliability. While it may make sense to IT experts, let's translate this for the non-IT world?
<br/>
<br/>
To make a car more reliable we add redundancy (as we do in IT). So for the risk of having a puncture, we add one extra tire for all the tires we use continuously. This adds 4 extra tires to the car. Then a decision needs to be made: Do we put those tires in a structure where they are always running along with the primary tires or do we choose not to have them "online" all the time, wearing and tearing in the same way as the primary tires?
<br/>
<br/>
Building such a system would take a large number of engineers to come up with a solution, and would change cars as we know them. Wouldn't it make more sense to think outside the box and solve the root of the problem by making tires un-deflatable?
<br/>
<br/>
The IT industry has gone overboard with the concept of redundancy, having forgotten to look at the root cause issues. This has spawned a whole new industry of itself, which has a financial interest in creating complicated and expensive redundant systems.
### Myth 4: Big companies optimize better
Big companies with a certain track record will know better how to optimize as they have more people and resources.
<br/>
<br/>
At first glance, this sounds logical, but in reality, ninety percent of the innovation within the IT space comes from startups. The giant IT companies have a heritage they hardly can overcome. They are locked in old infrastructure designs, and building outside of that infrastructure would be costly, timely, and probably put the breaks on their businesses.
<br/>
<br/>
Real innovation gives way to fix the core symptoms rather than taking the problem pain-killer approach.

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---
id: threefold_foundation_34
title: Solving the Blockchain Dilemma
image_caption: blockchain
description: Blockchain technology has the power to change the world of IT. There are a huge number of new initiatives using blockchain technology around the world, with countless use cases.
date: 2018-03-07
taxonomies:
people: [kristof_de_spiegeleer]
tags: [decentralization, why, tech]
categories: [decentralization, why, tech]
extra:
imgPath: blockchain_dilemma.png
---
## Introduction
Blockchain technology has the power to change the world of IT. There are a huge number of new initiatives using blockchain technology around the world, with countless use cases.
<br/>
<br/>
In general, there are two types of blockchains: proof of work blockchains and proof of stake blockchains. They are consensus algorithms on how transactions are verified and added to the ledger (forever, as blockchains provide an immutable record of events). More on these two types of blockchains below.
## Blockchain Basics
A blockchain is, as the word says, a chain of blocks of information. These “blocks” contain information on transactions. For instance transactions like the transfer of value of a digital currency (token) from wallet A to wallet B. The “chain” aspect comes when part of the information is stored in a block as a link to the previous block (a unique number). This is a very simple representation of what a blockchain is.
## Private, Permissioned or Public Blockchains
The complexity around a blockchain comes from how the blockchain software is run. The software can run in two different ways: a small (or large) number of nodes controlled by one single entity (private blockchain) a person or a company, or a large (or small) number of nodes controlled by multiple entities (public) that do not know each other and where anyone interested to run a blockchain node can join.
<br/>
<br/>
By running blockchain software under the supervision of one entity (private, centralized) you can quite easily make sure the information stored in the blockchain (transactions) are not tempered with by only operating a small number of nodes and deploying them in very safe physical locations (private data-centers, vaults, basements of offices, etc). A private blockchain does not allow unknown entities to join and run the blockchain software.
<br/>
<br/>
A permissioned blockchain is operated by known entities such as stakeholders of a given industry. It is a mix of both private and public blockchains. In this type of blockchain network, a participant may not need permission to join the network but needs permission to transact with another network participant.
<br/>
<br/>
A public blockchain allows anyone to join the blockchain operation and create a new blockchain node. The blockchain is run by multiple entities (decentralized, public) that have no relationship nor knowledge about each other
<br/>
<br/>
For these three types of blockchains, there are different mechanisms to protect and guarantee the validity of transactions and make them tamper-proof.
## Private Data and Anonymous or Pseudo-Anonymous Data?
For private blockchains, it is straightforward to see that all data that is stored on private blockchains is private and creates 100% anonymity for its users. The only entity or person that has access to information stored on the blockchain is the blockchain operator. This is comparable to how a bank operates. The bank knows everything about all of its customers and the customers only know about themselves - the non-bank customers do not know a thing.
<br/>
<br/>
On a public blockchain, people can join and operate a blockchain node on which all information of that blockchain is stored. While private blockchains get their security from putting their blockchain nodes in secure buildings operated by trusted people a public blockchain achieves its security from having a large number of nodes that have the same data replicated over and over. A consensus algorithm is required in order to accept new data (new blocks) to the chain.
## Consensus Protocols for Public Blockchains
The main consensus protocols used today are Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake.
### Proof of Work (High Cost in Compute and Energy)
The proof of work consensus protocol is best explained as a race. The consensus is achieved by having all participating nodes solve a puzzle. The puzzle is a one-way translation of an amount of information consisting of the following items:
- All the data that present the transactions in the block - all the data is known by all participating nodes
- The number of the previous block. Remember a blockchain links blocks of information together.
- A (variable) number. This number is the part that can be changed.
<br/>
<br/>
The “work” is done by changing the variable number and see what the translation of all data brings. The translation of all this data is a new number, and the requirement is that that number needs to be smaller than what is known as the “difficulty level”. The difficulty level number has a fixed amount of numbers but when the first digits of the number are zero the overall number is lower. So a higher difficulty is built by having a number that has more zeros at the start in the difficulty number.
<br/>
<br/>
Once the block is completed, all nodes will get the complete block of transactional data, everyone knows the previous block number and will start to change the variable number to get output from the puzzle algorithms comparing it to the required difficulty level.
<br/>
<br/>
The node that will find the number first will announce that it has found a solution matching the required difficulty level and the variable number of shared with all nodes in the network to verify that his solution is correct. If a large portion of the nodes has verified the solution to be valid the solution is accepted and the block is added to the chain because consensus is reached.
### Proof of (Block) Stake (Low Cost in Compute and Energy)
With proof of stake consensus algorithms, the consensus algorithm does not solve puzzles in a race to be the first. The first step is to identify and allow a certain number of nodes to be part of the blockchain. This is called a permissioned blockchain because you need to have permission to partake. This permission is given by distributing stakes.
<br/>
<br/>
Proof of Stake consensus mechanism is solving a puzzle, but the puzzle contains only static elements - not variables - based on different characteristics:
- The block number
- The content (part) of blocks a long time ago (>2000 blocks)
- The transaction number (between the first and the last transaction) in the block of the stake transfer transaction all participating nodes needs to
- The current timestamp
<br/>
<br/>
All these numbers are fixed but the time stamp and every node in the block stake blockchain will solve this puzzle every second until the output of this puzzle matches the required difficulty level.
<br/>
<br/>
To make sure the one node that has solved the puzzle to match the difficulty level cannot introduce information in the block which allows him to tamper with the next blocks this node cannot use his used stake for a period amount of time for creating new blocks.
<br/>
<br/>
The fact that the puzzle-solving includes historic block data and once a node is assigned to create the block and put it on a chain will not be able to use that block state for a period of time makes it very costly to try to tamper with the content of the block (and the next blocks).
## The Blockchain Dilemma Problem
Public and private blockchains have their specific advantages and disadvantages and are very good for specific use cases - but not all. If we list the specifics of both we end up with a table like this:
<br/>
<br/>
| * | Public Blockchains | Private Blockchains |
|---|---|---|
| Security | Provided by having a large number of nodes running it | Provided by having them in secure controlled places |
| People | Build, managed and controlled by unknown people | Build, managed, and controlled by known people |
| Speed | Slow by design - all data needs to be copied to all of them | Fast(er) and more efficient by design - a smaller number of copies of the blockchain data |
<br/>
<br/>
So what if we want to have a secure, performant, and easy to manage blockchain solution? This is not what can be delivered by either type of blockchains. We have to create a new type of blockchain that combines the best of both worlds and delivers.
<br/>
<br/>
The key element in finding a solution for this problem is to take the human element out of it. The fact that when you deploy blockchains solutions in locations without human intervention means that you need to create a different deployment mechanism that takes out people touching code, compiling code, deploying code, and in the end operating the machine in which the code runs.
<br/>
<br/>
A way to get around the trusted people problem is to select a platform on which software can be downloaded, compiled, installed, and operated without human intervention. Such a platform is a unique platform that has not been developed and launched. Such a platform would have to have the following characteristics. To make this system work and solve the blockchain dilemma we need to have three components working together in an orchestrated way. The three elements are:
<br/>
<br/>
- **Zero-OS**: A (simple) operating system that does not allow local and remote logins - a closed operating system that receives instructions to launch or kill applications. This operating system needs to be stateless to keep as simple as possible:
- **3Bot**: A virtual system administrator that is able to perform system administration tasks to make the system operate, self-heal and execute instructions from authenticated and authorized sources.
- **Zero-Chain**: A ledger or database to store information with regards to authentication, operational and financial transactions.
<br/>
<br/>
This system architecture allows for authenticated and trusted virtual system administrators to download, compile and deploy software on a grid of secure Zero-OS nodes with an immutable ledger that records all transactions, operational and financial. This presents a platform on which a public (permissioned) blockchain can be run securely without requiring trusted people to operate the nodes.
<br/>
<br/>
In such architecture, we can build and deploy a high-performance secure blockchain which are the combined benefits of a public and private blockchain.

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---
id: blockheating_intro
title: This ThreeFold Farm Keeps Veggies Warm
image_caption: Meet Blockheating
description: Somewhere in the Netherlands, a ThreeFold Farm is supporting the growth of vegetable crops such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.
date: 2021-07-23
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, decentralization, farming, why]
categories: [community, decentralization, farming, why]
extra:
imgPath: blockheating_intro.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Roel Van Sabben, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
Somewhere in the Netherlands, a ThreeFold Farm is supporting the growth of vegetable crops such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. By directing the excess heat generated from the hardware operations to the greenhouse next door, they are able to achieve an incredible model that benefits both hardware and vegetables.
<br/>
<br/>
Jeroen Burks, CEO of Blockheating, tells us everything we need to know about their sustainable farming operations. As far as he can remember, Jeroen has always been a protagonist of the “no waste” approach. He started by recycling material previously used by the tech industry, mainly in the cloud market.
<br/>
<br/>
"By default, most data center operations replace their power supplies every 3 years, no matter the state they are in. They are being replaced to counter any possible downtime."
<br/>
<br/>
By refurbishing and repurposing “old” power units from data centers, he gives them a second life as electric tractor chargers, lithium ION pack chargers, and more.
<br/>
<br/>
"You just need to trick the unit into thinking it is still powering servers, add some cables here and there, and it is ready for duty."
<br/>
<br/>
His quest towards sustainability started when he was challenged on a pilot project. His friend had bought a new building and was looking for the most sustainable approach to heating it. Jeroen came up with the idea of putting two server racks in the basement and using the heat from that operation, to heat the offices and spaces above. While this project was a success, Jeroen realised that it could be way more efficient, if done with other structures.
<br/>
<br/>
He quickly engaged with a second pilot project where he used two server racks to heat a small greenhouse. This model turned out to be a great combination, which benefited both hardware, as well as farming operations. And so sprouted ‘Blockheating’ -- a data center that provides heat for tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Why specifically these vegetables? Well, the Netherlands has a fair amount of greenhouses cultivating them, and these ‘veggies’ need that heat during summer nights.
<br/>
<br/>
Right now Blockheating has around 400 compute nodes with direct cooling that stores all the heat in a buffer throughout the day, which is then released into the greenhouses during the night hours.
"By doing it the way we do, we grow the internet grid, help grow vegetables and curb fossil fuel usage – in carbon negative compute power!"
<br/>
<br/>
Right now, Blockheating has a portion of their data center dedicated to ThreeFold Farming for a few reasons:
<br/>
<br/>
- The alignment of values is huge
- ThreeFold Farming is easy to manage
- ThreeFold Farming counters wasteful behavior of internet resources, so it's a triple win
<br/>
Blockheating envisions to scale up-to three data centers of this kind, in an interconnected way, with a fiber ring between them. By doing so, they will be able to increase their offering and have a larger impact on countering the wasteful patterns of the cloud industry.
<br/>
<br/>
ThreeFold is proud to have Blockheating as a ‘State-of-the-Art’ Farmer and Partner, and hopes to see many more people and companies inspired by Blockheating around the world, to expand the ‘People’s Internet’ in a regenerative way.
<br/>
<br/>
Find out more about Blockheating here: [https://blockheating.com/](https://blockheating.com/)
<br/>
Find out more about our partners here: [https://threefold.io/partners](https://threefold.io/partners)

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---
id: bridges_connecting_threefold_ecosystem
title: "Bridges Connecting the ThreeFold Ecosystem to External Networks"
image_caption: Bridges Connecting the ThreeFold Ecosystem to External Networks
description: Since the launch of ThreeFold Grid 3.0, TFT is now available on three blockchains – Stellar, Binance Smart Chain and the Substrate-based ThreeFold Blockchain (aka TF Chain).
date: 2022-01-10
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, decentralization, tech, token]
categories: [community, decentralization, tech, token]
extra:
imgPath: bridges_connecting_threefold_ecosystem.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
Wondering how to switch between blockchains? Cross-chain bridges allow you to easily transfer TFT from one blockchain to another. 
<br/>
Since the launch of [ThreeFold Grid](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__threefold_grid) 3.0, [TFT](https://threefold.io/tft) has been available on three blockchains – Stellar, Binance Smart Chain and the Substrate-based ThreeFold Blockchain (aka TF Chain).
<br/>
There are already active bridges that connect Stellar to Binance Smart Chain and [TF Chain](https://threefold.io/blog/tf_chain/), improving the accessibility and availability of TFT, while also connecting the ThreeFold ecosystem to external blockchain networks.
<br/>
Learn more about TF Chain in our blog post [here](https://threefold.io/blog/tf_chain/).
## What are bridges and why are they important?
The concept of bridges in crypto is similar to a bridge in the physical world. Bridges in the real world simply connect two different locations and communities so that the people can travel back and forth and resources can be exchanged freely.
<br/>
Similarly, using bridges in blockchain allows users to easily transfer tokens and other crypto assets between two or more networks – regardless of the different protocols, tooling, and governance models these networks have. Simply put, a bridge ensures a secure interoperability between different blockchains.
<br/>
ThreeFold uses blockchain bridges to connect external blockchain networks to the ThreeFold ecosystem. The bridging mechanisms we’ve implemented allow TFT to be transferred securely between [different blockchains](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__money_blockchain_partity_link). Currently, we’ve established **two 2-way bridges**:
<br/>
* Stellar <> Binance Smart Chain
* Stellar <> TF Chain
<br/>
But what is the difference between the 3 chains?
<br/>
**[Stellar](https://www.stellar.org/?locale=en)** is an open-source network for storing and moving digital assets, and still remains the main blockchain for the minting of TFT and distribution of farming rewards. Until the launch of TF Chain with Grid 3.0, only TFT living on Stellar were accepted for the reservation of Internet capacity on the ThreeFold Grid. 
<br/>
**[Binance Smart Chain](https://www.binance.org/en/smartChain)** (BSC) is a standalone, parallel Binance chain that is a leading DeFi ecosystem next to Ethereum. On BSC, TFT is implemented as a cross-chain asset, allowing anyone to [connect](https://bridge.bsc.threefold.io/) to the bridge using [Metamask](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tokens/threefold__tft_bsc_metamask) or [Trust Wallet](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold/#/tokens/threefold__threefold_wallets?id=the-threefold-connect-app) – the most popular Web 3 wallets in the world.
<br/>
**[TF Chain](https://threefold.io/tech/tf-chain)** was built on the [Substrate framework](https://substrate.io/) with the purpose of decentralizing user-farmer relationships on the ThreeFold Grid. It has its own native form of [TFT](https://threefold.io/tft), which can be bridged back and forth from Stellar-based TFT. This model will be implemented for other chains in the future, for interoperability and cross-chain features between blockchain and DeFi ecosystems and the ThreeFold Grid.
## What’s new with TF Chain?
TF Chain represents a leap forward for simplicity in payments for capacity reservations and a move towards greater decentralization of the systems that support the ThreeFold Grid. With the launch of [ThreeFold Grid 3.0](https://forum.threefold.io/t/what-is-new-in-tfgrid-3-0/1133), TF Chain became the official record of ThreeFold farms and nodes, and brought peer-to-peer [billing](https://forum.threefold.io/t/introducing-tf-chain-an-updated-billing-model/1277) based on smart contracts for workload deployments on the ThreeFold Grid. 
<br/>
For now, minting will remain on Stellar but reservations of nodes and capacity on ThreeFold Grid 3.0 are already executed via [TF Chain](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__tfchain). Bridges were established between Stellar and TF Chain to facilitate payments, e.g. if you pay for a workload deployment in Stellar TFT, this payment needs to be bridged to TF  Chain’s native TFT to fund the [smart contract](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__smartcontract_it).
### The two-way [bridge](https://bridge.bsc.threefold.io/) between Stellar & BSC 
Until recently, the bridge between Stellar and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) was one-way only: from BSC to Stellar. Even though it was possible to transfer TFT from Stellar to BSC via  [command line](https://github.com/threefoldfoundation/tft/blob/main/bsc/bridges/stellar/transfers.md), this was only an option for tech-savvy people. Now, you can also deposit TFT from Stellar to BSC using the bridge with a proper UI, as you can see in the image below.
<br/>
![tft_bsc_bridge](./tft_bsc_bridge.png)
<br/>
When depositing from TFT Stellar, **please be sure that both addresses and memo are as indicated** in the instructions or the TFT you transfer will be lost forever. To facilitate the process, a **QR code** is generated and can be scanned using the [ThreeFold Connect app](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold/#/tokens/threefold__threefold_connect), automatically filling in the right address and memo on your behalf.
<br/>
![tft_bsc_transfer](./tft_bsc_transfer.png)
<br/>
As Binance Smart Chain is a more expensive chain, **a fee of 50 TFT** will be automatically charged for the bridge from Stellar to BSC. Find the full **step-by-step guide** for the Stellar-BSC bridge [here](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tokens/threefold__tft_bsc_bridge). 
## What’s next? 
As the ThreeFold ecosystem continues to grow, we’re looking into building more bridges (e.g. Cosmos, Ethereum) to improve the accessibility of TFT and simplify the onboarding of blockchain and DeFi projects on the ThreeFold Grid. TF Chain will play an important role in the further development of the People’s Internet, so give our blog post on TF Chain a read [here](https://threefold.io/blog/tf_chain/). 
<br/>
*Try out the Stellar-BSC bridge [here](https://bridge.bsc.threefold.io/) and visit [our forum](https://forum.threefold.io/) to share your experiences.*

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---
id: build_on_threefolds_open_infrastructure_part_one
title: "Build on ThreeFold’s Open Infrastructure – Part One: Intro"
image_caption: "Build on ThreeFold’s Open Infrastructure – Part One: Intro"
description: Dive into the magic of the ThreeFold Grid and what it enables for people around the world – from developers to end users, and everyone in between – with this three-part series! We’ll explore ThreeFold’s infrastructure, solutions and experiences available today. The first part will give a comprehensive overview of the Grid, its evolution and capabilities.
date: 2022-09-15
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, decentralization, grid, cloud, tech]
categories: [community, decentralization, grid, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: build_on_threefolds_open_infrastructure_part_one.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
What started out as an idea for a better Internet about a decade ago amongst a few early Internet and Cloud pioneers has now become a reality. Today, ThreeFold is a global movement building a reliable, open and inclusive Internet.
<br/>
We’ve reached a pivotal moment in the evolution of the Internet. And ThreeFold is ready to unlock a new Internet era – one filled with [abundance and opportunity](https://www.threefold.io/blog/planet-first-people-first/) for all, one which is better for [our planet](https://www.threefold.io/blog/planting-the-seeds/). Our open-source technology, future-facing ecosystem and collaborative community have the potential to drive this new era forward.
<br/>
For us, the Internet was always meant to be [peer-to-peer](https://www.threefold.io/blog/p2p-web3/), where anyone could own hardware, and connect and exchange directly with full security and in full privacy – without any entity in the middle. This is how the Internet began. But as demand grew, big tech began to monopolize its infrastructure and all the major platforms.
<br/>
Since its inception, ThreeFold has been committed not only to delivering on the original promise of the Internet, but also to realizing our ultimate vision of a better future for all. For the past six years, we’ve been building up an incredible full-stack, open-source, decentralized Internet, all [from the ground-up](https://forum.threefold.io/t/how-threefold-is-building-a-new-internet-from-the-ground-up/2057?u=hannahcordes). We’ve come a long way and the result is, well, exceptional. There is *nothing* else out there like ThreeFold.
<br/>
From creating our own blockchain-driven and highly secure [operating system](https://forum.threefold.io/t/all-you-need-to-know-about-zero-os/1734?u=hannahcordes) (which allows computers to become decentralized servers), to building an ultra-scalable [Quantum Safe Storage System](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/qsss/threefold__qsss_home?id=quantum-safe-storage-system), a complete far [edge cloud](https://www.threefold.io/blog/internet-at-the-edge/) computing platform and a [planetary peer-to-peer network](https://forum.threefold.io/t/how-our-planetary-network-works/1210?u=hannahcordes) all accessible via a unique Smart Contract for IT on the [ThreeFold Blockchain](https://www.threefold.io/blog/tf-chain/), we’re proud to have the most [complete edge infrastructure](https://www.threefold.io/blog/internet-at-the-edge/) to power the next-generation Internet era.
<br/>
And we’re taking concrete steps to further expand this infrastructure that offers a truly decentralized layer 0 for any blockchain or Internet application. Moreover, with the help of our [community of Grid testers](https://t.me/threefoldtesting), we’re continuously advancing the underlying technology and working towards making it usable for as many people and use cases as possible.
<br/>
Our vision and technology have matured into the [Internet of Internets](https://www.threefold.io/blog/internet-of-internets/) – a network of thousands of community-built and -owned Internets through which we strive to interconnect all of humanity. A new world is coming, and [our technology](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__technology) has the potential to revolutionize digitization on a global scale, across sectors. And yet we remain a hidden gem.
<br/>
So, what solutions does the ThreeFold Grid offer today already? And why exactly should you start to build on top of ThreeFold? Let’s explore some of the many possibilities available today.
## The ThreeFold Grid – A cutting-edge, highly scalable peer-to-peer infrastructure
*“ThreeFold is growing the ThreeFold Grid by enabling a community of thousands of farmers from around the world to participate and own a piece of the Internet.” – [Adnan Fatayerji](https://threefold.io/news/post/threefold_cybernews/)*
<br/>
The Grid is a peer-to-peer cloud computing network that's highly compatible with current industry standards. In late December 2021, ThreeFold launched the third generation of the ThreeFold Grid on mainnet with a fully functional tech stack – a huge and crucial step towards a fully production-ready and decentralized infrastructure. The third generation not only brought a massive leap forward in the decentralization of the Grid but also made for a much simpler user experience for farmers and Grid users. People from all over the world are connecting thousands of 3Nodes to create the world’s largest decentralized Internet infrastructure, and new capacity is being connected every day. Find the latest Grid stats and utilization numbers in [this regularly updated thread](https://forum.threefold.io/t/grid-stats-new-nodes-overview/3291?u=hannahcordes).
<br/>
[Over the past months](https://www.threefold.io/blog/threefold-2022-reflect-h1-outlook-h2/), the team evolved the Grid through version 3.6.1 and upgraded it to mainnet in July after receiving 100% community approval. This [release](https://forum.threefold.io/t/tfgrid-product-updates-july-2022-tfgrid-v3-6-1-highlights-and-more/3206/2?u=hannahcordes) introduces more stability to the TF Grid and includes various upgrades and new features like the ThreeFold Connect App, the new unified dashboard for a simpler user experience, and more. Big progress was also made in terms of the DAO functionality that went live on TF Chain, with the first TF Chain (L1) DAO proposal was voted on and approved in August.
<br/>
And with each new Grid release, we’re getting one step closer to solidifying the foundation of the Internet of Internets. Currently, the team is working towards completing [Grid version 3.7.0](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-product-updates-august-2022/3272?u=hannahcordes) which includes some significant updates, improvements and new features like FreeFlow Twin, a new Node Pilot, new deployment features and [a lot more](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-product-updates-august-2022/3272?u=hannahcordes). The team continues to do incredible work to further develop and advance the Grid as well as to support utilization and adoption by offering tools and applications that are user-friendly, secure, efficient and scalable. A massive thank you to our incredible tech team and the community of Grid testers!
### Next up: our cloud solution
So, the ThreeFold Grid has been evolved, advanced and expanded quite a bit, hasn’t it? About time to take a closer look at our cloud solution and everything enabled by the technology and tooling built on top. As a heads up, part two of our series on ThreeFold’s game-changing Internet infrastructure is for the more tech-savvy crowd. If you don’t consider yourself “a tech person” you might prefer to jump to part three on weblets and end-user experiences right away.
<br/>
Helpful Resources:
* Dive into the [manual](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/) to get started
* Find out more about our [technology](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/technology)
* Learn more about [testing the ThreeFold Grid](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/manual__grid3_testing?id=testing-the-threefold_grid3)
* Join this growing [movement](https://t.me/threefold) & our [testing community](https://t.me/threefoldtesting)

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---
id: build_on_threefolds_open_infrastructure_part_three
title: "Build on ThreeFold’s Open Infrastructure – Part Three: Weblets & End-Users"
image_caption: "Build on ThreeFold’s Open Infrastructure – Part Three: Weblets & End-Users"
description: In the final part of our three-part series, we’ll dive into a world of possibilities for developers, end-users and everyone in-between. Find out what’s possible on the ThreeFold Playground and discover your digital sovereignty with our end-user experiences.
date: 2022-09-21
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, decentralization, grid, cloud, tech]
categories: [community, decentralization, grid, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: build_on_threefolds_open_infrastructure_part_three.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
*This post is the third one in a series about building on ThreeFold's open infrastructure. While [part one](https://www.threefold.io/blog/build-on-threefolds-open-infrastructure/), gives you a comprehensive overview of the Grid, its evolution and capabilities, the [second part](https://www.threefold.io/blog/build-on-threefolds-open-infrastructure-part-two/) is focused on the low-level building blocks and particularly interesting for the more tech-savvy crowd.*
<br/>
Welcome to the third and final part of our series on ThreeFold’s game-changing Internet infrastructure and the solutions available today. This time, we’ll show you what’s possible on the ThreeFold Playground today and how you can become one of the first testers of digitally sovereign end-user experiences.
<br/>
This is an incredible opportunity to become early adopters of our unique solutions, to get a taste of what it means to become digitally sovereign, and to help shape the future of the Internet. Together we build a decentralized digital world!
## Explore a playground full of simple yet powerful deployment experiences
The [ThreeFold Playground](https://play.grid.tf/) makes it quite easy to build on top of the ThreeFold Grid by deploying weblets. A [weblet](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/manual__weblets_home?id=weblets) is a compiled JavaScript component which can be embedded in any site. With ThreeFold, it basically establishes a private environment running inside your browser, and allows you to share it – while you maintain full control of all activities happening there by using your private key, and with full decentralization.
<br/>
On the TF Playground, a variety of applications are made available and deployable within just a few clicks, all on top of a fully decentralized peer-to-peer Internet infrastructure. From Virtual Machines to Kubernetes to Presearch Nodes, CapRover, ownCloud, and more – the playground allows you to build in a truly decentralized environment. Essentially, the Playground is an ever-expanding ecosystem of easily-deployable weblets that are built for a decentralized future. It’s the fastest way to build, test, and deploy and enables pretty much anyone to build and experiment with deployment on the Grid. So, this is huge!
<br/>
[Visit](https://play.grid.tf/) the TF Playground to explore the possibilities and read this [post](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-product-focus-series-tf-playground-v3-7-0/3315?u=hannahcordes) to find out what the new version 3.7.0 of the Playground – now live on testnet – has to offer. Dive right in and [get started](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/getstarted/manual__tfgrid3_getstarted) on the TF Grid today!
<br/>
Here are a few examples of the weblets available on the Playground:
#### Presearch
Presearch is a longstanding partner of ThreeFold and one of the most popular solutions offered on the Grid. As of the Grid v3.6 release, any 3Node can now host a Presearch node – so if you’re a ThreeFold farmer, it’s now become quite easy for you to host Presearch on your own node. Simply follow [this deployment guide](https://forum.threefold.io/t/presearch-nodes/3250?u=hannahcordes) to get decentralized search on top of a truly decentralized infrastructure!
#### CapRover
Leverage the entire [CapRover app catalogue](https://forum.threefold.io/t/caprover-your-app-environment/2133/3) even faster and easier and deploy CapRover apps on the ThreeFold Grid. You’ll benefit from full decentralization, energy efficiency and affordability. [CapRover](https://forum.threefold.io/t/create-your-own-app-environment-fast-and-easy-with-caprover-on-the-people-s-internet/2644?u=hannahcordes) is a powerful platform for app deployment and thanks to our [CapRover weblet](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/manual__weblets_caprover?id=caprover), you’re able to deploy anything you want on top of the ThreeFold Grid!
#### NEW: Subsquid (testnet)
The [latest addition](https://forum.threefold.io/t/tfgrid-v3-7-0-is-now-live/3375?u=hannahcordes) to the ThreeFold Playground is [Subsquid](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/manual__weblets_subsquid), Web3’s premier API framework which is supercharging decentralized apps across more than 30 chains. Basically, you can think of Subsquid as an ETL (extract, transform, load) tool, with a GraphQL server included. With Grid v3.7.0 live on testnet, you can now pre-process and decode raw chain data and store it for easier access by the query nodes by deploying your own Subsquid instance on the Grid’s testnet within just a few clicks [here](https://play.test.grid.tf/#/subsquid).
<br/>
So with the ThreeFold Playground, ThreeFold is building a vast ecosystem of advanced deployment experiences and opening up a world of possibilities – allowing anyone to build, test and deploy easily and within a few clicks.
<br/>
And the best thing about the [playground](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/getstarted/manual__tfgrid3_getstarted)? It’s already been available for a while and continuously being improved and extended!
## How to achieve digital sovereignty with a set of end-user experiences
*“Through simple, secure, and scalable technology, ThreeFold empowers millions to invent and explore new experiences." – [Kristof de Spiegeleer](https://www.threefold.io/newsroom/paradise-hills/)*
<br/>
We’ve entered the [third phase of our journey](https://www.threefold.io/blog/four-phases-of-threefold/) towards our ultimate vision of a better future – the phase of Web4. In addition to fully comprehensive decentralized edge cloud solutions, the ThreeFold ecosystem is also developing a range of applications and experiences across IoT, metaverse, blockchain, DeFi, banking, education and beyond.
<br/>
Throughout this phase – which has only just begun – a multitude of valuable and meaningful experiences are being built by the ThreeFold ecosystem and partners to empower people with equal chances to learn, create, and thrive in a decentralized digital economy – what we like to call an abundance-based future for humanity.
<br/>
The first roll-out of the third phase will empower people to become fully self-sovereign thanks to ThreeFold’s Digital Twin technology and a variety of decentralized alternatives to popular applications and tools. 
#### FreeFlow Twin
The Digital Twin technology provides each user with a unique digital identity that can serve as the key to an open, self-sovereign and complete digital future. This solution was designed with a very simple objective in mind: everyone should be the center of their entire digital life. It represents your digital self and hosts your entire digital life in a secure and private way – empowering you to own your data and offering you decentralized applications that enable you to maintain your sovereignty. For end users, owning their own deployments opens the possibility for a full range of experiences that have the same quality as crypto – self custody.
<br/>
With Grid V3.7.0, ThreeFold’s all-in-one decentralized productivity tool that includes instant messaging, video call, social, and data storage features – formerly known as Uhuru – is being rebranded to [FreeFlow Twin](https://forum.threefold.io/t/lets-test-out-freeflow-twin-beta-formerly-uhuru/3299?u=hannahcordes). It brings sovereign and secure alternatives to many of the centralized solutions we use every day like Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Chrome, Zoom and many more.
<br/>
[FreeFlow Twin](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-product-updates-august-2022/3272?u=hannahcordes) will be part of an ecosystem of decentralized alternatives called FreeFlow Life. Find more information on the experiences, how to start testing now and where to share your feedback [here](https://forum.threefold.io/t/lets-test-out-freeflow-twin-beta-formerly-uhuru/3299?u=hannahcordes)!
<br/>
This paradigm shift is a pretty big deal, isn’t it?
#### DeFi Solutions
We've also decided to develop our [own DeFi solutions](https://www.threefold.io/blog/future-tft-ecosystem/) to support the growth and expansion of the Internet of Internets and an abundance-based future where we are truly sovereign: community-based liquidity pools and the P2P DeFi Wallet – both expected early next year. Learn more about the upcoming solutions [here](https://www.threefold.io/blog/future-tft-ecosystem/)!
## The Grid is open – an invitation to build, deploy and test
ThreeFold’s open Internet infrastructure is fully peer-to-peer, decentralized and super reliable. It already offers a multitude of solutions for developers, end-users and everyone in-between. And the Grid and the solutions offered are ready for the community to build, deploy and test, as we continue to collectively build, advance and expand.
<br/>
And while we’ve collectively already built a lot and achieved crucial milestones towards realizing our ultimate goals, we’re also just the beginning of the third phase of our exciting journey with many ambitions and goals still ahead.
<br/>
While we’re still in a spot where we can be considered a hidden gem and being way undervalued, remember this: ThreeFold is inevitable. We are visionaries, building the plane in the air. We are confident in growing the project in a real and authentic way. We have a strong plan and vision. Our technology is needed. The underlying foundation is functional and ready. Now, it’s up to the believers to build, test and deploy the solutions we need for a better world. And together, we build. Together, we can achieve the extraordinary and provide better alternatives for people, enterprises and governments.
<br/>
We not only invite you to come see what’s possible. We invite you to get involved. What are you waiting for?
<br/>
Start exploring and using the many solutions on the ThreeFold Grid today – whether by deploying a weblet, testing the FreeFlow Twin or simply joining our [testing group](https://t.me/threefoldtesting)!
<br/>
* [Build on ThreeFold’s Open Infrastructure – Part One: Intro](https://www.threefold.io/blog/build-on-threefolds-open-infrastructure/)
* [Build on ThreeFold’s Open Infrastructure – Part Two: For Experts](https://www.threefold.io/blog/build-on-threefolds-open-infrastructure-part-two/)
*Not sure where to start? Dive into the [manual](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/) and learn more about [testing the ThreeFold Grid](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/manual__grid3_testing?id=testing-the-threefold_grid3).*

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---
id: build_on_threefolds_open_infrastructure_part_two
title: "Build on ThreeFold’s Open Infrastructure – Part Two: For Experts"
image_caption: "Build on ThreeFold’s Open Infrastructure – Part Two: For Experts"
description: This post is part of an ongoing series on building on ThreeFold’s open infrastructure. It’s for the more tech-savvy crowd, as we’ll dive into our cloud solution and everything enabled by the technology and tooling built on top.
date: 2022-09-21
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, decentralization, grid, cloud, tech]
categories: [community, decentralization, grid, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: build_on_threefolds_open_infrastructure_part_two.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
ThreeFold’s reliable, open-source, peer-to-peer Internet infrastructure together with a growing community of enthusiastic, driven early-adopter developers and end-users are the key to accelerating the growth and development of the Grid and to unlocking all of its potential. While the foundation has been laid, it will be up to all of us as a movement to improve and build upon it.
<br/>
After looking back at the ThreeFold Grid’s evolution and what makes it a game-changing Internet infrastructure in [part one](https://www.threefold.io/blog/build-on-threefolds-open-infrastructure/), it’s time to explore our cloud solution and the technology available today in part two! You can think of these as some of the essential low-level building blocks that when combined created a limitless sandbox for developers.
<br/>
If you’re wondering what virtual machines are, haven’t heard about Kubernetes before and don’t know your way around coding languages, this part might be less interesting for you. Feel free to skip and jump right into [part three](https://www.threefold.io/blog/build-on-threefolds-open-infrastructure-part-three/) on weblets and end-user experiences.
## Elements of our comprehensive & decentralized cloud solution
The ThreeFold Grid provides [various primitives](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__tfgrid_primitives) for compute, storage, and network – fulfilling all the needs centralized cloud providers cater to as well, while offering advantages in terms of decentralization, energy efficiency, security and more. [Zero-OS](https://forum.threefold.io/t/all-you-need-to-know-about-zero-os/1734) includes a collection of components, called primitives. These primitives are the low-level constructs which can be deployed on the ThreeFold Grid. As mentioned above, they act as building blocks for skilled developers that enable them to build and create in complete digital freedom.
<br/>
Additionally, the high compatibility of ThreeFold’s primitives with industry-standard tools and protocols makes it easy and seamless for developers to migrate workloads to the Grid. All of the primitives not only benefit from the unique efficiency and security features of [Zero-OS](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__zos), but also come with unique features and capabilities themselves. Here are some of the primitives to give you an idea of what you’ll get:
#### ZMachine
ThreeFold’s [ZMachine](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/zmachine?id=zmachine) is a lightweight virtual machine (VM) solution that’s unique to the ThreeFold Grid. ZMachine enables both traditional VM deployments and also introduces a next generation container specification built on our [ZFlist](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__zos_fs?id=why-this-zflist-concept) technology. ZFlist containers enabled by ZMachines are more secure and more flexible than the current industry standard Docker-based containers. With Kubernetes running on top of ThreeFold’s ZMachine [technology](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/threefold__grid_use?id=tfgrid-kubernetes-cloud), we have a highly compatible and unique solution.
#### ZFlist
The [ZFlist](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__zos_fs?id=why-this-zflist-concept) is a next generation container format – supported directly at the operating system level on Zero-OS – which extends the industry-standard Docker container concept in an efficient and secure way. It provides a unique advantage over traditional containers via the use of mini VMs. By employing mini VMs, the FList concept provides better isolation than traditional container systems while retaining the advantages that containers offer over full VMs.
#### Kubernetes
ThreeFold has long supported the most used open-source container orchestration tool in the world, [Kubernetes](https://kubernetes.io/), which integrates the industry standard [Docker](https://www.docker.com/) format, a container creation and management tool. It’s used to manage many of the largest and most complex cloud deployments. Kubernetes can be used to create a production-ready environment. The ThreeFold Grid provides a lightweight Kubernetes VM that can be used to create clusters according to specific needs. By providing both VMs and Kubernetes, we’re able to offer the most comprehensive solution in the decentralized/blockchain space to deploy, scale, and manage cloud compute workloads. Kubernetes users can, for the most part, simply bring their existing configuration files and recreate their deployments on a Grid based cluster seamlessly. With the third generation of the Grid, we provided a very simple way to provision [Kubernetes clusters with Terraform](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/manual3_iac/grid3_terraform/manual__terraform_k8s?id=more-info).
#### Terraform
[Terraform](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-grid-3-0-supports-terraform/1184?u=hannahcordes) is a widely-used open-source Infrastructure as Code (IaC) software tool enabling a consistent workflow in order to manage complex deployments across different cloud providers. It also integrates directly with our Grid’s [existing Kubernetes functionality](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/cloud/threefold__usp_compatible?id=kubernetes) to offer a complete solution for reserving hardware and deploying software.
<br/>
In a nutshell, Terraform offers a complete solution for reserving hardware and deploying software. It allows for specifying deployments on the [ThreeFold Grid](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/threefold__tfgrid_home) in a simple, declarative, and human-readable language describing the desired end state. Terraform can be used to deploy the full set of [Zero-OS](https://forum.threefold.io/t/all-you-need-to-know-about-zero-os/1734) primitives, supporting any existing or future Linux workload, with endless possibilities. It is like a lower-level Kubernetes for the hardware part of cloud deployments.
#### Dedicated Nodes
We’re also supporting [dedicated nodes](https://forum.threefold.io/t/exciting-news-dedicated-nodes-on-the-people-s-internet/2645?u=hannahcordes). By utilizing dedicated nodes on the ThreeFold Grid, you’ll benefit from a truly decentralized and highly reliable Internet infrastructure that uses less energy and comes at a much more affordable price than any comparable alternative. With dedicated nodes, users are able to exclusively reserve the entire capacity of a 3Node to deploy solutions for themselves or for other customers, while also paying for all capacity of the respective 3Node. Dedicated nodes on our Grid will be highly cost effective, as they’ll be available with a 70% discount on [pricing](https://forum.threefold.io/t/pricing-for-tfgrid/2518/7). All the ThreeFold Grid features will be available on [dedicated nodes](https://forum.threefold.io/t/exciting-news-dedicated-nodes-on-the-people-s-internet/2645?u=hannahcordes) as well – from deploying VMs and containers to CapRover and more. Dedicated and non-dedicated 3Nodes can be combined.
#### V Language
ThreeFold is built with simplicity in mind which is why we’re using [V](https://www.threefold.io/partners/vlang/) – a statically typed programming language similar to Go, and inspired by Rust, Swift, and Oberon. It’s the official [smart contract](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__smartcontract_it) language on the Grid, as its simplicity and readability allows anyone to go through and understand any code base, even non-developers.
<br/>
Despite being simple, V gives a lot of power to the developer and can be used in pretty much every field, including systems programming, webdev, gamedev, GUI, mobile, science, embedded, tooling, etc. It aims to become an alternative to JavaScript as the de facto coding language on the market in the upcoming years. With V, the developer doesn’t need to change anything in their code. “It just works”, like in Python, Go, or Java, except there’s no heavy GC tracing everything or expensive RC for each object. V can translate your entire C project and offer you the safety, simplicity, and 10-25x faster compilation speeds.
<br/>
With +30,5K Stars on [GitHub](https://github.com/vlang/v), V brings a strong open-source developer community to the ThreeFold ecosystem to develop the infrastructures and applications of tomorrow – making it the ideal smart contract language for the ThreeFold ecosystem.
## An open invitation
So, now that you’ve learned more about the building blocks of the ThreeFold Grid and how you can build with them, we’d like to invite you to try and test them yourselves!
<br/>
While we’re very proud of our progress and the strong ecosystem around us, now’s the time to build upon the foundation. The team continues to do incredible work to further develop and advance the Grid with each and every release. They continue to improve the components, develop new features and build new solutions.
<br/>
With your support, the team can work even faster. If you share our belief in open source and decentralization, we invite you to help us test and improve not only the Grid and its primitives but also the solutions built on top. Together, we keep building and advancing to realize our Internet of Internets vision and to empower people with true digital sovereignty. 
<br/>
* Dive into the [manual](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/) to get started
* Learn more about [testing the ThreeFold Grid](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/manual__grid3_testing?id=testing-the-threefold_grid3)
* Join this growing [movement](https://t.me/threefold) & our [testing community](https://t.me/threefoldtesting)
### Join us for [part three](https://www.threefold.io/blog/build-on-threefolds-open-infrastructure-part-three/)!
Get ready for [part three](https://www.threefold.io/blog/build-on-threefolds-open-infrastructure-part-three/) of our series where we’re diving into a world of possibilities for developers, end-users and everyone in-between. The final part will not only show you what’s possible on the ThreeFold Playground today but also introduce you to our end-user experiences that empower you with digital sovereignty which are available for beta testing now!

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---
id: consensus_2022_recap
title: "Consensus 2022 Recap – ThreeFold Community Celebrates the Internet of Internets"
image_caption: "Consensus 2022 Recap – ThreeFold Community Celebrates the Internet of Internets"
description: In June, the ThreeFold Team went to Austin to share our vision for a decentralized Internet as sponsor of Consensus 2022. Throughout an incredible week, we spread the word about ThreeFold, formed meaningful connections and planted the seeds for the first sovereign Regional Internet.
date: 2022-06-28
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, event]
categories: [community, event]
extra:
imgPath: consensus_2022_recap.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
The ThreeFold Team was in Austin, Texas, in June to share our vision for a decentralized Internet as an exhibitor and sponsor of [Consensus](https://threefold.io/blog/threefold_at_consensus_2022/) by Coindesk. The four-day conference attracted over [20,000 people](https://cointelegraph.com/news/consensus-2022-web3-unpacking-regulations-and-optimism-for-crypto-s-future) who explored conversations on topics like decentralization, blockchain, crypto, Web 3 and more. The ThreeFold team shared our “planet first, people first” vision and story with hundreds of attendees who visited our conference booth to learn about ThreeFold – leading to new community members, farmers, token holders, and partners. 
<br/>
Co-founder [Adnan Fatayerji](https://threefold.io/people/adnan_fatayerji/) conducted several media interviews and found that our story resonated well – after all, [Consensus](https://threefold.io/blog/threefold_at_consensus_2022/) is the Festival for the Decentralized World. Nevertheless, many of the other projects at Consensus are still using centralized infrastructure for hosting. We shared the potential for ThreeFold as the foundation to make a truly decentralized world a reality. Already, independent people and organizations from 80 countries and counting are connecting decentralized Internet capacity, bringing to life this new infrastructure.
<br/>
![ThreeFold Booth Consensus](./threefold_booth_consensus.png)
<br/>
![ThreeFold Booth People](./threefold_booth_people.png)
<br/>
*“As the Layer 0 for Web2/3/4 or 5, we came to Consensus with open arms and in the spirit of collaboration and that’s exactly what happened. We made friends and connected with the projects out there that are truly moving the needle of ‘Trust’/Web3 forward. We look forward to nurturing these incredible partnerships on ThreeFold’s foundational layer and to scale ‘Digital Trust’ in all its forms towards mainstream adoption.” – Adnan Fatayerji*
## Bringing the Sovereign Internet to Austin
Together with some of [our Austin friends](https://www.yourhomecommunity.com/), we gathered with 45 like-minded people at Casa de Luz, a spiritual and wellness retreat, to launch the first sovereign Regional Internet in Austin, Texas. All of us shared our own stories and reasons for attending. Then we explored the opportunities, benefits and next steps for Austin to establish its own truly self-sovereign regional Internet.
<br/>
We found shared values among a group of open, inspiring, passionate and like-minded individuals who formed this founding group. Austin has long been a hub for innovative thinkers and high-tech companies. Austin has a strong connection to and respect for nature. Austin is aligned well with our planet-first, people-first philosophy.
<br/>
We believe that, together, we’re strong enough to build new regenerative systems powerful enough to enable anyone to have a sovereign, safer and more fulfilling life. And we're honoured to be working with the people of Austin in the global rollout of the Internet of Internets. We’re now looking to launch the first 3Nodes there to lay the foundation of Austin’s sovereign Regional Internet.
<br/>
![ThreeFold and Austin Community](./threefold_austin_community.png)
<br/>
We’ve spent a truly incredible week in Austin, spreading the word about ThreeFold, forming meaningful connections and finding a new home. Thank you, Austin!
<br/>
*“It’s been inspiring to meet everyone at Casa de Luz! Feeling so grateful for the opportunity to build Austin’s sovereign Internet together!” – Sacha Obeegadoo*
<br/>
*“It was such an honor. I’ll never forget that day. We’re going to do something really beautiful!” – Sam Taggart*
<br/>
*“Connecting with the beautiful community of the good people of Austin was absolutely amazing. We really felt at home and Austin is a true freedom vortex in the US where people truly value their free spirits and the importance of staying resilient and independant. We could not have dreamt of a better place to start the Internet of Internets in the US and create the first local internet. Keep it weird Austin!” – Florian Fournier*
## Next steps
The founding gathering in Austin was just the beginning. Building meaningful relationships with local communities to start the next few Regional Internets will be a big focus for the ThreeFold ecosystem in 2022. Therefore, we’ll be travelling to various places across the globe to [connect the dots](https://threefold.io/blog/connecting_the_dots/) in the upcoming months.
<br/>
After entering a partnership with [Paradise Hills](https://threefold.io/blog/paradise_hills/) to build the first Community Cloud, planting the seeds for the first Regional Internet in Austin represents another crucial step in our journey to create the [Internet of Internets](https://threefold.io/blog/internet_of_internets/) – a glocal model that is infinitely scalable. So, the next few months will be vital for our [expansion phase](https://threefold.io/blog/four_phases_of_threefold/) and for building a better future for all of us.
<br/>
Together, we’re building a better Internet by and for the people, the foundation for a better world. An Internet to regenerate our planet and to empower the collective – the many and not the few.
<br/>
So, we’re proud to join together to build the future we want to live in – whether by [building](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__diy_guide) or [buying](https://marketplace.3node.global/) a 3Node, by buying the ThreeFold Token ([TFT](https://threefold.io/tft)), or by helping us bring the sovereign Internet to your community or region.
<br/>
*New to ThreeFold? [Join](https://t.me/threefold) the movement now and learn how to [be](https://threefold.io/blog/what_is_farming/) the Internet.*

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---
id: decentralised_internet_india
title: "How would Decentralisation of the Internet help India?"
image_caption: Decentralised Internet India
description: While Indian internet usage ranks second in the world today behind China, with 43% of its total population online, this also means that there is still a lot of untapped potential.
date: 2023-01-03
taxonomies:
people: [ashish_bansal]
tags: [community, decentralization, why]
categories: [community, decentralization, why]
extra:
imgPath: decentralised_internet_india.png
---
## How would Decentralisation of the Internet help India?
*"This article was originally published by Ashish Bansal, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
*Ashish Bansal has been a member of the ThreeFold support team since October 2021. He was born in India. Ashish believes that we all deserve a better internet which is free, decentralized and equal for all.*
<br>
The Internet has become one of the most important aspects of human life. Our everyday lives are impacted by social media and other online platforms on a very minute level. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and others have become the most convenient way to stay in touch with friends and family. WhiteHart, Udemy and others have made quality education accessible to all. Swiggy, Zomato and others have made our favourite cuisine accessible at home. Amazon, Flipkart and others have grown the shopping experience for Indians with a variety of choices. Netflix, Hotstar, Youtube and others have made entertainment on demand easy for us.
<br>
Over the past decade, we have all gotten addicted to the comforts that the internet has brought to us, and it wouldn't be wrong for us to say that we cannot imagine our lives without the internet.
<br>
While Indian internet usage ranks second in the world today behind China, with 43% of its total population online, this also means that there is still a lot of untapped potential in India.
## Issues with current Internet
Although the internet has helped us in making our lives comfortable, there are several issues with the current Internet services we use. Some of them are mentioned below:
### Cyber security
The cyber security infrastructure in India today is not well equipped to tackle increasing cyber-crimes. You may not have the resolution to your complaints filed with Cyber Cell Portals on time. Hence there is an increasing number of fraudsters and hackers in India.
### Data ownership
Personal details shared by you on the internet are used by big companies to influence your decision-making process strategically.
### Higher cost to customers
Since internet infrastructure is owned and controlled by a few big companies, there is an irregular price increase which makes the internet unaffordable to many parts of rural India.
## Decentralised Internet is the solution
Decentralisation of the internet refers to the arrangement of the internet or its components such that no single entity or organization has control or authority over the network. It holds the potential to revolutionize the way every nation accesses and utilizes the world wide web. India, one of the biggest players in the digital world, can greatly benefit from Internet decentralization. It would open up many new opportunities for both the country and its citizens.
<br>
To start, decentralization of the internet would give India more control over its digital landscape. Instead of relying on a single, centralized entity to power its network, India could decentralize its internet and make the administration of the network much more efficient. With this additional control and efficiency, India could develop a more secure and reliable infrastructure, while also controlling the delivery of services. This could lead to faster, more reliable connection speeds, along with increased safety and security.
<br>
Additionally, decentralization of the internet would allow India to establish itself as a technological leader. By decentralizing the internet, India could shift its focus from the existing internet infrastructure to developing innovative technology and applications. This could include the development of decentralized artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and much more. Potential applications of these technologies could drastically improve the education, healthcare, and transportation sectors of India.
<br>
Finally, decentralization of the internet could help with digital media access and distribution. This could open up new opportunities for providing access to digital media in rural areas, allowing for more effective access to education and entertainment. Furthermore, it could also provide access to more reliable payment services, as well as better consumer protection policies.
<br>
In conclusion, decentralization of the internet holds the potential to greatly benefit India and its citizens. It would give India control over its internet infrastructure, opening the door for development of innovative technologies and applications. Additionally, it could provide more effective access to digital media, along with more reliable payment services and consumer protection policies. In order for India to take full advantage of the potential of decentralization of the internet, it must take decisive steps towards implementing the necessary reforms and investments to ensure its success.
## How ThreeFold can contribute
ThreeFold technology runs on the concept of a grid formed by farmers who are independent people, unlike big corporations, that connect their nodes anywhere network and electricity is present to create a global distributed internet infrastructure. This resolves the problem of monopoly and price of big internet companies.
<br>
The technology also ensures that you get data security which was how the internet was originally intended to be.
<br>
To know more of ThreeFold technology and start farming:
<br>
- Dive into [the ThreeFold Library](https://library.threefold.me)
- Get a node from [the Official ThreeFold webshop]( https://marketplace.3node.global/index.php)
- Build your [own node](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__diy_guide)
- Or join us on [our two-way chat](https://t.me/threefold)

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---
id: decentralize_blockchain
title: How ThreeFold Can Truly Decentralize Blockchain
image_caption: Decentralizing Blockchain
description: Is a blockchain truly decentralized if it is being hosted on a centralized solution? We say, no.
date: 2021-10-11
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [decentralization, farming, grid, collaboration, cloud, tech]
categories: [decentralization, farming, grid, collaboration, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: decentralize_blockchain.png
---
The topic of decentralization is commonly tied to blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Blockchain doesn't store any of its information in a central location, rather it is copied and spread across a network of computers. And the most popular name in the blockchain space, Bitcoin, was intended as an alternative payment system free of central control.
<br/>
But many blockchains are facing the same challenge: How can they escape the monopolies of centralized cloud providers for their own workloads, as well as for the dApps built on top of them? The key question is, is a blockchain truly decentralized if it is being hosted on a centralized solution? We say: no.
<br/>
An example to illustrate this challenge is the fact that up to 60% of Ethereum (the world's second most-popular blockchain) nodes run on centralized cloud providers and [25% of them run on Amazon Web Services (AWS)](https://aws.amazon.com/blockchain/).
<br/>
While the topic is being addressed, it isn't being solved at scale. The good news is that ThreeFold can play a large part in solving it.
## Why should blockchains make this move?
The blockchain movement, as mentioned, is very heavily tied to the movement around decentralization. Cryptocurrencies represent the move away from centralized banks as the authorities and gatekeepers around money – just as ThreeFold and similar projects represent the move away from centralized clouds as the authorities and gatekeepers around data. The thing is, if blockchains are to rely on centralized cloud for hosting, they aren't truly embodying decentralization.
<br/>
Understandably, many blockchains have chosen centralized cloud providers in the past because there wasn't much of an alternative. But now, the Decentralized Cloud (DeCloud) movement has changed all of that.
<br/>
Here is how some specific audiences can benefit:
### For Node Operators
Any full node or validator node can run on ThreeFold’s [Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Cloud](https://cloud.threefold.io/), making that particular Blockchain even more community-owned, and more decentralized from an IT/cloud level. Any node operator can choose to run their nodes from any farmer location on the ThreeFold Grid, totally [peer-to-peer](https://threefold.io/blog/what_is_peer_to_peer/) between the chosen farmer and the node operator. The deployed workloads are computed in a P2P manner, no middle party involved.
### For dApp Developers
Web3/Blockchain developers can use ThreeFold’s P2P Cloud - offering both compute and storage - to build and power their applications in a truly decentralized cloud infrastructure, both blockchain-native and cloud-native. A strong advantage here is that developers have the ability to leverage Kubernetes, Docker, S3, and other cloud-native tools (all compatible / integrated with the ThreeFold) to power and optimize their data processing capabilities, as well as the overall functionality of their dApps. But the sweet spot is that it is deployed on a decentralized IT infrastructure, close to where users would be located.
## But why choose ThreeFold over other DeCloud projects?
There may be bigger names in the space, but ThreeFold's technology and offerings are much more comprehensive than the rest. ThreeFold provides decentralized storage, compute, and network all under one roof (whereas most other projects offer only one of the three) and as mentioned, we have created an environment for developers which is highly-compatible to the developer tools and solutions they use today. Further, ThreeFold is building new infrastructure [from the ground up](https://threefold.io/blog/an_intro_to_the_threefold_grid/) (rather than relying on extra space in data centers) and the technology is truly peer-to-peer.
<br/>
We already have [a number of partners in the space](https://threefold.io/partners/blockchain) who recognize these advantages.
<br/>
Any blockchain protocol or dApp, whether operating DeFi, NFTs, DEXs, etc, will at some point need to leverage the power of the decentralized cloud and escape from centralized cloud providers. We’re seeing some of that adoption from a decentralized storage side with IPFS, which has been adopted by many dApps, and others – but as a developer, you will have to think twice, not just about where your/your users’ data is being stored, but also about how (and where) your app is computed and powered.
<br/>
**Participate now in our quest to fully decentralize the Internet by [becoming a node](https://threefold.io/farm) on our grid or [buying TFT](https://threefold.io/tft).**

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---
id: digital_twin
title: "What is a Digital Twin?"
image_caption: "What is a Digital Twin?"
description: In the current Internet system, each of us exists many times, each application provider owns our data while offering functionality they own. We become the user. We become the product. Instead, what if we were at the center of our digital lives?
date: 2022-10-18
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [decentralization, tech]
categories: [decentralization, tech]
extra:
imgPath: digital_twin.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Victoria Obeegadoo, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
## What is a Digital Twin?
In the current Internet system, each of us exists many times, each application provider owns _our_ data while offering functionality _they_ own. We become the user. We become the product. Instead, what if we were at the center of our digital lives?
<br>
The Web4 Digital Twin architecture does just that: it puts us at the center of our digital experience. Indeed, Digital Twin is a user-centric technological platform to build efficient, sovereign and secure digital experiences. Digital Twin technology empowers people and businesses to exchange information and value without any intermediaries, while making applications more scalable, efficient and secure than on any other web paradigm such as Web2, Web3 or Web5. Digital Twins require a decentralized Internet infrastructure and run perfectly on top of the ThreeFold Grid.
## Your Digital Twin is a mirror of yourself!
Your Digital Twin runs on a location of your choice, which becomes your personal Internet Gateway. Each Twin is owned by only one owner, who in the end is more like the human mirror to the Twin. The Twin has lots of capabilities and is available for its “human mirror” 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Experiences are being built which use the capabilities of the Twin. A Twin owns your data and your identity, all stored in such a way it can never be corrupted or lost. Thus, you own your data, your identity and your digital skills for all your life.
## Your Digital Twin has Capabilities
Twins are powerful and have many capabilities which are used when they enter an experience. Here are the capabilities of the Digital Twin:
* Communicate
* Chat, video conference, send messages to anyone.
* Create
* Create content, any content (metaverse, video, websites, ...)
* Share and Promote
* Share your creations to the rest of the world
* Promote your products and services
* Share your knowledge and help others to grow
* Discover and Learn
* Find information, alternative indexing engine (neutral)
* Know what is truthful and what is not (proof of authenticity)
* Learn and become smarter
* Economy
* Manage my digital wealth (digital currencies)
* Exchange anything for anything else (money for tokens, services, products)
* Buy/Sell goods and services
* Collaborate
* How can I collaborate on documents, images, videos, code, ...
* How can I manage a project, plan events, define deadlines
* Organize
* Manage your agenda and time
* Organize your digital content so you can find it back, and it's nicely organized
* Manage your circles (groups of people)
* Protect
* Make sure that only the right people have access to your digital assets
* What happens if you die, make sure your loved ones can inherit your digital assets
* Make sure your digital life is secure (give access to your assets to your circles)
* Give proof of authenticity to assets and information from others
* Develop and Expand
* Code and extend the Twin (improve Twin capabilities for yourself and others)
* Create your own experiences
<br>
The Twin has basic capabilities listed above which are strongly version controlled, but contributions from the global community are more than welcomed. The idea is to create a system which is simply good enough for any possible experience.
<br>
![Your Digital Twin](./your_digital_twin.png)
<br>
This is a very different paradigm compared to current web or mobile applications where capabilities are owned by the provider of the application. Besides, rather than survival of the fittest, we believe in a system of collaboration, where we invite everyone to make the system better so it fits us all. We don't need three chat systems, we need one which is usable by thousands of experiences.
<br>
Developers can create experiences re-using the open source capabilities the Twin offers, also eliminating the need to reinvent features.
## Note on Connection & Security
As a “user”, you can use any browser to access experiences built on top of your Digital Twin. For example, a storage experience that stores data on your Twin or a browser experience that allows you to surf the web from your Twin's node. When you connect to your Twin, our **[ThreeFold Connect](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/web4/threefold__threefold_connect)** makes sure that the connection is secure. The Twin runs on a node on the ThreeFold Grid, which you are securely connected to. This takes care of a very safe approach and unlimited scalability. We will dive deeper into the Twin’s security and scalability aspects in a future blog!
## Digital Twin in a nutshell
Hopefully, by now you will have a better understanding of the Digital Twin concept. Here is a short recap of everything mentioned so far about it:
* You have full control over your own digital life.
* Experiences can be created using standard web & native technologies.
* The Digital Twin delivers the web interface to your (secure) browser.
* No need for information to travel to central data centers, all communication is fast and private between Digital Twins: No more client-server.
* All logic of your digital life is 100% private to you running in your Twin.
* This is super efficient and sustainable, +10x power savings.
* No blockchain required for your digital life = more privacy, performance, green
* Exception: blockchain is needed for digital currencies and as a phone book for Digital Twin’s identity.
<br>
If you would like to see what the current iteration of the Digital Twin looks like, [try it out](https://demo.freeflow.life/) yourself with [FreeFlow Twin](https://freeflow.life/) in its current beta version! Connect with ThreeFold on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/threefold_io), [Telegram](https://t.me/threefold), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/threefold-io/), and [Reddit](https://reddit.com/r/threefold) to join our community and stay updated about evolutions of the ThreeFold project and Digital Twin.

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---
id: threefold_foundation_32
title: Edge Cloud, not Grid Cloud
image_caption: cloud
description: The term Edge Cloud or, to be more precise, Edge Computing is one of the most exciting technology terms of these days.
date: 2018-08-22
taxonomies:
people: [kristof_de_spiegeleer]
tags: [grid, cloud, tech]
categories: [grid, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: edge_cloud.png
---
## Edge Cloud, not Grid Cloud?
The term Edge Cloud or, to be more precise, Edge Computing is one of the most exciting technology terms of these days.
<br>
<iframe width="750" height="421" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7uA9aoIfMZo" frameborder="0" allow="aautoplay; encrypted-media;" allowfullscreen></iframe>
## Edge Computing Definition
According to Wikipedia, "**Edge computing** is a distributed computing paradigm in which computation is largely or entirely performed on distributed device nodes known as smart devices or edge devices as opposed to primarily taking place in a centralized cloud environment.
<br>
In summary, this means that the cloud is divided into smaller pieces and distributed to the edge of the network.
## Drivers for Edge Computing
Some latency-sensitive applications require fast response times to work correctly. A good example is self-driving cars. A lot of decisions in autonomous vehicles have to be made instantaneously; the decision to react to the unexpected while driving at high speed cannot afford to be slowed down by data traveling long distances to be processed. To improve the system's reliability, additional hops, and any further points of failure must be eliminated. Moving to compute as far out as possible to the Edge is the logical choice.
<br>
More generically, real-world situations are increasingly relying on an IT component to be involved in some form of decision making where time is of the essence. The current IT setup is that we have highly concentrated IT setups in data centers connected by fast networks to the rest of the world. This setup is rapidly becoming obsolete as we need to have the fastest possible response for everyday activities, which cannot sustain the time delay caused by (extended) network connections. Having actual data processing and storage facilities close to these real-world situations is the next IT capacity evolution.
<br>
These thousands of situations are mostly in the IoT area. Still, other killer applications like streaming would greatly benefit from being served from the Edge rather than a distant central location.
## Edge Computing Market Facts
Due to the billions of IoT devices driven by various use cases like autonomous driving, a massive demand for Edge Computing is evolving rapidly. According to the Digital Journal, the Edge Computing market is growing extremely fast. With a CAGR of over 35.0% and the market is expected to reach USD 33.75 billion by the end of 2023.
<br/>
Source: [http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3394129](http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3394129)
<br/>
<br/>
Edge Computing and Grid Computing are often used in the same context and sometimes are confused. For this article, we'd like to define the terms going forward as follows:
<br/>
<br/>
Grid Computing means a computer network of 100% distributed computer resources like processing power, memory, and data storage of similar or different types to which authorized people can run their computation workloads. That means that Grid Compute nodes are mostly in data centers and maybe dispersed over more extensive regions but are typically still far from the Edge. Compared to Edge Computing, Grid Computing environments are owned by more than one individual or company, and thus, controlled by many.
<br/>
<br/>
Edge computing has risen from a need to have data processing and storage as close as possible to real-world situations. The situation could be as simple as recording biometric data by a smartwatch to support the required information for a self-driving car to function as intended. The necessity comes from having local computing and storage capacity - it can be used by multiple use cases (situations) but does not have to.
## The Benefits of Edge Computing
Edge computing comes with specific benefits that are mandatory for the next evolution in the IT industry. We have optimized the central model to such a degree that the network connects the central capacity to use cases in the field, the next bottleneck. Edge computing is solving several challenges faced by real-world situations with the following benefits:
### Speed
**Speed** is probably the most crucial benefit of edge computing, as there are plenty of use cases that require near-real-time computing.
### Scalability
The scalability of edge computing also makes it incredibly [versatile](https://www.vxchnge.com/blog/edge-computing-use-cases). By partnering with local data centers further out on the Edge, companies can easily target desirable markets without investing in expensive infrastructure expansion. Edge data centers allow them to service end-users efficiently with little physical distance or latency. They also do not constrain companies with a substantial footprint, allowing them to shift to other markets rapidly should economic conditions change.
### Availability and Security
Traditional cloud computing architecture is, by definition, centralized, which makes it especially vulnerable to [distributed denial of service (DDoS)](https://www.vxchnge.com/blog/how-to-protect-data-centers-from-a-new-generation-of-ddos-attacks) attacks and power outages. Edge computing distributes processing, storage, and applications across a wide range of devices, nodes and data centers, which makes it difficult for any single disruption to take down the network which is why logically and geographically dispersed systems are often used for DDoS mitigation like in Content Delivery Networks (CDN)
<br/>
<br/>
By pushing everything to the cloud, you're leaving your business open to ISP failures and cloud server downtime. Many mission-critical operations like railroads and chemical plants won't even use the cloud today. Their server farms are the only way to guarantee uptime.
### Process optimisation
Another big benefit is process optimization. If self-driving cars were to use the cloud instead of the Edge, they'd be pushing all the data they gather up to the cloud. But if the Edge makes local decisions, the cloud may not need all that data immediately – or even at all.
## Requirements for Edge Computing
When compute and storage capabilities exist on the Edge, we need to overcome several challenges around capacity distribution. Most traditional IT technologies do not allow this as they live in large data centers where there is a lot of "care" for these technologies.
<br/>
<br/>
The most significant generic hurdle to overcome is that there is going to be a lot less "care" for the technology to rely on at the Edge. These "devices" have to be self-sufficient to no small degree. If we want to sum up some of the specifics of edge technology, this will come out:
<br/>
<br/>
* A typical edge device or node must run an OS that comes in at a low cost or, ideally, for free like some open source offerings. This enhances the proliferation of capacity at the Edge.
* Container technology must be embedded in the OS at the lowest possible level to create the maximum benefit of efficiency from the edge hardware: classic Virtual Machine environments are just too inefficient and resource consuming for edge use cases. There will be Virtual Machine based edge solutions, but these are going to be out there for a certain period, catering for current IT workloads to move to the Edge. The Edge's correct move can only happen when traditional IT applications split up into pieces and require a lot less capacity to run. Hence, it will convert over time to containerized technology.
* Edge Computing hardware will consist of datacenter grade hardware and all sorts of other types of hardware. The Edge might include some smaller sized data center facilities but also include different types of "homes" for compute and storage equipment. Think of transportation as a specific use case - capacity on maritime vessels, capacity on trains, and vehicles' capacity. Hardware will have to accommodate different use cases, price levels, form factors, and power consumption.
* Edge hardware needs a lightweight OS that is very close to the hardware components to get the maximum out of compute and storage capacity. Less is more - for real Edge capacity, local people won't be able to interact with edge capacity - one further step - there will be no need to have remote people access these devices for maintenance purposes. The ultimate edge computing solution will have a significant amount of self-sustainability - where there are no more highly technically skilled people required to keep the capacity available, up and running.
* In most cases, Edge means being remote, and having no access to humans or humans are only too expensive for the specific use case.
* Power outages or no network availability will cause system failures. The ideal OS to deal with this revolves around no people; the zero-touch approach should be stateless and needs to have self-healing capabilities run by automation software robots.<br />
## Existing Edge Computing Solutions
Today there are a few Edge Computing platforms out there that cover some requirements as outlined above.
<br/>
<br/>
* Microsoft, for instance, launched products like Azure IoT Edge and Azure Data Box Edge to extend their Datacenter based Azure cloud offering to the Edge.
* Another attempt to bring centralized cloud technology to the Edge is the Openstack Edge Computing initiative, which is in the concept phase only so far.
* A new OS for the Edge is CoreOs, also known as Container Linux, which runs on nearly any platform, whether physical, virtual, or private/public cloud.
* More recently, there are a few blockchain-driven technologies out there pushing for edge capacity to exist. Examples are:
* [SIA](https://sia.tech/)
* [Sonm](https://sonm.com/)
* [Filecoin](https://filecoin.io/)
* Content delivery networks with a lot of "capacity" sitting close to end-users are expanding their capabilities beyond content delivery
* [Limelight](https://www.limelight.com/products/iot-and-edge-cloud/)
* [Akamai](https://www.akamai.com/)<br />
<br/>
<br/>
## The Holy Grail
The holy grail would be a self-healing Edge Grid. Edge, because of all the benefits Edge Computing brings to the user: Speed, Scalability, Reliability, Security, Versatility, and Process Optimization. Grid, because it fulfills the distributed workload requirements, a classic centralized cloud would generally be used without a centralized nature and all its disadvantages.
<br/>
<br/>
Probably the most critical part of the ideal solution is self-healing. The biggest challenge of an Edge Computing environment is the dependency on local care: humans to maintain hardware and upgrade or fix software components. Self Healing needs to do the job here, which means zero people can be involved.
<br/>
<br/>
Only a self-healing mechanism with zero-people involved, completely decentralized, brings down the cost and provides more security to the environment, and makes it highly scalable.
<br/>
<br/>
Some of you may think that new blockchain-based technologies may be the holy grail. But they are not.
<br/>
<br/>
In most cases, their implementations are too slow, and that's why it does not make sense to use them for production purposes. Another downside is the complexity of the application caused by stitching together 3rd party technologies. In many cases, these blockchain-based technologies are at a very early stage with beta implementations or even roadmap only type of technology.
<br/>
<br/>
The holy grail is something that hasn't been created before; it needs to be a versatile system that is self-manageable. A large global conglomerate should not own the capacity - it should be owned by many. Therefore, it should have a commercial model where people individually can decide to partake in building this global edge solution and where there is a defined return on investment for those partakers.
<br/>
<br/>
A few groups of people, like us, are creating decentralized solutions for this, owned by the many, and creating services for all.

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---
id: ethical_design_manifesto
title: Creating solutions that respect humanity and the planet
image_caption: humanity
description: Respect Human Rights, Respect Human Effort, Respect Human Experience
date: 2017-06-06
taxonomies:
people: [kristof_de_spiegeleer]
tags: [decentralization, why]
categories: [decentralization, why]
extra:
imgPath: ethical_design_manifesto.png
---
<br/>
<br/>
Organizations should always respect human rights, human effort and human experience. To enable a sustainable and prosperous civilization and world, we need a strong value system.
<br/>
<br/>
*Ideas and texts were inspired from https://ind.ie/ethical-design/. We added our own twist to it.*
## Respect Human Rights
- **Sustainability**: It is important for a very simple reason: we cannot maintain our quality of life as human beings, the diversity of life on our planet, or Earth's ecosystems unless we embrace and protect its balance.
- **Equality**: Everyone should have a right to learn, dream, partake and succeed. Equal access also means affordability, not ownership by big greedy companies.
- **Decentralization**: To better distribute power, value and opportunities, we need more decentralization. Technologies and solutions should be available everywhere to improve equality and sustainability.
- **Openness & Interoperability**: Allows technologies to work together in an open way, without limitation, and therefore expands the possibilities for innovation and sharing.
- **Accessibility**: Whatever the location or situation, people should benefit from easy and fast access to information and solutions.
- **Security & Privacy**: Protect people from being put in situations of danger or exploitation. People should be empowered to be independent and they should be the sole owners of their experiences.
## Respect Human Effort
- **Reliability**: Make sure technologies are reliable and last longer.
- **Simplicity**: We need to keep things simple: no unnecessary complexity - less is more.
- **Transparency**: Let people and companies work together in a 100% transparent way.
- **Collaboration**: It's all about the greater picture. We are stronger together and have to help each other in reaching our common visions.
## Respect Human Experience
- **Ergonomy**: Products and solutions should empower productivity, safety and comfort, while reducing human error.
- **Inclusiveness**: Design should always be global and inclusive. We are all equal.
- **Design**: Products should be visually appealing and should achieve it's purpose.
- **Transparency**: Organisational records and strategies should be accessible to everyone.
<br/>
<br/>
*Photo by Renee Fisher on Unsplash.*

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---
id: farming_a_greener_alternative_to_crypto_mining
title: "Farming – A Greener Alternative to Crypto Mining"
image_caption: Farming – A Greener Alternative to Crypto Mining.
description: ThreeFold Farming is about so much more than crypto mining. It's a decentralized, energy-efficient and meaningful alternative.
date: 2022-04-21
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [decentralization, farming, why]
categories: [decentralization, farming, why]
extra:
imgPath: farming_a_greener_alternative_to_crypto_mining.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
In [October 2008](https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-for-beginners/the-history-of-bitcoin-when-did-bitcoin-start), when the financial crisis was in full swing, an anonymous individual or group under the pseudonym ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ published a [white paper](https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf) on Bitcoin, a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system” that ended up disrupting the financial system and sparked the creation of an entirely new industry: crypto mining.
<br/>
Considering that many people view Bitcoin as a commodity, similar to gold, it only makes sense that the process of generating new Bitcoins would become referred to as ‘mining’. In a way, mining is an incentive mechanism to reach consensus in the verification of transactions in a decentralized network. While crypto mining originated from Bitcoin, the system has spread quite widely across the blockchain space.
<br/>
More than a decade later, Bitcoin keeps intriguing individuals and organizations all around the world, and has become [one of the most popular](https://cointelegraph.com/news/is-bitcoin-a-waste-of-energy-pros-and-cons-about-bitcoin-mining) financial assets. Nevertheless, criticism and doubts around Bitcoin and crypto mining remain. The most popular cryptocurrency is also frequently brought to the spotlight around its potential affiliations to money laundering, financing of terrorism and cybercrime, as well as the energy the mining process of its cryptocurrency consumes. 
<br/>
According to the [Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index](https://cbeci.org/) of the University of Cambridge, the annual consumption of Bitcoin is currently estimated to amount to nearly 140 TWh. The United Arab Emirates (113 TWh) or the Netherlands (109 TWh) had a lower annual energy consumption than Bitcoin [in 2020](http://blog.zorinaq.com/bitcoin-electricity-consumption/). Moreover, news outlets like [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/27/bitcoin-mining-consumes-electricity-ireland) or [BBC News](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56012952) reported on Bitcoin exceeding the energy consumption of further countries, including Ireland and Argentina. Within the last year, headlines like “[Bitcoin Uses More Electricity Than Many Countries](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/09/03/climate/bitcoin-carbon-footprint-electricity.html)” in the New York Times or “[Bitcoin’s growing energy problem: ‘It’s a dirty currency’](https://www.ft.com/content/1aecb2db-8f61-427c-a413-3b929291c8ac)” in the Financial Times were in no short supply.
<br/>
Among the most popular quotes on the topic is Bill Gates’ statement in the New York Times in [March 2021](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/09/business/dealbook/bill-gates-bitcoin.html): "Bitcoin uses more electricity per transaction than any other method known to mankind, and so it's not a great climate thing." Not that this statement or the awareness of the issue would have prevented Microsoft from launching [ION](https://identity.foundation/ion/), a decentralized digital identity system, to run on the Bitcoin network.
## But why is Bitcoin mining so energy intensive anyways?
At the heart of Bitcoin’s energy-intensive model is the [Proof-of-Work (PoW)](https://www.coindesk.com/learn/2020/12/16/what-is-proof-of-work/) protocol. [Bitcoin mining](https://www.investopedia.com/tech/how-does-bitcoin-mining-work/), the process of creating new Bitcoins using PoW, requires solving complex cryptographic equations to receive the rewards associated with the creation of the next block in the blockchain. PoW is carried out by computers, known as ‘miners’. 
<br/>
In the early days, a simple computer was enough to mine Bitcoin. However, the difficulty of the mining algorithm increased as the network grew larger and more people started competing to earn the next block’s rewards. On average, it takes [about 10 minutes](https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf) to solve such an equation and to mine a new block. Today, Bitcoin mining has become a costly and elaborate endeavour – accessible only to large investors that can support powerful supercomputers – at the cost of [local communities](https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/04/18/1049331/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-cryptomining-new-york/).
<br/>
It’s only sensible that miners are beefing up their machines to increase their chances. In fact, the sector became so competitive that [Intel created](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sustainable-crypto-mining-becoming-reality-nameet-potnis/) dedicated chips and specialized manufacturers for mining servers like [Bitmain](https://www.bitmain.com/) were established. With up to 3,250 Watts indicated by manufacturers, the power consumption of such devices averages 28,470 kWh per year if operated continuously. In comparison, the annual consumption of a freezer is estimated between 200 and 500 kWh per year. 
<br/>
Additionally, operating a single mining machine is hardly the way to succeed. The biggest Bitcoin miners have fleets of hundreds of machines in so-called ‘mining farms’, carefully maintained and constantly ventilated, to prevent them from overheating. Some of the largest, like [Northern Data](https://www.rockdalemdd.org/news/whinstone-us-breaks-ground-build-world%E2%80%99s-largest-bitcoin-mining-facility-rockdale-texas) in Texas, have an energy consumption of 1 GWh per year, the equivalent of the energy produced by about [3.1 million](https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/how-much-power-1-gigawatt) photovoltaic (solar) panels. 
<br/>
In critical times where humanity is facing serious global challenges in relation to climate change and the collapse of biodiversity, we must rethink the basics of how to decentralize our world. 
## Are there more energy-conscious solutions?
[Proof-of-Stake (PoS)](https://www.coindesk.com/learn/2020/12/30/what-is-proof-of-stake/) mechanisms have proven to be [less energy intensive](https://www.investopedia.com/tech/how-does-bitcoin-mining-work/#toc-downsides-of-mining) than PoW. With PoS, miners lock up (‘stake’) a blockchain’s cryptocurrency on escrow accounts to be granted mining rights. In exchange for this participation, miners receive an interest proportional to their stake as reward. 
<br/>
PoS-based blockchains are faster and much more energy efficient than PoW-based blockchains. However, the implementation of a PoS protocol poses its own challenges. For example, it is known for incentivizing hoarding, rather than utilization, and driving centralization. The mining industry is attempting to shift perceptions and move away from its climate-polluting, power-hungry image by powering large mining activities with renewable energies or by offsetting their emissions with carbon credits.
<br/>
While this might sound great at first, it does not resolve the underlying issue of incredibly high energy consumption. Should we really allocate relatively scarce renewable energy resources to such energy-intensive endeavours? Or should we rather look for more efficient alternatives – considering we have all the technology to create more energy-efficient models from scratch – and then support what energy consumption remains with renewable energy? 
## ThreeFold Farming offers a greener paradigm
[ThreeFold Farming](https://threefold.io/blog/what_is_farming/) is a decentralized, energy-efficient and meaningful alternative to mining. [ThreeFold Tokens](https://forum.threefold.io/t/the-potential-of-the-threefold-token-tft/1796) (TFT) are minted whenever new Internet capacity in terms of compute, storage or network is added to the ThreeFold Grid by connecting computers, known as 3Nodes. 
<br/>
By contributing decentralized Internet capacity to the ThreeFold Grid, independent people and organizations called ‘farmers’ earn TFT in return – based on a [Proof-of-Capacity](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__proof_of_capacity?id=why-proof-of-capacity)  (PoC) algorithm. PoC is autonomously carried out by ThreeFold’s [extremely efficient](https://threefold.io/blog/for_our_planet/) operating system. First, Zero-OS scans the computer’s resources. Then the operating system registers the computing power and Internet storage on the [ThreeFold Blockchain](https://threefold.io/blog/tf_chain/), making the resources available to the entire network – thereby creating a [decentralized model](https://coincheckup.com/blog/threefold-is-the-decentralized-web-the-future-of-the-internet/) for Internet capacity provisioning. The [energy consumption](https://threefold.docsend.com/view/wsru3f9tmeaq62wq) of a 3Node can vary, depending on the amount of Compute Units (CUs) and Storage Units (SUs) it holds. “The average consumption for a Titan 3Node is around 26.71 KwH per hour”, says ThreeFold’s [Alexandre Hannelas](https://threefold.io/people/alexandre_hannelas/). 
<br/>
Farming supports the realization of an open-source peer-to-peer Internet free from centralized servers and authorities. Similarly to Bitcoin, the management of transactions and the issuing of TFT is carried out collectively by the network to create a decentralized Internet economy. In a way, what [Bitcoin did to money](https://threefold.io/blog/bitcoin_threefold/), ThreeFold does to the Internet – while using much [less energy](https://threefold.io/blog/for_our_planet/). 
<br/>
*"By using blockchain for what it's good at and other pioneering technologies, such as peer-to-peer networking, to complement it, we built the most efficient Internet infrastructure in the world, and by far." – Kristof de Spiegeleer.*
<br/>
Developing sustainable solutions for our planet is essential to ThreeFold’s ethos which puts our planet and people first. A famous quote, we love and frequently refer to at ThreeFold, is Albert Einstein’s “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we create them.”
<br/>
Our planet needs regenerative solutions at a large scale, and ThreeFold aims to deliver on our promise providing better solutions for our planet and people through our technology. Based on the ThreeFold Grid’s average energy consumption, we’re planting trees with our partner [Take Action Global](https://forum.threefold.io/t/driving-regeneration-with-tag/2120?u=hannahcordes) to offset the Grid’s carbon emissions three times in the form of [Voluntary Carbon Credits](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-on-track-to-be-planet-positive/2097?u=hannahcordes) (VCC). Our VCC system was implemented in the PoC algorithm, so every 3Node mints additional TFT to offset its own carbon emissions based on the power utilization of the individual 3Node per month. The [process](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-on-track-to-be-planet-positive/2097) is fully automated and executed by the ThreeFold Blockchain.
<br/>
ThreeFold’s global community of farmers is on a mission to regenerate our planet through the planet-positive ThreeFold Farming which supports tree planting and other [impact initiatives](https://forum.threefold.io/t/supporting-initiatives-to-regenerate-the-planet/2110?u=hannahcordes) by default. We’re on track to provide a planet-positive Internet and support our partners in their initiatives in fields like climate education, climate action and economic inclusion worldwide.
<br/>
Farming is about so much more than crypto mining. It’s about building a [better Internet](https://medium.com/authority-magazine/the-future-is-now-kristoff-de-spiegeleer-of-threefold-on-how-their-technological-innovation-will-7acc0e51c365) and shaping the world we want to live in. Together with a community of like-minded people, we’re taking action for a better world.
<br/>
If not us, who? If not now, when?
<br/>
* Join the global ThreeFold [movement](https://t.me/threefold).
* [Start farming](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__farming_intro) today and become a part of the new Internet while regenerating the planet.

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---
id: for_our_planet
title: A Better Solution for Our Planet
image_caption: sustainability
description: We believe IT can be sustainable. Actually, it should be! That's why energy efficiency has always been a key focus of ours..
date: 2020-12-02
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [why, tech]
categories: [why, tech]
extra:
imgPath: better_solution.png
---
Today, the global Internet and IT infrastructure requires enormous amounts of energy, responsible for about 10% of annual global energy consumption. This makes the IT industry amongst the most pollutive industries in the world (along with the often-discussed airline industry, for comparison).
<br>
We believe IT can be sustainable. Actually, it should be! That's why energy efficiency has always been a key focus of ours. With climate change and sustainability as some of the most pressing issues of our times, new green solutions need to be our priority. It has been key to ThreeFold since the very beginning of its story to enable a technological infrastructure that can reduce the Internet’s carbon footprint drastically.
## Simplicity is the key to unlock a better future
Over time, integration suites, middleware solutions, and enterprise service busses have been invented and implemented to cover integration challenges within the current internet. This has further complicated IT architectures, resulting in a loss of actual end user workload performance.
<br>
ThreeFold reworked the whole approach to IT architectures and eliminated the layers of complexity. The result is a cloud stack that presents minimal overhead and that requires less hardware – reducing heat generation and eventually cooling requirements. By reducing the need for power, the net result is an energy-efficient Internet grid.
## Improving resilience and efficiency through Self-Healing IT
Keeping systems up and running is a major requirement in modern day IT. Leading vendors earn most of their margin by selling maintenance contracts, performance guarantees, and professional services. Their business models bring no incentive to make things simple and efficient for consumers.
<br>
Creating a self-healing environment requires only minimal manual intervention to replace broken hardware components. Broken hardware components are inevitable, and the Zero-OS distributed node architecture deals with such failures by turning off broken components and provisioning unused capacity. By removing the need to ship broken parts back and forth, and linking to the corresponding installation knowledge (engineers), a lower carbon footprint can be achieved.
## “No painkiller” approach. We tackle the root issue
If a specific piece of software or hardware is not delivering the required performance or reliability, we should analyze the core design/algorithm and its usage of soft/hard components to determine the root causes of persistent issues to be solved.
<br>
Currently, most storage vendors follow the path of least resistance when trying to improve on performance. Their solution for meeting performance targets is to use faster components (CPU, memory, network card, proprietary acceleration) rather than looking at the core algorithms that drive the utilization of those components. Swapping components for faster ones perpetuates a cycle of cutting corners and focuses reliance on innovation from hardware component providers rather than solving the more fundamental and underlying issues. That's a "painkiller" approach.
<br>
Zero-OS was designed to solve root problem issues by design. While still using high-performance hardware components on the ThreeFold Grid, the algorithm of Zero-OS maximizes utilization possibilities. This enables greater performance and sustainability. Some key examples how this is achieved:
### Eliminating unnecessary elements from standard architectures
Virtualization adds a layer of software between the actual end-user workload and physical hardware. It also allows for multiple workloads to run on the same hardware by using excess capacity. There is definitely merit in building a virtualization solution. Building an effective virtualization solution that does not require abundant context switching is key and this is why Zero-OS has been developed. Zero-OS uses a minimal Linux kernel that allows for a number of user spaces to co-exist. In these user spaces, containerized versions of software can be run, eliminating the need for hypervisors, virtual OS to fuel the virtual machines, and guest operating systems. This also minimizes the required overhead for the host OS.
### Minimizing network connections usage
Supercomputing delivered many new technologies. But, not all of them are usable solutions for everyday workloads. One technology invented to make supercomputers performant is the use of Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA). RDMA allowed physical CPU boards (containing both CPUs and memory) to access other CPU boards in memory stored data over a dedicated channel. This eliminated the need to transport data between CPU nodes over network connections (or other mainstream means to exchange data). The result was a considerable reduction in overhead created when allowing distributed end user workloads to operate over multiple physical cores. The leading server and storage solutions brands have never considered nor implemented such mechanisms. This resulted in an increased need for faster networks - increasing complexity, costs, efforts and resources needed to operate solutions.
<br>
RDMA is only used in certified farms and requires involvement of TF9.
### Minimizing disk usage
The storage solution uses slow and big (the bigger the better) HDD disks which drive in rack density. As they spin slower they consume less power and need less cooling. But then, how can you deal with read/write intensive workloads? The storage algorithm uses a SSD cache to acknowledge Inputs/Outputs coming from the applications, fills the erasure coded data blocks in large (up to 64MB) storage containers and writes the big chunks of data on the big and slow HHDs. If you are familiar with HDD disks, you know they like to be streamed on instead of having a lot of small bits written in a scratchy way.
<br>
Continuous innovation in all of these areas are leading to an efficient technology stack.

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---
id: how_it_works
title: ThreeFold's Long Story Short
image_caption: technology
description: The truth is that ThreeFold is a big project. Here we will try to make things a little simpler for you.
date: 2020-05-15
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, decentralization, farming, grid, why, cloud, tech, token]
categories: [community, decentralization, farming, grid, why, cloud, tech, token]
extra:
imgPath: how_it_works.png
---
## So, ThreeFold is building a new internet. Why?
We strongly believe that a new internet is needed for our planet and for humanity. "If not now, when? If not us, who?"
<br/>
<br/>
What it boils down to is that currently the internet is only available to about 1/2 of the world (meaning billions are being left behind), it is centralized (a handful of large corporations own and profit off of our data), and it uses up to 10% of the world’s energy consumption. So, we’re building a new (peer-to-peer) internet that empowers equality (access), autonomy (data ownership, for example), and sustainability (reduces energy consumption). These values drive us forward.
## How does it work?
Everything on the internet – websites, apps, photos, videos, etc – uses up capacity and is stored in huge data centers owned by big companies, mainly in North America, Europe, and some in Asia. In our solution, centralized data centers are replaced with a grid of “nodes” distributed around the world.
<br/>
<br/>
These nodes are owned by [ThreeFold Farmers](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold/#/what_is_farming) – but only the physical hardware – the data inside of the nodes belongs to the people or organizations who put it there. So, “farmers” plug in hardware and start to create capacity that can be used by people.
<br/>
<br/>
Farmers come in all shapes and sizes. Some farmers run small data centers while others simply run a node out of their living room.
<br/>
<br/>
When Farmers connect active hardware (add capacity) to the ThreeFold Grid, ThreeFold Tokens are created. Farmers can then sell those tokens to people who want to use capacity (e.g. a developer that wants to build or host a website, or a person who wants to store some photos). More on tokens down below.
## Seems quite lofty. How will you build it?
It’s true that rebuilding the internet is not so simple. But a lot of infrastructure has already been built and the technology is quite advanced. Over the past 2+ years (as of May 2020), independent ThreeFold Farmers have already plugged in more than 40,000,000 GigaBytes worth of storage and 15,000 CPU Cores across 21+ countries. That might not mean a lot to non-technical folks but it is quite a significant amount.
## 21+ countries? What happened to equality?
As far along as we are, we still have work to do. One of our biggest goals in the near future is to expand the grid to Africa, South America, and parts of Asia where currently the Internet is too expensive or not available. Currently, we farming is incentivized around these key geographies.
## And what do you mean by peer-to-peer?
Peer-to-peer means no middlemen – direct exchange of information and/or value between equal participants. Peer-to-peer means decentralization – breaking away from pyramid-based systems, greed-based systems – and putting **people** back in the center of their own (digital) lives.
## So how can I access / use your internet today? What can I do on it?
By June, some of the first experiences will be live. This includes file storage and communication tools and a virtual browser, all with the advantages of being more sustainable for our planet and with full control of your own data. And over time, more and more experiences will come to this internet. We’ll be updating here and on our communication platforms as they come. But don’t worry, as a user it doesn’t change much – no coding required. :)
## Will [enter website or app here] be available on your internet?
There are some tremendous reasons for a website or app to use our internet, but that will really be up to the website or the app. In the end, we are providing a responsible solution for responsible people and organizations. We would love to host anybody who believes in what we are doing!
## How are you making sure it’s safe?
Hacking has become a part of life and is almost impossible to avoid in the current systems – they are too complex and require too many people to operate. This results in less security which results in lots of security breaches. We took a look at the existing Internet (seven layers) and simplified it down to three layers. By simplifying the architecture and instead creating technology that is self-driving & self-healing, we removed the human requirement and therefore vastly minimized the possibility for hacking or human error. Then we also developed a storage algorithm which makes it such that if some of the information gets lost or stolen (somehow) or if some hardware goes down, it is all retrievable. Long story short, we flipped the existing system on its head.
## What about the data ownership part?
That has a bit to do with the security as well. Since you own your data, you decide who gets access. Which means your data isn’t just out “there” for the taking. Basically, we put you at the center of your digital life, where the applications and experiences you use serve you, not the other way around.
## And how is it better for the planet?
There are a few reasons for us being more sustainable. Data centers are super unsustainable, so the simple (but incomplete) answer is “no more huge data centers.” But if you want more detail:
<br/>
<br/>
- We use up to 3x less hardware for the same output, and using hardware at least 2x longer while maintaining good performance
- Having capacity everywhere, local to where users are – this reduces network requirements (and can even improve security)
- Using new algorithms (e.g. the one mentioned above for storage) which have dramatic efficiency improvement
- Re-using hardware where possible – let’s not throw away
## How much will it cost?
In the end we want to provide sustainable access to the internet and all of its solutions for less than a dollar per month per person but for now the cost will depend on what you choose to do. Certain experiences will cost money. Storing photos or videos, for example. But all at a fair price.
## Speaking of money – so what’s up with the ThreeFold Token?
As we mentioned above, tokens are generated when ThreeFold Farmers adds capacity to the ThreeFold Grid.
Essentially, the ThreeFold Token is the medium of exchange on the new internet. So, if a developer wants to build something (e.g. a website or an app) or a user wants to store something (e.g. photos), he/she/they use(s) ThreeFold Tokens.
## Need more answers?
We hope that helps explains things. Obviously there is [a whole wiki](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold/#/) to dive in to. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, please ask us on our [forum](https://forum.threefold.io)!
<br/>
<br/>
*Photo by Nong Vang on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/9pw4TKvT3po).*

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---
id: internet_at_the_edge
title: "The Internet is Moving to the Edge"
image_caption: The Internet is Moving to the Edge.
description: With emerging technologies like IoT, Web 3 and more, computing needs to be pushed from centralized data centers to the edge of the network. Learn why ThreeFold is the ideal foundation for a thriving interconnected future.
date: 2022-05-10
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [decentralization, grid, why, cloud, tech]
categories: [decentralization, grid, why, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: internet_at_the_edge.png
---
With new devices being connected every day and emerging technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), the metaverse and Web 3 gaining popularity, the [demand](https://www.cbre.com/en/insights/reports/north-america-data-center-trends-h2-2021) for Internet capacity is booming. Already, these developments are shifting the [Internet’s “center of gravity”](https://www.securityinfowatch.com/perimeter-security/physical-hardening/article/21263002/real-words-or-buzzwords-edge-cloud-and-the-evolving-internet) from its core to the edges in order to keep up with the growing demand. In an increasingly interconnected world, centralized cloud architectures are proving to be [bottlenecks](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/03/25/demystifying-edge-technology/) hindering future growth.
<br/>
Here are some interesting numbers to emphasize the explosive growth of connected devices and the impending data explosion:
<br/>
* Back in 2018, [90% of global data creation](https://www.securityinfowatch.com/perimeter-security/physical-hardening/article/21263002/real-words-or-buzzwords-edge-cloud-and-the-evolving-internet) took place within the two previous years.
* In 2022, [4.95 billion people](https://www.securityinfowatch.com/perimeter-security/physical-hardening/article/21263002/real-words-or-buzzwords-edge-cloud-and-the-evolving-internet) are using the Internet and about [2.5 quintillion bytes](https://www.securityinfowatch.com/perimeter-security/physical-hardening/article/21263002/real-words-or-buzzwords-edge-cloud-and-the-evolving-internet) of data are created on a daily basis.
* About 2 billion computers, 15 billion mobile devices and more than 22 billion IoT devices are [active worldwide](https://www.securityinfowatch.com/perimeter-security/physical-hardening/article/21263002/real-words-or-buzzwords-edge-cloud-and-the-evolving-internet) on a daily basis.
* By 2025, more than [1 billion people](https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/executive-perspectives/annual-internet-report/index.html) and [75 billion IoT devices](https://www.statista.com/statistics/471264/iot-number-of-connected-devices-worldwide/#:~:text=Internet%20of%20Things%20%2D%20number%20of%20connected%20devices%20worldwide%202015%2D2025&text=By%202025%2C%20forecasts%20suggest%20that,IoT%20installed%20base%20in%202019.) are expected to join the Internet.
<br/>
And yet, the expansion of Internet capacity still largely occurs in the same centralized and inefficient way. The client-server model of hyperscale data centers is unable to meet this rapidly growing demand due to high building and operational costs to fulfill bandwidth, performance and cybersecurity requirements. As data centers are primarily built in the US, China and Europe, emerging countries have to be connected via sea cables which makes the model’s limitations particularly severe for these countries. And even in countries where many data centers are located, they are built in regions where land and electricity are as cheap as possible. Consequently, the bulk of data centers is still [far away](https://www.securityinfowatch.com/perimeter-security/physical-hardening/article/21263002/real-words-or-buzzwords-edge-cloud-and-the-evolving-internet) from where the majority of users and connected devices reside, and where huge amounts of data are generated that require processing – resulting in a [weak distribution](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/threefold__grid_valuation?id=what39s-the-potential-of-the-threefold-grid) of Internet capacity.
<br/>
About [175 Zettabytes](https://www.seagate.com/files/www-content/our-story/rethink-data/files/Rethink_Data_Report_2020.pdf) of data will be created by 2025, as our economy becomes increasingly digital and data driven. And this amount of data needs to be captured, stored and activated in a secure, efficient and high-performing way. So, the aforementioned technological use cases will not only [accelerate the demand](https://www.cbre.com/en/insights/reports/north-america-data-center-trends-h2-2021) for Internet capacity but also require edge capabilities, such as low latencies, in order to run and scale successfully. In fact, the centralized data center model poses one of the biggest obstacles to the success and spread of the Internet of Things and related applications. This will have to change. Actually, industry experts [expect 75%](https://www.i-scoop.eu/edge-computing-explained/) of data to be processed outside of the traditional data center or cloud model by 2025.
## The rise of edge computing
Computing needs to be pushed from centralized data centers to the edge to support the massive data consumption coupled to the rise of connected devices and emerging technologies. For instance, as more and more home appliances and devices are getting interconnected through the IoT economy, the amount of real-time data generated within our homes on a daily basis is rapidly expanding. Edge computing [tackles the shortcomings](https://www.i-scoop.eu/edge-computing-explained/) of the centralized model in terms of bandwidth, latency and autonomy. It enables applications and solutions to be hosted closer to where their data is being produced and consumed, thereby allowing for low latencies, rapid data processing and real-time decisions. 
<br/>
The industry analyst company [IDC estimates](https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS48772522) the global spending on edge computing to increase by 14.8% compared to 2021 – amounting to roughly $176 billion in 2022. By 2025, this number is predicted to reach about $274 billion.
<br/>
The idea of edge computing’s ability to process data on-site is simple enough. Nevertheless, edge computing fails to deliver on its promise as it still remains somewhat centralized today. Granted, so-called edge data centers are [closer](https://stlpartners.com/articles/edge-computing/edge-data-centres/) to where the data is being consumed than hyperscale data centers. But while they do provide an improvement from traditional data centers, they are not able to provide [far-edge](https://www.thefastmode.com/expert-opinion/23002-what-are-various-types-of-edge-computing-that-exist-today) capabilities, i.e. moving as close to the user and point of data creation as possible. They are simply smaller types of data centers that are still operated in a centralized manner, require the [same infrastructure elements](https://connectorsupplier.com/how-the-rise-of-edge-computing-will-reshape-the-data-center-landscape/) as centralized data centers, and usually [rely](https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/edge-data-center) on bigger, central data centers. Quite edgy isn’t it?
<br/>
As the need for Internet capacity – specifically at the edge – is rapidly intensifying, a new approach to Internet infrastructure is clearly needed. The Web 3 movement created a spur of interest across industries due to its promise to decentralize the Internet and cloud as we know it. Future data will be generated at the edge of the network and Internet which certainly requires an [architectural shift](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/03/25/demystifying-edge-technology/) away from the current model.
## Realizing an interconnected future
Ironically, decades after the spark of the open-source peer-to-peer Internet movement was steamrolled by large tech companies and governments eager to centralize the global Internet, we seem to enter an era of decentralization again. There’s no doubt that large tech companies did bring a lot of innovation to our global Internet and cloud stack. Technically though, [peer-to-peer](https://threefold.io/blog/p2p_web3/) systems have always been the most scalable option. Moreover, open-source architectures have built a strong reputation for providing high levels of security and flexibility. 
<br/>
In a peer-to-peer model, people and devices are able to exchange directly, without intermediaries or servers in the middle – leading to a more energy-efficient, scalable and flexible paradigm that can expand on-demand. And undoubtedly, open-source will play a [key role](https://news.crunchbase.com/news/edge-computing-said-quissal-zededa/) in edge computing by simplifying and enhancing the building and deployment of software at the edge.
<br/>
By leveraging open-source and peer-to-peer technologies, ThreeFold has come up with an Internet infrastructure that is capable of far-edge computing. ThreeFold offers a powerful set of [compute primitives](https://threefold.io/blog/building_a_new_internet_from_the_ground_up_3/) that provide the agility to create and deploy containers, Virtual Machines (VMs) and [Kubernetes](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__zkube?id=zkube) environments at the edge. Having integrated all leading industry-standard tools, ThreeFold’s solution allows for a seamless migration of any digital workload, making ThreeFold the ideal infrastructure for edge workloads. And all data produced by these workloads can be stored in a way that is ultra safe, highly reliable and [unbreakable](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/qsss/threefold__qsss_home?id=quantum-safe-storage-system). Combined with end-to-end encrypted peer-to-peer [networking](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__planetary_network?id=planetary-network), applications can be hosted closer to where the data is being consumed – representing the ideal underlying layer for IoT networks, blockchain-based workloads and more to run and scale at the edge seamlessly, efficiently and privately.
<br/>
The shift towards the edge is inevitable. ThreeFold is the first full-stack, [decentralized](https://coincheckup.com/blog/threefold-is-the-decentralized-web-the-future-of-the-internet/), peer-to-peer Internet infrastructure in the world that combines compute in the form of highly-optimized containers, storage and network capacity in an all-in-one solution. With  more than [81 Petabytes](https://threefold.io/) of capacity distributed across thousands of 3Nodes and 76 countries as well as [plans](https://threefold.io/blog/connecting_the_dots/) to sponsor the expansion of the Internet to developing regions, ThreeFold is the foundation for a thriving interconnected future that is secure, borderless and at the edge.
<br/>
* [Expand the new Internet](https://threefold.io/blog/what_is_farming/) by setting up a 3Node at your home or office.
* Help us [connect the dots](https://threefold.io/blog/connecting_the_dots/) and accelerate our far-edge capabilities.
* Join our global [movement](https://t.me/threefold) today.

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---
id: internet_energy_consumption
title: "How to stop the Internet from Gobbling the World’s Energy"
image_caption: How to stop the Internet from Gobbling the World’s Energy
description: Oftentimes, the Internet’s significant energy consumption and climate impacts go unnoticed. At ThreeFold, we're leading the way by working on energy-efficient and sustainable solutions for the Internet.
date: 2022-04-26
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [decentralization, farming, grid, why, tech]
categories: [decentralization, farming, grid, why, tech]
extra:
imgPath: internet_energy_consumption.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
*Global carbon emissions keep rising. Climate change and the collapse of biodiversity are accelerating faster than ever before. And yet, it’s important to believe in our ability to change our behaviour if we are to secure our children’s future. It’s not about being naive or optimistic, but rather a commitment to change and to do better. Across the globe, movements are sprouting to save our planet. How does ThreeFold take part in this? How are we contributing to making the world a better place?*  
<br/>
Once emitted, carbon can remain in our atmosphere for hundreds of years. To survive climate change, massive amounts of carbon emissions have to be offset – and fast. According to a UN report, [10 billion tons](https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/07/08/1027908/carbon-removal-hype-is-a-dangerous-distraction-climate-change/) of carbon emissions will have to be removed on a yearly basis by 2050 to prevent the planet from moving past the 2 degree Celsius threshold. Allowing the climate to heat by just one more degree would have unprecedented consequences – including the sinking of islands and coastal areas, an accelerated rate of extinction (right now, estimations suggest that about [24 to 150 species go extinct](https://e360.yale.edu/features/global_extinction_rates_why_do_estimates_vary_so_wildly) every day) and much more. Our complacency towards climate change proves that we’re still in denial of the chain reaction and butterfly effects of our past and present actions.
<br/>
Clearly, we’ve already crossed the threshold in the climate crisis where we had enough time for long debates on potential measures and policies. The time for those debates was in the 1960s, when a [report](https://www.climatefiles.com/climate-change-evidence/presidents-report-atmospher-carbon-dioxide/) by former US President Johnson’s Science Advisory Committee first warned about the risks and dangers of excessive carbon emissions. “Climate change is the result of more than a century of unsustainable energy and land use, lifestyles and patterns of consumption and production,” said Jim Skea, one of the IPCC Working Group III Co-Chairs in a [press release](https://www.enviro.or.id/2022/04/ipcc-press-release/) published earlier this month. According to [a report](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-3/) published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we can still achieve our climate goals if we significantly reduce emissions across all economic sectors. However, we urgently need to take action to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
<br/>
Now is the time to act. Now is the time for bold moves. As Skea put it: “Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible.”
## The astonishing carbon footprint of the Internet
While people are legitimately obsessing about the emissions caused by air travel and whether to take that plane or not – bestowing us with concepts like ‘flight shaming’ – other industries’ significant impacts almost go unnoticed. One of them is the Internet.
<br/>
Think about the [chat messages and emails](https://carbonliteracy.com/the-carbon-cost-of-an-email/) you send out every day. How many times do you [‘google’](https://www.fastcompany.com/90171268/internet_impact_visualized) things? How much time do you spend [streaming](https://www.carbontrust.com/resources/carbon-impact-of-video-streaming) music or videos? All of your online activities add to your carbon footprint. There are a couple grams of carbon emissions attached to the energy needed to power your devices and the wireless networks you connect to. On top of that comes the significant amount of energy required to support the infrastructure of today’s Internet, namely millions of data centers and the thousands of servers in each of them.
<br/>
Even though the emissions caused by streaming one song or sending one email may seem insignificant, the accumulated use of the Internet by billions of people all over the world adds up. It actually leads to a collective carbon footprint amounting to a share of roughly [3.7% of global emissions](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200305-why-your-internet-habits-are-not-as-clean-as-you-think) caused by the Internet and its infrastructure – and these carbon emissions are estimated[ to double](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200305-why-your-internet-habits-are-not-as-clean-as-you-think) within the next three years. This 3.7% share of global emissions by the Internet almost makes the global aviation industry with its estimated [2.1%](https://www.atag.org/facts-figures.html) emissions look good.
<br/>
The global pandemic – while decreasing emissions in aviation due to travel bans – has already accelerated Internet consumption and the resulting footprint due to increased streaming behaviour, remote work and more. With [1 billion people](https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/executive-perspectives/annual-internet-report/index.html) and [75 billion IoT devices](https://www.statista.com/statistics/471264/iot-number-of-connected-devices-worldwide/#:~:text=Internet%20of%20Things%20%2D%20number%20of%20connected%20devices%20worldwide%202015%2D2025&text=By%202025%2C%20forecasts%20suggest%20that,IoT%20installed%20base%20in%202019.) expected to join the Internet economy by 2025, a more sustainable infrastructure than power-hungry data centers is urgently needed to meet the future growth of the Internet in an ethical and sustainable way.
## Data Centers are power hungry
Big tech corporations like Amazon, for example, have massive carbon footprints with their corporate facilities, power-hungry data centers, complex operations and more. One larger data center alone consumes up to [120 MW](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/opinions/from-the-sensor-to-the-data-center/) – and there are about 7.2 million data centers worldwide, according to [Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/500458/worldwide-datacenter-and-it-sites/). Moreover, a data center’s energy consumption accounts for [about 40%](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/opinions/from-the-sensor-to-the-data-center/) of its operating costs. In 2020, Amazon emitted more than [60 million metric tons](https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/environment/sustainable-operations/carbon-footprint) of carbon dioxide up from about 51 million in 2019. Others like Google try to downplay their energy consumption by switching to renewable energy. While renewable energy is an improvement for sure, it does not change the fact that Google’s energy consumption could [power entire countries](https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertbryce/2020/10/21/googles-dominance-is-fueled-by-zambia-size-amounts-of-electricity/).
<br/>
Is that really a desirable way for us to use the still scarce supply of renewable energy? Shouldn’t we rather focus on the root problem and on becoming more energy efficient in the first place?
<br/>
The first step should be to reduce the Internet’s energy consumption and overall carbon footprint. But even then: reducing that energy consumption and transitioning to clean energy will only get us so far – particularly when considering that there simply is not enough clean energy to achieve a complete transition. Those emissions that cannot be cut have to be compensated for. A holistic solution to today’s Internet’s inefficiencies and emissions is needed.
## An energy-efficient and regenerative Internet
In December 2021, ThreeFold [announced](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/threefold-and-take-action-global-partner-to-bring-internet-access-to-1-billion-people-across-the-globe-301446693.html) its commitment to achieve a carbon double win for its open-source peer-to-peer Internet infrastructure, the ThreeFold Grid. The ThreeFold Grid is able to scale anywhere electricity and network exist, using about 10 times less energy than any comparable alternative while being more affordable as well. By starting from scratch at the operating system level, ThreeFold was able to build an Internet infrastructure that is highly [energy efficient](https://threefold.io/blog/for_our_planet/). This infrastructure is already made up of thousands of 3Nodes that are spread across 75 countries and counting.
<br/>
Together with [Take Action Global](https://forum.threefold.io/t/driving-regeneration-with-tag/2120?u=hannahcordes) (TAG), an expert on climate education and action, ThreeFold aims to make the ThreeFold Grid planet-positive by removing its carbon emissions from the atmosphere three times in the form of [Voluntary Carbon Credits](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-on-track-to-be-planet-positive/2097?u=hannahcordes). While the pilot for this initiative was announced to start in January 2022, ThreeFold and TAG were so eager to take action against climate change, they kicked-off the pilot one month early in December 2021. It is the first step in ThreeFold’s plan to support the use of ‘nature-based climate solutions’ like tree planting to absorb twice more carbon than the ThreeFold Grid emits by 2022. 
## A silver lining on the horizon
Every industry and organization has to pull their own weight. There is no way around it. Far-reaching actions and transformations are needed across industries to limit global warming to bearable levels. “The decisions we make now can secure a liveable future. We have the tools and know-how required to limit warming,” said Hoesung Lee, IPCC Chair, in an April 2022 [press release](https://www.enviro.or.id/2022/04/ipcc-press-release/). Together with TAG, ThreeFold leads the way by working on energy-efficient and sustainable solutions for the Internet. The new IPCC report gives us a reason to be optimistic about our future and have hope for the regeneration of our planet.
<br/>
Really, all it takes right now is widespread support and adoption of more energy-efficient, sustainable alternatives across industries like ThreeFold for the Internet – something that is up to each and every one of us. Let us all take action for a fairer, more sustainable world.
<br/>
* Join the global ThreeFold [movement](https://t.me/threefold).
* [Start farming](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__farming_intro) today and support a greener Internet while regenerating the planet.

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---
id: internet_evolution
title: "The Evolution Towards A More Secure, Private, And Sovereign Internet"
image_caption: "The Evolution Towards A More Secure, Private, And Sovereign Internet"
description: Today, the Internet is a ubiquitous part of our daily lives, and it continues to evolve. As we continue to innovate and collaborate, we can build a better, more secure digital future for all.
date: 2023-04-11
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [decentralization, why]
categories: [decentralization, why]
extra:
imgPath: internet_evolution.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Victoria Obeegadoo, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
The Internet has undergone a natural evolution from its early days as a fragmented network of computers, to the vast interconnected web of infrastructure and platforms we know today. This has shaped the way we communicate, work, and live. With each passing decade, new technologies and protocols have emerged to address growing concerns about cybercrime, surveillance, and censorship. Let's take a closer look at each phase of this evolution and how ThreeFold is taking action for the next step.
## 1960s to 1980s: Internet's Early Days
The Internet as we know it began as a project of the US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in the 1960s, with the aim of creating a communication network that could withstand a nuclear attack. The network was designed to be decentralized, so that if one node was destroyed, the network could still function. The result was a decentralized system that allowed computers to communicate with each other over long distances, without relying on a central server.
<br/>
By the 1970s, the ARPANET (as it was then called) had grown to include dozens of nodes and was used by government agencies, educational institutions, and research organizations for communication and data sharing. However, it was still very much a fragmented network, and accessing information from one system to another was not easy. So, in the early 1970s, Ray Tomlinson developed the first email system, which enabled users to send messages between different computers on the ARPANET.
<br/>
In the late 1970s, the TCP/IP protocol suite was developed, which enabled computers to communicate across different networks and laid the foundation for the global Internet. This was the dawn of the peer-to-peer concept. In the early 1980s, the Domain Name System (DNS) was developed, which provided a way to translate human-readable domain names into IP addresses, making it easier to access websites and other resources on the Internet. Finally, in 1989, Tim Berners-Lee developed the World Wide Web, which provided a user-friendly interface for accessing and sharing information on the Internet.
<br/>
The early days of the Internet were a time of experimentation and innovation, as researchers explored new ways to connect computers and share data. This phase of the Internet was focused on building the underlying infrastructure of the network and establishing protocols for communication between computers.
## 1990s & 2000s: Popularization & Commodification of the Internet
The 1990s marked a turning point in the Internet's evolution. The World Wide Web became the primary way people accessed information and connected with one another online. This new platform, which allowed users to easily access and share information, changed the Internet's use from an exclusive network for institutions and organizations to a tool accessible to the general public. As such, there was an explosion in its use, which allowed for the rise of e-commerce and online advertising – creating new business opportunities and changing the way we shop and consume media.
<br/>
The emergence of new ways to interact online in the 1990s and early 2000s further popularized the Internet. Companies such as Amazon, eBay, and Yahoo! capitalized on this trend, creating a massive online market for goods and services. The further commodification of the Internet led to the rise of tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon.
<br/>
This phase of the Internet was thus marked by the consolidation of power in the hands of a few large companies who controlled the infrastructure and thus access to information and data. The introduction of social media created new ways for people to connect and share information, but it also enabled the spread of misinformation and misuse of data. Some companies began to build their businesses on the collection and analysis of user data to sell advertising, which started raising concerns about data ownership, privacy, and security.
<br/>
The 2000s also saw the rise of cybercrime and surveillance on the Internet. Cybercriminals began to exploit vulnerabilities in websites and software to steal sensitive information like credit card numbers, passwords, and personal data. Governments also started to monitor online activities in the name of national security. This led to the development of more advanced security protocols like HTTPS and VPNs to protect users' privacy and data.
## 2010s: The Age of Big Data and Social Media
The 2010s saw the rise of big data and social media, which brought a new set of privacy and security concerns. Issues such as data breaches, cyber attacks, and online harassment were becoming increasingly common as the Internet continued to evolve. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter collected vast amounts of data on their users, often without their explicit knowledge or consent. Governments continued to monitor online activities, and there were widespread reports of government surveillance and censorship.
<br/>
These issues led to a growing awareness of the need for a more secure and privacy-centric Internet. This phase of the Internet was marked by growing concerns about data ownership, privacy, and security. The [Cambridge Analytica scandal](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-scandal-fallout.html) and the [Equifax data breach](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/business/equifax-breach-settlement.html) are just a few examples of the risks associated with the commodification of user data. To combat these issues, new technologies like blockchain and decentralized networks began to emerge. These technologies promised to create a more secure and private Internet by removing centralized control and giving users more control over their data.
## 2020s So Far: A Shift Towards Privacy and Sovereignty
The 2020s have seen a growing movement towards creating a more private and sovereign Internet. With continued concerns about data breaches, surveillance, and censorship, there has been a growing demand for more secure and private online services. Many people have started to switch to privacy-focused services like Signal and ProtonMail, which offer end-to-end encryption and other privacy protections.
<br/>
Governments and tech companies are also starting to recognize the importance of privacy and sovereignty. The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) are examples of legislation that aim to protect users' privacy and give them more control over their data. Tech companies like Apple and Google are also introducing new privacy features in their products to give users more control over their data.
<br/>
We are now seeing the emergence of Web3 technology, which aims to create a decentralized Internet that is more secure and private. Web3 is built on blockchain technology, which allows for decentralized control and eliminates the need for third-party intermediaries. This technology also enables the creation of user-centric digital twins, which are unique digital representations of individuals that can be used to authenticate their identity and provide secure access to online services.
<br/>
Secure cloud technologies are also becoming increasingly important in the quest for a more secure and sovereign Internet. Cloud technologies provide scalable and reliable infrastructure for storing and processing data, but they also come with security risks. To address these risks, new technologies like confidential computing and secure enclaves are being developed to provide secure cloud environments that protect sensitive data from unauthorized access.
<br/>
Together, these emerging technologies are driving a paradigm shift towards a more secure, private, and sovereign Internet. While there is still much work to be done to address the challenges of cybersecurity and privacy in the digital age, these developments are promising signs that we are moving in the right direction.
## Looking Ahead: Together We Build
Today, the Internet is a ubiquitous part of our daily lives, and it continues to evolve. As we continue to innovate and collaborate, we can build a better, more secure digital future for all. Already, we are seeing the emergence of new technologies, such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, that promise to transform the Internet even further. As we move forward, we can expect to see more innovations and developments that aim to create a more secure, decentralized, and user-centric Internet that prioritizes privacy, data ownership, and security.
<br/>
On our side, at ThreeFold, we see that many of the solutions being presented today are mere band-aids, without addressing the root of the problems of what the Internet has become. Our founders, who were early Internet pioneers themselves, along with a dedicated team, are building the infrastructure for tomorrow’s Internet. One that takes inspiration from the early days. One that is decentralized, peer-to-peer, open-source, secure, private, and much more! We believe that putting people at the forefront of our project is crucial, and that protecting our planet’s resources while doing so is equally important. We have a project like no other, and if you believe in the evolution of the Internet towards more security, privacy & sovereignty, we invite you to dive in to learn more.
<br/>
- Visit our [Website](https://www.threefold.io).
- Visit our [Forum](https://forum.threefold.io/).
- Collaborate on [GitHub](https://github.com/threefoldtech).
- Subscribe to our [Weekly & Monthly Newsletters](https://bit.ly/threefoldweekly).
- Connect with us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/threefold_io), [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/company/threefold-io), & [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/threefold/).
- Join our [Community Chat](https://t.me/threefold) and [Updates Channel](https://t.me/threefoldnews).

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---
id: internet_is_growing_wild
title: Internet is growing wild
image_caption: planet
description: The internet is growing at an extremely fast pace, but is that a good thing?
date: 2019-12-05
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [grid, why, tech]
categories: [grid, why, tech]
extra:
imgPath: internet_is_growing_wild.png
---
*This article was originally published by Andreas Hartl, a former member of the ThreeFold team.*
<br>
The current growth of internet needs 4000+ new large scale data centers of computer systems. The global data growth will reach more than 40 Zetabytes by 2020 which represents an average yearly growth of 42% starting at 4.5 Zetabytes in 2013. To host all this data, over 4000 new big data centers have to to be built. And to achieve this goal, $ 1 trillion USD investment capital is needed and land totalling the size of the UK would be needed.
<br/>
<br/>
The Internet is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. In this article we'll explain why that's not always such a good thing and where we see opportunities.
## Internet capacity needs to become localized
A big majority of users in the world connect to servers that are not present in their region and as such experience higher costs and low performance. According to a study by datacentermap.com, 80% of the data centers of the current Internet's service providers are based in the U.S. and Europe. The rest of the world has scarce Internet resources dotted around territories.
<br/>
<br/>
As a consequence most Internet users use Internet-based services running on infrastructure which is located far away from their physical location and most likely outside their country's borders. This decreases the general end-user experience (latency) but also adds unnecessary costs to transporting the information back and forth. Also, it adds legislation and compliance headaches to enterprises.
<br/>
<br/>
Our mission is to empower and inspire people to recognize abundance by living new experiences one hour at a time.
## The Internet needs to perform better
Compute and Storage vendors create poor-performing solutions. There have been yearly improvements in hardware following Moore's law. While this has allowed ThreeFold to progress and innovate, it has also led to software developers taking these advances for granted; cutting corners where they can, creating sub-optimal code and allowing software components to be layered on top of each other to achieve certain behavioral functionalities.
<br/>
<br/>
The inefficiencies have now led to a situation where organically-grown IT architectures are immensely complex. They use a variety of components from different software and hardware vendors integrated by so called 'integrators'. The overall effort and cost involved to create, operate and maintain such architectures is growing continuously and requiring an ever-increasing budget and resourcing to continue.
<br/>
<br/>
If we could go down to the core algorithms and take another look at these, and innovate at the heart of technology instead of applying patches and pain killers, we would be able to create much more end-user capacity than what systems provide today. Systems will last longer and will not have to be replaced by faster ones. Also, fewer engineers will be needed to create, operate and maintain these systems. Combined, these elements would present a more stable and reliable platform that can achieve higher levels of uptime.
<br/>
<br/>
Only upsides, right? Well a huge downside of such an approach is that vendors will make less revenue and more importantly less margin as systems will run for longer, be more stable and require less updates. So why would vendors innovate at the core of their solution?
## The Internet needs to become more sustainable
Did you know that the current Internet is responsible for between 5 and 10% of global energy consumptions? Making it more harmful to our planet than the airline Industry. The good news is that we can achieve 10x more power efficiency by addressing certain areas such as storage.
<br/>
<br/>
ThreeFold believes IT can do a much better job at being more sustainable - in fact ThreeFold believes it can reduce the Internet’s carbon footprint by 10 times compared to other industry standards in IT capacity producing solutions.
<br/>
<br/>
Power consumption is a function of better compute and storage performance that in theory would require more racks and cooling. ThreeFold's architectural approach brought solutions that enables it's Farmers to achieve roughly 3 times the performance per rack (so it uses fewer racks) and the racks require less energy than typical racks in the industry.
<br/>
<br/>
Read more about how ThreeFold achieves sustainability in [the following blog](https://www.threefold.io/blog/post/for_our_planet/).
## The Internet needs to become more affordable
The biggest cost in running IT architectures is the human cost. Today's complex systems, built out of ‘band aid and patches’ point solutions, organically-grown and badly documented IT infrastructures, need an armada of people to keep them ticking. Even though this is an example, one can learn a lot from the trends that are presented:
<br/>
<br/>
- On average an IT budget takes 5% of overall revenues
- IT consumes 6.5% of the total number of Full-time equivalent in the company, of which 85% are insourced and 15% on payroll. This means that the enterprise doesn't retain internal know-how to operate their IT.
- About 50% of IT budgets are spent on Infrastructure ane operations. Similarly, a big part goes to applications. A mere 5% is considered to be internal overhead within the IT department.
- Around 65% of the IT budget is spent on resources and services, around 35% is spent on hardware and software.
<br/>
<br/>
These figures present industry average numbers and paint a troubling picture that IT is a sizeable part of an overall budget, and that most spending is going to have the right knowledge skills insourced to the organisation to run the core IT architecture it relies on. For any other discipline in any organisation this would present an unacceptable risk to the business and its continuity - strangely not for IT.
## The Internet needs to become self-healing
The biggest source of downtime in computer systems is people. Getting people involved in fixing infrastructure problems creates the risk of accidentally causing more system downtime. A very recent example on this hit a large organisation cloud service provider.
<br/>
<br/>
20+ years ago when Internet data centers came into existence next to telecom points of presence (POP), the level of complication in architecting, and building and maintaining these infrastructures exploded. From an already reasonable complicated technology setup to transport packets of data around the globe, these information warehouses were created where data was uploaded to, processed, and the obtained results sent back to end users on the other side of the globe.
<br/>
<br/>
Managing a data center that contains solutions for information transportation, storage and processing is not an easy task and the growth of data volume uploaded, stored and processed has exponentially increased. The number of technologies invented and implemented in regards to the processing and storing of information has also exploded. This resulted in a double exponential growth in complexity to architect, build, operate and maintain these IT systems.
<br/>
<br/>
The time has come that we no longer rely on people to do the right thing in case of emergency - the complexity is overwhelming and the dependency on the availability of that information is huge. Having people to do manual deployments and operational responsibilities does not provide the agility and speed to keep up with the continuous exponential growth of the industry. It is time to take the human element out of IT and let smart and autonomous systems to take over. This will also let people focus on more creative activities.
## The world needs a responsible internet
On a humanitarian level the opportunities for creativity, learning and development are currently negatively influenced by a lack of access to performant and affordable Internet services. Since [Internet access is a human right](https://www.businessinsider.com/un-says-internet-access-is-a-human-right-2016-7#:~:text=Due%20to%20the%20lack%20of,20.), it should protect the status quo between the developed and less-developed regions of our world.
## The Internet is growing fast, with the wrong solutions
It is evident that the current solutions are super unsustainable and make no sense. Luckily, ThreeFold and many other start-ups are deploying new solutions.
<br/>
<br/>
*Photo by Jeremy Thomas on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/jh2KTqHLMjE).*

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---
id: intro_to_farming
title: An intro to ThreeFold Farming
image_caption: internet farming
description: We probably don’t need to tell you that the invention of Blockchain technology changed the world dramatically..
date: 2020-02-03
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [farming, grid, token]
categories: [farming, grid, token]
extra:
imgPath: intro_to_farming.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Andreas Hartl, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
We probably don’t need to tell you that the invention of Blockchain technology changed the world dramatically. The ThreeFold application of Blockchain technology to compute and storage capacity is one of the most exciting initiatives we have seen to date.
## The problem
There are some major challenges with the current foundation of the internet and how it has moved from being a medium to independently share information amongst internet users to a multi-billion dollar industry governed by a few (American) companies.
## The solution
The ThreeFold Foundation has the key to change the internet for good, and you might want to play a big role in this. And so can you! By becoming a farmer you are taking part in that process. You are contributing to a significant increase in Net Neutrality which has come under serious threat in recent years. You are helping to build a more sustainable Internet for generations to come by giving the internet back to the people.
<br/>
<br/>
_The ThreeFold Foundation has created end-to-end technology that creates a very stable digital currency with neutral, private and distributed capacity generating hardware as a financial backing mechanism._
## The ecosystem
The ThreeFold Ecosystem is a token economy where tokens (digital currency) are being generated (and therefore financially backed) by internet capacity generating equipment, owned by anyone and housed anywhere. By building and creating internet capacity owned and operated by all of us, we can create wealth and business opportunities for anyone in the world. Also, this sets the foundation for a more stable digital currency to emerge.
<br/>
<br/>
Now is the best time to become a ThreeFold Farmer. Anyone who signs up now to purchase and connect Internet capacity servers or create capacity pools, will be part of the first ones doing so and therefore will enjoy a higher return on investment than people joining at a later stage.

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---
id: project_inca
title: "Project Internet Capacity: ThreeFold's Next Chapter"
image_caption: technology
description: Introducing the Internet Capacity Project, the fourth generation of ThreeFold's Grid, and our exciting entry into the DePIN ecosystem.
date: 2024-06-11
taxonomies:
people: [bernadette_amanda_caster]
tags: [tech,community]
categories: [tech,community]
extra:
imgPath: inca.png
isFeatured: true
---
*Please note the information below is subject to change as the project evolves and will be updated as is appropriate.*
<br>
ThreeFold’s journey over the past years has been one of deep, collaborative commitment, marked by significant technological advancements and milestones in building a new cloud infrastructure from the ground up, as well as the global expansion of the grid to its current state. Throughout this journey, we have learned, adapted, and evolved, leading us to a strong strategy for the next chapter and achieving our collective vision.
### **Meet Project Internet Capacity**
We are thrilled to introduce the Internet Capacity project, a promising new extension of our mission. Building on years of dedicated work by team and community, this project is the fourth generation of the ThreeFold Grid and introduces the $INCA token (more on that below). With this project, ThreeFold is ready to become a base layer for the DePIN ecosystem.
<br/>
On [our most recent project update community call](https://youtu.be/tXELhKk9RYg?si=fyz4K7gFQ1yD1PLS), we were grateful to hear from Michael Wellesley-Wesley, the founder of [Green Edge](https://green-edge.net/en) and prominent farmer on the ThreeFold Grid since 2017-2018, who introduced the project to the community.
<br/>
The Internet Capacity project is rooted in three major objectives:
<br/>
- **Reliability:** Achieving service levels that allow edge and AI workloads to run efficiently.
- **Community:** Establishing scalable community and communication systems for vast communities at both the farming and user levels.
- **Growth:** Expanding the grid to a million nodes in order to see out the vision of a truly global decentralized cloud infrastructure and ecosystem.
### **Mission and Vision**
As an extension of ThreeFold, the Internet Capacity project promotes a decentralized, community-driven, and inclusive cloud network, providing secure, private, and autonomous access to computing resources for all. The technology ensures a resilient, censorship-resistant infrastructure that protects data integrity and privacy, fostering innovation, digital sovereignty, and a more equitable internet.
<br/>
The vision is to provide a cloud engine for a decentralized internet where users control their data and digital interactions. A global network of interconnected servers and nodes known as the grid, will democratize access to computing power and storage, forming the backbone of a new digital era of sovereignty, security, privacy, and inclusivity. The token supports a robust ecosystem, enabling the free exchange of internet capacity among cloud service providers, builders, and users on the grid.
### **What to Look Forward to with the Project?**
The project introduces several exciting elements for farmers and users alike:
<br/>
- The most significant technological advancement is the Mycelium network, offering unbreakable connectivity and efficient routing, which is crucial for scalability – including for any DePIN protocol or project running on top of our grid
- Hosts (farmers) will be able to earn on utilization as well as hosting rewards, and set their own competitive prices within certain limits
- A marketplace of capacity will make it easier for users to find and rent capacity
- To attract serious cloud customers at a commercial level, robust uptime and performance guarantees will be ensured through Service Level Agreements, KYC will be introduced for reliability, competitive pricing will keep customers happy, and simplified products and approach will make for a better user experience
- A quality-based reward system will motivate cloud hosts to provide reliable service, while the flexible earnings model makes hosting more appealing
- A new token will launch on a high profile blockchain
<br/>
All in all, there are a variety of elements coming together to ensure a sustainable and healthy ecosystem to grow decentralized cloud and Internet capacity around the world.
### **The Team**
An experienced team has been gathered around our DePIN launch, complementing the existing core team members. This combination of talent has a range of backgrounds and a collective understanding of how the $INCA token can bring a strong ecosytem for all stakeholders. This will be the natural evolution and continuation of what has been built by the ThreeFold team and community until today.
- **Michael Wellesley-Wesley**: Team lead, co-founder of Green Edge and a long-time member of the farming community.
- **George Olver**: An expert in the DePIN space, providing day-to-day leadership.
- **Nick Hawkes and Max Gold**: Partners under [Gold Hawks](https://goldandhawks.com/), proficient in scaling DePIN ecosystem and historically part of the Helium and Solana communities.
- **Quentin Issele**: Formerly of OKEx, specializing in liquidity and marketing.
- **Rob Beland**: Founder of [DePIN Connect](https://www.depinconnect.com/), with vast marketing and influencer connections.
- **Theo Chapman**: Managing Director of [Zonaris](https://zonaris.io), coordinating execution within group.
- **Mariza Wellesley-Wesley**: A well-versed lawyer overseeing regulatory and legal aspects, co-founder of [Green Edge](https://green-edge.net/en).
- **Sabrina Sadik and Mik Perrault**: Our vital connectors between the Internet Capacity and ThreeFold teams.
### **The $INCA Token**
Many questions have risen about the introduction of a new token to the ThreeFold ecosystem. $INCA should be seen as an extension of $TFT. It will co-exist with $TFT, both convertible and usable across TF Grid 3 and TF Grid 4. The primary differences are:
<br/>
- **Higher Profile**: $INCA will likely have a more prominent presence, especially on Solana.
- **Tokenomics**: $INCA will support app development, marketing, and community growth grants.
- **Max Cap**: Both tokens share a four-billion max cap, with $INCA providing an opportunity to double $TFT holdings (one $TFT converts to two $INCA).
### **Benefits for $TFT Holders**
For $TFT holders, the benefits are clear:
<br/>
- **Swapping**: Each $TFT converts to two $INCA (during 2024), enabling easy entry for token holders.
- **Market Presence**: $INCA's launch in the DePIN sector on Solana positions it in a visible and attractive market.
- **Limited Supply**: The initial supply of $INCA will be limited, which could drive demand and price up.
### **Together We Build**
In conclusion, while the Internet Capacity project brings a new chapter, it is really a continuation, simplification, and amplification of the ThreeFold journey. We anticipate exciting developments as we prepare for the TF Grid 4.0 launch and the introduction of the $INCA. We are happy to address any questions you may have on [our forum](https://forum.threefold.io) or [our main chat](https://t.me/threefold), keeping in mind that we are still refining many aspects of this project.
<br/>
Onward! Keep building, friends.

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---
id: journey_into_threefold
title: A Journey Into ThreeFold
image_caption: A Journey Into ThreeFold
description: A conversation with Scott and Sam about Scott's journey into ThreeFold, the tech, the people, and more.
date: 2021-09-17
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, decentralization, why]
categories: [community, decentralization, why]
extra:
imgPath: journey_into_threefold.png
---
If you’re part of the ThreeFold Movement, we’re sure you’ve seen Scott in a demo, or in the chats or forums. Scott is new-ish to the team but he’s been active in the community for quite a while.
<br/>
<br/>
In this video, Sam, based in Turkey, and Scott, based in the Pacific Northwest (USA), have a conversation about Scott’s journey into ThreeFold. They speak about how he found out about the project and started contributing (and how you can do the same), the technology, the mission, vision, and values, the people, and what Scott is most looking forward to in the short, medium, and long-term.
<br/>
<br/>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eXpXtHRSji0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br/>
<br/>
Eager to contribute? Find us on our forums, chats, or on GitHub!
<br/>
<br/>
- [ThreeFold Forum](https://forum.threefold.io)
- [ThreeFold Main Chat](https://t.me/threefold)
- [ThreeFold Farmers Chat](https://t.me/threefoldfarmers)
- [ThreeFold Testing Chat](https://t.me/threefoldtesting)
- [ThreeFold Foundation GitHub](https://github.com/threefoldfoundation)
- [ThreeFold Tech GitHub](https://github.com/threefoldtech)

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---
id: more_inclusive_internet
title: We Need a More Inclusive Internet
image_caption: planet internet
description: Today we are working with partners in the clean energy and network / connectivity to build the solutions that are needed to provide fair and uninterrupted internet access with all corners of the world.
date: 2021-01-03
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [farming, grid, why]
categories: [farming, grid, why]
extra:
imgPath: more_inclusive_internet.png
---
Today, more than 40% of the world is without access to the internet, a tool which brings incredible access to knowledge (education) and important information, communication tools that keep loved ones connected and are crucial for emergencies, and economic opportunities. And over the last year, as the world is spending more time at home, digital economies are booming and education is going remote. With an uncertain future, we need to fix the digital divide or we risk leaving billions of people even further behind.
## The Data Center Problem: Cost & Proximity
The centralized data centers that power today's Internet are located "strategically" mainly in North America, Europe, and select parts of Asia. For populations living in these regions, Internet is accessible and generally relatively affordable. But the further you travel from these data centers, the less available and more expensive the internet becomes. Internet access is mostly an issue Sub-saharan Africa, throughout Asia, and some parts of South America.
<br>
Of course some data centers can be and are being built in and near developing and remote regions, but for reasons including cost and audience, this hasn't been a huge priority to date. Beyond that, the data center model as a whole simply cannot scale to meet the future demands of the internet nor is it sustainable for our planet, so this is not the right option.
## The Internet Shutdown Problem: Control & Manipulation
Lack of internet access isn't always just an availability or affordability problem. Today's internet can be limited or even shut down at any point, by the right people. Take a quick look at [NetBlocks.org](https://netblocks.org/reports), an organization that reports on global internet disruptions or outages. Typically governments are enacting these measures during times of unrest or protest or  important political moments. Even in the United States, the Executive Branch of the government has [the power to shut down the internet](https://www.klemchuk.com/ip-law-trends/government-power-to-shut-down-the-internet) in a case of a national emergency.
<br>
Cutting the internet or restricting certain services based on region (a common practice as well) is not only not right, it's dangerous. People rely on the internet for information and communication and no government or entity should have the ability to shut the internet down at their discretion.
## The ThreeFold Solution: Fair & Neutral Internet for All
In 2016, the United Nations declared internet access to be a human right, yet today if you are reading this post, you are privileged. All humans deserve access to the internet and ThreeFold has the solution.
<br>
With the ThreeFold model, nodes can be set up anywhere in the world where an existing internet connection and electricity are present. By putting physical infrastructure at the edge (close to users), greater levels of access can be reached.
<br>
Further, the ThreeFold Grid cannot be shut down or manipulated. It is a neutral internet owned by the people, where autonomous technology heals and runs itself and requires minimal human intervention.
<br>
Today we are working with partners in the clean energy and network / connectivity to build the solutions that are needed to provide fair and uninterrupted internet access with all corners of the world.
<br>
Of course we will need new safe, secure, and private solutions for people to collaborate online. Many of these are already live and deployable via ThreeFold Now Community Solutions. We are working with partners in the education space as well to build toolsets for students to enrich their lives.
<br>
We need a more inclusive internet, and that is what we are building.

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---
id: new_edge_cloud
title: Use cases for the ThreeFold Peer-to-Peer Cloud
image_caption: technology
description: Containers, IAAS, Archives, Security, and more..
date: 2018-09-12
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [grid, cloud, tech]
categories: [grid, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: new_edge_cloud.png
---
## Use cases for the ThreeFold Peer-to-Peer Cloud
### Any Docker Service
ThreeFold nodes natively run containers - therefore they can run any Docker service. But it does so in a more efficient way than the current Docker engine - the most used and known container technology platform in the world.
### IAAS
The ThreeFold node technology enables hardware capabilities to be used for IAAS services in a very efficient way. Overhead is reduced to a minimum by stripping out unnecessary layers of software that have been implemented over the last decade to patch scaling and performance problems. Our engineers have always looked at the root cause of issues and by innovating at the core algorithm level, solved many issues.
Examples are:
<br/>
<br/>
- **Less is more**: Scale down the operating system for a virtualization architecture to a minimum and boot it over the network - no local operating system files installed on local storage.
- **Look at root causes, no painkiller approach**: Step away from existing storage solutions that require proprietary acceleration hardware and use standard off the shelf, affordable and efficient components with a 100% software-based storage solution that can withstand hardware failures without requiring human intervention - creating a very efficient, reliable and performing storage solution that can operate standalone.
<br/>
<br/>
The platform is secured by using a network boot mechanism that makes it virtually hack resistant as there are no operating system files installed locally. Infrastructure as a service traditionally runs in hyper-scale data centers, remote from the businesses using it. ThreeFold node technology allows you to install, operate and run IAAS services close to your business locations operated by your local IT team. It operates on a peer-to-peer network - only transferring bits of data that need to be transported to avoid network congestion and traffic bottlenecks.
### Archive
Data generation is growing exponentially. More data has been generated in the last 2 years than ever before. This creates a big need to archive data. The ThreeFold node technology creates storage and archiving capabilities by using standard hardware and known interfaces (S3, FTP, WebDav, CIFS, and NFS) will be built by developers worldwide and made available. The low-level storage functionality supports version controlling of the archived data, which keeps all relevant changes without any limitation by using a small amount of actual storage capacity.
### Security
Data security and reliability are key aspects of any storage system. The ThreeFold node allows all data to be compressed and encrypted if and when needed. The distributed character of the storage system enables site redundant storage algorithms to be deployed while keeping large data volumes from being stored in a single location. This removes the risk of data being stolen (physically) and prevents a site outage to result in data outage. The distributed character of the system is in line with the increasing spread of actual data generation. ThreeFold has sensory equipment everywhere these days, and the overhead of storing all that information in a few central places is enormous. Data collection and storage happens once - reading data to use it for a particular workload happens many times.
### Data Mining
On traditional server architectures, every application has to set up its servers that run their code in isolated silos, making sharing of data hard. The distributed character of the ThreeFold node technology presents compute and storage capacity everywhere. This enables large data mining workloads to happen close to the source of the data. By storing data in a distributed manner, mining can be distributed as well. Distributed compute capacity next to storage capabilities creates the possibility to create data mining operations on local storage (which makes it very fast and efficient) by coding data mining algorithms in programming languages (such as Python, Lua, Javascript, and Golang). Data mining follows distributed data storage.
<br/>
<br/>
Never run into scalability problems again with the ThreeFold node. Data storage can expand horizontally using thousands of distributed nodes to create large storage volumes.
### Smart Contracts
Smart contracts are applications that run on a decentralized platform, exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud, or third-party interference. These applications run on a blockchain, a powerful shared global infrastructure that can move value around and represent the ownership of that value. Smart contracts enable developers to create markets, store registries of debts (or promises), move funds following past instructions (like a will or a futures contract), and many other things without a middleman or counterparty risk. ThreeFold nodes run based on smart-contracts.
### Self-Learning and AI
Blockchains can be seen as databases. By current database standards, traditional blockchains like Bitcoin are terrible: low throughout, low capacity, high latency, poor query support, and so on. But even with these terrible characteristics, blockchains introduced three new and important characteristics:
<br/>
<br/>
- **Decentralized data and shared data control** leads to more data and better qualitative data which results in better models. Shortening the machine learning time also enables AI to progress at a faster pace.
- **Immutable audit trails** improve the trustworthiness of the data, and improves the models' provenance on training and testing results.
- **Native assets** and assets exchanges make training and testing models intellectual property (IP) assets easier - enhancing decentralized data and model exchanges.
<br/>
<br/>
Blockchain technology allows more and better quality data to be presented to machine learning algorithms. It has been proven (Microsoft researchers - Banko and Brill) that more data — not just a bit more data but way more data — while using the same algorithms results in a lot better machine learning. Meaning that the future of machine learning is not in trying to create more sophisticated algorithms (which will happen). So by moving AI learning into a blockchain environment we speed up machine learning and in the end create AI.

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---
id: new_neutral_internet
title: The need for ThreeFold's neutral internet
image_caption: planet internet
description: The Internet is no longer the neutral place it used to be. +80% of the Internet capacity is delivered by a handful of companies.
date: 2017-06-01
taxonomies:
people: [kristof_de_spiegeleer]
tags: [decentralization, farming, grid, why, cloud, tech]
categories: [decentralization, farming, grid, why, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: new_neutral_internet.png
---
<br/>
<br/>
**The Internet is growing like crazy and is now a trillion dollar problem. Together we can build a new neutral Internet.**
## An introduction to the problems
- The Internet is no longer the neutral place it used to be. +80% of the Internet capacity is delivered by a handful of companies. This results in a loss of neutrality and openness and breeds inequalities.
- To support the continuous growth of the Internet and connect billions to new Internet Of Things devices, 400 million new servers are needed by 2020. The world therefore needs another 4,000 large-scale data centers that each consume 200 MWe of electricity: [see source](http://bit.ly/1UPUZYG).
- Today, about 4 billion people have no access to the Internet due to the high costs of connectivity and capacity. We believe these people have the fundamental right to have low-cost access to digital resources such as online identity solutions, education, health information and more. For this to happen, solutions that can lower the cost by a factor of 10 are required.
- Bandwidth does not follow Moore’s law. The growth of bandwidth required is much higher than the speed at which new capacity can be delivered. This is even more important in emerging markets.
- Current blockchain technology is not scalable and not sustainable. Example: the Bitcoin blockchain alone uses more energy today than Croatia.
## Current Internet and Cloud capacity
Today, the cloud computing industry represents a 100 billion dollar industry - mostly owned by about 20 global cooperations. Experts such as Bell Labs and Cisco believe the capacity requirements in the next decade will dramatically exceed existing infrastructure - requiring many more data centers and billions, if not trillions in investments.
<br/>
<br/>
The spectacular growth and advancements in cloud computing that occurred over the last decade resulted in large part from “hyper-scale” efficiencies - i.e. centralizing Internet infrastructure in very large billion dollar data centers. However, demand for Internet capacity already surpassed the available infrastructure with emerging technologies such as Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology. The existing hyperscale cloud architecture cannot cope with this growing demand as the requirements for land, power and funding are becoming outrageous.
<br/>
<br/>
The challenges facing the Internet includes the following:
<br/>
<br/>
- **Trillions of Investment Required**. In the next decade, the global Internet infrastructure requires another 4,000 data centers (250M - 1B dollar investment each) to meet demand which would cost trillions - this money could be better used in education, healthcare, or sustainable innovations.
- **Impossible to scale the networks connecting users to the hyperscale data centers**. Since hyperscale data centers are built in large "central" locations, the network leading to these data centers is congested. Even more, remote regions that are less connected to the Internet cannot benefit from these data centers’ IT services.
- **Non-local data and capacity**. Governments around the world are becoming more and more concerned about data leaving their borders. To tackle this centralization issue, they would need local IT infrastructure. Also, IoT workloads need local capacity to deliver constant real-time computing and storage requirements - for certain applications and workloads (e.g. driverless cars), latency is not an option. Hyperscale data centers can simply not match these requirements.
- **Not secure / at risk of choke point failures**. There are plenty of recent well-publicized problems around security, outages and loss of data. The reason for this is that centralized hyperscale architectures are inherently insecure - and failures at a single hyperscale location can cause widespread contagion and outages.
## The ThreeFold Solution
Our solution to these trillion dollar problems is to migrate Internet capacity to the Edge (closer to user location) - i.e. a “hyper-distributed” network architecture, located close to users (in cities, schools, offices, homes and even vehicles).
<br/>
<br/>
Edge networks will not necessarily replace the existing hyperscale capacity powering today’s cloud - rather, they will scale to meet the increased capacity demands going forward. However, if the current hyperscale capacity can be decentralized to improve energy consumption and reduce costs, this would be a huge global success.
<br/>
<br/>
By 2025, 60% of new Internet infrastructure will be decentralized and located at the edge of operator networks by using alternative locations which have stable (renewable) power and reliable connectivity.
## ThreeFold's technology main benefits:
- **Security**: The ThreeFold Grid is distributed and benefits from our ItsYou.Online identity management platform - making it much more secure.
- **Decentralized**: The solution enables to bring capacity closer to where users are located, enabling a Cloud at the Edge.
- **Sustainability**: The technology removes the need to build huge power hungry datacenters and by decentralizing the architecture enables up-to 1000% energy savings.
- **Making IT a true utility**: We always approached IT as Energy. Today we provide 3x more uptime and between 3-10x more cost effectiveness.
- **Neutrality**: The solution enables 100% neutral & private Internet IT capacity. Our blockchain technology provides security, neutrality & scale.
## The ThreeFold Zero-Node
The Zero-Node provides compute, network and storage capacity to the internet and ThreeFold's blockchain. This capacity can be used for any possible workload. Here are some characteristics of ThreeFold's Zero node:
<br/>
<br/>
- **Modularity**: Scaling from 8 vCPUs and 3.5 TB of storage (smallest) to clusters with 8000 vCPUs and 2 PB of storage (large), there is a range of possibilities at hand.
- **Sustainability**: Storing the hardware uses about 10x less energy, and about 2-3x for other workloads.
- **Decentralized**: The Zero Operating System ("Zero OS") is ideally suited for Edge networking - where automation, self-healing and hyper-distribution are must-haves.
- The Zero-Nodes are deployed as close as possible to the consumers of Internet IT capacity (IoT, residential, business, government, education, …).
- This results in massive bandwidth savings, we estimate to be able to keep 99% of the required bandwidth locally which has a huge impact on cost.
- This is the only viable solution to be able to provide internet to the 3.2 billion people waiting.
- **Self healing**: The architecture is designed to ensure that workloads and data can be accessed at all times.
- **Neutral & private**: A lot of work has done using blockchain (technology which powers crypto currency) to guarantee privacy and net neutrality.
- Designed around simplicity to be used by everyone.
- The technology provides anyone with the autonomy to deliver complex IT applications without the need for complex integration services.
- **Empowers equality**: Our technology should be usable by the “other billions” that remain unconnected. Due to the low cost-points, low energy requirements and reduced need of backbone network capacity.
<br/>
<br/>

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---
id: open_invitation_for_testing
title: "An Open Invitation for Testing"
image_caption: "An Open Invitation for Testing"
description: Now’s the time to start utilizing what we’ve built together and to start deploying the solutions and experiences we want to see in this world.
date: 2022-10-11
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, decentralization, grid, cloud, tech]
categories: [community, decentralization, grid, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: open_invitation_for_testing.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
The ThreeFold technology, ecosystem and community have the potential to kickstart a new Internet era filled with abundance and opportunities for all. ThreeFold is 100% open-source, so anyone can contribute to ThreeFold on GitHub and build their own solutions and applications on ThreeFold’s infrastructure.
<br>
Now’s the time to start utilizing what we’ve built together and to start deploying the solutions and experiences we want to see in this world. Now’s the time to build better alternatives for people, enterprises and governments on top of this foundational infrastructure.
<br>
We invite you all to come in, see what’s possible, and start building – today!
## Why is testing so crucial?
ThreeFold created an open-source peer-to-peer Internet infrastructure that offers a place for developers, end-users and everyone in-between to collectively build an open digital world with full digital sovereignty. We seek to re-imagine business, governance, finance, education and more to build a better future for all.
<br>
This future can only be achieved with the collaboration of a strong, healthy and dedicated community. One of the key challenges for a project like ours is the continuous testing and improving of new features as well as building all of the applications and solutions we’d like to see to enhance and grow the ecosystem. Community contributions are the heart and a crucial driver of the growing ThreeFold movement – a global movement that is open and decentralized, meaning it is up to each and everyone of us to push things forward.
<br>
No matter your experience level, from developers to end-users and everyone in-between, there are options for you to contribute to ThreeFold. Whether you’re more tech-savvy and would like to develop solutions on top of the Grid and test tech features or rather help us improve the manuals and spread the word, there are many ways to take action and support the movement.
<br>
A reliable, open-source peer-to-peer infrastructure together with a growing community of enthusiastic, driven developers and end-users are the key to accelerating the growth and development of the Grid and to unlocking all of its potential. And the more people believe in ThreeFold and our Internet of Internets vision, the sooner we can bring digital sovereignty, empowerment and meaningful experiences to the world.
## Why should you join ThreeFold’s tester community?
So why get involved in ThreeFold? Well first of all, you can join an engaged, open movement that seeks to shape the future we want to live in and provide better solutions for our planet and people. You can meet, exchange and collaborate with people from all over the world that share similar interests and values.
<br>
You also learn new skills and get to know some innovative technology that enables you to build and test pretty cool applications and solutions – like deploying a Subsquid instance on the [ThreeFold Playground](https://play.grid.tf) or checking out the different decentralized alternatives to solutions we use every day like WhatsApp, YouTube, Chrome or Zoom with [FreeFlow Twin](https://demo.freeflow.life). Our open, friendly and skilled community can offer you support and advice as you start testing and building. Let’s help each other and build cool stuff together!
## The ThreeFold Community – Where ideas come to life
Curious about what fellow community members are building on ThreeFold? Here are a few recent examples:
* Teisie has been working on a few great tools to make things easier for his fellow ThreeFolders like an iOS app for node monitoring and a geo explorer. Moreover, he’s been working on an uptime tool and deployment calculator – hosted on the Grid and using Drew's gateway node for public access. Learn more [here](https://forum.threefold.io/t/teisies-uptime-tool-and-deployment-calculator/3384?u=hannahcordes). Well done, Teisie!
* Another skilled community member building on the Grid is Drew. With his [community project](https://forum.threefold.io/t/cockpit-managed-ubuntu-vm/3376?u=hannahcordes) for a Cockpit management interface, he provides a web-based interface for managing a VM that allows users to do a lot of maintenance tasks without ssh – even including full remote desktop capabilities from the browser. Pretty cool, right?
<br>
So what are you waiting for? Start exploring and using the many solutions on the ThreeFold Grid today – whether by deploying a weblet, testing the FreeFlow Twin or simply joining our testing group!
## How to get started?
There are many ways to get started with ThreeFold. If you’re new to ThreeFold in general, I recommend starting with “[Building a New Internet From the Ground Up](https://forum.threefold.io/t/how-threefold-is-building-a-new-internet-from-the-ground-up/2057?u=hannahcordes)” – an approachable blog series on the inner workings of the Grid.
<br>
A great way to learn more is also by checking out the [ThreeFold Litepaper](https://threefold.docsend.com/view/7x2pezpn2548v8qq/d/an66sngk5h3yf2zk) and by exploring the [knowledge base](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold/#/). The ThreeFold Grid [manual](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/) has everything you need to dive right into ThreeFold’s open-source infrastructure and technology.
<br>
Key resources to get started:
* Find out what you [can do on Threefold Grid](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/manual__faq?id=what-can-i-do-on-threefold-grid)
* Dive into the [manual](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/) to get started
* Learn more about [testing](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/manual__grid3_testing?id=testing-the-threefold_grid3) the Grid
* Join our [testing community](https://t.me/threefoldtesting)
* Watch helpful tutorials from the community in the [ThreeFold Video Gallery](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-video-gallery/3091?u=hannahcordes)
* Learn how to [contribute to ThreeFold wikis and websites](https://forum.threefold.io/t/how-to-contribute-to-threefold-wikis-and-websites/1154)

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---
id: planet_first_people_first
title: "Planet first. People first."
image_caption: Planet first. People first.
description: Together with our community and partners, we're taking action and making productive choices for our planet and humanity.
date: 2022-07-05
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, why]
categories: [community, why]
extra:
imgPath: planet_first_people_first.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
Today, the world is facing an unprecedented number of crises and disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. From supply chain disruptions and rising inflation to shortages in food and energy supply, serious challenges lie ahead.
<br/>
We have always believed that technology can help some of humanity’s greatest challenges – for example by providing the foundation for an interconnected world that can enable abundance to spread. ThreeFold has focused on developing a more reliable Internet that can meet the demands and challenges of the future. A [more sustainable](https://threefold.io/blog/planting_the_seeds/) Internet that uses [less energy](https://threefold.io/blog/for_our_planet/) and is offsetting its carbon emissions by supporting tree planting and other impact initiatives. And an Internet that empowers us with digital [sovereignty](https://threefold.io/blog/threefold_data_sovereignty/) while providing high levels of [privacy and security](https://forum.threefold.io/t/critical-security-updates-for-apple-and-google-underline-need-for-secure-it-ecosystem/1271?u=hannahcordes). One that is [inclusive](https://threefold.io/blog/more_inclusive_internet/) by being more affordable and accessible.
<br/>
Our [mission](http://mission.threefold.me/) is planet first and people first. 
## The planet and people are at the heart of our movement
Without our planet, humanity has no home. Without our planet, we can’t survive. The fate of humanity depends on the planet’s health. We need a healthy planet for humanity to thrive. And our planet needs regenerative solutions at a large scale that combat climate change and the collapse of biodiversity. That includes the Internet and everything that lives on top.
<br/>
ThreeFold aims to deliver on our promise of providing better solutions for our planet and people through our technology. With this approach, we’re taking action and making productive choices for our planet and humanity. Our [journey](https://threefold.io/blog/four_phases_of_threefold/) is shaped by the determination to drive the regeneration of our planet and to enable a better life for people.
<br/>
*“Today billions of people don’t have access to the internet because of their station of birth. On one hand, it is unfair to them, and on the other, the world is losing billions of inventors and talents. Our internet can scale to anywhere electricity and network exist to provide access to the internet, education, and financial inclusion to everyone.” – [Kristof de Spiegeleer](https://medium.com/authority-magazine/the-future-is-now-kristoff-de-spiegeleer-of-threefold-on-how-their-technological-innovation-will-7acc0e51c365)*
<br/>
Our approach is also based on community and connection. We’re determined to build better, sustainable, and inclusive systems for the planet and people – from realizing the Internet of Internets on a global scale to reimagining business, governance, finance, education, and more in order to provide better alternatives for people, enterprises, and governments. And we are in dialogue and partnership with global leaders who share a similar vision.
<br/>
Here are three examples of the impact we’re creating together:
<br/>
* Together with [Take Action Global](https://threefold.io/blog/planting_the_seeds/), we’re offsetting the ThreeFold Grid’s emissions three times by planting and protecting trees
<br/>
* Together with [IETSA](https://www.threefold.io/newsroom/threefold-ietsa/), we’re making the decentralized Internet more accessible in underserved South African communities while also providing education in blockchain and Web 3.0 technologies
<br/>
* Together with [Solidaridad](https://forum.threefold.io/t/solidaridad-revival/2158?u=hannahcordes), we’re working on the Fair Data initiative to enable a fair data economy
## Driving change towards the future we want to live in
We strongly believe in the ThreeFold Law which states that any good you do will return to you threefold in this lifetime. By making our technology actionable, we energize a collective approach towards a single mission – empowering humanity while regenerating our planet.
<br/>
We’re aware that this mission is a big one. We’re aware of how aspirational it is. We’re aware that we are not perfect. And we realize that changing the world for the better requires patience and community. We’re in it for the [long run](https://threefold.io/blog/four_phases_of_threefold/) and we’re in it together.
<br/>
*“It's an honor every day to wake up and be a part of a global movement of people who are trying to build a better Internet for humanity that can uplift and empower.” – [Adnan Fatayerji](https://www.threefold.io/newsroom/threefold-cybernews/)*
<br/>
ThreeFold is more than a company or a project. ThreeFold is a global movement consisting of like-minded individuals and partners who share these values and vision. A movement united in our shared beliefs in open source, peer-to-peer, equality, and inclusion. By coming together to build a better Internet, we can create the foundation for a better world. We’re incredibly proud of the ThreeFold community and ecosystem. This beautiful community consists of open-minded, passionate, and determined people from all around the world, just like you. We’re dreamers, creators, builders, and change-makers.
<br/>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vK78zZT85_4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
## We are part of the solution
There are many great projects and organizations out there that also follow the planet-first people-first philosophy. Like [Ecosia](https://www.ecosia.org/?c=en) – the search engine that plants trees and thereby positively impacts ecosystems, communities, and our planet. Like [ShareTheMeal](https://sharethemeal.org/en/index.html) – the world’s first app against global hunger that enables you to ‘share the meal’ with a child in need with one simple tap on your phone. Like [Patagonia](https://www.patagonia.com/home/?utm_source=actionworks&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=global_nav&utm_content=link) – a designer of outdoor clothing and sports gear that turned into an environmental activist. And like so many others.
<br/>
Together, we can achieve the extraordinary. The ThreeFold movement is building our own future through the [Internet of Internets](https://threefold.io/blog/internet_of_internets/) – an Internet that will be made up of hundreds, thousands, and ultimately millions, of interconnected local Internets that enables us all to directly connect and exchange without limitations or intermediaries. No matter what you do to support planet-first people-first movements, thank you. In doing so, you’re making a difference. You’re contributing to making the world a better place.
<br/>
With ThreeFold, anyone anywhere can make a difference. For a better life, for a better future.
<br/>
If not us, who? If not now, when?
<br/>
*If you’re new to ThreeFold and don’t know you to contribute best, here are a few ways to take action:*
<br/>
* *[Join](https://t.me/threefold) this growing movement*
* *[Buy](https://marketplace.3node.global/) or [build](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__diy_guide) a 3Node and be the Internet*
* *[Buy](https://www.manual.grid.tf/documentation/threefold_token/buy_sell_tft/buy_sell_tft.html) TFT*

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---
id: quest_decentralize_internet
title: "Our Quest to Fully Decentralize the Internet"
image_caption: Our Quest to Fully Decentralize the Internet
description: It's our mission to transform the Internet and Cloud. Learn more about the status quo and how we're working on fully decentralizing the entire Internet!
date: 2021-10-14
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [decentralization, grid, why]
categories: [decentralization, grid, why]
extra:
imgPath: quest_decentralize_internet.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
Tim Berners-Lee created the web server and browser in 1990. Back then, the web was of a free, rather decentralized nature in which no single entity was to control the access to it. With the client-server architecture of the web, however, centralization came about. [Nowadays](https://threefold.io/info/threefold#/threefold__why_intro?id=everyone-should-be-autonomous), the web as well as the Internet in general are highly centralized. There are only a few companies acting as gatekeepers to large parts of today’s Internet. The Internet as we know it is continuously [struggling with issues](https://theconversation.com/web-3-0-the-decentralised-web-promises-to-make-the-internet-free-again-113139) related to its centralized nature – from censorship and attacks on net neutrality to manipulation attempts from companies with [monopolistic power](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/08/28/who-owns-the-internet). These issues are systematic and major players like Amazon or Facebook are [benefitting](https://techmonitor.ai/boardroom/power-of-tech-companies) from the situation as it is. This business model is also highly reliant on centralized hyperscale [data centers](https://threefold.io/blog/data_leaks/) that also come with a whole set of issues, from their vulnerability and limited scalability to their extremely high energy consumption [and more](https://threefold.io/blog/threefold_cloud_vs_centralized_providers_like_aws_azure/).
<br/>
People have become the [product](https://threefold.io/blog/threefold_data_sovereignty/) of a business model where companies offer their services in exchange for personal data – in order to capitalize on and exploit the data, basically squeezing people out for their data like oranges for juice. In times where [data exploitation](https://www.techradar.com/news/why-personal-data-exploitation-has-become-the-norm) is the norm, it makes sense that data is often referred to as digital oil or gold. Moreover, algorithms of social media platforms increasingly lead to content provoking controversy and [addictive](https://thereboot.com/creating-decentralized-social-media-alternatives-to-facebook-and-twitter/) engagement as this type of content tends to increase the time people spend on the platforms – with shocking impacts like The Wall Street Journals’ [investigation](https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-facebook-files-11631713039) “The Facebook Files” and The New York Times’ audio series [Rabbit Hole](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/podcasts/rabbit-hole-prologue.html) show.
<br/>
All of these issues have strengthened the push towards decentralization, mainly associated with the blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. However, many of the projects in the decentralized space still rely on centralized providers or structures to some degree. The second most-popular blockchain in the world, [Ethereum](https://threefold.io/blog/decentralize_blockchain/), for example, has 60% of its nodes run on [centralized cloud providers](https://threefold.io/blog/threefold_cloud_vs_centralized_providers_like_aws_azure/) with 25% of them running on Amazon Web Services (AWS). [Akash](https://threefold.io/blog/project_comparison_2_akash/), a blockchain-based cloud computing platform, prevents unutilized capacity from centralized cloud computing services from going to waste. Leveraging this underutilized cloud capacity, however, also causes Akash to be highly dependent on [centralized capacity](https://blog.orchid.com/akash-networks-greg-osuri-on-decentralizing-cloud-computing/). [Dfinity’s](https://threefold.io/blog/project_comparison_1_dfinity/) platform for decentralized apps (dApps) is based on an ecosystem of independent data centers, which makes it rather centralized on an infrastructural level.
<br/>
While the previously mentioned projects are all seeking to push decentralization, they all have one thing in common: they rely on centralized structures or providers at least to some degree and therefore, are not fully decentralized yet. So, what does [true decentralization](https://threefold.io/blog/decentralize_blockchain/) look like?
## How ThreeFold is Changing the Game
It is our [mission](https://threefold.io/mission) to transform the Internet and Cloud and to create borderless opportunities for humanity. Therefore, we‘re truly committed to decentralizing the infrastructure behind the Internet to scale current and future digital workloads. At Threefold, we’re building an entirely [new infrastructure](https://threefold.io/blog/an_intro_to_the_threefold_grid/) from the ground up, starting with a [Grid](https://threefold.io/grid) of new, neutral capacity and our operating system [Zero-OS](https://threefold.io/blog/zero_os_blog/). Our ThreeFold Grid, based on open-source [technology](https://threefold.io/tech), enables an autonomous, [secure](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/threefold__usp_secure?id=network-security), and energy-efficient infrastructure that allows for unlimited scalability while remaining affordable. Our Grid is the largest and [most advanced](https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/06/20/largest-distributed-peer-to-peer-grid-on-the-planet-laying-foundation-for-a-decentralized-internet/) peer-to-peer infrastructure in the world, already available in more than [50 countries](https://explorer.grid.tf/) and keeps expanding fast. With our energy-efficient full stack [cloud infrastructure](https://cloud.threefold.io), uniting compute, storage, and network, we are much more comprehensive than other projects.
<br/>
At ThreeFold, we believe in giving power to the people by developing technologies that empower individuals, enable social participation, and foster collaboration. We’re enabling even people without technical skills to [join the network](https://threefold.io/farm) with plug-and-play [3Nodes](https://shop.threefold.tech/index.php?route=common/home) offered through our certified hardware partners. The ThreeFold Grid is therefore [more inclusive](https://www.threefold.io/blog/post/tf_grid_peoples_internet/) and allows any individual to participate. Our peer-to-peer nature removes the need of centralized servers and any type of intermediary, allowing applications and data to live closer to where they’re being utilized.
<br/>
In addition to that, we believe that no one but you should own your data. Our technology empowers every user to be [data sovereign](https://threefold.io/blog/threefold_data_sovereignty/), giving them full control over their own data by using a variety of innovative technologies, such as autonomous IT, blockchain, and [peer-to-peer](https://threefold.io/tech/peer-to-peer) networking. This way, our technology is turning traditional IT upside down, enabling a data-sovereign Internet that gives users [control](https://threefold.io/blog/join_the_peoples_internet/) and ownership of their data in an [entirely secure](https://forum.threefold.io/t/critical-security-updates-for-apple-and-google-underline-need-for-secure-it-ecosystem/1271), peer-to-peer IT ecosystem.
<br/>
All in all, we provide the low-level primitives for a [decentralized world](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-is-the-substrate-for-decloud/1295), enabling any project to run on a fully decentralized, [energy-efficient](https://new.threefold.io/blog/post/for_our_planet/), and self-healing infrastructure. As we truly believe in collaboration to effect change at a large scale to fully decentralize the [Internet and Cloud](https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/ambitious-startup-to-disrupt-the-internet-and-cloud/b38rwj4), our [partnership](https://threefold.io/partners) ecosystem keeps growing. Most recently, we announced a [strategic partnership](https://threefold.io/partners/owncloud) with ownCloud, an alternative to public clouds with more than 200 million users worldwide, that aims to advance the decentralization of the [consumer cloud](https://threefold.io/news/post/owncloud_threefold/).
<br/>
So, we’d like to invite you to join forces with us to further push the [decentralization](https://www.econotimes.com/ThreeFold-DFINITY-and-the-race-to-Decentralize-the-Internet-1618367) of the Internet together – whether by becoming a [3Node](https://threefold.io/farm) or building on our ThreeFold Grid, by buying our ThreeFold Token ([TFT](https://threefold.io/tft)), our currency for a decentralized world, or by [testing](https://threefold.io/info/cloud#/cloud__evdc_getting_started) our P2P Cloud. Let’s [revolutionize](https://tgdaily.com/web/6-dfinity-threefold-are-leading-an-internet-decentralization-revolution/) the Internet together!

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---
id: realizing_the_promise
title: "Co-Realizing the Promise"
image_caption: Co-Realizing the Promise
description: Together with our global community, we're realizing the initial promise of an open-source, peer-to-peer Internet owned by the people.
date: 2022-03-21
taxonomies:
people: [sacha_obeegadoo]
tags: [community, decentralization, why]
categories: [community, decentralization, why]
extra:
imgPath: realizing_the_promise.png
---
What was once a massive global movement sparked by the idealism of free culture and the net, is now hosting a wave of unintended consequences that may destroy sovereignty and freedom as we know it. The digital revolution and the “democratization” of the Internet promised to lead us to a prosperous and equitable world, one that brought us closer together, eliminating both physical and virtual boundaries.
<br/>
*“We are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth… a world where anyone, anywhere may express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity… Your legal concepts of property, expression, identity, movement, and context do not apply to us. They are all based on matter, and there is no matter here.” – Declaration of independence of Cyberspace – John Perry Barlow – Davos, 1996.*
<br/>
Unfortunately, this is not the world we live in today. Borders are hardening in our virtual world with the Great Firewall of China and the widespread emergence of Internet “clusters”. Many countries have attempted to turn off Internet services or to prevent free speech. Networks and algorithms turn us into data generators, influencing our daily habits and interests. It’s turning into a big AI-driven machine that commoditizes our lives, leaves the underserved behind and fails to provide sovereignty where we gather.
<br/>
A centralized Internet which is controlled by a handful of companies is a serious existential threat. The technology that connects us is now used to distract, manipulate, polarize, divide and control the way we think, act and live our lives. If emerging technologies such as IoT, Blockchain and the Metaverse are not hosted on a self-sovereign, peer-to-peer infrastructure owned by all of us, we may be running head down into the matrix.
<br/>
With billions of people and IoT devices expected to join this broken digital world this decade, we have no choice but to heal our broken information ecosystem if we want to address the challenges we face collectively. So as we move towards a world where tech and science are merging together, how do we ensure a neutral, inclusive and regenerative digital future – one that truly serves humanity and eliminates the barriers that divide us?
<br/>
The peer-to-peer Internet incentivizes all citizens of our world to connect computers from their homes or offices to participate in a distributed data economy owned by the people. By allowing humans and machines to interweave without intermediaries, a decentralized and self-sovereign Internet can emerge.
<br/>
Quite simply – there is no good reason that our data is being stored and controlled by others in the information age. Why are we paying centralized companies to handle our information on our behalf, when it makes us vulnerable to be turned into products, and would take us the same time to do it ourselves?
<br/>
Peer-to-peer isn’t an alternative to the Internet, it’s an alternative to centralized cloud giants. The Internet doesn’t need replacing; it is one of the most beautiful inventions of our civilization, if not the greatest. Which is not to say that cloud providers are completely obsolete. They serve functions that decentralized systems cannot (e.g. big data); but peer-to-peer systems are just infinitely more resilient, secure, private and scalable.
<br/>
In times of exponential evolution and innovation, we have our fears around the Internet.
We don’t need to disconnect ourselves even further from our reality and it is our responsibility to ensure a safe and fair future for the generations to come. A centralized Internet which is controlled by a handful of companies is a serious existential threat. If emerging technologies such as IoT, Blockchain and the Metaverse are not hosted on a self-sovereign, peer-to-peer infrastructure owned by all of us, we may be running head down into the matrix.
<br/>
The potential of technology to change the world remains endless and limited to our own imagination. We decide to switch from fear to love, and to move forward as one humanity. It is our responsibility as global citizens to pursue greater collective consciousness.
<br/>
Join the [ThreeFold](https://t.me/threefold) movement, a community of like-minded people that build the world of tomorrow!
<br/>
* Learn how to [host the Internet](http://threefold.io/farm) at your home or office.
* Get [TFT](https://gettft.com/gettft/), the currency of the peer-to-peer Internet.

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---
id: smart_contract_blog
title: A Smart Contract for all IT workloads
image_caption: smart contract for IT
description: The Smart Contract for IT allows you, your company or your community to execute the storage and running of your files and applications securely with consensus and automatic billing.
date: 2021-05-25
taxonomies:
people: [sacha_obeegadoo]
tags: [decentralization, grid, cloud, tech]
categories: [decentralization, grid, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: smart_contract_blog.png
---
ThreeFold was inspired by the blockchain burst when it was created in 2016. After doing a comprehensive scan of the technological space we realized that Blockchain holds the best technology to store (1) Smart Contracts and (2) Transactions in an immutable way. We created our own blockchain database: Rivine to host the Smart Contract layer before switching to the Parity Substrate of Polkadot and our Transactional blockchain to the Stellar Network.
<br/>
<br/>
While we use blockchain technology, ThreeFold is much more than just "a blockchain project" as we apply many more revolutionary technologies. We decided to use Parity Substrate as we don’t see the need to create something if there’s already great technologies out there that we can already use. Today we’re proud of our Smart Contract for IT layer and approach the ThreeFold Grid v3.0 release this year which will expose its full potential to interact with the primitives of the grid.
## So what is this Smart Contract for IT about?
The Smart Contract for IT allows you, your company or your community to execute the storage and running of your files and applications securely with consensus and automatic billing. You could compare it as a fingerprint check and your data would be accessible only if presenting your private key (fingerprint). Let’s maybe go through the process for a better idea of how this works.
<br/>
<br/>
The smart contracts are like recipes for chefs to cook exactly what you want. In that sense they need to be very accurate and as descriptive as possible to deliver what you need. In the case of ThreeFold, the smart contracts would define different sets of Internet resources you would need to store files, run applications, or communicate across the network.
<br/>
<br/>
Whenever you want to reserve more resources to store your latest album or run your applications, you will define the resources you need to your 3Bot or Digital Twin (your personal virtual system administrators) which will then look at different smart contracts that are available and choose the most appropriate package. For e.g. Reserve 3 PB of Storage in Switzerland across 7 nodes.
<br/>
<br/>
Following that, your 3Bot or Digital Twin will create and register the smart contract in the blockchain database in a few seconds, providing you with all your specific needs. It will also store and secure some instructions to the BCDB for the nodes to meet smart contract completion.
<br/>
<br/>
ThreeFold had to make sure that user data would remain ultra-secure. Inspired by storage and communication algorithms used in space, we integrated it between the Smart Contract layer and Zero OS. The algorithm splits data into unrecognizable ‘slices’ that are distributed via network connections to different nodes locally or across the world, and that can be reconstructed only with your fingerprint.
## More than the average Smart Contract
Via your Smart Contract for IT, you can also define a consensus mechanism and create multi-signatures for smart contract execution or completion to deliver appropriate digital services in for example work related activities.
<br/>
<br/>
The beauty of the Smart Contract for IT is that it can work with thousands of connected nodes for the proper execution of any digital requirements on the infrastructure, verify if consensus was reached or not, download the right files to execute the smart contract and verify them, make sure that no hacker or outsider can ever gain access or influence its execution and more.
<br/>
<br/>
If you want to learn more about ThreeFold’s Smart Contract for IT, read more [here](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold/#/internet4__smartcontract_it).

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---
id: tech_new_internet
title: A new approach to the Internet Architecture
image_caption: internet tech
description: The Edge internet needs a different approach. So, we started as from scratch and shaped a totally new approach..
date: 2018-05-12
taxonomies:
people: [weynand_kuijpers]
tags: [decentralization, grid, cloud, tech]
categories: [decentralization, grid, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: tech_new_internet.png
---
## ThreeFold's technology does not follow the traditional IT model
The Edge internet needs a different approach. So, we started from scratch and shaped a new approach. ThreeFold's open-source technology addresses the scalability, security, storage, energy, and operating issues by simplifying architectures and not relying on third-party software. This drives down costs and improves efficiencies.
## What is ThreeFold's Technology Toolbox?
ThreeFold's technology is based on three primary building blocks: Stateless Computing, Self-Healing Technology, and Blockchain technology - this is the core of our “Technology Toolbox".
<br/>
<br/>
- **Stateless Computing**: a stateless operating system, Zero-OS, enabling distributed hardware to form an Edge Internet grid generating IT storage and compute capacity
- **Self-Healing Technology**: controls and operates a distributed cloud and reserves, procures, and executes workloads on the grid using our Jumpscale platform. It delivers autoscaling and automation frameworks that enable self-healing and can be adapted for any kind of IT workload.
- **Blockchain Technology**: Via Rivine - our secure, scalable “proof of stake” blockchain, along with our identity management platform, ItsYou.online. Our blockchain technology enables user authentication, access controls, secure workloads, and heightened security.
## Enabling Stateless Computing
The global decentralized internet will be composed of thousands (millions?) of nodes distributed geographically. This means the decentralized internet must be powered by a stateless operating system that can be booted via the Internet (as opposed to living on the node locally). This removes the complexity of upgrades, truck rolls, etc.
<br/>
<br/>
Open-source components have been developed, Zero-OS, for the deployment of bare metal machines functioning as Internet nodes and application hosts. Our Zero-OS platform runs containerized applications and software code on secure and distributed IT infrastructure. Zero-OS can be deployed on off-the-shelf hardware by anyone willing to make server and storage capacity available in their markets and within our network.
### The benefits of Stateless Computing are substantial, including:
- **Performance**: lightweight OS without overhead for running bare-metal machines.
- **Free**: finds the optimal performance of server & storage nodes at no cost.
- **Private**: no data footprint remains while workloads move from one node to another.
- **Distributed**: capacity is generated without the need for data centers: At The Edge.
- **High-available**: easy creation of clusters while applications run in fragmented segments.
- **Portability**: moving software from one node to another within the grid is instant.
- **Secure**: open-source distributed software with transparent code. No security backdoors
- **Sustainable**: energy-efficient OS resulting in very low node power consumption.
## Technology that is self-healing & self-driving
ThreeFold's Jumpscale framework and ZeroBot allow the creation of blueprints to auto-deploy applications within the compute environment. The bots are constantly checking the health and uptime of the infrastructure, and runtime environments, to guarantee the performance and availability of applications at all times.
### The benefits of our self-healing technology protocols include the following:
- **Self-Healing**: the platform regenerates when health issues that cause downtime for infrastructure and applications are detected.
- **Intelligence**: agents capture information from the grid and make intelligent decisions to provide an ideal and optimal host environment for software code and containerized applications.
- **Lifecycle Management**: the status of the infrastructure and the lifecycle of running applications are constantly checked and recorded.
- **Autoscaling**: the platform automatically scales to meet application and infrastructure performance.
## Blockchain Technology to execute workloads and applications via smart contracts
The engineers developed new blockchain algorithms based on proof of stake for validation purposes and turned this into our Rivine open-source blockchain software.
<br/>
<br/>
Unlike the “proof of work” blockchains that currently dominate the space, our Rivine blockchain is scalable, green, and secure - and does not rely on huge mining resources. We run our blockchain on approximately 200 dedicated nodes and do not rely on any third-party software.
<br/>
<br/>
In addition to our blockchain technology, we have also developed ItsYou.Online, an identity, and access management platform. Itsyou. online uses three-factor authentication to manage access on our network and facilitate execution.
### The benefits of TF blockchain technology and identity management platform include:
- **Sustainable**: our algorithms to reach consensus use a minimal amount of energy and electricity compared to other blockchain software and networks.
- **Lowest possible cost**: of transactions make it an efficient and fast payment system.
- **Neutral**: state of the network and applications are recorded in a transparent and immutable manner.
- **Payment fulfillment**: transactions are automatically paid using ThreeFold Tokens.
- **Smart Contracts**: fully automated execution of contracts from customers buying Internet IT capacity.
<br/>
<br/>
All of our technology is open-source and can be accessed in the following Github Repos:
<br/>
<br/>
* Zero-OS: https://github.com/threefoldtech/zos
* Jumpscale: https://github.com/threefoldtech/js-ng
* BCDB : https://github.com/threefoldtech/bcdb

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---
id: tf_chain
title: "The ThreeFold Blockchain"
image_caption: The ThreeFold Blockchain
description: The third release of the ThreeFold Grid represents a major step in the decentralization of the People’s Internet with the Smart Contract for IT coming to life on the ThreeFold Blockchain (aka “TF Chain”).
date: 2021-12-15
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [decentralization, tech]
categories: [decentralization, tech]
extra:
imgPath: tf_chain.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
The [third release](https://forum.threefold.io/t/what-is-new-in-tfgrid-3-0/1133/1) of the [ThreeFold Grid](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__threefold_grid) represents a major step in the decentralization of the People’s Internet with the [Smart Contract for IT](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__smartcontract_tfgrid3) coming to life on the ThreeFold Blockchain (aka “TF Chain”). Built on the Substrate framework, TF Chain represents the layer-0 for all current and future technologies to provision decentralized Internet capacity. 
<br/>
But what is Substrate to begin with? And what exactly does our TF Chain do?
## What is TF Chain and what is Substrate?
[TF Chain](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__tfchain) is the universal smart contract layer on the ThreeFold Grid. It’s an application-specific blockchain customized for the operation of a single application – provisioning decentralized compute, storage and network capacity. 
<br/>
[Substrate](https://substrate.io/) is a blockchain-building framework from [Parity](https://www.parity.io/) that allows developers to simply create future-proof solo blockchains or parachains for any use case. Parity was founded by Ethereum’s co-founder and first CTO Gavin Wood in 2015, and went on to develop Substrate to power a multichain, interoperable and decentralized Internet.
## Why did we choose Substrate for our TF Chain?
Substrate brings clear benefits to [TF Chain](https://threefold.io/tech/tf-chain) in relation to its frameworks for developers, its interoperability with other blockchain ecosystems and its huge community. More than 150 projects from NFTs to DeFi are already building on it.  
<br/>
By providing a solid, mature and secure layer for custom blockchains, Substrate is built for adoption. The blockchain framework was built with the programming language Rust and is modular by design. Choosing Substrate allowed our developer team to leverage great blockchain constructs and efficiently build TF Chain instead of re-inventing the wheel. 
<br/>
Its flexible, modular and composable architecture enables our team to focus on what matters the most – the unique demands of [ThreeFold Grid](https://threefold.io/grid). For example, we’ve built  a Grid module with specific functionalities for farms and nodes. Just like a chef can invent a new recipe and add it to a menu, Substrate allows our developers to build and add as many custom functionalities to TF Chain as we’d like, in a fully decentralized way. 
<br/>
A major benefit that comes with TF Chain being built on Substrate is the native compatibility with the Polkadot ecosystem, opening up the opportunity for ThreeFold to become a parachain on the Polkadot network and seamlessly bridging to other Substrate-based chains in the future.
## What’s the purpose of TF Chain?
For ThreeFold to be a [truly decentralized](https://threefold.io/blog/quest_decentralize_internet/) peer-to-peer Internet infrastructure, people should be able to use Internet infrastructures from anywhere without any intermediaries like [AWS](https://threefold.io/blog/threefold_cloud_vs_centralized_providers_like_aws_azure/). TF Chain serves exactly that purpose. 
<br/>
It orchestrates the provisioning of compute, storage and network on the ThreeFold Grid via [Zero-OS](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__zos), removing all forms of intermediaries present in today’s centralized IT infrastructures. Put simply, TF Chain allows people to provide and use cloud resources in a 100% decentralized way. 
## What does TF Chain do?
[TF Chain](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/threefold__tfchain) is responsible for achieving consensus on all Internet capacity transactions on the ThreeFold Grid and to store them in a historical record. This prevents users from "double spending" their [ThreeFold Tokens](https://threefold.io/tft) and ensures the correct execution of Internet capacity provisioning via smart contracts, while also protecting the network from potential attacks. 
<br/>
An exciting feature that comes with TF Chain 3.0 is a totally new peer-to-peer billing framework for Internet capacity provisioning and workload deployment. This module allows for all functionalities of the ThreeFold Grid to be provisioned peer-to-peer between users and farmers. Therefore, the ThreeFold Token now also lives on the Polkadot network, allowing it to [bridge back and forth](https://threefold.io/blog/bridges_connecting_threefold_ecosystem/) from the Stellar network and potentially from other chains in the future.
<br/>
While TF Chain builds on the Substrate framework, most of its functionalities are custom-built to fit the specific needs of the ThreeFold Grid – from Internet capacity provisioning, workload deployments, and payment and billing processes, to digital twin creation and much more. By executing all these actions via [smart contracts](https://threefold.io/tech/smart-contract) in an automated and decentralized way, the activity on the ThreeFold Grid is always secured by blockchain technology and available to other users for open collaboration. 
<br/>
*Farms can now be registered on our new [TF Chain Portal](https://threefold.io/blog/tech_update_admin_portal/)!*
## The Future
While Internet capacity provisioning and workload deployments are already executed via TF Chain, the minting of TFT according to the [Proof-of-Capacity algorithm](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__proof_of_capacity) remains on the Stellar blockchain for now.
<br/>
Building our own application-specific blockchain represents a major step towards decentralizing the ThreeFold Grid and ecosystem – a **massive thank you** to our developer team for this great achievement! 🙏
<br/>
Want to dive deeper? We invite you to:
* Learn more about how smart contracts work on TF Chain 3.0 [here](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__smartcontract_tfgrid3).
* Join the ThreeFold Grid 3.0 testnet conversations [here](https://t.me/joinchat/BwOvOxxgK59GmRoZ2_sM0w).
* Check our roadmap [here](https://forum.threefold.io/t/internal-roadmap-3-5-3-6-3-x/2928?u=hannahcordes).

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---
id: the_threefold_movement
title: Into the Fold – The ThreeFold Movement
image_caption: The ThreeFold Movement
description: It's not by mistake that you're here, reading this post. You can feel that a global shift is happening. And you want to do something about it.
date: 2021-07-20
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, decentralization, why]
categories: [community, decentralization, why]
extra:
imgPath: the_threefold_movement.png
---
It's not by mistake that you're here, reading this post. You, like I, understand that today's systems need to change. You know that decentralization is needed for better wealth distribution and equal opportunities. And that we need better solutions for our planet. You can feel that a global shift is happening. And you want to do something about it. You want to be a part of it.
<br/>
<br/>
You've dreamt of a different world. A world where people trust and treat each other with respect – and where everyone has equal chances to learn and to thrive. A world where we're not just cogs in a machine that serves only the few, rather we work and co-create as part of systems that benefit all. A world where solutions are sustainable for our planet, or even better, regenerative. This world is not just a dream, though – and you're not alone. Each day, more and more like-minded people are coming together. Welcome into the fold.
## Meet the Movement
To understand ThreeFold, you should first understand where we came from. Since the late 90's, some of the ThreeFold co-founders have worked on Internet storage and cloud technology. And after years of building, and many successful launches, they came to understand that they were part of a broken system that was productizing people and damaging the planet. Despite this, they knew that the Internet held and holds the key to a better world, and that the only way to have a truly sovereign, secure, and energy-efficient Internet was to start from scratch. So we did.
<br/>
<br/>
This is how our story began – and over the past four years we have grown and expanded a team of like-minded and passionate people from around the world to bring ThreeFold to life. But for us, we are still in the beginning of something much bigger to come.
<br/>
<br/>
We don't consider ourselves a company, rather a group of humans helping other humans – and our planet. We believe the world needs to change, and we choose to not just talk, but act, to make that change happen. We cannot and would not want to do this alone. There is a strong, passionate, and growing community around us – partners, farmers, ambassadors, technology testers, other contributors, and supporters just like you.
## Our Mission, Vision, and Values Drive us Forward
Our mission is to build and expand a data-sovereign and planet-positive Internet owned by the people, for the people. This will enable equal chances for people around the world to learn, partake and succeed, and will help to heal our planet.
<br/>
<br/>
Engrained into the work that we do are three key values or principles:
<br/>
<br/>
We believe in **sovereignty**, and in protecting people. Everyone should own their data, and no one else, not even ThreeFold. Our peer-to-peer technology allows every user to be data sovereign – giving them 100% control over their data.
<br/>
<br/>
We believe that everyone should be given **equal chances** to learn, partake and succeed. Internet access is a human right, and at ThreeFold we commit to scale our technology to new regions to empower the unconnected.
<br/>
<br/>
And we unify our practices, partnerships, and products around a single mission – to **heal our planet**. By making our technology actionable, we enable a collective approach to have an impact together.
## Together, We Invite the World Into the Fold
It's important for others to understand who we are. Thus, we identify with and embody three key attributes as a collective, to show the world what the movement is all about:
<br/>
<br/>
**ThreeFold is purposeful.** We exist to help humanity thrive. Our mission is bold and motivates every step we take. We adapt to our evolving environment and passionately strive for excellence.
<br/>
<br/>
**ThreeFold is empowering.** We help people find themselves and do what they love. We provide support to people and projects that help build a better world, whether they have moonshot visions or down-to-earth ambitions. We aren’t the hero of our story – they are.
<br/>
<br/>
**ThreeFold is approachable.** ThreeFold keeps it real. We’re open and honest, avoiding upstage corporate language and phony marketing spins. We don’t see ourselves as a company, but more like humans helping other humans. So being genuine, friendly, and loving comes naturally.
<br/>
<br/>
In its essence, the movement is open and inviting. We've created **a participatory Internet economy**, where anybody around the world can plug in a 3Node and add capacity to the ThreeFold Grid. Together, we're expanding a data sovereign and planet positive Internet infrastructure, owned by the people, across geographical and cultural borders.
<br/>
<br/>
We believe in **collaboration, not competition**. Our technology serves as a responsible underlying layer on top of which anybody can build and create. We have [beautiful partners](https://threefold.io/partners) already on board – and [an alliance](https://threefold.io/aci) of conscious people and organizations who share our vision – and we are constantly expanding our ecosystem across industries.
<br/>
<br/>
And while the ThreeFold Foundation is currently the driving force behind the ThreeFold Movement, we believe in **decentralization**. We have open channels like [a forum](https://forum.threefold.io), [a two-way Telegram chat](https://t.me/threefold), Github ([Foundation](https://github.com/threefoldfoundation) & [Tech](https://github.com/threefoldtech/)), and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/threefold_io), where people can and do contribute, ask questions and provide feedback that goes into our everyday decision-making and actions.
<br/>
<br/>
As I said at the start, you've dreamt of a different world. And so have I. John Lennon once said, "A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality." Thank you for dreaming with us. Together, this will happen!
<br/>
<br/>
Photo by Ahmad Odeh on Unsplash.

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---
id: threefold_at_consensus_2022
title: "ThreeFold at Consensus: A Decentralized World is in Our Hands"
image_caption: "ThreeFold at Consensus: A Decentralized World is in Our Hands."
description: It’s that time of the year when believers and builders of a decentralized tomorrow gather to celebrate the festival for the decentralized world. And ThreeFold is the foundation to realize a truly decentralized world.
date: 2022-05-17
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, event]
categories: [community, event]
extra:
imgPath: threefold_at_consensus_2022.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
It’s that time of the year when believers and builders of a decentralized tomorrow gather to celebrate the festival for the decentralized world. About 15,000 people will attend Consensus 2022 by CoinDesk from June 9 through June 12. Throughout the festival, key topics around decentralization, blockchain, crypto, Web 3 and the metaverse will be explored and discussed.
<br/>
Why is ThreeFold attending Consensus? Excellent question. The ThreeFold community truly believes that collaboration, decentralization and peer-to-peer systems are the foundation for a better Internet, and subsequently, a better world. And together we are making that world a reality. But we need to grow and extend the community on the ground with the right people, dreamers who choose to act now.
<br/>
As many consider Consensus the festival for the decentralized world, some questions linger:
<br/>
*How committed are the projects and participants to decentralization, and for what reasons? How far are they willing to go to bring that world to life?*
<br/>
It’s no secret that many projects in the space still rely on centralized infrastructure – at least to some degree. So, are they really delivering on their promise of decentralization?
## A decentralized world needs a decentralized foundation
I think we’ve already come to Consensus that decentralization has to start at the foundational level. See what I did there? The ThreeFold co-founders have more than 20 years of experience in setting world records in Internet storage and cloud automation technologies. With ThreeFold, they started from scratch to build a fully decentralized Internet infrastructure that’s peer-to-peer and open source. We’re realizing the promise of an Internet built and owned by the people, back to the vision of Web 1 through the implementation of Web4 technology. For us, it’s obvious that we simply cannot build a fair and equal digital world on top of today's old-world infrastructure which is owned by the few.
<br/>
With our fair, inclusive and decentralized Internet infrastructure, we’re laying the foundation for a better world. Following our ethos of *planet first – people second – profit (value) only as a result*, we’re striving to regenerate our planet and to empower the collective – the many and not the few. By putting our planet and people first, we create real sustainable value. We believe that, together, we’re strong enough to build new regenerative systems powerful enough to enable anyone to have a sovereign, safer and more fulfilling life.
<br/>
As of today, people from 77 countries are connecting thousands of computers (3Nodes) to the ThreeFold Grid – all contributing to ThreeFold’s open-source peer-to-peer Internet infrastructure. And any node or dApp, actually anything that can run on Linux, can run on top of the ThreeFold Grid in a truly decentralized way. With ThreeFold’s infrastructure and thriving ecosystem, there's an abundance of potential and opportunities – really anything is possible.
## ThreeFold @Consensus
The ThreeFold team and community will soon gather at the Austin Convention Center, 500 E. Cesar Chavez Street, Austin. Meet the ThreeFold team at **Exhibit Booth 310** not far from the Networking Lounge. We’ll be there throughout the entire exhibit to connect with participants, share the ThreeFold story and extend the community – Friday, June 10 through Saturday, June 11 from 9am until 6pm.
<br/>
At our booth, you’ll be able to meet the team, see and hold a Titan 3Node, have the chance to win a free 3Node of your own, find resources that will empower you to get involved, and more.
<br/>
ThreeFold will also host a gathering outside of the Convention Center. We will share more via [our Telegram News Channel](https://t.me/threefoldnews) when the details are finalized, so stay tuned.
<br/>
ThreeFold is more than an Internet. It is the foundation for a truly decentralized world. Are you ready to [join](https://t.me/threefold) the global ThreeFold movement?
<br/>
*Check out the full [Consensus agenda](https://events.coindesk.com/consensus2022/agenda) and take advantage of [our 25% discount code](https://events.coindesk.com/consensus2022?promo=a7MsHxui) to buy tickets.*
<br/>
***And don’t forget to let us know if you’ll be joining ThreeFold at Consensus – we’d love to connect with you!***

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---
id: today_tomorrow_beyond
title: "ThreeFold Today, Tomorrow, & Beyond"
image_caption: Today, Tomorrow, & Beyond
description: There's no other project or technology out there like ThreeFold. Let's take a look at where we are and where we are going, together.
date: 2023-01-11
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, why]
categories: [community, why]
extra:
imgPath: today_tomorrow_beyond.png
---
It's the beginning of another year, so I thought it would be a good time to put things into perspective with where we are and where we're going.
## ThreeFold Today
Let’s be honest. There is no other project or technology out there like ThreeFold, no one nearly as far along as we are. Our co-founders have decades of experience (and success) in the Internet and Cloud space. They and the team developed a new Internet infrastructure from the ground up, including a [stateless operating system](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/threefold__zos) based on the Linux kernel, which is quite a significant accomplishment.
<br>
Today, we have the biggest network of decentralized storage, compute, and network on the planet. The technology is in its third generation, functional and ready for utilization, even commercially. The [ThreeFold Playground](https://play.grid.tf) provides a sandbox of limitless opportunities for open-source builders – developers can (and are) now build(ing) and monetize(ing) projects built on the grid.
<br>
Hopefully you’ve been following along lately with community calls and all of our updates to see the [major progress that was made in 2022](https://forum.threefold.io/t/end-of-year-2022-community-call-recording/3636). The technology took major strides, the grid nearly doubled, the community got way more active, and there are some partnerships in the works with huge reach where we can make big impact.
<br>
Of course the token price is low and this is less than ideal to say the least, especially for farmers who are running hardware and weary of costs – although a power savings feature is coming! But the token is built on strong fundamentals and our efforts are focused on creating a [balanced and sustainable token economy](https://forum.threefold.io/t/a-new-financial-system-is-needed-for-a-better-future/3547) for the long-term.
## ThreeFold Tomorrow
In the coming days we’ll be announcing a super exciting project (ThreeFold Grid Services) from the ThreeFold team with the following purpose:
<br>
_To prove that the current state of the ThreeFold Grid is enough on top of which to start an end-user facing commercial business. We will release a suite of grid services with fiat gateways and we will also create content that explains in steps how to use the technical building blocks to put it all together to create your own solution / service._
<br>
Within Q1 we also aim to expose one or several partnerships with the potential to impact millions of people in emerging / developing countries.
<br>
We have ThreeFold Ventures coming as well, different businesses or arms of ThreeFold including OurPhone that create a holistic ecosystem for a more fair and equal world.
<br>
Then there’s the [Internet of Internets](https://threefold.io/blog/internet-of-internets/) (Regional Internet) model which will come to life this year, and [Digital Twin](https://www.threefold.io/blog/digital-twin/). And more – this is not comprehensive – but you get the picture.
## ThreeFold Beyond
ThreeFold is the foundation for people around the world to live in true digital sovereignty, for people who today do not have affordable access to education, communication, and financial tools to gain access. ThreeFold can impact industries from Internet to banking to education to supply chain and more. The possibilities are really limitless, let your imagine run wild. ThreeFold can change the world.
## Our Future Is up to All of Us
I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again (and again) … A decentralized movement is all about decentralized action and participation. And participation comes in all shapes and sizes. Together, we all need to act and push this into the world. Everyone in this community is empowered to help the project succeed though their own initiatives. The team is of course happy to offer support through technical help and even token grants. ThreeFold will be a success if people continue to choose to believe it is important and dedicate their energy towards it.
<br>
ThreeFold can and needs to be a complete, end-to-end decentralized ecosystem empowering all its members to build and create. We have everything we need, and if we don’t, let’s solve it. Most importantly, we have each other. Let’s do this.
<br>
If you want to get involved, the [forum](https://forum.threefold.io), [two-way chat](https://t.me/threefold), [farmers chat](https://t.me/threefoldfarmers), and [library](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold) / [manual](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/) are great places to get started.

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---
id: twitter_mastodon
title: "Twitter, Mastodon, and Why We’re Evolving the Internet"
image_caption: "Twitter, Mastodon, and Why We’re Evolving the Internet"
description: What’s happening with Twitter is just the latest warning of the dangers of the centralized Internet, and the fact that people are leaving is the latest signal that the world is increasingly ready for a decentralized digital world.
date: 2022-11-21
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart, victoria_obeegadoo]
tags: [decentralization, why]
categories: [decentralization, why]
extra:
imgPath: twitter_mastodon.png
---
## Twitter, Mastodon, and Why We’re Evolving the Internet
With Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter becoming official at the end of October, many people have become uncomfortable with the idea of a single controversial billionaire with a lot on his plate having that level of power over a platform used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide – making decisions that look to be putting the company, the platform, and its users in jeopardy, at least in the short term.
<br/>
As a result of the acquisition and a series of events thereafter, millions of Twitter users have started looking for a replacement, with more than one million people flocking to the leading decentralized Twitter alternative, Mastodon, over the past two weeks.
<br/>
![mastodon_users](./mastodon_users.png)
<br/>
This is not the first time we’ve seen the alarm bells ring, a mass exodus from a top social networking site or communication platform. (And by the way, it won’t be the last.) As an example, last year after WhatsApp announced some changes to its terms of service, tens of millions of new accounts were created on Signal and Telegram. And earlier this year, Facebook reported a loss in daily active users.
<br/>
The reality is that most platforms are owned & controlled by the few. And it actually goes further than just platforms: the way the infrastructure of the current internet model is built, its foundational layers, are controlled by the few as well. Think about it, as ‘users’ of platforms, browsers, websites, etc., we have become the product, or rather, our data has become the product.
<br/>
Targeted advertising, cookies, geo-localisation. Agenda setting might have been ignited in the newspaper industry hundreds of years ago, but it definitely reached the Internet. When you search for something on the web, through most browsers & platforms, the outcomes you get are the result of an agenda setting. This means that a few decide which information is more important than the other. Often, this decision is subjective, and influenced by the highest bids to get on top of the list.
<br/>
What’s happening with Twitter is just the latest warning of the dangers of the centralized Internet, and the fact that people are leaving is the latest signal that the world is increasingly ready for a decentralized digital world. People aren’t just boycotting social media, they are leaving to go somewhere else considered ‘better’. They are migrating to Mastodon.
<br/>
## What makes Mastodon a viable alternative to Twitter?
Mastodon has a lot of the same functionalities as Twitter, such as replies, retweets, favorites, bookmarks and hash tags. However, it is not owned or operated by any one organization. Instead, it’s made up of lots of different servers (also called “instances”), all talking to one another. The service describes itself as a “federated network which operates in a similar way to email.” And as it is open source, Mastodon allows for anyone to download, modify, & install Mastodon on their own servers. Pretty nifty, right?
<br/>
![mastodon](./mastodon.png)
<br/>
Mastodon was created in 2016 by German software developer Eugen Rochko. Unlike most popular social media sites, like Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, Mastodon is a nonprofit. As such, its goal is to benefit the public rather than shareholders. Twitter has built up a reputation for being the “watercooler of the world”. While it would be quite a task for Mastodon to replicate that feat at scale, many people might prefer the latter for a number of reasons, like:
<br/>
- Control over your timeline: No algorithm dictating what you’ll see – and no advertisements
- Not for Sale: “We will never serve ads or push profiles for you to see. That means your data and your time are yours and yours alone.” - Mastodon
- Freedom of moderation: Individual communities may create their own content guidelines, offering a variety of different user experiences. Join a server with the rules you agree with, or host your own!
- Decentralization: Each Mastodon server is a completely independent entity, able to interoperate with others to form one global social network. Anybody can deploy Mastodon on their own infrastructure, under no third-party control.
- Open Source: Mastodon believes in the right to use, copy, study and change Mastodon as one sees fit, since everyone benefits from contributions from the community.
- Interoperable: Built on open web protocols, Mastodon can speak with any other platform that implements ActivityPub. With one account, users get access to a whole universe of social apps—the Fediverse.
<br/>
## How do Mastodon & ThreeFold Align?
What is happening with Twitter is a reflection of the entire Internet model. Now, more and more people are opening their eyes to the shared fundamentals of decentralization and open source, which are paradigms shared by ThreeFold & Mastodon.
<br/>
In a world where centralization is the default way of operating, we tend to be relatively oblivious to what it entails. Being part of a centralized Internet ultimately makes us dependent on the relative few that dictate our digital lives. By moving away, through decentralization, we can take control of our digital lives again.
<br/>
![twitter_vs_internet](./twitter_vs_internet.png)
<br/>
Mastodon and the whole Fediverse have already attracted incredible communities with similar values and mindsets as that of ThreeFold and our community. Everyone joining Mastodon is looking for decentralization – whether they know it or not. Really, this mass exodus from Twitter is more proof (a la people leaving Facebook in droves or moving from WhatsApp to other messaging tools) that the world is increasingly ready for decentralization and what ThreeFold enables.
<br/>
Leaving Twitter for Mastodon is a step in the right direction, but if you are really alarmed by what has been happening with this Twitter saga, we are here to invite you to take action and be a part of a better Internet system. We can build this together!
<br/>
## How can ThreeFold support Mastodon?
ThreeFold provides a reliable decentralized infrastructure that Mastodon and the rest of the platforms within the Fediverse need, and we believe that those communities will be very interested in our broader vision as well.
<br/>
The ThreeFold Movement is collectively building an Internet by the people for the people, from the infrastructure level up to the experiences. You can plug in hardware, join the ThreeFold Grid, and provide decentralized Internet capacity for the communities around you.
<br/>
**ThreeFold offers three main solutions to the growing Mastodon community:**
<br/>
1. **Deployment**: ThreeFold is making it very easy for anyone and everyone to create their own server through the ThreeFold Playground, so they are in full control. And it’s on decentralized infrastructure.
2. **True Co-Ownership**: We’ll make it possible to co-own communities via smart contract, so if some nodes leave or go offline, the server is still viable. So any group of people can chip in some money and co-own your own Mastodon server. By creating your own community, as of Grid 3.8, you will also be able to ask people for contributions in order to operate the server, etc. And you can set and maintain your own moderation standards.
3. **More Flexible (Secure) Login**: Lastly, we’re going to focus on authentication. Today it’s only email based, which means it’s easy for people to hide. ThreeFold could enable different verification options – email-based, TF Connect, and even TF Connect + KYC. So each server can have their own standards.
<br/>
## What is ThreeFold already doing to make this happen?
- Currently the team is working on an easy-to-deploy weblet so that anybody can easily launch their own instance of Mastodon running on top of the ThreeFold Grid.
- Creating a plan for people to be able to [deploy their own Mastodon servers](https://forum.threefold.io/t/how-to-deploy-mastadon-on-the-threefold-grid-today/3487) for free.
- Building a website re: Mastodon + ThreeFold.
- Reached out to the Mastodon team (We have done this officially, but we can do more of it from more angles).
- Creating plenty of content on the [forum](https://forum.threefold.io/c/threefold-grid-utilization/fediverse/113) (e.g. open letter to Mastodon community), posting on social media, finding and engaging with public conversations about Mastodon on Twitter (something we can all do).
- We held a Community Call around Mastodon & the Fediverse to discuss in further details what has been mentioned in this blog. Find a recording of it [here](https://forum.threefold.io/t/mastodon-the-fediverse-community-call-recording/3522)!
<br/>
If you support decentralization, you have found a project to contribute to in ThreeFold! Join us on [our two-way chat](https://t.me/threefold) or [our forum](https://forum.threefold.io), and let’s build a new internet together!

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---
id: weekly_vol_23
title: "ThreeFold Weekly! July 5th, 2022 (Vol 23)"
image_caption: ThreeFold Weekly! July 5th, 2022 (Vol 23)
description: Welcome to the 23rd edition of ThreeFold Weekly. Let’s dive into last week’s highlights throughout the ThreeFold ecosystem.
date: 2022-07-05
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [community, farming, grid, cloud, tech]
categories: [community, farming, grid, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: weekly_vol_23.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Hannah Cordes, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
*As of edition 24, we’ll only share the Weekly via email and [TF News](https://t.me/threefoldnews), so make sure to subscribe via the respective buttons on the top-right corner of [our website](https://threefold.io).*
### Community Updates:
* YouTube influencer [Tactical Investing](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPRC2wIfZtAlzCa_6iKE46w) featured ThreeFold in a **new video** and shared the **potential of ThreeFold farming** with his community of 82.3K subscribers. Watch it [here](https://youtu.be/maISozq2p1o)!
<br/>
* You’re going on vacation but don’t know how to check on your 3Nodes? Read the community-sourced [tips and tricks](https://forum.threefold.io/t/tf-farm-tips-when-youre-away-for-some-days/3088?u=hannahcordes) on how to **secure and maintain your TF farm** while you’re away.
<br/>
* Did you already check out the new [ThreeFold Video Gallery](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-video-gallery/3091?u=hannahcordes)? It’s a collection of all video material available on ThreeFold – from deep dive sessions to DIY tutorials and more!
### Technology Developments:
* **TF Chain** was updated to the latest version of Substrate on devnet. This will facilitate further development and allows us to get code reviews from the Parity team.
<br/>
* We now have a new [peer list](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/manual__manual3_tfservices?id=supported-planetary-network-nodes) available for the **Planetary Network** which you can use to access the end-to-end encrypted peer-to-peer global overlay network.
<br/>
* Start testing **ThreeFold Grid V3.6.0 live** on testnet. Check out the full release with actionable tips for testing [here](https://forum.threefold.io/t/tfgrid-v3-6-0-is-now-live/3084?u=hannahcordes)!
### ThreeFold Grid:
* Take a look at this [actionable guide](https://forum.threefold.io/t/tf-grid-deploying-workloads/3094?u=hannahcordes) for **deploying workloads on the ThreeFold Grid**, shared by all-star farmer Mik, and get started today!
<br/>
* **Migrate your 3Nodes to V3** asap by following the simple steps of the [migration process](https://forum.threefold.io/t/farming-migration-grid-v2-v3/2143?u=hannahcordes).
<br/>
* Global Titan shipping continues, so don’t forget to provide all [information](https://forum.threefold.io/t/creating-your-v3-farm-required-for-open-unshipped-orders/2144) for your Titan order to ensure quick delivery.
<br/>
See you next week, ThreeFolders! 🙌
<br/>
*If you’re a community member interested in [sharing your story](https://forum.threefold.io/t/looking-for-farmer-stories-to-share-with-the-world/2398?u=hannahcordes) or [being featured](https://forum.threefold.io/t/looking-for-people-to-feature-in-threefold-content-its-super-simple/2636/3) in ThreeFold content, please reach out!*
<br/>
*You can find the previous editions on [our blog](https://threefold.io/blog). For older editions of ThreeFold Weekly (Vol 1-11), go to [our forum](https://forum.threefold.io/c/ecosystem-developments/41).*

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---
id: why_become_a_farmer
title: Why Anyone Should Consider Becoming A (ThreeFold) Farmer
image_caption: farming
description: The ThreeFold Foundation is changing the way how "we" as a whole approach the internet and its underlying technology..
date: 2020-05-03
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [decentralization, farming, why]
categories: [decentralization, farming, why]
extra:
imgPath: become_a_farmer.png
---
*"This article was originally published by Roel Van Sabben, a former member of ThreeFold Foundation."*
<br>
The ThreeFold Foundation is changing the way how "we" as a whole approach the internet and its underlying technology. We believe building the internet back from the ground up is the only way to dismantle the monster it has grown into – a polluting greed-machine that allows people’s data to be abused for money all while just being accessible to just half of the earth’s inhabitants.
<br/>
<br/>
And the best part is, you can have a part in the global shift towards a more sustainable, inclusive, and respectful internet by becoming a ThreeFold Farmer.
<br/>
<br/>
## So what are farmers?
Simply put: Farmers are people that add capacity to the ThreeFold Grid for anyone to use.
## What is this "capacity"?
Capacity is the raw building blocks needed for any internet grid: CPU (processors), Hard Drives, Solid-state drives, memory, etc. Capacity can then be rented by developers and engineers that would like to run their applications on the ThreeFold Grid.
## What is in it for me?
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, capacity is rented. This means people that put capacity on the ThreeFold Grid are getting paid by anybody that uses their capacity. But there is more, ThreeFold also incentivizes farmers to add capacity by giving them tokens simply for adding the capacity to the ThreeFold Grid. The amount they receive depends on the specifications of the capacity they put online (how much, how powerful, etc). These tokens are then gradually released over the course of 60 months. So in short, you get paid to do this.
## What else?
Capacity for the ThreeFold Grid can be added in all shapes and sizes. It could be a small box no larger than a modem that you put in your office or home, or could be a fully-fledged data center node. The idea is that the grid becomes spread out as much as it can be, as this has some huge benefits for all users and the environment.
<br/>
<br/>
1. Less power waste: Less energy is needed to cool all these smaller nodes that are far away from each other, than putting the same resources in a giant room together and having them sit on top off, and beside each other (this is what happens now in large scale data centers).
2. Less bandwidth waste: The closer the capacity is to the end-user, the less unnecessary miles it has to travel. (e.g. a text message in a messaging app might travel from the Netherlands to a data center in America to then forward it to the person living down the street). When concentrating on decentralization and having nodes everywhere in the world this problem resolves itself. And data will take the shortest route possible.
3. More Privacy: This decentralized approach makes it so that there is no "all-seeing eye" within the network – unlike the current setup where tech giants basically own all their users’ data by putting it in their own data centers.
4. More Accessibility: Due to the fact that these resources can be added in small form-factors, it makes it possible to now put internet resources anywhere in the world where there’s a network to plug into (cables in the ground). And this makes it that now people that have limited-to-no funds have access to what the UN declared a human right: the internet. ut more than that, education, connection, entertainment, all the internet brought the western world over the past decade.
<br/>
<br/>
To find out more about how you can become a farmer, please visit ThreeFold’s website [www.threefold.io](https://www.threefold.io). Our [wiki](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/) or register to for first access to our next batch of 3Node here: [https://pre-register.threefold.io/](https://pre-register.threefold.io/). We are currently collecting interest for all types of nodes that anyone can host in their home, office, or anywhere else with a power outlet and internet connection.

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---
id: why
title: Why We Do What We Do
image_caption: planet
description: If not now, when? If not us, who?
date: 2020-04-08
taxonomies:
people: [sam_taggart]
tags: [decentralization, why]
categories: [decentralization, why]
extra:
imgPath: why_we_do.png
---
<br/>
<br/>
We are growing a green and responsible peer-to-peer Internet that is available everywhere and owned by everyone — across geographical and cultural borders, empowering people to be digitally independent and providing equal chances to learn, partake and succeed.
## Values-First
At ThreeFold, we are driven by three main values:
<br/>
<br/>
- Equality is the foundation for a fair world where everyone is given the opportunity to be empowered and to achieve their full potential.
- Freedom of thought, opinion, creativity and faith are fundamentals to achieve peace and fulfillment of humankind’s potential.
- Sustainability ensures the future of life on earth. It is about adopting the behavior and mindset to minimize our footprint.
<br/>
<br/>
Let’s take a deeper look.
### Internet Access | A Human Right
In 2016, the United Nations officially declared Internet access to be a human right. The right to internet access aims to protect people’s freedom of expression and opinion, as well as other fundamentals such as access to knowledge and information.
<br/>
<br/>
Yet as of today, about 48% of humanity remains unconnected to the Internet, creating huge inequalities in the access to information and knowledge. It is important that the right steps are taken to improve the relationship between governments and citizens and to uphold all human rights.
<br/>
<br/>
To make the new internet accessible and equal to all, ThreeFold built with ThreeFold Farmers an infrastructure that is affordable to all and collectively owned by the network peers. To ensure a fair and equal distribution of the internet to everyone, fully sponsored capacity will be deployed in remote regions of our world.
### Digital Freedom | For Everyone
The Internet evolved to become the world’s largest database of information and knowledge, opening up exponential growth on personal, organizational and economic levels. Yet it is owned by large international companies that exploits users data.
<br/>
<br/>
The current approach of many governments and countries is to cut the Internet into pieces by limiting its accessibility and enforcing regulations. We need an internet that protects our digital freedom and fair access to global information for everyone, everywhere.
<br/>
<br/>
ThreeFold is a peer-to-peer internet — owned by the users. All the technology of this new internet is open-source and the whole experience is built around the fundamentals of a peer-to-peer network. On this new internet, everyone owns their data and experiences — digital freedom.
### A Green Internet | For Our Planet
The current internet consumes about 10% of global energy production. With the imminent boom of emerging technologies such as Blockchain, Internet of Things, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and 5G, the Internet’s energy consumption is expected to increase exponentially.
<br/>
<br/>
The current industry solutions focuses on increasing the use of renewable energies to power data centers. However this is not a viable solution as data centers consume enormous amounts of energy. Therefore, a new solution that can drastically reduce the global internet’s energy consumption is needed.
<br/>
<br/>
ThreeFold is the first true peer-to-peer Internet. It uses pioneering technologies that remove the need for centralized and power-hungry data centers, consumes 90% less energy, and uses 90% less international fibre network capacity.
<br/>
<br/>
If not now, when? If not us, who?
<br/>
<br/>
*Photo by Yannis H on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/uaPaEM7MiQQ).*

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---
id: zero_people_IT_is_the_future
title: Zero People IT is the Future
image_caption: future
description: Classic IT infrastructure setup is complex and is not cost-effective. Applications need a specific environment to operate in, built by integrating different technology components from different vendors. Elements of such a setup are operating systems, storage systems, networks, security systems, authentication systems, and more.
date: 2020-08-17
taxonomies:
people: [weynand_kuijpers]
tags: [decentralization, grid, why, cloud, tech]
categories: [decentralization, grid, why, cloud, tech]
extra:
imgPath: zero_people.png
---
## Introduction
### The "cost" of complexity in traditional IT
Classic IT infrastructure setup is complex and is not cost-effective. Applications need a specific environment to operate in, built by integrating different technology components from different vendors. Elements of such a setup are operating systems, storage systems, networks, security systems, authentication systems, and more.
<br/>
<br/>
Putting components together is called (system) integration, and integration requires agreement on how these components will fit together and the knowledge to do it.
<br/>
<br/>
This complexity and need for integration originate from the way the IT industry historically developed. With time more and more layers appeared to bring new possibilities. Additional layers masked existing problems. Instead of fixing the underlying issues, several third parties needed to be involved, adding complexity and increased costs (such as license costs, upgrades, updates, etc.). Complexity has become a business model.
## Where can we get inspiration to do it a different way?
What if we could build IT architectures in a different way. What if we would not accept component solution approaches anymore and start over with a completely blank sheet of paper? Would we then come up with a different way of actually building automation, architectures, and business models?
### Looking at nature for inspiration
Let's start by looking for inspiration in nature. Suppose we consider IT systems to be a complex system. Are there parallels that we can draw between systems that exist in nature (and have evolved and improved over thousands of years) and those within the IT industry?
<br/>
<br/>
In nature, we see two kinds of systems (societies): centralized and decentralized systems. Examples of centralized systems are herds, groups, or schools of animals living together where there is a hierarchy in the way they organize themselves. For decentralized systems, we can look at beehives and anthills. Organizing efforts and benefits are distinct and come at a different cost.
### Centralized systems in nature
In centralized systems, there is governance of activities, wealth positions, and so forth. Think of a group of lions or chimpanzees. There is always an alpha male who is dominant in the whole group. He is the only that enjoys all of the benefits because the entire group/structure works towards his wishes. He gets to mate with most female group members because the system believes that he has the strongest genes to help the group to survive in the future. The dominant male also gets most of the food gathered by the group, and if he doesn't get it, he will claim it by showing his dominance and fight for it. All the others are working towards this alpha male, and all the other males in the group will occasionally challenge the alpha male for dominance.
<br/>
<br/>
This is very similar to how the IT industry has been operating to date: there are a few alpha males in the industry - one for each sector that can be recognized (for example, in the Cloud Industry, you have Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and on the system integration front you have Dell, Siemens, CA Technologies). They end up with the majority of businesses available in their specific markets. When challenged by new companies, they fight them (in every way possible, including killing them or acquiring them). And in analogy to the animal group, these alpha male companies have a lot of organizations that work with them, usually called "partners" or "channels."
### Decentralized systems in nature
For decentralized systems on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decentralised_system), we learn; "One of the most well-known examples of a "natural" decentralized system is one used by insect colonies such as Ants. In these insect colonies, control is distributed among the biological agents who act upon local information and local interactions to create complex and universal behavior collectively. While individually exhibiting simple behaviors, these agents achieve universal goals such as feeding the colony or raising the brood using dynamical mechanisms like non-explicit communication and exploiting their closely coupled action and perception systems. Without any form of central authority, these insect colonies achieve their universal goals by performing required tasks and by responding to changing conditions in their external environment. They also adjust the number of workers performing each task to ensure the completion of all tasks. For example, ant colonies guide their global behavior (in terms of foraging, patrolling, brood care, and nest maintenance) using a pulsing, shifting web of Spatio-temporal patterned interactions that rely on antennal contact rate and olfactory sensing. While these interactions consist of both interactions with the environment and each other, ants do not direct the behavior of other ants. They thus never have a "central controller" dictating what is to be done to achieve global goals."
<br/>
<br/>
So nature has provided us with solid examples of centralized and decentralized systems. For much of what works in the modern world, we have ended up using the centralized model governing enterprises and countries. Various industries have also adopted the centralized model where there is a pyramid structure, and everything works towards the alpha males.
## A different approach to creating and operating IT workloads
What if we can develop a new concept for creating, deploying, and operating IT workloads. What if we say goodbye to the centralized way of controlling IT workloads. Can we develop an idea that works in a decentralized way?
### The concept
To build this concept, we will draw the use of the human way of operating a large ship. The crew of a vessel has different roles, which we will call the *coordinators*. Some of these coordinators could be a captain, officers, engineers, and oilers. These coordinators have in-depth knowledge of their specific tasks but usually lack a detailed understanding of the other roles. In the "hive" of a ship, the specific requests to get tasks done are sent to coordinators who will receive, interpret, execute their particular tasks, and report the (non-) progress of these tasks or subtasks. For example, the captain will create and agree to a schedule of maintenance tasks for the engine room. These are daily, weekly and monthly tasks that should be completed by the engineers and oilers. The engineers and oilers do not get continuous input from the captain. They get one instruction to follow the schedule and know what needs to be done for every task. The intermediate state (what is complete and what still needs to be addressed) is stored by the coordinators executing the tasks. This is the most efficient way of accomplishing tasks.
### Jumping to the IT industry
If we bring this concept to the IT world, we conclude that today's IT systems are built in a significantly different way. Most architectures (if not all) have a central facility that stores *all* information and *all* states of activity in a so-called central 'database.' A general norm within IT. However, these types of architectures are inefficient and are very complex - like the ship analogy - a central command room (database) is created where every coordinator needs to report back. (1) The current level of activity, (2) the completion (state) of tasks, (3) the proper understanding of upcoming tasks by the coordinator to accomplish tasks in-progress or future - hence leading to the undesirable outcome of complexity due to centralization.
<br/>
<br/>
In the ship example, we deem this type of functioning/workflow inefficient; however, in the IT world, it is a common way of doing it. Furthermore, IT infrastructures usually have different databases to store "state" in different parts of the IT architecture. The analogy would translate to different command rooms that orchestrate different functions on the ship in our ship. This, in turn, introduces the need for another role in starting coordinating between the different command rooms to ensure that all information is shared and communicated. Taking this pattern forward leads to an endless loop of adding interfaces, layers, bridges between different parts of the system that all store information, multiple times, and in different ways.
### Datastores
By design, a decentralized IT architecture should not use centralized data storage (databases) for multiple tasks (roles). It instead should feature a similar approach to the way of functioning as in the 'ship' example. In this architecture, roles get short and precise instructions of the jobs to be completed and autonomously execute. We call these execution engines *coordinators*. Coordinators receive instructions, run on instructions and store all information about the current task *locally.* They store all the relevant information in a local storage facility (available to the individual coordinators only) and provide information about the state of execution if and when other coordinators ask for a state update.
## Magical Coordinator
### Requirements to let actor based management work
<br/>
<br/>
* Less complexity
* State only with the actor itself (no-where else !!!)
* Understood language between actors
* Process = recipes of a cook, NOT IN A DB
<br/>
<br/>
## Actor based IT solutions
To simplify common IT architectures, we should look at a new way of creating such a system that takes the current standards into account:
<br/>
<br/>
* No people involved in integrating different components into a single solution
* Which, as a consequence, means no revenue generation based on creating and managing complexity.
* No central state / operational data storage
* Individual automated actors with specific knowledge for specific tasks
* Independent operating actors completing specific tasks
<br/>
<br/>
Such a system should ideally be owned by many (not just a single organization, bringing centralization back into the equations) that operate IT tasks for many. We have not seen such a system in existence, but we are as TFTech building and rolling out technology that can do this.
<br/>
<br/>
We believe that IT's future is in decentralization where specific coordinators (bots) will roam a network of capacity looking for a task to do, making themselves available where needed, creating more of them when the system grows, and allowing the global population to deploy and operate IT workloads.

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---
title: "ThreeFold Grid Developer Lead"
template: "jobPage.html"
extra:
button : Explore Other Developer Components
link : /developer
---
We are looking for a DevOps Lead with strong technical expertise and decent years of experience to join our organization. You will be responsible for facilitating the development process and operations across the ThreeFold Grid's tech stack. Besides, you should own excellent leadership skills to mentor and guide the team members.
<br/>
<br/>
To be successful in this job role, you should be able to streamline all DevOps practices. You should be able to review technical operations and automate the process using the right tools and techniques. 
<br/>
<br/>
Your knowledge of the latest industry trends and being able to merge this knowledge with our philosophy will prove beneficial in designing efficient practices. Moreover, you should be able to demonstrate excellent research skills and outstanding problem-solving abilities. If you possess the required skills, knowledge, and experience, then do write to us. We would be happy to meet you. 
<br/>
## Role
The ThreeFold Grid will eventually have millions of nodes and users, and we need to find the best ways to operate and interact with such a network of capacity. Your role will be to take ownership over the development of the low-level technology components of the Threefold Grid.
<br/>
<br/>
Our components are low-level and required high technical skills. Your main responsibilities would be around making sure that the code of the ThreeFold Grid is of the best quality and with the least amount of code possible, as we believe in the 'less is more mentality. It will be very important for you to support our QA engineers in the documentation and testing of the different technological components - Zero-OS, Smart Contract for IT, our unique Planetary Network, and our Vlang based SDK amongst others, and make sure that all of them are reliable and understandable for developers and organizations to use grid. 
<br/>
## Skills
**Personal:**
- Able to work and lead in an agile way on Github 
- Find alignment with other development team leads and project owners.
- Ensure a smooth development process.
- Able to document, test, and ensure quality with the Quality Assurance Coordinator.
- Good understanding of security and privacy requirements to assist Security Coordinator.
- Able to gather feedback from the community and use data to improve code and products.
- Always improve & maintain reliability, security, and efficiency of technology
- Organize proper version control.
- Work with architects to make sure their requirements got implemented.
- Report to CTO of ThreeFold Tech.
<br/>
**Technical:**
- Understand what it takes to develop a large scale high tech infrastructure product
- Understand what it takes to keep such a codebase reliable, secure,...
- Fluent in at least 2 development languages
- Fluent with Linux
- Fluent with GitHub, agile processes
- Good knowledge about Docker / Kubernetes
- Be very technical, you need to understand what your team needs and see if they sidetrack
<br/>
**Professional:**
- Fluent in English
- Good communicator
- An experienced development manager (startup is best)
- Understand and follow Pareto 20/80 rule
- Be a good teacher
- Understand what it means to be a team lead
- Be at least level 'wolf' in the skill levels we use
<br/>
## What we offer
- Flexible hours working remotely for our company based in Dubai
- A competitive wage
- Great team spirit
- Yearly team trips abroad
<br/>

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_archive/careers/grid-operations-manager/index.md
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---
title: ThreeFold Grid Operations Lead
template: "jobPage.html"
extra:
button: "Apply"
link: "https://06gdrqp39yz.typeform.com/to/FffDv61M"
---
We are looking for a skilled leader to plan, direct and coordinate all operations of the ThreeFold Grid.  
<br/>
<br/>
Your critical thinking ability will help analyze and suggest cost-effective growth strategies for the ThreeFold Grid. Moreover, you will be acting as the first point of contact between the main farmers and team members. Also, you should be able to review the project budget and monitor expenses. 
<br/>
<br/>
You should be able to communicate the organization's requirements and objectives effectively. Furthermore, you have to ensure that all projects adhere to the foundation's standards. As a ThreeFold Grid Ops Lead, you should possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills. You should be able to display a team spirit as well as the ability to work collaboratively. 
<br/>
<br/>
If you think you are qualified for the Operation Lead role, then do apply now. We would love to meet you.
<br/>
## Role
The ThreeFold Grid will eventually have millions of nodes and users, and we need to find the best ways to operate and interact with such a network of capacity. Your role will be to take ownership over the operational status of the ThreeFold Grid as well as the tools we have developed to maintain and monitor the Grid.
<br/>
<br/>
Your main responsibilities will be around making sure the ThreeFold Grid is:
- Operational (maintain uptime, security, reliability)
- We do control change management (upgrades) and coordinate with the farming community
- We have a good monitoring system in place, so everyone can see the status of the TFGrid
- Coordinate with all required parties to achieve the above goals
<br/>
## Skills
**Personal:**
- Able to manage global operations 
- Empowering global operations with human and technical skills.
- Motivate your global team of contributors and team leads.
- Able to work with Quality Assurance Coordinator around product quality.
- Understanding of privacy and security ethos and work closely with the Security Coordinator.
- Able to interact with the community to collect feedback and data for agile progress.
- Always improve & maintain the overall performance and sales potential of the ThreeFold Grid.
<br/>
**Technical:**
- Understand how to run a large-scale cloud infrastructure involving many factors.
- Know what it takes to keep a large network of servers running, lots of what we do has never been done before
- Fluent in at least 2 development languages (scripting ok)
- Fluent with Linux
- Fluent with GitHub, agile processes
- Good knowledge about Docker / Kubernetes
<br/>
**Professional:**
- Fluent in English
- Good communicator
- Understand and follow Pareto 20/80 rule
- Be a good teacher
- Understand what it means to be a team lead
<br/>
## What we offer
- Flexible hours working remotely for our company based in Belgium
- A competitive wage
- Great team spirit
- Yearly team trips abroad
<br/>

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---
title: "Careers"
---
<!-- section 1 (join out team) -->
<!-- <div class="relative flex flex-col lg:flex-row items-baseline -mx-8 sm:-mx-12 md:-mx-16 lg:-mx-20">
<div class="header section banner">
<div class="center">
<h2 class="text-8xl font-bold text-black uppercase">
Join our Team
</h2>
</div>
<div
class="back"
style="background-image: url('images//team_joinus.jpg')"
></div>
</div>
</div> -->
{% row(bgPath="team_joinus.jpg" style="center margin") %}
<h1 class="font-medium text-gray-800">Join Our Team</h1>
{% end %}
<br>
<br>
<!-- section 2 (INTERNET) -->
{% row(style="center between") %}
### **JOIN US ON OUR MISSION TO BUILD A PLANET-POSITIVE AND DATA SOVEREIGN INTERNET OWNED BY THE PEOPLE.**
**ThreeFold** is a global, collaborative movement that is formed by individuals and organizations that connect Internet capacity to the ThreeFold Grid, the world’s most advanced peer-to-peer infrastructure. ThreeFold is powered by our open source, beyond blockchain infrastructure that is incredibly efficient, limitlessly scaleable, planet-positive and affordable to everyone. To empower our ecosystem, we are building applications and hosting emerging technologies with our amazing partners and developer community to nurture the Internet the world needs.
<br>
ThreeFold will launch the 3rd version of it's infrastructure this year, opening a new technological era for humanity.
<br>
Check out our available positions below. Can't find your perfect fit and don't want to wait for your ideal role to open? We invite you to join our growing community of volunteers and express your talent. Most of our current team was recruited organically, so give it your best shot.
{% end %}
{% jobs() %}
## Jobs
{% end %}
<br>
<br>
<br>
<!-- section 3 (Join our Team2) -->
<div class="relative flex flex-col lg:flex-row items-baseline -mx-8 sm:-mx-12 md:-mx-16 lg:-mx-20">
<a href="/community" class="section banner" >
<div class="center">
<h2 class="lg:text-5xl text-3xl bold">
<strong>Join Our Community</strong>
</h2>
</div>
<div class="back" style="background-image: url('tf_people.jpg')"
></div>
</a>
</div>

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---
title: Master Technical Architect
template: "jobPage.html"
extra:
button: "Apply"
link: "https://06gdrqp39yz.typeform.com/to/FffDv61M"
---
We are looking for a proficient and experienced Software Architect to join our IT and Development team.
<br/>
<br/>
As a Master Technical Architect, you should be an expert in software coding tools, and platforms to create high-level designs. You should also interact with end-users and other stakeholders as well as system developers to design initial system models. 
<br/>
<br/>
This role also demands a constant evaluation of coding processes to enhance clarity and performance. You will be responsible for thorough technical support of the system according to business requirements. You should possess a fair understanding of the domain, workable technologies, and predictable software development methodologies.
<br/>
<br/>
If you are ready to take up the role of Master Technical Architect and its responsibilities, then apply right away. We will love to meet you.
<br/>
## Values & Passion
- Understand what it means to work in a growing agile project and ecosystem.
- Resonate with our values & collaboration manifesto (2017).
- Be passionate and willing to bring a positive change to our world.
- Understand it won't be a 9-5 job. We are changing the world, it takes courage and perseverance.
- Be willing to travel and to other locations to work directly with our global team.
<br/>
## Role
We believe that sovereign digital identity is the future of IT. Learn more about it on the Internet 4 (web4) comparison. Having a 'Digital Self' can set us free, create our digital future without boundaries where we own 100% of our data and digital processes.
<br/>
<br/>
We are looking for a Master Technical Architect who can help us design the future of the 'Digital Self' and make sure that our distributed network of contributors is following a well-defined path. As a Master Technical Architect, you will work closely with Kristof de Spiegeleer, the main founder and tech lead of ThreeFold. Traveling will be required, especially in the first year.
<br/>
<br/>
- Design & document the future of our digital life.
- Work on prototypes to prove it works, mainly vlang.
- We believe in specs through code, will be using vlang for that.
- Provide training & technical tips to the development community.
- Work with our engineering community to make sure we all understand the future.
- Check on code written by our engineers, check on the quality.
- Train new Architects and/or Developers.
- Improve our Manuals and Knowledge Base.
<br/>
## Skills
**Personal:**
- Able to question the status quo
- Driven by love rather than by fear
- Understand the world need a new operating system
- Be quality driven
- Help other developers to improve their skills
- Be smart & agile
- Fast learner
<br/>
**Technical:**
- Able to think conceptual about data models, IT architecture, business requirements
- Fluent in at least 2 development languages
- Fluent with GitHub, agile processes
- Can work with docker or alike
<br/>
**Professional:**
- Fluent in English
- Good communicator
- Understand and follow Pareto 20/80 rule
- A good teacher
- Be at least level 'wolf' in the skill levels we use
<br/>
## What we offer
- A desk in our Belgian office
- A competitive wage
- Flexible hours
- Great team spirit
- Yearly team trips abroad
<br/>

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---
title: Quality Assurance Engineer
template: "jobPage.html"
extra:
button: Apply
link: https://06gdrqp39yz.typeform.com/to/FffDv61M
---
We are looking for a detail-oriented individual to join our Engineering department as a Quality Engineer. You will be primarily responsible for checking and managing the quality standards of the development process. You will also be responsible for maintaining the quality control systems and ensuring that all processes adhere to production quality standards.
<br/>
<br/>
As a Quality Engineer, you should be able to prepare and implement the quality control guidelines. Besides, you should also be able to identify any problems in the production process and suggest improvements. You should be able to prepare detailed and accurate reports on the development findings.
<br/>
<br/>
To excel in this job role, you will have a complete onboarding on our quality processes, tools, and code. Ideally, you should hold a valid QA certification and have relevant experience in the Engineering department. Furthermore, you should display strong analytical and problem-solving abilities. Your ability to handle stressful situations will be advantageous.
<br/>
## Values & Passion
- Understand what it means to work in a growing agile project and ecosystem.
- Resonate with our values & collaboration manifesto (2017).
- Be passionate and willing to bring a positive change to our world.
- Understand it won't be a 9-5 job. We are changing the world, it takes courage and perseverance.
- Be willing to travel and to other locations to work directly with our global team.
<br/>
## Role
The ThreeFold Grid will eventually have millions of nodes, and it’s very important to develop an extensive QA program. Our components are low-level and require highly technical people to overlook the push from testnet to production. We are looking for a QA Engineer who will take ownership of the overall testing of both the low-level technology components of the ThreeFold Grid primitives and applications built on top of it.
<br/>
<br/>
Your main responsibility will be to test the code behind the ThreeFold Grid and making sure that it adheres to the highest possible quality through testing scenarios, test cases, and executing upon findings. Also building a new Internet involves educating the world on how it works, so documentation will be a crucial part of your process too.
<br/>
<br/>
- Test our latest technologies end-to-end.
- Test in an agile project setup.
- Develop and execute exploratory and automated tests to ensure product quality.
- Work in our international team.
- Be an ambassador of our ethos, why we do what we do, and why we will make it happen.
<br/>
<br/>
What you will be overlooking:
- A peer-to-peer operating system
- A peer-to-peer virtual system administrator
- Blockchain technology
- Smart Contract for IT
<br/>
## Skills
**Personal:**
- Able to question the status quo
- Out-of-the-box thinking
- Smart & agile
- Fast learner
<br/>
**Technical:**
- Able to think conceptually about data models, IT architecture, and business requirements
- Fluent with GitHub and agile processes
- Proven work experience in software quality assurance
- Technically skilled to understand how a cloud should work from a user perspective
<br/>
**Professional:**
- Fluent in English
- Good communicator
- Understand and follow Pareto 20/80 rule
- Be a good teacher
- Flexible out-of-the-box thinker
- Understand what it means to be a team lead
- Be at least level 'wolf' in the skill levels we use
<br/>
## What we offer
- A desk in our Belgian office
- A competitive wage
- Flexible hours
- Great team spirit
- Yearly team trips abroad
<br/>

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---
title: Senior Developer
template: "jobPage.html"
extra:
button: "Apply"
link: "https://06gdrqp39yz.typeform.com/to/FffDv61M"
---
We are looking for a Software Developer with strong technical expertise and decent years of experience to join our organization. You will be responsible for facilitating the development process and operations across our organization. Besides, you should own excellent leadership skills to mentor and guide the team members.
<br/>
<br/>
To be successful in this job role, you should be able to streamline all Developing practices. You should be able to review technical operations and automate the process using the right tools and techniques. 
<br/>
<br/>
Your knowledge of the latest industry trends will prove beneficial in designing efficient practices. Moreover, you should be able to demonstrate excellent research skills and outstanding problem-solving abilities. If you possess the required skills, knowledge, and experience, then do write to us. We would be happy to meet you.
<br/>
## Values & Passion
- Understand what it means to work in a growing agile project and ecosystem.
- Resonate with our values & collaboration manifesto (2017).
- Be passionate and willing to bring a positive change to our world.
- Understand it won't be a 9-5 job. We are changing the world, it takes courage and perseverance.
- Be willing to travel and to other locations to work directly with our global team.
<br/>
## Role:
The ThreeFold Grid will eventually have millions of nodes and users, and it’s very important to develop the main components of the ThreeFold technology to handle this expected future growth. We are looking for a Senior Developer who will take ownership of the overall development of one of the main technological components of the ThreeFold Grid - Zero-OS, the application layer, blockchain stack, and more. 
<br/>
<br/>
Your main responsibility will be to develop the code behind one of these components and making sure that it adheres to the technology roadmap to deliver the peer-to-peer Internet according to our design manifesto. You will also work closely with a QA Engineer to support with documentation where needed.
<br/>
<br/>
You will be working primarily on zero-os, a peer-to-peer virtual system administrator, and/or our existing blockchain stack, depending on your preferences and skill set. Depending on company requirements, you will also work on maintaining and expanding our other (existing) products, where needed. Properly document the setup and expected environment of the software you create.
<br/>
## Skills
**Personal:**
- Able to question the status quo
- Understand the world needs a new operating system
- Be smart & agile
- Fast learner
- Technical
<br/>
**Technical:**
- Able to think conceptual about data models, IT architecture, business requirements
- Fluent in multiple development languages - Python, Go (or similar), experience with Rust is a big plus
- Fluent with Github, agile processes
- Can work with docker or alike
<br/>
**Professional:**
- Fluent in English
- Good communicator
- Understand and follow Pareto 20/80 rule
- Be a good teacher
- Flexible out-of-the-box thinker
- Understand what it means to be a team lead
- Be at least level 'wolf' in the skill levels we use
<br/>
## What we offer
- A desk in our Belgian office
- A competitive wage
- Flexible hours
- Great team spirit
- Yearly team trips abroad
<br/>

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