Livepeer is an open-source, decentralised video streaming network that aims to be a more scalable and cost-effective alternative to existing video streaming providers like YouTube. Founded in 2017 by Doug Petkanics, Eric Tang, and Yondon Fu, Livepeer is a protocol that enables developers to add live or on-demand video to their projects by building interactive peer-to-peer infrastructure via an Ethereum-based marketplace. Transcoding, the act of reformatting raw video files for an optimal viewing experience, is usually an expensive process that is made more affordable on the Livepeer network.

Livepeer’s network already features over 70,000 GPUs, which is enough aggregated power to encode all of the video streaming through Twitch, YouTube and Facebook combined. To date, Livepeer has streamed tens of millions of minutes, including passing a key milestone of 2.3 million minutes streamed in a single week.

There are two key roles within the Livepeer ecosystem: orchestrators and delegators. Orchestrators run software that allows them to contribute their computer’s resources – CPU, GPU, and bandwidth – to help with transcoding and video distribution. LPT, Livepeer’s ERC-20 utility token, is designed to incentivise participation on the network, and orchestrators must own LPT to engage in work on the platform. Orchestrators then earn network fees in the form of cryptocurrency. Livepeer delegators earn broadcaster fees for helping to secure the network.

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