What is Livepeer (LPT)?

Deep Dive

1. Purpose & Value Proposition

Livepeer aims to decentralize the video streaming industry. Transcoding—reformatting raw video for different devices and connections—is a costly, technical process dominated by large tech companies. Livepeer creates a global marketplace where node operators (called Orchestrators) provide GPU power for transcoding and AI tasks. Developers and apps can access this service at a fraction of traditional cost, promoting an "open alternative around closed, centralized corporate GPU control" (Livepeer).

2. Tokenomics & Governance

The LPT token is an inflationary, work token with no max supply. Its core utilities are staking, work coordination, and governance. Orchestrators must stake LPT to be eligible for work, earning fees in ETH and newly minted LPT. Token holders who don't run nodes can act as Delegators, staking their LPT with an Orchestrator to passively earn a share of its rewards. This staking mechanism secures the network. LPT holders also govern the protocol, voting on treasury funds, inflation rates, and funding community-driven Special Purpose Entities (SPEs) that build public goods.

3. Ecosystem & Key Differentiators

The network is a multi-layered ecosystem. Gateway Nodes receive jobs from applications and route them to Orchestrators. A micropayment system handles efficient fee settlement. Livepeer’s key differentiator is its pivot from just video transcoding to becoming a general-purpose, decentralized real-time AI video compute network. This is evidenced by growing usage metrics and community-funded SPEs like Streamplace, which builds video infrastructure for decentralized social apps on networks like Farcaster.

Conclusion

Livepeer is fundamentally a decentralized infrastructure protocol that uses crypto-economic incentives to coordinate and pay for GPU-based video and AI compute work. As it evolves, will its focus on real-time AI workloads drive the next phase of adoption for decentralized compute?