From Plan A to Plan Better: Our New Roadmap Takes Us Further!

Media Foundation
8 min readDec 31, 2022

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As the year draws to a close, our team reflects on the challenges and accomplishments of the past year. While the bear market in the cryptocurrency industry presented challenges for many organizations, our small and agile team was able to adapt and continue working towards our goal of decentralizing the web’s CDN layer. Despite these challenges, we have made progress and remained committed to our vision.

One of the key highlights for our team has been the development of Media Network, a protocol that has the potential to change the CDN industry forever. This innovative approach has the power to disrupt the way CDN services are delivered and accessed.

Looking ahead, we encourage others to learn more about it and how it can benefit them. We remain dedicated to advancing decentralization and enhancing the CDN layer of the internet, and we look forward to continuing this work in the coming year.

Exploring the Marketplace: An Overview of its Functions

The final vision for Media Network has always been a decentralized and censorship-resistant CDN marketplace built on the blockchain. The protocol consists of a set of smart contracts & software that allows individuals and businesses to buy and sell CDN services directly, without intermediaries or middlemen, creating a free market.

Media Network’s decentralized marketplace allows clients to easily hire and connect their resources to multiple CDN providers from a single interface, using MEDIA tokens for payments. This ensures that no single provider can censor their resources, and clients can switch providers at any time to maintain control. The “Multi-CDN” approach also boosts speed and performance when using multiple providers simultaneously.

Media Network is disrupting the traditional CDN industry by providing a decentralized marketplace that allows providers of all sizes to offer their services directly to clients. This level playing field offers clients more choices and the opportunity to find the best services for their needs.

A secure and transparent CDN marketplace built on the blockchain

By utilizing the blockchain, Media Network enables the exchange of CDN services in a decentralized, censorship-resistant, and secure manner. In addition, we offer a transparent, immutable marketplace, ensuring that all interactions on the protocol are fair and trustworthy.

CDN providers offer high-quality, reliable services, guaranteeing a smooth experience for end-users consuming content through web browsers.

Let us delve deeper into interactions between providers and clients:

Media Network Protocol Flow.

By staking MEDIA tokens, providers can create offers for their CDN services, assuring the quality of service and preventing spam and malicious activity on the protocol. Providers can set a maximum number of deals for each offer and update the price per second at any time.

At the same time, clients can associate resources with their provider of choice and customize services by taking offers. To take the offer, they must also block an amount of MEDIA tokens upfront. Offers can be set to auto-accept deals or require manual acceptance by the provider.

Once a deal is completed, the provider earns MEDIA tokens based on the time elapsed since the deal was accepted and the offer’s price per second.

It is essential to mention that deals can be canceled anytime, and funds are collected when the agreement is finished. Providers can only withdraw their MEDIA-staked tokens if they don’t have any open deals.

If a provider and client disagree on the terms of their CDN service, a dispute can be initiated. If the dispute cannot be resolved directly between the parties, it may be escalated to the Media Network Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) for further review and resolution.

The DAO is a self-governed entity controlled by the Media Network community. The community uses MEDIA tokens to vote and is responsible for resolving disputes and determining the direction and development of the protocol.

Media Network revolutionizes the way CDN services are provided and accessed. It enables providers to offer CDN services and lets clients quickly locate and hire them.

CDN Clients: Level Up Your Options with Media Network’s Decentralized Marketplace

The Media Network marketplace extends multiple benefits for clients looking to buy CDN services. These benefits include:

  • Decentralization: Our marketplace adopts a “multi-CDN approach,” allowing clients to create resources from multiple providers simultaneously. This decentralized system ensures that no single provider can censor a resource, and clients have the freedom to switch to a different provider at any time, thanks to our use of immutable smart contracts.
  • Secure Payments: With anonymity and crypto payments at the forefront, accessing CDN services through the Media Network protocol is as easy as staking MEDIA tokens. No “know your client” (KYC) or other centralized services are required, streamlining the process for clients.
  • Data Security: Our blockchain-based CDN marketplace assures that your data is secure and cannot be hacked or leaked, unlike centralized companies at risk of data breaches. This is especially important for crypto-related individuals who hold their private keys.
  • Cheaper CDN services: There will be MEDIA incentives for early adopters of the protocol to support the growth and sustainability of the Media Network ecosystem. These rewards will reduce CDN costs for clients, encouraging the initial usage of the protocol and supporting its long-term success.

We are pleased to be one of the available providers in the new Media Network marketplace. To access our services, simply connect your wallet and select “Media Foundation” from the list of available CDN providers when creating a new resource with the protocol.

CDN Providers: Monetize Your Bandwidth and Infrastructure with Media Network

As a provider, you can benefit by offering your hardware and resources for sale. Businesses or individuals with idle servers, rented servers, or high-performance personal computers can monetize their resources.

As previously mentioned, anyone can become a provider on the Media Network marketplace. Our intention is not to eradicate centralized CDN companies but to bring all providers into a fair market to equalize the playing field.

By using Media Network to offer their CDN services, these companies can expand their reach to include previously untapped crypto customers without incurring significant expenses in hiring new human capital and establishing a new source of revenue.

All you need to do is bring and monitor your own hardware, and the protocol will handle the rest of the process. This allows CDN Service Providers to focus on their core business and take advantage of the opportunities provided by the marketplace without worrying about technical details.

  • Hardware as a Service: If you have servers and want to maximize their potential, we can help you turn your server farm into a profitable CDN service provider with our support and software.
  • Expanding Your Client Base: Increased exposure to potential clients enables your business to thrive in the CDN market. With access to a broader audience, you can connect with clients you may have yet to meet.
  • Billing management: We provide security and transparency in transactions, allowing you to focus on providing high-quality services to your clients. Our smart-contract integration ensures efficient and accurate payments and billing.
  • Simplified CDN operations: Our Media Edge software facilitates running a blockchain-based CDN, eliminating the need to manage and maintain complex software. This allows you to focus on delivering exceptional services to your clients while enjoying the benefits of a complete CDN solution.
  • Maximize your revenue: There will be MEDIA incentives for providers of the protocol to support the growth and sustainability of the Media Network ecosystem. These rewards will reduce CDN costs for clients, encouraging the initial usage of the protocol and supporting its long-term success.

MEDIA SPL Tokenomics

Despite the recent challenges with FTX and Alameda Research, our team remains optimistic about the future. In response to these events, we have shifted our focus to building a more scalable and long-term strategy.

While the current situation has disrupted our initial plans to subsidize Media Edges with MEDIA SPL, our new approach will lead to a stronger and more resilient protocol.

Due to the FTX/Alameda bankruptcy, it has been widely reported that 93.5% of the MEDIA SPL supply has been seized and locked in wallets 1–2–3 by authorities. This happened during the MEDIA unlocking process on the FTX Exchange, which has impacted our ability to reward early nodes. The current unlocked circulating supply is 650,000 MEDIA or 6.5% distributed within 23,023 holders.

As a result, we have had to adjust our plans and will no longer be able to pay MEDIA SPL pre-mined rewards directly to Media Edge nodes, as previously announced. Instead, clients will now use smart contracts to pay providers, allowing the protocol to become self-sustaining and support itself without external funding.

Please note this doesn’t affect EVM versions of MEDIA (Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon).

Solana SPL Program and Legacy dCDN: Easing the Transition to the New Protocol

To ensure a smooth shift to the new protocol, we will continue to maintain and support the Solana SPL Media program and the Legacy dCDN network.

These systems will continue to be fully operational, with the Legacy network requiring 25 MEDIA SPL tokens to create and remove CDN resources. While we encourage users to explore the new marketplace, current Solana clients can continue to use their existing services without interruption.

Media Edge: A Streamlined Solution for Blockchain CDN Management

Media Network’s future is bright with introducing Media Edge as an optional software. This software allows providers to create their content delivery network and sell their services in the decentralized Media Network marketplace.

Media Edge and Media Guard were previously two different software programs that operated separately. However, they are now merging into one software called Media Edge. This new software is optional, meaning that providers do not have to use it if they don’t want to; providers can select their software (for example, nginx instead of Caddy) as long as it meets the requirements of the Media Network smart contracts.

Media Edge is an open-source software that serves as a web server and blockchain resource manager for CDN providers. With this software, providers can easily set up their CDN networks, offer them within the Media Network marketplace, and get MEDIA rewards in exchange for the services provided.

By combining Media Edge and Media Guard into one open-source software, CDN providers can access a more comprehensive tool for managing the CDN networks they offer in the marketplace.

The all-new Media Edge launching in 2023 and the autonomous nature of the protocol make for a promising future for Media Network.

Closing note

We are confident that the Media Network will become a significant player in the CDN industry, providing a secure and efficient protocol for providers and clients to connect and transact. We are dedicated to driving innovation and fostering a thriving community of providers, clients, and developers focused on the protocol’s success.

About Media Network

Media Network is a blockchain-agnostic, censorship-resistant, and community-powered dCDN enforced by smart contracts. We’ve created a decentralized bandwidth market that enables anyone to hire or provide resources from the network as the demand for last-mile content delivery shifts.

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Media Foundation

Building Media Network, a blockchain-agnostic CDN Marketplace.