As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to permeate various sectors, its demand is skyrocketing. Innovations like ChatGPT have catalyzed this growth, driving AI adoption across industries from healthcare to finance. However, the rapid expansion of AI technologies has also highlighted significant challenges within centralized AI compute networks, including issues related to scalability, accessibility, data management, and environmental impact.
The traditional, centralized model of AI infrastructure relies heavily on massive data centers owned and operated by a few large corporations – which may lead to an AI monopoly in the near future.
Pivotal Shift in the AI Infrastructure Landscape
The state of DePIN represents a pivotal shift in the AI infrastructure landscape. The emergence of Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) offers a promising solution to the challenges posed by centralized AI compute networks.
DePIN leverages decentralized networks of computational resources, distributed across numerous locations and managed by a diverse group of stakeholders. By addressing the limitations of centralized systems, DePIN offers a scalable, accessible, and environmentally sustainable solution for the growing demands of AI.
The Growing Potential of the DePIN Sector
The DePIN niche is heating up, boasting a market value of $26 billion according to CoinGecko. Among the emerging players, NeurochainAI stands out as a potential game-changer, establishing itself as a DeAl (Decentralized AI) infrastructure that simplifies building, deploying, and hosting of AI dApps, powered by a robust community. Ahead of its token launch, the project has gained remarkable traction with over 102,000 registered users and more than 57,000 mainnet wallets.
Node Staking vs. Node Sale
For a DePIN to be a viable alternative to centralized AI computing networks, it must ensure the trust and security of the whole system. Thus blockchains building DeAI systems must ensure robust consensus mechanisms are put in place usually enabled through validator nodes.
Over the past six months, node sales have become a popular method for growing validator networks. A node sale refers to the process of selling nodes to multiple users to operate nodes within a blockchain or decentralized network. Node operators earn rewards for validating transactions and maintaining the network. By running a Neuron Validator node, participants contribute to the network’s decentralization and security.
The benefits of node staking
NeurochainAI is taking an even more transparent, community-driven approach, drawing inspiration from industry leaders like Ethereum where users must stake a stable amount of native coins to become a validator, promoting fairness and stability within the network. Following the Token Generation Event (TGE), NeurochainAI will grow its Neuron Validator network through node staking.
Node staking allows users to operate Neuron Validator nodes and receive daily $NCN rewards for a year. Operating a Neuron Validator contributes to the decentralization of the NeurochainAI ecosystem. Node staking offers multiple benefits compared to node sales:
- Transparency: rewards for participants are known upfront.
- Decentralization: the same stake applies to all nodes.
- Democracy: the community has a fair chance to participate on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Logic: no inflation of fully diluted valuation (FDV) through tiered systems.
According to NeurochainAI’s blog post, 180 million $NCN tokens is allocated to the community. This setup underscores NeurochainAI’s commitment to a decentralized and community-driven ecosystem.
How to Get Involved
To become a Neuron Validator, users must stake 12,000 $NCNs on a first-come, first-served (FCFS) basis upon the TGE. Successful participants will automatically receive a Neuron Validator NFT. The NFTs are distributed immediately via smart contract. However, initially, the number of NFTs is limited to 10,000, adding to the excitement while ensuring stable growth of the node network.
Unlike many projects that spread large portions of their tokens to investors and offer initial DEX offerings (IDOs), NeurochainAI claims it’s committed to a fair launch strategy, which means $NCNs will be listed directly on centralized exchanges (CEXs), ensuring equal access and better terms for everyone. As a part of the fair launch strategy, the community has also had the opportunity to earn NCN by connecting GPUs and participating in data tasks for a long time.
The most intriguing part of the story involves rumors about leaked tokenomics. Prominent crypto influencers have shared tweets suggesting there might not be enough $NCN tokens available to stake for all 10,000 NFTs, which may potentially create market scarcity and contribute to the growing demand for tokens. NeurochainAI hasn’t confirmed this information officially and hasn’t replied to the media for comment though.