The Latest from ThreeFold - Foundation

The ThreeFold Team was in Austin, Texas, in June to share our vision for a decentralized Internet as an exhibitor and sponsor of Consensus by Coindesk. The four-day conference attracted over 20,000 people 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. 

Co-founder Adnan Fatayerji conducted several media interviews and found that our story resonated well – after all, Consensus 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.

“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, 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.

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.

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.

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!

“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

“It was such an honor. I’ll never forget that day. We’re going to do something really beautiful!” – Sam Taggart

“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 in the upcoming months.

After entering a partnership with 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 – a glocal model that is infinitely scalable. So, the next few months will be vital for our expansion phase and for building a better future for all of us.

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.

So, we’re proud to join together to build the future we want to live in – whether by building or buying a 3Node, by buying the ThreeFold Token (TFT), or by helping us bring the sovereign Internet to your community or region.

New to ThreeFold? Join the movement now and learn how to be the Internet.

🔗ThreeFold in the News:

• Why A Decentralized Internet Could Tackle Internet Poverty And Improve Data Protection (via International Business Times)

🔗Community Updates:

• Read last week’s update on our validator programs to learn more about the engineering and deployment status of the L2 and L0 validators. The update also includes a new set of FAQs, e.g. on rewards and hardware requirements.

• Influencer Your Friend Andy, who has about 75.7k subscribers on YouTube, announced ThreeFold as one of his next projects in this video.

• Check out the ongoing podcast series about ThreeFold’s efforts towards building the Internet of Internets here!

🔗Technology Developments:

• ThreeFold Grid V3.6.0 is live on testnet and available for public testing! Get the full update here and join our TF Grid Tester Group now!

🔗ThreeFold Grid:

• There’s a new 3Node partner for North America on the Global 3Node Marketplace: Duck Farm Data – started by farmer and community member Nelson! Find out more in the official announcement.

• We urge you to migrate your 3Nodes to V3 asap. Just follow the simple steps of the migration process.

• If you ordered a Titan, please fill in your information for your 3Node to ensure quick delivery. Global Titan shipping continues.

Until next week, ThreeFolders! 🙌

If you’re a community member interested in sharing your story or being featured in ThreeFold content, please reach out!

You can find the previous editions on our blog. For older editions of ThreeFold Weekly (Vol 1-11), go to our forum.

🔗Community Updates:

• The team spent a few eventful days in Austin, Texas, to celebrate the festival of the decentralized world: Consensus by CoinDesk. Over four days, we met hundreds of people, re-engaged with partners, took part in several interviews with the press, and co-hosted a gathering to lay the foundation for a sovereign Regional Internet in Austin – by and for the people of the Austin community. Read the full recap here.

• There’s a new episode available on our ThreeFold Podcast. Listen to Kyle and Weynand as they dive into everything from space to self-hosted data centers to the ownCloud partnership – you can listen to the episode here!

🔗Technology Developments:

• Wondering what the team is working on in June? Well, it’s a lot – including many updates and new functionalities for the Planetary Network, TF Wallet, the ownCloud freemium experience, and more.

• Also, check out this sneak peak on ThreeFold Grid V3.0.0 Alpha-7!

🔗ThreeFold Grid:

• A new Grid Enhancement Proposal for Green Farming with 100% Renewable Energy was shared and is now open for voting. Make sure to participate – planet first, people first!

• Global Titan shipping continues, so don’t forget to provide all information for your Titan order to ensure quick delivery.

Sending you positive vibes from Austin, ThreeFolders! 🙌

If you’re a community member interested in sharing your story or being featured in ThreeFold content, please reach out!

You can find the previous editions on our blog. For older editions of ThreeFold Weekly (Vol 1-11), go to our forum.

🔗Major ThreeFold News:

• ThreeFold and the Institute of Emerging Technologies of South Africa (IETSA) are partnering to expand the ThreeFold’s decentralized Internet infrastructure across South Africa, and to provide education in blockchain protocols and digital technologies. Learn more about this amazing collaboration here!

🔗Community updates:

• The ThreeFold team and community are heading to Austin to celebrate the festival of the decentralized world: Consensus 2022 by CoinDesk. Meet the ThreeFold team at Booth 310 to connect, find resources that will empower you to get involved, and to learn about our gathering this Sunday!

• Have you read our updated ThreeFold Litepaper? Dive right in and let us know what you think – especially with regards to the structure of the Internet of Internets!

• A community-initiated poll on locking farming rewards is live. Leave your votes on questions around locking and the different parameters that could be applied.

• Registered to become a validator? We’ll be sharing an update on next steps asap. If you have any specific questions please get in touch with @samtaggart on Telegram.

🔗Technology Developments:

• Take a look at the ThreeFold Grid V3.0.0 Alpha-6 highlights and learn more about what the team is working on in June here!

🔗ThreeFold Grid:

• Give this post a read to learn more about the TF Grid DAO, who can vote and what areas can be voted on, as well as to find more about Grid Guardians, solutions rewards, and more!

• A Grid Enhancement Proposal on offering a 40% discount by default on Grid pricing is currently open for voting. Make sure to participate!

• Another Grid Enhancement Proposal was started on Gold-Certified Farming Specs. Check out the suggested quality requirements and leave your vote!

• Please migrate your 3Nodes to V3 asap. Simply follow the migration process.

• If you ordered a Titan, please fill in your information for your 3Node to ensure quick delivery. Global Titan shipping continues.

See you next week, ThreeFolders! 🙌

You can find the previous editions on our blog. For older editions of ThreeFold Weekly (Vol 1-11), go to our forum.

What started out as an idea for a better Internet about a decade ago has evolved into a global movement that’s building a decentralized, open and inclusive future through the Internet of Internets. The journey towards our ultimate vision of a better future for all is a big one, but can be divided into four digestible phases: creation, expansion, Web 4 and velocity.

🔗1 The Phase of Creation

For the past six years, we’ve been building up an incredible full-stack, open-source, decentralized Internet infrastructure, all from the ground-up. From creating our own decentralized operating system, to building a Quantum Safe Storage System, a complete far edge cloud computing platform and planetary peer-to-peer network all accessible via a unique Smart Contract for IT on the ThreeFold Blockchain, we’re proud to have the most complete edge infrastructure to power the next-generation Internet era. A new world is coming, and our technology has the potential to revolutionize digitization on a global scale, across sectors.

The creation phase was about developing the key tech components and an initial deployment of our infrastructure worldwide. The ThreeFold Grid is now live in its third generation and the stack is fully functional. As of today, people from all across the world have connected more than 3,000 nodes across +78 countries to create the world’s largest decentralized Internet infrastructure, and new capacity is being connected every day.

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.

The phase of creation is almost complete. The ThreeFold team is currently working on the Digital Twin solution that will allow the ecosystem to tap into Web 4 principles – a paradigm that overcomes the limitations of Web 2 and the inefficiencies of Web 3. By advancing our technology further, ThreeFold will be in a unique position to open new frontiers and support emerging global trends.

🔗2 The Phase of Expansion

The second phase is all about the growth of the ThreeFold Grid and connecting the dots. From individual farmers and farming cooperatives connecting Internet capacity independently to our global network, to building Community Clouds and Regional Internets for countries, various pathways to Grid growth have been established by the Internet of Internets concept.

The Internet of Internets will interconnect us all, while providing us with digital sovereignty, privacy and meaningful experiences. It focuses on incentivizing local communities to build their own resilient Community Clouds to support their city, town or village with the foundation to build their decentralized future.

Depending on their geographic proximity, Community Clouds will be able to form Regional Internets. Each Regional Internet will be equipped with their own blockchain, validators and liquidity providers as well as local digital experiences in order to remain independent from the rest of the world. In that sense, whatever would happen to the Internet infrastructure outside of the borders of that region would not affect local connectivity and digital economies.

Ultimately, Regional Internets will be interconnected by the ThreeFold Hub on a global level to create the Internet of Internets. This model is infinitely scalable. Instead of relying on one global network and blockchain, ThreeFold will allow for many independent and interoperable Internet infrastructures that support local communities with a platform to build their own blockchain, DeFi, metaverse, IoT, eCommerce solutions, and much more. Each layer has its own distinct purpose and enables seamless ecosystem-wide interactions.

With the Paradise Hills partnership as the first proof of concept for Community Clouds and our team working with governments in multiple countries, we’re following the glocal approach of applying the global Internet of Internets concept locally with regional context. With our growing community and ecosystem supporting us, and building new relationships, we’re well set to turn the Internet of Internets into reality in the upcoming years.

The phase of expansion will probably never end. ThreeFold is infinitely scalable, and there are many reasons to continue growing the ThreeFold Grid as it is best positioned to service the emerging demand for edge computing and sovereign Internet infrastructure for decades to come.

🔗3 The Phase of Web 4

In parallel with the expansion phase, the rollout of the Web 4 phase is expected to kick off later this year to re-imagine business, governance, finance, education and more in order to provide better alternatives for people, enterprises and governments. Essentially, the Internet of Internets is laying the foundational infrastructure, and Web 4 technology will open a world of new possibilities around peer-to-peer and self-sovereign systems.

The Web 4 phase will empower people to become 100% self-sovereign with a range of decentralized alternatives to Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Chrome, Zoom and much more.

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.

The key to all of this is ThreeFold’s open-source Digital Twin technology. It provides a unique digital identity that can serve as the key to an open, self-sovereign and complete digital future. The Digital Twin technology allows ThreeFold to flip the current centralized client-server model upside down, empowering people to become the masters of their own destiny. No more data being collected by servers and sold to third-parties – you become the center of your digital life. There will be more on Digital Twin and its potential to change everything coming very soon.

Along with strategic partnerships being formed across the four corners of the globe, the Web 4 phase will support the ThreeFold Foundation’s vision of providing access to a better Internet paradigm to a billion people by 2030.

🔗4 The Phase of Velocity

The rise of the Internet of Internets and the build-up of powerful experiences on Web 4 technology will bring the ecosystem to its fourth phase – Velocity. At that moment in time, it will be all about utilization, economic growth and the acceleration of our collective vision.

The ThreeFold tokenomics have been designed to support a decentralized Internet economy that incentivizes participants to host nodes, validate the blockchain and build applications on the ThreeFold Grid. The moment utilization kicks in at a large scale on Web 4, the ThreeFold Ecosystem will be ready to reach millions – and eventually, billions – of users through powerful digital experiences that provide a better alternative than today’s paradigm. As of today, 35% of ThreeFold Token transactions under Proof of Utilization are burned to create a deflationary economy. This will create additional value for the token ecosystem as it will reduce the circulating supply in relation to the increasing demand for ThreeFold’s infrastructure.

Simply put, the fourth phase will drive significant utilization of the ThreeFold Token and support in positioning it as the Bitcoin for Internet capacity. It will open up a decentralized Internet economy full of opportunities, empowerment and meaningful experiences for people all around the world.

🔗Bringing Abundance & Opportunity to the World

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.” – John Lennon

We’ve reached a pivotal moment in the evolution of ThreeFold to support our world in solving some of its greatest challenges. A complete and resilient Internet infrastructure owned by local communities is an essential way to build a circular and participatory economy. Considering that the Internet is the second largest and fastest growing economy in the world, the Internet of Internets represents a foundation for a decentralized and abundant world.

The Internet of Internets model supports ThreeFold in achieving its vision of providing Internet access to more than a billion people worldwide. And we believe that if we work together, we can connect all of humanity responsibly. Driven by our planet-first, people-first philosophy, the ThreeFold movement is shaping the world we want to live in and laying the foundation for an open, inclusive and abundance-based future.

The current phase of expansion is vital to turn our vision into reality and to fulfill our mission. Let’s build this world of opportunity and abundance together.

• Join the ThreeFold movement now
• Be the Internet
• Help us realize our vision for a better future

🔗It starts locally, and ends globally

The Internet of Internets is owned by the people.
It interconnects us all, directly, without any intermediaries.
We store our data in full sovereignty and privacy.

Until today, people have been relegated to Internet “users,” or “clients” in a client-server model – either way, cogs in a big machine (the Internet) that ultimately benefits the few (big tech). But what if we reversed that model? We believe there should not be just one Internet, owned and operated by the few, rather a network of thousands of interconnected Internets, owned by and benefiting local communities.

The basis of this new model, community or neighborhood clouds. Essentially acting as a community-owned, decentralized alternative to building data centers, neighborhood clouds provide high-bandwidth capabilities for regional Internets. With high-quality hardware installations and optimized networking infrastructure, neighborhood clouds provide more efficiency and interoperability than any traditional data center setup.

Local enterprises and developers can now customize and scale their solutions in ways never before possible. And people living in and around these community clouds can utilize the capacity as they wish, all while taking full control of their own data and interconnecting without intermediaries. This allows for a completely decentralized and localized Internet by the people, for the people. The foundation of the Internet of Internets.

Community clouds in proximity connect directly with each other to form a network, what we call a regional Internet. These regional Internets have their own blockchains and can operate 100% independent from other regional Internets. A regional Internet starts with 99 founding fathers and mothers who deploy blockchain nodes, with integrated support for DeFi. Each regional Internet has its own ThreeFold Token, and differences in farming and cultivation models are possible depending on the decisions of the regional Internet’s DAO. Further, each regional Internet has its own DeFi pool to allow frictionless exchange between TFT and the regional TFT.

The ThreeFold Hub interconnects the Regional Internets to form the Internet of Internets. Secured by 100 L2 Validators, this is the home of the TFT and the base governance layer for ThreeFold. Here you can see a model which starts locally and scales forever. Each layer has a distinct purpose and allows the ecosystem to interact. And while being hierarchical, it’s still 100% peer-to-peer and decentralized. An Internet of Internets, by the people, for the people – safe, sovereign, and sustainable.

🔗A world of endless possibilities lives on top

On top of it, we build valuable experiences, useful experiences.
Not to control. Not to polarize. Not to addict. Not to manipulate.
Rather to connect. To exchange. To share. To provide value for each other.

The Internet of Internets empowers people to build their own Internet infrastructure. Along with building community-owned Internets, our ecosystem is reimagining education, business, governance and finance for a fairer, more inclusive and regenerative future. The Internet of Internets is opening up a new world of possibilities, and we’re just getting started.

The Internet of Internets provides a regenerative, safe and sovereign Internet infrastructure layer. It offers a secure, private, reliable and high-performing Internet experience. Moreover, it will include a set of experiences, solutions and knowledge that enable all people to equally learn, create, exchange, and thrive online.

With the Internet of Internets, we’re laying the foundation for a world built on abundance, rather than scarcity.

🔗The foundation for a better (digital) world

A circular economy, to benefit the collective and, as a result, each of us individually.
As believers in a better world who choose to act.

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.

The Internet of Internets provides a much-needed alternative to big tech that can bring the Internet to even the most remote places in the world in an ethical, sustainable and secure way. It starts locally and ends globally.

The Internet of Internets is based on an equality- and abundance-based paradigm to benefit and provide fair value exchange for the collective and each of us individually. We are driven by a planet-first, people-first philosophy that shapes the future we want to live in. Without our planet, we have nothing. And we believe people need a better system. One they can depend on. One that allows everyone to provide economic flow. One that gives them the opportunity to thrive. One that is able to empower local communities all over the world.

Together, we’re building our own future through the Internet of Internets – decentralized, open, inclusive, regenerative, and resilient.

• Join the ThreeFold movement today and drive a new Internet era.
• Learn how to be the Internet.
• Help us connect the dots.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be diving deeper into the Internet of Internets model, to share more about the different layers, how they come together, and how you can get involved.