It can be easy enough to get distracted when you see major price action, a new announcement, increase of intrinsic value or just about anything else. First things first - Stay on the Path, Theta is Happening.
The Data Token
The first time that I came across Sliver.tv now known as Theta.tv, probably like many who started out it was easy to think about the platform as another YouTube or something that was competing with the giant platform.
Well, they are, but in ways you might not expect. And more specifically with some of the news recently released in a Medium submission, it's easy to see why there may be thought to great things coming still from Theta.
Theta is not just about streaming, gaming or giving us a place to watch NASA tv live. Rather Theta is revolutionizing the way we think about data. Not longer are we talking kb, mb or even gb. The world will get bigger faster further and in ways most have yet to comprehend.
The time we are entering into now is exactly what Theta token was made for. Borderless capabilities combined with more homogenous needs and the ability to leverage resources to operate in a digital environment.
Let that sink in for a moment before reading any further...
10,000
When you see that number, I know you weren't thinking of the movie 10,000 b.c. Although there's probably a few of you who were. That is, if you're brave enough to admit it.
Nope, I'm talking about the Guardian threshold. Ten thousand Theta tokens to delegate and run / host a Guardian Node for the Theta network.
I remember seeing during the last run-up of the price from 20 cents or so up to current day prices and I heard numerous pundits say that they were waiting for the healthy pull-back to 35 to 40 cents before they fill their bags to capacity and start running a node.
While I typically don't speculate on price, I don't think we will head back down south unless some other massive changes in the data side of the technology environment changes rapidly or without warning. Which yes, I know are both possible and not beyond the potential of reality in this universe.
My point is that 10,000 was a number that we all had to watch and pay attention to, but that is about to change. According to the medium article, sometime in December 2020 (yes this month), Theta will reduce the amount of tokens required to run a Guardian node to 1,000.
WOW!
I had to read that twice, both in the Medium article as well as here too, because while it makes perfect sense, it completely shocked the socks right off me.
From a practical perspective with a near 10x price increase on the Theta token over the last 6 months we would see the commensurate 10x decrease in the amount of Theta needed to run a node.
Whatever way you cut it, I too would expect a large increase in Guardian node operation far above the nearly 1,500 nodes that are in existence right now.
Smart Contracts
The overall premise is that with no need for the user to do anything other than recognize the upgrades, there will be smart contracts available on the Theta network.
The uses cases can expand or maybe even catch up now from everything including streaming deployment to TFuel sharing / splitting.
Even more intriguing is the notice to be on the lookout for a "metamask" type plugin for chrome browsers to aid in rapid operation of the Theta Network capabilities.
Other Topics
Overall the update from the latest article on Medium has been really exciting and covers quite a bit. In a nutshell the highlights are;
Interoperability with the Ethereum Network
Updates to include Javascript SDK
Upgrades to the web wallet and Theta explorer.
2021 & Beyond
As we look to wrapping up 2020, arguably one of the most volatile years out of the last few and looking to 2021, there's much to be EXCITED about!
Data will continue to be consumed at ever increasing rates with exponentially growing expectations in video, augmented reality, and telecom voip platforms.
This framework seems to pull Theta Network into just about every direction possible.
