Aethir Sells $60 Million in Network Nodes in Record Time

Decentralized cloud GPU provider Aethir made headlines on March 20 when it sold $60 million worth of its network nodes, known as Checkers, in under 30 minutes. The Checkers play a crucial role in ensuring the integrity and performance of the Aethir network by verifying virtual endpoint specifications.

Aethir's strategy, as revealed to Crypto Briefing, involved steering clear of excessive institutional capital and instead forming partnerships with launchpads across five major regions, spanning three different ecosystems, and engaging with over 60 communities.

“To achieve maximum decentralization and trustlessness, we needed a diverse group of contributors as Checker Node operators. The overwhelming support we received after our whitelist sale exceeded our expectations. We were impressed by the level of interest and participation from individuals eager to contribute to our network,” said Aethir.

Users who purchased the nodes only require a license, which is in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT), and a computer with basic specifications, the service provider explained to Crypto Briefing.

“The hardware requirements are deliberately low to minimize barriers to entry. The only strict requirement is a stable, always-on internet connection. Users simply need to download our Checker Node Client software and click 'run.' Alternatively, we have partnered with several Node-as-a-Service operators, allowing license owners to delegate the operating rights and avoid the complexities of running the software themselves.”

Decentralized cloud GPU services represent a convergence of blockchain and artificial intelligence industries. Aethir leverages the underutilized power of companies' GPUs for services that benefit from extra computing power, such as cloud gaming firms and AI large language models.

Aethir is an early participant in the Nvidia Inception program and has collaborated with numerous infrastructure providers and Nvidia NCP partners worldwide to onboard their underutilized H100 GPUs.

The infrastructure of Aethir is based on Ethereum's layer-2 blockchain Arbitrum. The team cited Arbitrum's stability, cost-effectiveness, and position within the Ethereum ecosystem as reasons for choosing it.

“We considered several alternatives, but ultimately, as we provide enterprise services to enterprise clients, we needed a chain that could offer extremely high SLAs and stability while remaining cost-effective,” the Aethir team concluded.