Livepeer

Livepeer operates an open, permissionless network of independent GPU providers that processes video: generating, transforming and interpreting video streams, including AI video inference. The network began as a decentralized video transcoding infrastructure built on the Ethereum blockchain, aimed at reducing the cost of converting video into formats playable across device ecosystems, and has since extended into generative and analytical AI workloads run on the same distributed compute base.

Participants in the network include Orchestrators, who operate nodes that perform video processing and AI tasks, and Delegators, who stake the native Livepeer Token (LPT) with Orchestrators to earn rewards. New LPT is minted in cycles called Rounds, with one Round equal to 6,377 Ethereum blocks (approximately one day). Anyone with the required technical capability may run a node without seeking permission.

The project's website presents an ecosystem of applications built on the network, including Daydream (real-time generative AI video), FrameWorks (an open streaming stack for live video) and Streamplace (a video layer for decentralized social). Company blog posts describe Livepeer 2.0, characterized as an open compute network for AI video, together with Livepeer Agent, an open-source MCP connector for AI agent workflows. The codebase is developed publicly, with the site citing 262 contributors on GitHub.

Founding story

Doug Petkanics and Eric Tan founded Livepeer after a prior business was effectively halted by delays and blocks from Apple and Facebook. That experience with centralized gatekeepers led them to focus on open ecosystems, to experiment with Ethereum, and to identify the high cost of video transcoding as the problem Livepeer would address.

Business model

Livepeer Inc. works with developers on their live streaming needs and prices based on desired capabilities, capacity and throughput, with stated plans to add services such as content delivery and AI-driven content moderation. The company also holds LPT, the native token of the network, whose value the company ties to increased network usage. On the supply side, node operators earn fees and LPT for performing work.

Usage-based pricing to developers according to capabilities, capacity and throughput for live streaming services; additional services planned around content delivery and AI-driven content moderation; the company also holds LPT tokens.

Traction

As of the January 2022 interview, the network included over 70,000 GPUs, had streamed tens of millions of minutes, and had hit a record 2.3 million minutes streamed in a single week — a six-fold increase from the start of 2021. Much of the network's traffic at the time of the MistServer acquisition came through MistServer users. The website cites 262 contributors to the open-source project.

Latest developments

Company blog posts dated 2026 describe Livepeer 2.0, an open compute network for AI video, and Livepeer Agent, an open-source MCP connector for AI agent workflows. The site announces that "a new Livepeer is coming" and highlights ecosystem projects Daydream, FrameWorks and Streamplace.