From: thepipeline_xyz
Pith operates as a decentralized oracle, where its governance framework enables direct on-chain management of updates [03:51:00]. This structure is designed to foster a sustainable business model that allows the protocol to function without requiring a permissioned instance or direct sales team [02:26:30].
Pith Token and Governance
The Pith token plays a crucial role in empowering its decentralized governance model [03:51:00].
- Airdrop and Distribution: A retrospective airdrop for the Pith token took place in November, representing the largest cross-chain activity to date, involving 27 blockchains [03:07:04]. The token was made accessible to users of applications on these blockchains [03:15:00]. Approximately 100,000 wallets were in scope, with about half having claimed their tokens [03:22:00]. The Pith token itself is an SPL token [03:28:00].
- Staking and Participation: The initiative aimed to socialize this piece of decentralized infrastructure [03:34:00], allowing users to actively participate in governance [03:40:00]. Currently, over 110,000 wallets are staking in the Pith protocol, which is more than double the initial number of claimants [03:51:00]. This significant engagement highlights the belief in the idea of decentralized infrastructure [03:59:00].
Community Engagement
The strong community engagement in Pith governance is a key factor in its success [05:23:00]. Mike Cahill notes that the size of the staking community, at 110,000 wallets, is substantial compared to other DeFi projects [03:39:00]:
- Aave: ~15,000 wallets [03:47:00]
- GMX: ~20,000 wallets [03:52:00]
- Synthetix: ~40,000 wallets [03:58:00]
While Solana (250,000) and Celestia (400,000) have larger communities, Pith’s rapid growth since its November launch indicates strong excitement and participation [03:06:00], [03:09:00].
Keone, CEO of Monad Labs, emphasizes that both Pith and Monad share core values, including a high regard for decentralization and community [05:53:00]. He states that community is “everything in crypto” and is also “the most fun thing to work on” [06:21:00], [06:50:00].
Governance Milestones
The community will gain direct control over the Pith network with an upcoming vote for the Constitution [03:08:00], which will be the first vote that officially arms governance with the ability to manage the network [03:10:00].
Economic Model and Data Publishers
The Pith architecture is designed with a sustainable commercial model [02:34:00]. The Pith Net blockchain aggregates data from approximately 100 publishers, handling 400 symbols updating several times per second [02:56:00]. This data is equally accessible to 50 connected blockchains and over 300 applications [03:11:00].
A small fee is collected each time Pith data is delivered to another blockchain for an application’s use [02:27:00]. This fee can then be distributed to the data publishers [02:33:00]. This incentivizes data owners to publish their information, providing a new economic model where compensation is gained for valuable data, rather than relying solely on advertising [02:44:00], [02:52:00]. This model ensures robustness and longevity for the data source [02:19:00].
This system is unique because trading firms, like Jane Street, Susquehanna, Virtu, and DRW, have never monetized their data before, which they use to train models [04:56:00]. Pith offers them an opportunity to commercialize these assets [05:21:00]. The involvement of large institutions, including exchanges like Cboe, in publishing data to the blockchain daily signifies a major milestone for institutional adoption in the crypto industry [06:04:00], [06:22:00].