About

Livepeer is a decentralized network for video infrastructure, supporting both live and on-demand streaming. It operates as a distributed marketplace where users can access various video streaming services, including transcoding and AI video processing. The AI video processing capabilities include tasks such as video upscaling, automatic subtitling, and object recognition.

Infrastructure providers contribute to the network by supplying compute resources, which are used to fulfill video streaming requests from users or developers. These providers earn fees for their contributions. The decentralized model allows for a distributed approach to video streaming services.

History

Livepeer was founded in 2017 by Doug Petkanics and Eric Tang. The duo aimed to build a scalable, secure, and cost-effective alternative to centralized broadcasting services. Livepeer’s end goal is to serve as the infrastructure service layer for decentralized streaming, making video streaming more reliable and affordable.

Livepeer’s development unfolds across six phases, including Snowmelt, Tributary, Streamflow, Confluence, Delta, and Ocean:

• Snowmelt (April 30, 2018) - Marked the launch of Livepeer Alpha on Ethereum mainnet. The first functional version of the network-enabled basic video broadcasting and the generation of LPT rewards from an initial total token supply of 10 million LPT at Genesis.
• Tributary (Aug. 23, 2018) - Enabled developers to build on Livepeer’s video infrastructure and addressed major pain points identified in the protocol’s first iteration.
• Streamflow (Jan. 17, 2020) - Expanded the network’s node capacity from 25 to 100, introduced the “Transcoder” role, splitting the original orchestrator role to drive network efficiency and performance. This upgrade also introduced Probabilistic Micropayments and offchain job negotiations.
• Confluence (Feb. 15, 2022) - Initially proposed in September 2021 but eventually went live in February 2022. This upgrade deployed Livepeer on Arbitrum, moving the protocol’s functionalities to the Layer-2 network. This significantly reduced the protocol’s gas fees and offered faster transactions to network participants.
• Delta (Oct. 13, 2023) - Proposed in April 2023, Livepeer Delta went live in October 2023 following the passing of LIP-91. This upgrade deployed a community-governed onchain treasury for the protocol Livepeer. It also introduced new parameters to Livepeer’s staking contract that routes a portion of LPT’s inflationary emissions to the treasury, which is used to fund Public goods.

Livepeer’s most recent roadmap, published in October 2023, highlights future opportunities for the network, including supporting custom AI models and job types, allowing AI developers to utilize its global GPU network for both video-specific and broader applications. On Jan. 4, 2024, Livepeer co-founder Doug Petkanics suggested ways to extend Livepeer's GPU infrastructure scope beyond video transcoding to offering AI video computing services. Petkanics proposed the funding of a Special Purpose Entity (SPE) whose sole aim would be to enhance Livepeer's infrastructure for AI video computing tasks.

On January, 2024, the first proposal to fund an SPE focused on developing Livepeer’s AI video computing capabilities was approved for the sum of 25,000 LPT.

In May 2024, the network introduced an AI Subnet for text-to-image, text-to-video, and image-to-video functionality.

In June 2025, the Livepeer Foundation was introduced, focusing on supporting developer bounties, partnerships, and ecosystem initiatives aimed at scaling real-time AI video and decentralized media. At the same time, eToro added LPT to its platform for U.S. users, and Binance listed the LPT/USDC trading pair in July, 2025.

In November 2025, Livepeer announced Nick Hollins joining as Ecosystem Partnerships Lead, helping drive collaboration for network and developer expansion.