Golem is an Ethereum-based decentralized distributed computation network, where users can buy or sell computational power, meaning that you can either complete a computational-heavy task on someone else’s computer or sell your idle computing power to someone who needs it.
Golem is composed of all the nodes running the Golem Dapp and it can be used for Stock market simulations, big data analysis, Medical research and even cryptocurrency mining, which could restructure the cloud-mining business, a sector that is known to be a “scam mine field”, to work in a completely peer-to-peer way.
Distributed computing is not new as it’s done in Cloud storage, hosting services, etc… the difference is that instead of using a central server like the ones provided by Google or Amazon, Golem allows you to use another person’s computer, which creates a completely new market where cloud-computing will be cheaper and more efficient. Anyone can join Golem to be a producer or consumer of computational power.
Golem will automatically match users requesting computational power with its providers and it will also provide an efficient probabilistic micropayment scheme, implemented using Ethereum, that will be used to reward users for sharing their computational resources.
After the user defines then computational task required, Golem will automatically distribute each task over the network nodes, that can choose how much RAM, disk space and how many CPU cores they are willing to spare for Golem. The computational tasks are run on virtual machines to ensure that no harm can come to the node’s computer, regardless of the nature of the task.
Golem was originally intended to function like a DAO, in which users would acquire tokens during an initial crowdfunding period, and those same tokens would bear voting rights. Following the DAO hack, the Golem team has decided to host a normal Initial Coin Offering (ICO).
During this ICO, 82% of all Golem Network Tokens (GNT) will be sold to users, while the remaining 18% Golem tokens will be kept by Golem’s founders and the operating company. These tokens will pay its investors dividends, which will come from the fees generated in the Golem Network. The ICO is set to start in September, during which time the Golem whitepaper will also be released.
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