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RNP-018: Year 2 of BME Emissions Allocations

RNP # Title Category Authors Created Status
018 Year 2 of BME Emissions Allocations Process Render Foundation 2024-12-02 Implemented

Overview

Category

Process

Overview

The purpose of the Render Network Foundation is "maintaining the core Render Network protocol and growing its community." In RNP-001, the Render Network community voted to enact the Burn Mint Equilibrium (BME), a network economic mechanism. In the proposal, annual allocations are required. This is the Year 2 of BME Emissions Allocations.

Reasoning

As we reach the end of our first year running BME --- passed in RNP-001 and revised in RNP-006 --- it makes sense to first review and reflect on accomplishments of the Render Network and Render Foundation.

Following the ratification of BME, the Render community:

  • Passed 14 RNPs, with 8 passed in 2024

  • Nearly tripled 2023 on-chain network usage (to date)

  • Funded 93 Artist Grants

  • Paid out 1.14M of RENDER upgrade rewards

  • Upgraded 367M RENDER tokens from Ethereum (RNDR) to Solana (RENDER)

  • Brought several Compute Clients to the Render Network

  • Implemented systems to support Network and Foundation Operations

Of the total Year 1 Emissions, (as of Dec 20, 2024) the network will distribute:

  • 1.14M in Community Upgrade Rewards vs 1.14M allocation.

  • 1.55M in Render Node Operator Payments and Availability Rewards vs 1.56M allocation (small timing differences)

  • 0.54M in AI / Compute Client rewards (0.75M allocation - difference due timing of node onboarding and reward caps per node.)

  • Artist Grants 0.15M vs allocation of 0.54M. Artist grant process started in ernest in June 2024, scaling aggressively from Sept 2024, so the spend is heavily weighted towards the end of the year. The Foundation is now positioned to increase artist grant spend in tandem with the new integrations that expand Network reach and accessibility.

Year 2 Budget

Emissions during Year 2 are 5.9M RENDER, as confirmed by RNP-001. After hours of interviews with every aspect of stakeholders in the project, discussions during the Initial Proposal Vote, and the outcome of the Initial Proposal Vote that voted in favour of this split, it is proposed that the following allocations for Year 2 are enacted:

  • Continue Render Node Rewards at the current weekly levels of 20.7K RENDER per week (average of ~90K RENDER per month), and reserving a total of 1.5M RENDER (25% of Year 2 emissions) for the growth and product release initiatives

  • Increase Artist and AI Client Rewards from 0.54M in 2024 to 1.50M in 2025, representing 25% of Year 2 Emissions

  • 2.9M RENDER (50% of Year 2 budget) to fund operations, for community initiatives, R&D and future growth initiatives

Funded 93 Artist Grants

Received 295 grant applications, focussed on those that have large followings, highlight Network Strengths and / or push the technical capabilities of the network. Some examples include:

  • Alex Pearce - sim-plates used for background car scenes in virtual production and/or on LED walls with specs going up to 24K all rendered successfully on the Network

  • Lebrov Labs - pushing the boundaries of VFX capabilities, creating educational content

  • David Ariew - various large format immersive works for display at art houses across the world

  • Samuel Cockings - short fan-films for Trekyards, the largest Star Trek Fan Film channel

  • jstngraphics - futuristic short film pushing the technical limits of space visualization

  • Annibale Siconolfi - futuristic animation pushing the limits of what can be created with a small studio

  • Gryun Kim, Woosung Kang, and Taehoon Park - WAI VR, an immersive short film experience for Apple Vision Pro exhibited in keynote presentations at NAB 2024

  • Blake Kathryn - an immersive installation experience pushing new aesthetic boundaries

  • V-Studios - photoreal simulations, visualizations, and animations for NASA's Sciencecast public education programs

  • Antibody TV - supporting the creation of pilot episodes for future streaming productions

Paid out 1.14M of RENDER Upgrade Rewards

Managed and paid out the Upgrade Rewards for getting users to upgrade from RNDR to RENDER. 367M RENDER tokens from Ethereum to Solana were upgraded at the time of writing, representing 63% of the 545M circulating supply. Voting with RNDR is now deprecated.

Brought Several Compute Clients to the Render Network

With strong market changes in the last 12 months, the Network adapted to support the growing demand for GPU compute globally in AI, machine learning and other non-Rendering related use cases. We continue to build with compute client partners and develop the capability to serve well-matched use cases. See more under the RNP updates above and the AI goals for BME Year 2 below.

2024 On-Chain Network Usage

Year over year Network usage has doubled so far and is projected to approach tripling by the end of 2024. This is represented by continued organic use of the Network, coupled with OTOY usage in support of the Roddenberry Archive and particularly proving out the capabilities of virtual movie production, the use of real-time digital prosthetics and fast, low cost rendering on the Network. See this seminal example here. Further, usage has been bolstered by the Artist Grant program which prioritizes granting credit to render on the Network. This directly leads to Network usage and ultimately burning RENDER as part of the BME process.

Foundation Operations

Communications, Marketing, & BD

  • Maintained regular updates to community and dialog on key topics

  • Supported the upgrade from ERC 20 to SPL RENDER

  • Ramped up artist grants. Pushing artist grants for rendering significant projects

  • Launched promotional campaigns through Corridor Digital

  • Hosted weekly spaces / podcasts on topical matters and artist / industry celebrities

  • Updated Render Network and Render Foundation websites to better support the Render community and increase usability for stakeholders like artists and node operators

  • Expanded video tutorials, educational videos, and expansion of Knowledge Base

  • Responded to 1500 support tickets

  • 200k+ X followers

  • Event highlights:

    • Community installation at MUTEK, Montreal

    • Presented at Token2049 in Dubai and Singapore

    • Presented at Solana Breakpoint in Singapore

    • Presented at Tech Forum Argentina

    • Big presence at Art Basel, Miami

Network

  • Built BME framework, which is now close to complete implementation.

  • Conducted third party code audits of BME

  • Facilitated a full transition of RNDR to RENDER with over 367M tokens upgraded

  • Built an accounting tool to produce BME reports for operational reporting

  • Started testing on the automated burn process related to work purchased and performed with a focus on pushing live in 2025

  • Paid Upgrade Rewards, Node Operator Job and Availability Rewards, Compute Client Node Rewards

  • Hired a new AI Scout team for nurturing Compute Client relationships and pioneering markets

Core Operations

  • Managed treasury and liquidity matters

  • Developed accounting methodologies and conducted a successful accounting migration to support growing Network and Foundation activity

  • Developed and implemented reporting around BME activity

  • Onboarded growing team and developed necessary processes

  • Worked with professional advisors regarding legal and jurisdictional matters

  • Liaised regularly with the Foundation Board and met for formal board meetings

Year 2 Budget

Emissions during Year 2 are 5.9M RENDER, as confirmed by RNP-001. After hours of interviews with every aspect of stakeholders in the the project it is proposed that the following allocations for Year 2 are enacted:

  • Continue Node Operator Rewards at the current weekly levels of 20.7K RENDER per week (average of ~90K RENDER per month), and reserving a total of 1.5M RENDER (25% of Year 2 emissions) for the growth and product release initiatives

    • Rewards for nodes balanced with a view to strongly supporting the GPU supply side that facilitates the Network growth plans

  • Compute Client lessons since July 2023:

    • Third party providers have been slow to implement, as such, no grants have been paid to compute clients

    • Compute for non-Render jobs requires development of use-specific software and dedicated bandwidth to nurture

    • Having real-time data on compute client geographic locations and specifications will assist responding to real-world demand

    • The Network now has an opportunity for optimizing and refining availability rewards for compute client nodes

  • AI Scouts program added:

    • Researching and identifying new AI projects with strong potential in sectors such as finance, healthcare, logistics, marketing, and others

    • Staying informed of the latest trends and developments in the AI industry, including emerging technologies, platforms, and business applications

    • Engaging with AI communities, developers, and companies to form partnerships and discover promising projects

    • Evaluating projects based on technical feasibility, business value, scalability, and alignment with company objectives

    • Building relationships with Web 3 creators, founders, and AI experts

    • Facilitating the onboarding process by working with internal teams to ensure smooth transitions from project identification to integration

  • Increase Artist and AI client rewards from 0.54M in 2024 to 1.50M in 2025, representing 25% of year 2 emissions

    • With GPU supply side strong, growing Network use among Digital Content Creators ("DCCs") is the largest opportunity for the rending side

    • Grant recipients are pushing the technical frontier of DCC

    • As the number of integrations with rendering tools expand, ease of accessibility to the Network improves

    • A strong and targeted grant program allows for catalysing demand side markets, expanding what can easily be rendered on the Network and growing the potential user base

    • We are seeing increased interest from commercial studios and production houses and intend to support grantees in these spaces as well

  • 2.9M RENDER (50% of Year 2 budget) to fund operations, for community initiatives, R&D and future growth initiatives

    • The fundamental infrastructure has been set up in the Foundation to support the maintenance and growth of the Network, and the Team has been expanded in both development, community support and more recently the AI Scouts team. The Foundation is positioned to drive continued growth on the Network, and support its strategic initiatives and business partnerships

    • The Foundation supports an allocation of emissions for community rewards and is in dialogue with the Community to identify the best ideas and the best fit. We encourage suggestions that:

      • Have broad community support

      • Offer High Value for the long term growth of the Render Network

      • Are Practical to Implement: Proposals that can be feasibly integrated into our existing framework without significant hurdles

    • The Foundation is actively seeking projects that offer synergies with the Network and proposes to incubate appropriate projects with grants, support research in decentralized compute protocols, decentralized AI, and blockchain media, and / or co-investments foster strong business relationships in the sector

Ongoing and Future Objectives

  • Drive 3x growth in network usage, scaling both the number of users and the scale of projects using the Network

  • Create artist enhanced quick start guides for quick onboarding and micro grant use

  • Comply with jurisdictional reporting requirements

  • Updating the artist portal to accept RENDER (deprioritized over projects such as integrating C4D + Redshift, Blender and 3rd party storage such as Dropbox into the Render Network workflow)

  • Artist competitions

  • Development of AI Scouts program

  • Development of an accelerator program to partner and help startups in the space

  • Support implementation of the Roadmap as determined by approved RNPs

  • Support Render Network protocol research

  • Support community RNPs that will be funded by the above allocations

Stakeholders Impacted

This is for all members of the Render community.

Implementation Plan

Upon the passing of this RNP, Year 2 emissions will be enacted for the second calendar year of the Burn Mint Equilibrium.

Under the process we already established earlier this year, we expect to continually review these applications over time and as things change to ensure emissions are optimized for community needs.

Technical Considerations

None.

Potential Drawbacks

As with any forward-looking budget, we might misallocate based on what we think the needs of the community are. As per RNP-013, we shall monitor this going forward, and should volumes change materially or new opportunities emerge, changes will continue at least on a quarterly basis going forward via the RNP process.

We are super thrilled with the strong community and are looking forward to Year 2. Budgeting for Year 3 will take place next year around the same time, with discussions ongoing throughout the year.