Crust

Crust Network has recently made significant strides in its technical progress and ecosystem collaboration within the Polkadot framework. Notably, the platform now supports initiating place order transactions from the Polkadot Crust Parachain, which are automatically converted into orders on the mainnet. To address the rising gas fees on Ethereum, the bridge fee for transferring $CRU from the Crust mainnet to Ethereum has increased from 10 $CRU to 30 $CRU. Additionally, a bi-directional XCMP channel has been established between Crust and Bifrost, enhancing cross-chain capabilities. The team is also testing a customized Crust IPFS image based on the latest IPFS code and exploring solutions for a non-TEE lightweight mining client. In terms of ecosystem collaboration, Crust Network is actively engaging with various projects within the Polkadot ecosystem. Although Polkadot is developing a native service for object storage, third-party services like Apillon via CrustNetwork are currently available. The launch of the Polkadot ecosystem dashboard on Token Terminal marks a significant milestone. Furthermore, GoPlausible is leveraging CrustNetwork to provide permanent, decentralized storage, ensuring data security and accessibility. The Crust Parachain has opened an HRMP channel with Bifrost, facilitating seamless data and asset transfers between the two parachains. A massive airdrop event co-hosted by Crust and other networks is also on the horizon, promising exciting opportunities for the community. Community engagement remains a priority for Crust, as evidenced by their sponsorship of offline meetups for the Chainspace Community and participation in various events, including the Global AI+DePIN Exhibition in Bangkok. Crust has also been active in promoting creative initiatives, such as an AI-generated song contest and an AI Music Video Challenge, fostering a vibrant community spirit. As Crust continues to innovate and collaborate within the Polkadot ecosystem, it is poised to redefine decentralized storage solutions for Web3, offering users trustless and user-controlled data management tools.

Crust Network has made significant strides in its technical development, recently releasing SManager v2.0.4, which enhances the Crust ecosystem by dynamically adding commonly used gateways to improve data retrieval success rates. Additionally, SWorker v2.0.1 has been launched, updating the IAS Attestation URL due to the expiration of the previous one. The establishment of an XCM channel between Crust, Bifrost, and Moonbeam marks a pivotal integration, while ongoing development aims to port the latest IPFS Kubo code to Crust. Other improvements include optimizations for public gateways and upgrades to collator servers for the Kusama parachain, reflecting a commitment to enhancing the overall infrastructure and user experience. In terms of ecosystem collaboration, Crust Network is actively engaging with various projects to enhance decentralized storage solutions. The partnership with Wentools aims to simplify no-code NFT minting and decentralized storage on the Algorand platform, allowing users to mint NFTs and manage storage seamlessly. Moreover, Crust Network is collaborating with Yoghurt Cloud to optimize IPFS, which is crucial for improving data availability in Web3. The recent exploration of the intersection between AI and crypto by Coinbase Ventures highlights Crust's role in the evolving data landscape, emphasizing the importance of robust storage solutions for AI applications. Community engagement remains a priority for Crust Network, as evidenced by its participation in various forums and discussions. The recent Twitter Space hosted with U2U Network focused on the future of decentralized storage and blockchain infrastructure. Additionally, Crust Network's involvement in the Digital Economy Innovation Forum in Shanghai and the Ton Grants Program Twitter Space showcases its commitment to fostering collaboration and innovation within the blockchain community. These efforts not only enhance Crust's visibility but also contribute to the broader adoption of decentralized technologies.

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, particularly in the realm of large language models (LLMs) and AI-generated content, necessitates a corresponding advancement in decentralized storage and computing infrastructures. Recognizing this critical need, Crust Network has announced its partnership with the Phoenix AI Ecosystem as the first decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) storage-focused partner. This collaboration aims to enhance the capabilities of decentralized storage, which is essential for supporting the data requirements of AI applications, thereby fostering a more robust DePIN infrastructure. Crust Network operates as a layer 1 blockchain built on substrate, incentivizing the creation and utilization of storage orders and nodes on the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). With over 1,000 global nodes and a total storage capacity exceeding 700 petabytes, Crust has established itself as a leading decentralized cloud storage solution. The partnership with Phoenix AI will provide Crust with access to idle compute resources through Phoenix’s SkyNet AI Node Network and SkyNet Elastic Compute. This integration not only expands Crust's ecosystem beyond storage nodes but also enhances its ability to support AI-driven workloads, thereby accelerating the growth of DePIN infrastructure. In addition to accessing compute resources, Crust Network will offer enhanced AI storage solutions by integrating with SkyNet. This partnership provides an alternative decentralized storage option alongside Filecoin for Phoenix AI’s models and datasets, granting AI developers greater flexibility and resilience in managing critical data. Phoenix AI itself is a decentralized elastic compute infrastructure designed for the seamless training and deployment of next-generation AI applications. Through this strategic alliance, Crust Network and Phoenix AI are poised to redefine the landscape of AI infrastructure, ensuring that storage and computing capabilities evolve in tandem with technological advancements.

Crust Network, a prominent player in decentralized storage solutions, has announced a new partnership with Yoghourt Cloud through its Crust Grants Program. This collaboration aims to enhance the functionality of the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), thereby improving the scalability and usability of the decentralized web. Yoghourt Cloud, a decentralized storage platform that utilizes the IPFS protocol, will receive funding to support its development efforts. The grant will focus on optimizing storage and retrieval processes, ensuring faster and more reliable file access for users, while addressing key challenges in decentralized storage such as data availability and latency. The objectives of this grant project are multifaceted. Firstly, Yoghourt Cloud plans to leverage Crust’s advanced storage architecture to develop more efficient storage management techniques for IPFS. This includes upgrading storage protocols and enhancing retrieval speeds to improve overall performance. Additionally, the integration of Crust’s decentralized storage capabilities into Yoghourt Cloud will provide users with a robust and scalable solution for their data storage needs. The project also aims to implement user-friendly upgrades, such as faster file uploads and smoother retrievals, which will enhance the overall user experience across the platform. Crust Network's commitment to decentralized storage infrastructure for Web3 is further exemplified through this grant. By supporting innovative projects like Yoghourt Cloud, Crust seeks to make IPFS more practical and accessible to a broader audience. This partnership not only marks a significant step in improving decentralized storage systems but also aims to strengthen the IPFS ecosystem, benefiting a wide range of decentralized applications (dApps). Together, Crust and Yoghourt Cloud are set to drive the future of decentralized storage, exploring new possibilities and optimizing existing solutions for Web3 applications.

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePin) are making strides in the tech industry by supporting decentralized projects in real-world infrastructure. World Mobile has reached a significant milestone with over 100,000 daily users, a 400% increase in the past year, with its network expanding across Africa, Asia, and the USA. The company has deployed 1,798 AirNodes globally, positioning it as the largest network in the DePin category. World Mobile supports its participants through the World Mobile Token (WMT), incentivizing an active user base. The company has also announced plans for global AirNode deployments and a token migration to various blockchains in 2024. Additionally, the Helium Foundation is exploring new subnetwork opportunities with the Swedish energy project Srcful, which aims to use Helium hotspots to run a virtual power plant, offering another way to earn tokens. Meanwhile, Crust Network has partnered with Xcavate to provide secure, decentralized storage solutions for real estate tokenization, enhancing data integrity and scalability.