Livepeer (LPT) is a decentralized network for video processing — and increasingly, AI video compute. Streaming and transcoding video (converting it into the formats and qualities needed for different devices) is expensive on centralized clouds like AWS. Livepeer routes that work through a global network of independent GPU operators ('orchestrators') who do the processing far more cheaply, claiming up to 10x cost savings. Operators stake LPT and earn fees for doing the work; 'delegators' stake LPT behind trusted operators to share rewards. It's a 'DePIN' project (decentralized physical infrastructure). LPT is the token that coordinates and secures this GPU network. Its bet: as video and AI compute demand explode, decentralized GPU networks capture a real slice of it.
Where it stands today: Livepeer is a genuine success story on usage — network activity and fees hit all-time highs, with usage surging sharply, and crucially it expanded from just video transcoding into AI video compute (analysis, generative AI, model inference), which now accounts for the majority of its protocol revenue. That places it at the intersection of three hot themes: DePIN, AI compute and Web3 media. But it's still a small-cap trading below past highs, and LPT has no maximum supply (it inflates over time to reward operators), a structural headwind. So today it's one of the more real, revenue-generating DePIN/AI-compute projects, with genuine growth in usage, though its token faces inflation and it competes with both centralized clouds and other decentralized-compute rivals.