The Skynet project, associated with Siacoin, is not to be confused with the fictional Skynet from the “Terminator” movie franchise. Instead, it represents a real-world technological endeavor focused on decentralized storage and application hosting.

Founding and Development

  • Founders: Skynet was an extension of the Sia project, which was founded in 2014 by David Vorick and Luke Champine. They created Nebulous Labs to develop the Sia project, which aimed to create a decentralized storage marketplace using a blockchain for facilitating payments and implementing smart contracts for storage contracts1.
  • Release of Skynet: Skynet was introduced as a major feature of the Sia project around February 2020. It was designed to allow content stored on Sia to be served through web servers, known as Skynet Portals. The introduction of Skynet led to significant changes in the organizational structure, including the creation of the Sia Foundation to take over core development of Sia from Nebulous Labs. Nebulous Labs, in turn, rebranded to focus on Skynet development 2.

Skynet’s Features and Functionality

  • Decentralized Internet: Skynet’s mission statement was to provide a “Decentralized Internet for a Free Future”. It served as a content and application hosting platform, offering decentralized storage solutions that were posited as faster and more secure than traditional centralized internet services. The platform was likened to existing centralized storage services like Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox 3.
  • Role of Siacoins: Within the Skynet ecosystem, Siacoins functioned as a means to pay for storage and hosting solutions. They were integrated into Skynet’s infrastructure, providing value outside of mere market speculation and giving holders stability as long as Skynet existed 4.

Closure of Skynet Labs

  • Closure of Skynet Labs: Despite the technological promise and development, Skynet Labs, the company behind Siacoin, closed due to its inability to raise more capital. The closure was announced on August 12, with the company unable to complete a necessary round of fundraising. This failure was attributed to a divided focus and overestimation in converting its user base into successful fundraising. The company laid off half of its staff and planned to cease operations within approximately 12 weeks. Despite the closure of Skynet Labs, the Skynet platform was expected to continue operating as a decentralized storage and application platform 5 6.
  • Continued Community Support: Many team members still believed in the project and agreed to remain active in the community, offering support for ongoing Skynet-related projects, albeit not on a full-time basis 7.

Conclusion

Skynet, under the umbrella of the Sia project, represented an ambitious venture in the realm of decentralized internet and blockchain technology. Its closure as a company, Skynet Labs, was a setback but did not mark the end of the technology or its underlying principles, as the decentralized nature of the platform allowed it to persist beyond the company’s operational lifespan.

If you are interested in the Skynet project, it is being re-imagined by a project called Lume.

  1. https://siasetup.info/concerns-about-sia-and-skynet ↩︎
  2. https://siasetup.info/concerns-about-sia-and-skynet ↩︎
  3. https://www.publish0x.com/cryptocurrencies-decentralization-security/skynet-and-siacoin-the-project-to-keep-your-eyes-on-xwqljrp
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  4. https://www.publish0x.com/cryptocurrencies-decentralization-security/skynet-and-siacoin-the-project-to-keep-your-eyes-on-xwqljrp ↩︎
  5. https://coincu.com/116834-skynet-labs-closed-cannot-raise-capital/#:~:text=Skynet%20Labs%2C%20the%20company%20behind,decentralized%20storage%20and%20application%20platform ↩︎
  6. https://coincu.com/116834-skynet-labs-closed-cannot-raise-capital/ ↩︎
  7. https://coincu.com/116834-skynet-labs-closed-cannot-raise-capital/#:~:text=Although%20Skynet%20Labs%20is%20shutting,working%20on%20Skynet%20related%20projects ↩︎