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deCDN has two protocol roles (nodes and clients) plus one external component (origin backends). Only nodes and clients speak CDN protocols.

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Nodes

A node is a bonded QUIC endpoint that caches and serves content-addressed blobs.
  • Identity. A network keypair bound on-chain to an Ethereum address at registration (network).
  • Bond. A capacity bond in TOKEN, scaled to declared bandwidth (bond = k × Mbps^α) — the only TOKEN-side requirement to join the mesh; the bond scales with declared capacity rather than a flat minimum.
  • Gossip. Publishes node metadata on a global topic and a regional topic. Also emits rate-change updates.
  • Delivery. Serves the paid-delivery protocol — the sole rail for both client→node and node→node traffic.
  • Earnings. Per-MB voucher revenue in USDC.
Two deployment shapes:
ShapeWhat’s differentWhen to run
Pure cacheNo origin backend. Pulls missed blobs from other nodes.You want to earn on popular content; you don’t control any origin.
Origin-backedConfigured with an S3-compatible backend, NFS mount, or local disk. The hash→object-key mapping is a local content catalog.You are the content provider, or you are running a “last-mile” seed node for a provider.
“Origin-backed” is a deployment choice, not a protocol distinction — the network cannot tell them apart at runtime.

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Clients

A client is a lightweight QUIC endpoint that consumes content and pays for it.
  • Identity. Ephemeral network keypair — no stake, no on-chain registration.
  • Gossip. Subscribes to topics but does not publish.
  • Payment. Opens an on-chain USDC payment channel with each node it buys from, then signs off-chain vouchers as bytes flow (payments).
  • Trust model. Verifies hashes on all bytes received. Trusts nodes for availability (slashable if claimed and not delivered), not for content.
Clients can run a multi-node parallel download for large files and resume crashed transfers from the last verified byte.

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External components

These are not CDN protocol participants. They ride the same QUIC transport but do not gossip, probe, or bond.

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Origin backend

An S3 bucket, R2 bucket, MinIO instance, NFS mount, or local disk. Holds the canonical bytes. Origin-backed nodes query it on cache miss. Never exposed to the network — the hash→object-key mapping is a private catalog held by the operator.

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Who bonds, who pays

ParticipantBonds?Pays?Earns?
Pure cache node✅ TOKEN✅ Pays upstream on cache miss✅ Per-MB voucher revenue
Origin-backed node✅ TOKEN❌✅ Per-MB voucher revenue
Client❌✅ Per-MB voucher❌