From cointelegraph by Victoria Li
“We first learned about projects like Filecoin in 2017, but the real interest started two years ago,“ said Chloe Phung, co-CEO of U2U Network, during a recent AMA with Cointelegraph. “There are existing Web2 companies looking to transition to Web3, as well as new companies emerging in the space. However, achieving growth is challenging and requires more than just a group of contributors. You need real demand for the decentralized resources you offer, whether it’s VPN, GPU or storage.“
Backed by KuCoin Ventures, Chain Capital, JDI and IDG Blockchain, U2U Network also aims to target several key areas. The EVM-compatible layer-1 platform, designed to support DePIN, features a variety of projects in the U2U chain, with U2DPN and a GPU-focused project as the flagship ones.
U2DPN, a decentralized VPN using U2U Network’s subnet technology, addresses key challenges faced by modern enterprises. Traditional VPNs, while providing advanced features, often suffer from security vulnerabilities, increased costs, and the risk of personal data exposure due to centralized servers and non-genuine IP addresses. U2DPN’s goal is to provide a secure and cost-effective solution using a distributed peer-to-peer network that emphasizes user privacy.
Chloe noted that U2DPN attracted more than 60,000 users from more than 70 countries within a month of launch. “We’re not the first startup to build a decentralized VPN, but we’re definitely the first to see VPN on top of mobile phones,“ she pointed out.
She then elaborated on the U2U Network’s tech stack: “We’re most proud of our layer-1, which has a superior Direct Acyclic Graph. DAG is ideal for environments that require high volumes of microtransactions. With sharding, the network has reached 72,000 TPS in testing and is targeting 500,000 TPS with full sharding. A transaction finality time of 350 milliseconds is remarkable,“ she noted, highlighting the network’s scalability and security, making it suitable for AI, DePIN, and IoT applications.
Chloe also pointed to Helios, the U2U Network’s consensus protocol. “Helios adds four layers of protection to the U2U chain,“ Phung said. “We recognize that DAG can be less secure than traditional blockchain, so Helios helps us maintain decentralization and security while providing high scalability.“