Eluvio Content Fabric
Sector: Tertiary sector · Industry: Broadcasting and television · Organisation: Eluvio · Maturity level: Production
The Eluvio Content Fabric is a decentralized, blockchain-based platform for distributing, streaming, and monetizing video and media content without traditional CDNs or cloud services. The system uses its own content-native blockchain with the ELV token and provides sub-5-second latency for global live streams. Tier-1 Hollywood studios, broadcasters, and streaming platforms already use the production solution, which achieves 5x higher efficiency in hit-rate and saved bytes compared to conventional methods through ML-predictive caching.
Documentation status
- Project status: Production
- Evidence: Evidence high
- Editorial review: Ufuk Avci, 15 April 2026
Description
Eluvio (Berkeley, California, 2018) developed the Content Fabric — a decentralised, blockchain-secured infrastructure for storing, managing and delivering media content. Founder Michelle Munson and co-founder Serban Simu were previously founders of Aspera (software for professional media transfer), which was acquired by IBM in 2014 for around USD 600 million.
The Content Fabric concept: media content (raw material, masters, various quality levels) is not stored centrally on a server but on a decentralised network of Fabric Nodes. The blockchain secures ownership rights, versioning and access rights. Smart contracts define who may access which content under what conditions (DRM). This enables: (1) decentralised content delivery without a CDN (Content Delivery Network) — content is streamed from geographically close nodes. (2) blockchain-secured DRM: usage rights cannot be bypassed. (3) version history: every change to content is documented on the blockchain. Streaming Media reported extensively in 2019: Eluvio might Transform Online Video Delivery. Digital Preservation 2018 (National Digital Stewardship Alliance) presented Eluvio as an approach for long-term digital preservation on the blockchain.
Perspectives
B2B — organisations perspective
Media companies and studios can use Eluvio Content Fabric to store and stream content in a decentralised manner — blockchain-secured DRM, no reliance on central servers, automatic licence billing via smart contracts.
B2C — consumers perspective
End customers benefit from faster loading times and improved streaming quality thanks to optimised content delivery technology. The decentralised architecture can also lead to more stable connections and fewer outages.
Employees perspective
Employees in content distribution need to familiarise themselves with new blockchain-based technologies and adapt their workflows. At the same time, they gain enhanced capabilities for direct management and monetisation of content without dependence on third parties.
Benefits
General
- Sub-5-second latency for global live streams significantly improves the user experience.
- ML-predictive caching achieves five times higher efficiency in hit rate and saved bytes compared to conventional methods.
- The decentralised architecture eliminates dependence on costly CDN services and cloud infrastructures.
B2B — organisations
- Companies gain full control over their content distribution without reliance on third parties such as CDN providers.
Employees
- Content managers can monetise content directly and manage rights without complex intermediaries via external platforms.
Challenges
General
- Implementation requires significant technical expertise in blockchain and content distribution.
- Companies must fundamentally rethink and adapt existing infrastructures and workflows.
B2B — organisations
- Migrating from established CDN systems to a blockchain-based solution requires extensive planning and resources.
Employees
- Employees need training in new blockchain technologies and must adjust their previous working methods.
Technology foundation
Eluvio uses its own content-native blockchain, specifically developed for media content and not based on general blockchains like Ethereum. The technology uses per-object Merkle-DAG histories and the ELV token as a gas token with fixed content fees instead of gas auctions, enabling direct integration of blockchain functions into content distribution.
Implementation examples
Warner Bros. Discovery Content Fabric Implementation
Warner Bros. Discovery wanted to reduce their content distribution costs while improving control over their valuable media content. The company sought an alternative to costly CDN services that also offers better monetisation opportunities.
Warner Bros. Discovery implemented the Eluvio Content Fabric from 2022 for the distribution of their media content.
Warner Bros. Discovery, a media corporation with 35,000 employees and a revenue of 39.3 billion US dollars, began implementing the Eluvio Content Fabric in 2022. The company uses the blockchain-based platform to optimise their content distribution and reduce reliance on traditional CDN services. The implementation enables the company to manage and distribute their extensive media library more efficiently.
The implementation addressed the high costs of traditional content distribution and dependence on third-party CDNs. Additionally, the solution improved rights management and enabled more direct monetisation models for premium content.
Tags
Blockchain, Content Distribution, Streaming, Decentralisation, Video