# Livepeer - Decentralized Video Streaming Infrastructure

> Livepeer is a decentralized protocol on the Ethereum blockchain for video transcoding and streaming that has been actively operating since 2017. The system uses distributed nodes to convert videos into different formats while reducing costs compared to centralized streaming providers. Since its founding, 150 million minutes of video have been processed through the network.

**Sector:** Tertiary sector · **Industry:** Broadcasting and television · **Organisation:** Livepeer, Inc. · **Maturity level:** Production

Canonical URL: https://www.sapientblock.com/en/use-cases/livepeer-video-dezentral-guenstig-encodieren

## Documentation status

- **Project status:** Production
- **Evidence:** Evidence high
- **Editorial review:** Ufuk Avci, 15 April 2026

## Description

Livepeer was founded in 2017 in New York by Doug Petkanics and Eric Tang. The core problem: video transcoding is extremely expensive — large streaming platforms spend hundreds of millions of dollars on AWS or Google Cloud transcoding. Livepeer solves this through a decentralised marketplace model.

Every video must be transcoded into various resolutions and bitrates for the web (1080p, 720p, 480p, etc.) — a computationally intensive process. AWS MediaConvert costs about 4.50 USD per hour of output video. Livepeer marketplace: GPU owners (Orchestrators) offer their computing power; streaming developers (Broadcasters) buy transcoding capacity; smart contracts manage matching and payment in LPT tokens. Result: 99.95% cost savings compared to centralised providers. Livepeer SDK enables easy integration into Web3 applications: developers can integrate transcoding services with just a few lines of code. Developer documentation is comprehensive and actively maintained (Engagement Analytics API). Binance Square and Hexn.io have extensively documented Livepeer as a leading decentralised video protocol. Livepeer is embedded in the Ethereum ecosystem and used by well-known Web3 projects.

## Benefits

- Companies can significantly reduce their video streaming costs by using the decentralised network.
- The decentralised network reduces dependence on individual infrastructure providers and increases resilience.
- Token-based remuneration creates a transparent billing system for video transcoding services.
- The network's scalability grows organically with the number of participating nodes.
- Developers gain access to professional video infrastructure without having to build complex systems themselves.

## Challenges

- Companies need to adapt their existing systems for integration with blockchain-based services.
- Integration requires technical understanding of blockchain technology and smart contracts.
- Quality assurance in a decentralised network is more complex than with centralised providers.
- Staff require training in blockchain technology and decentralised protocols.

## Technology foundation

Livepeer is based on the Ethereum blockchain and uses smart contracts to coordinate the decentralized video transcoding network. Blockchain technology is particularly well suited here as it enables trustless coordination between node operators while automating token-based compensation for transcoding services.

## Sources

- [Was ist Livepeer (LPT)?](https://hexn.io/de/blog/was-ist-livepeer-lpt-tffq9rgo7i1dgdaoztyihn00)
- [Livepeer Developer Documentation](https://docs.livepeer.org/v1/developers/guides/get-engagement-analytics-via-api)
- [Livepeer Binance Square](https://www.binance.com/de/square/post/28922775589146)