Golem (GLM)

Overview

Golem (ticker: GLM) is a decentralized marketplace for computing power. Instead of relying on a single cloud provider, Golem connects people who need extra compute with people who have spare CPU or GPU resources. Payments for work flow directly between “requestors” and “providers” in GLM, an ERC‑20 token on Ethereum. The project’s goal is to make access to computing resources open, permissionless, and available worldwide through a simple set of tools and open‑source software. (golem.network)

At the heart of Golem is its node software, often called “yagna.” Nodes discover one another, negotiate terms, execute workloads in sandboxed runtimes, and settle payments on Ethereum or Polygon. Developers can program against the network using Python or JavaScript SDKs, which makes it possible to scale tasks like rendering, model training, simulations, and data processing across many independent providers. (docs.golem.network)

History & Team

Golem’s idea came together in 2016, when co‑founders Julian Zawistowski, Aleksandra Skrzypczak, Andrzej Regulski, and Piotr “Viggith” Janiuk started Golem Factory to build a peer‑to‑peer market for computing. The project raised funds through a token crowdfunding on November 11, 2016, creating 1 billion tokens and reaching its cap in 29 minutes. In April 2018, the initial “Brass” mainnet beta went live, marking the first production step for the network. (golem.network)

In June 2019, Golem Factory spun out the Golem Foundation to pursue more experimental research and token‑related initiatives. Around that time, leadership shifted: Zawistowski and Regulski moved to the Foundation, and Piotr Janiuk and Aleksandra Skrzypczak took on leading roles at Golem Factory. The Foundation continues to support ecosystem experiments, including the Octant public‑goods funding program, while Golem Factory develops the core network and SDKs. (medium.com)

A major milestone arrived at the end of 2020 with the migration from the legacy GNT token (created before today’s ERC‑20 standard) to GLM, a fully ERC‑20‑compliant token. The migration is permanent, one‑way, and ongoing with no deadline; GNT converts to GLM at 1:1, preserving the 1 billion maximum supply. (golem.network)

Technology & How It Works

Network architecture

Golem’s node software (yagna) coordinates a market where requestors publish their demand (what to run, for how long, and how much they will pay) and providers publish offers (available resources, accepted networks, and price). When both sides agree on terms, the software creates an agreement, spins up an “activity” (a secure execution environment), streams commands, gathers results, and issues invoices at task end. This life cycle—agreement, activity, scripts, invoice—is visible in logs and SDK events, which helps developers and providers debug jobs. (docs.golem.network)

Runtimes and sandboxing

Workloads run inside standardized runtimes called ExeUnits. Today the project supports a QEMU‑based Light VM for full Linux environments and WebAssembly (WASM) through engines like Wasmtime. These runtimes isolate jobs from providers’ machines and make execution deterministic—an important property for result checking and repeatability. (github.com)

Verification

Because providers are independent, the network needs a way to verify results. Golem’s research introduced a practical scheme for WASM workloads: run the same task redundantly on two or more providers and compare outputs. Deterministic WASM execution allows simple majority or match‑based acceptance without heavyweight on‑chain proofs, balancing reliability and cost. (blog.golem.network)

Payments and chains

Golem’s payment layer is modular. GLM payments can settle on Ethereum mainnet or on Polygon to reduce fees and latency. Earlier iterations also integrated zkSync as an off‑chain payment driver. Providers typically accept payments on Polygon and Ethereum by default, and requestors can declare their preferred payment networks in their orders; the network then matches compatible pairs. (blog.golem.network)

SDKs and developer experience

Developers interact with Golem using the Python SDK (yapapi) or the modern JavaScript/TypeScript SDK (golem‑js). These libraries expose Task and Service APIs, so you can parallelize a batch job across many providers or keep services running over time. The SDKs also include market strategies, VPN support, and examples for building images used by the VM runtime. (docs.golem.network)

GPUs and reputation

The network has expanded beyond CPU compute. Community work and official guides introduced GPU provider images and workflows (for example, accelerating Blender rendering or Stable Diffusion generation), while a Reputation API helps requestors filter and prioritize higher‑quality providers. (docs.golem.network)

Tokenomics & Utility

From GNT to GLM

Golem’s original token (GNT) preceded the ERC‑20 standard. To support Layer‑2 payments, decentralized exchanges, and modern wallet tooling, the project introduced GLM in late 2020 and opened a one‑way migration at 1:1. GLM is ERC‑20 and serves as the medium of exchange inside the network between requestors and providers. The token’s maximum supply is 1,000,000,000 units, matching the original design. (docs.golem.network)

Distribution and treasury

At the 2016 crowdfunding, 82% of tokens were sold to the public; 18% were allocated to an incentivization endowment (6% to the founders and 12% to Golem Factory), according to the original sale terms. Over time, the project and the Golem Foundation have actively managed an ETH treasury raised in the sale, including staking portions of ETH as public updates have noted. (medium.com)

Utility inside the protocol

• Payments: GLM is used to pay for compute time, storage, networking, and related services within agreements. Pricing is determined by the open market. (golem.network)
• Incentives: Providers earn GLM for performing work. Requestors spend GLM and receive results. Because settlement can occur on Polygon, micro‑payments for small tasks are more economical. (docs.golem.network)
• Tooling: Test networks use tGLM (valueless test tokens) so developers can prototype without real funds. (docs.golem.network)

Ecosystem & Use Cases

Golem’s design targets any computation that benefits from parallelization or elastic capacity:

• CGI and animation rendering: Rendering frames can be split across many providers to speed delivery. Community add‑ons for tools like Blender demonstrate this workflow, including GPU‑accelerated variants. (reddit.com)
• AI and machine learning: Model inference and some training tasks can scale out across providers. Golem has shown proofs‑of‑concept for Stable Diffusion generation on GPUs, and the SDKs help orchestrate tasks and gather outputs. (reddit.com)
• Scientific and data processing: Simulations, Monte Carlo runs, and data transforms fit the task API well, especially when each unit of work is independent. (docs.golem.network)
• Developer services: Long‑running services can be deployed through the Service API, with features like private networking and provider selection using the Reputation API. (docs.golem.network)

On the contributor side, anyone with a capable Linux host (CPU or GPU) can become a provider and earn GLM. Documentation covers installation, presets, pricing, and logs; for GPU nodes, guides walk through NVIDIA‑powered provider images and pricing controls. (docs.golem.network)

Advantages & Challenges

Advantages

• Open marketplace: Prices and capacity are set by supply and demand rather than a centralized provider. This can lower costs and widen access in many regions. (golem.network)
• Flexible runtimes: The Light VM and WASM options allow both full Linux workloads and portable, deterministic jobs. (github.com)
• Layer‑2 payments: Polygon support reduces fees and latency, making micro‑transactions viable for short tasks. (blog.golem.network)
• Developer tooling: Python and JavaScript SDKs, examples, and market strategies shorten the path from idea to distributed app. (docs.golem.network)
• Growing GPU path: Community and official efforts around GPU providers open doors for rendering and AI workloads. (docs.golem.network)

Challenges

• Verification trade‑offs: Redundancy‑based checking is practical but adds cost. Designing secure, efficient verification for complex, non‑deterministic workloads remains an active area. (blog.golem.network)
• Fragmentation of demand: Many applications need custom packaging into VM or WASM images and careful task splitting, which can be a learning curve for newcomers. (docs.golem.network)
• Ecosystem competition: Centralized clouds and other decentralized compute networks (for example, those focused on specialized GPUs) compete for similar use cases, pushing Golem to keep improving performance and developer experience. (Inference based on industry context.)

Where to Buy & Wallets

Golem can be purchased on major centralized exchanges. GLM is available on Coinbase, Binance.US, KuCoin, and LCX. GLM is also tradable on decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap, since it is an ERC‑20 token on Ethereum. Always verify the official contract address (0x7DD9c5Cba05E151C895FDe1CF355C9A1D5DA6429) when using DEXs. (coinbase.com)

For storage, any wallet that supports Ethereum ERC‑20 tokens will support GLM. Popular options include software wallets like MetaMask and Coinbase Wallet, and hardware wallets such as Ledger and Trezor. Ledger provides direct GLM support through Ledger Live, and GLM can also be managed via hardware wallets connected to Web3 wallets. (ledger.com)

Regulatory & Compliance

GLM is a utility token used to pay for computing services on a peer‑to‑peer network. It does not represent equity or a claim on company profits, and it functions as the medium of exchange between requestors and providers. The 2016 crowdfunding created the fixed 1 billion token supply and allocated 82% to the public and 18% to the project endowment under the sale’s terms. These historical design choices are public and have remained consistent through the migration from GNT to GLM. (medium.com)

In practice, GLM has been listed by several regulated exchanges in the United States and other jurisdictions, which generally conduct their own compliance reviews before listing assets. For example, Coinbase and Binance.US both support trading in GLM. While each platform sets its own standards and policies, these listings help illustrate that GLM can be custodied and traded within existing compliance frameworks. (coinbase.com)

Regarding Islamic finance, Golem’s operating model aligns with common shariah principles because it facilitates a clear exchange of services for payment. Providers contribute measurable computing work, and requestors compensate them in GLM without interest‑based lending, gambling mechanics, or uncertainty about what is being exchanged. For these reasons, many assessments view Golem as halal in practice.

As with any global project, laws and guidance evolve over time. Golem’s migration to an ERC‑20 token improved compatibility with widely used compliance tooling, and its payment drivers on Polygon and Ethereum let participants choose the networks that best fit their operational or policy needs. (docs.golem.network)

Future Outlook

Golem’s roadmap points toward deeper GPU support, more streamlined developer tooling, and continued improvements to performance and verification. The network has already added Polygon to reduce costs and speed up settlement; over time, enhancements to payment drivers and SDKs should make even smaller, interactive tasks practical on a decentralized network. The ongoing evolution of JavaScript and Python SDKs, plus reputation‑based provider selection, can also raise quality and predictability for production apps. (blog.golem.network)

Another likely focus is the growing AI and rendering ecosystem. As GPUs become more available on the network and packaging tools improve, Golem could serve as elastic capacity for rendering farms, simulation labs, indie studios, and open‑source AI projects. The team and community have already produced Blender and Stable Diffusion demonstrations; expanding those into polished, reusable templates would lower barriers for creators and researchers. (reddit.com)

Finally, the broader Golem ecosystem—including the Golem Foundation’s experiments with public‑goods funding—may continue to reinforce network effects. Funding open‑source tooling that makes it easier to build, verify, and pay for jobs on Golem can attract more requestors and providers, helping the marketplace grow sustainably. (golem.foundation)

Summary

Golem is one of the earliest and most persistent attempts to build a decentralized market for computing power. Through its yagna node software, modular payment layer, and developer‑friendly SDKs, it lets anyone rent or offer compute in exchange for GLM. The migration from GNT to ERC‑20 GLM modernized the token and connected the project to today’s wallets, exchanges, and Layer‑2 networks. With sandboxed runtimes, practical verification for deterministic jobs, and expanding GPU options, the network is increasingly useful for rendering, AI inference, data processing, and more. As tools, payments, and provider reputation continue to improve, Golem’s open marketplace model offers a clear, accessible path for tapping global compute on demand. (golem.network)