Theta network enhancements usher in smart contract capabilities

Theta, a blockchain that facilitates decentralized video streaming, recently updated its mainnet, adding a number of benefits.

Theta’s mainnet now hosts smart contract capabilities, as of a block height of 8,411,427, Theta Labs said in a blog post on Thursday. (At the time of publication, Theta’s blockchain showed a height of 8,411,845, so the updates should already be live.)

Theta is one project still chugging along from the initial coin offering boom. The project finished its private sale to accredited investors from outside of the United States near the end of the bubble in January 2018, raising $20 million. Although many startups from that era subsequently died, or faced regulatory action, Theta has progressed forward.

Noting another benefit from the update, the post added: “The Guardian Node staking threshold is decreased to 1,000 THETA at block 8,411,427, for both new staking and adding to additional stakes.”

Other additions include a fresh website for information on the protocol, a revised block explorer yielding smart contract data, and the unveiling of Theta-js Javascript SDK.

"This upgrade will not require existing token holders to take any action or move any tokens — there is no token swap of any kind," the post clarified. The project anticipates further updates in the weeks ahead, including a Google Chrome extension for Theta wallets. 

Theta launched its mainnet earlier in 2020, making several headlines in the crypto space this year. Amid a year full of positive price action for the crypto space, Theta rose over 1,000% in price during the first half of 2020.

UPDATE Dec. 11, 15:01 UTC: This article has been updated, noting that Theta was not an ICO. Theta conducted a private sale to accredited investors from outside of the United States.