NODES FOR SALE: It is the blockchain trade’s newest innovation – not in expertise, however in learn how to spherical up money from traders. “Node gross sales” contain promoting blockchain nodes on to traders – a course of that brings in fast money whereas ostensibly giving initiatives a simple path to decentralization. Nonetheless a comparatively new phenomenon in fast-moving crypto, they’re turning into extra frequent: Aethir, a decentralized GPU cloud infrastructure supplier, disclosed last week that it had distributed greater than 73,000 node licenses valued at over 41,000 ETH ($126 million). Different blockchain initiatives elevating funds through node gross sales embrace CARV, XAI Games and Powerloom. The newest to come back to market is Sophon, an entertainment-focused blockchain ecosystem primarily based on zkSync expertise, counting on Celestia for information. The venture attracted greater than $60 million in a node sale over the previous week, regardless that its founders are semi-anonymous. Sure mechanics of the gross sales seem designed to drive the worry of lacking out, or FOMO – similar to a system of tiering, the place the worth goes greater as extra nodes are bought, and the usage of unique whitelists that reserve early spots for sure customers. “Consumers hope to get top quality initiatives,” says Calvin Chu, a former Binance researcher who helped begin Impossible Finance, which has facilitated a number of the gross sales. As with many crypto-related investments, consumers additionally hope for juicy yields within the types of token rewards, and presumably to qualify for eventual token airdrops.