Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Render Network?

The Render Network was founded by Jules Urbach, to connect 3D artists and creators looking to create cinematic-quality content affordably with idle consumer-grade GPU compute power provided by node operators.

The large distributed network of consumer GPUs has powered the creation of over 50 million frames, substantially reducing creation time and cost.

The Render Compute Network is a newly developed network that connects consumer-grade GPU node operators to AI app developers looking for affordable compute power for AI workloads and general compute tasks.

By providing compute capacity from a network of distributed, high-end consumer GPUs, AI application builders can run inferencing, fine-tuning, data processing, edge and offline machine learning, and other tasks without the need of expensive, enterprise-grade GPUs. Node operators, in turn, get rewarded for providing idle capacity from their existing hardware.

Who does the Render Network serve?

The user base on the Render Network varies from individual artists, to VFX / animation studios working on TV/films, architects, NFT artists, advertising agencies, and others who create 3D graphics.

When was the Render Network launched?

The Render Network token was launched in 2017 and the network launched to the public in 2020, enabling 3D artists and creators to render graphics at a fraction of the cost of traditional rendering compute solutions in ways that centralized platforms simply can’t match. Individual consumer GPU operators are able to monetize their hardware’s idle capacity via rewards issued for both competing rendering jobs and making their machines available to the network.

What is the benefit of using the Render Network?

Artists and creators can’t always afford to buy their own GPUs to render their 3D work; traditional commercial rendering farms can be expensive. With the Render Network, artists and creators have access to a network of hundreds of GPUs at a fraction of the cost of traditional rendering farms so they can create graphics at speed by tapping into the compute power on the network.

The network supports three main rendering engines: OctaneRender, Blender Cycles, and Redshift. Popular tools such as Cinema4D are also integrated into the network, making it easy for artists and creators to use.

Compared to, for instance, Amazon EC2, there are a number of differences. EC2 is just hardware you rent; all the software needs to be licensed/paid for, setup, and maintained. Data centers also pay a premium for their hardware vs the commodity GPUs that consumers use, adding a premium cost on environments like EC2.

The Render Network is hardware in combination with software, designed in partnership with some of the industry leaders in the 3D industry (OTOY, Maxon, Autodesk, Blender, etc), making the platform accessible to artists and creators to easily get started.

What is the role and mandate of the Render Network Foundation?

The Render Network Foundation facilitates the strategic vision for the Render Network, with the goal of growing its adoption and usage through various strategic, marketing, communications, partnership, development, and community engagement initiatives. It does so by engaging with the community’s wide range of members and stakeholders—from creators, artists, GPU node operators and developers, to partners building on the network. Specifically, The Render Network Foundation’s core roles and responsibilities in the ecosystem include:

Facilitation of the Render Network Proposal (RNP) system, under which proposals are submitted for the strategic direction of the Render Network, for example: expansion or improvement initiatives for the ecosystem.
Implementation and operational oversight of the burn and mint equilibrium model (BME), including token burns, emissions, and rewards issued to node operators contributing their hardware capacity to the network.
Node operator onboarding as required to maintain adequate compute capacity as demand changes.
Management of foundation grants, designed to promote use of the Render Network such as supporting artists and creators via rendering credits on the Render Network as they carry out real 3D design projects, supporting projects that improve the functionality of the Network, and projects that expand the scope of the Network.
Growth of ecosystem partners interested in tapping into the Render Network’s capacity by building and managing applications and infrastructure to make the Render Network accessible to end users, for example the recent growth in demand for compute by various AI tools and projects.

What is the relationship between OTOY, the Foundation and their role within the Network?

OTOY, led by its CEO, Jules Urbach, founded the Render Network in 2017.

In 2023, it announced the formation of the Render Network Foundation, and contributed stewardship of the Render Network to the Foundation.

OTOY remains a partner of the Render Network, running the current largest service on the network at rendernetwork.com, where it provides access to the numerous rendering tools and applications available to 3D artists and creators to conduct rendering jobs on the Render Network affordably at scale and speed.

Can we see how the foundation compensates its staff? Would like to see the wallet addresses of foundation employees.

While we do disclose aggregate Foundation spend and treasury, we do not disclose individuals compensation.

What is the relationship between RenderLabs and the Foundation?

Similar to OTOY, RenderLabs is a partner of the Render Network. Created early in 2025 as a for-profit organization, RenderLabs was established to pursue potential commercial opportunities related to AI applications that could be built for or supported by distributed compute, specifically the Render Network.

In particular, RenderLabs is a resource for builders looking for the best AI tools and agentic workflows. RenderLabs’ goal is to help builders identify the best AI tools and agents to integrate into their specific projects based on criteria such as quality, speed, accuracy, and ease of integration.

After shifting to a Solana in 2023 based on a Burn-Mint-Equilibrium (BME) model approved in 2022, what factors will be taken into account to adjust rewards and emissions, and how are stakeholders incentivized?

Total emissions are set on a fixed schedule which was approved when the current model was approved. The rewards allocations have been voted on by the community (see RNP006, RNP013, and RNP018). Past allocations were driven by the relative burn vs. emissions, with relatively more being allocated to artist growth during the initial ramp-up stage of the network where total emissions exceed burn.

Voting on RNPs is risky because it requires putting my RENDER in a hot wallet. What are you doing to address this?

We plan to test a wallet voting delegation solution for future RNP voting. This will allow RENDER tokenholders to delegate tokens held in cold wallets to a hot wallet without having to move their tokens out of their cold wallets. A test phase with details and instructions for how to try out this feature will be provided ahead of the next RNP.

Will the Foundation be removing the freeze authority for the SPL RENDER token contract?

The freeze authority is currently in place as a safeguard mechanism against potential smart contract risk within the upgrade portal. For now, there are no plans to make changes but we’re continuously reviewing this position.

How exactly does BME work?
The Render Network burn-and-equilibrium (BME) model is the model that determines how RENDER tokens are emitted (we call this emissions) and burned (in other words, elimination from circulating supply). Render Network token emissions are pre-set on a schedule visible to the community. Across approved community proposals, the allocation of emissions across various initiatives has also been pre-determined, with updates and adjustments depending on the approved community proposal.

The two primary categories of emissions allocation are 1) rewards for node operators in exchange for supplying compute power (split into rewards for jobs rendered and node availability for hire on the network). And 2) Foundation operations. Foundation operations include day-to-day business and compliance operations, marketing and growth initiatives, partnership initiatives, grants, research, development, and other administrative processes.

The amount of token burned is directly tied to usage of the network.

The network charges a 5% fee on all completed jobs. Net fiat receipts from completed jobs are then used to purchase RENDER. This RENDER, together with any net RENDER receipts received directly for jobs, is then burned.

How many individual jobs are grouped before getting burned? Will it ever be possible to link individual jobs to individual burns?

It depends on the frequency of jobs. Yes, in a potential update later this year.

The RNDR on Ethereum are sent to the bridge (Wormhole) when upgrading to RENDER (on Solana). They are held/deposited on the bridge, why are they not / when are they burned on Ethereum?

When ETH RNDR tokens are sent to the Wormhole bridge, they are burned. The tokens are not sent to the traditional Ethereum burn address due to a technical limitation with Wormhole’s architecture.

What is the Render Network?

The Render Network was founded by Jules Urbach, to connect 3D artists and creators looking to create cinematic-quality content affordably with idle consumer-grade GPU compute power provided by node operators.

The large distributed network of consumer GPUs has powered the creation of over 50 million frames, substantially reducing creation time and cost.

The Render Compute Network is a newly developed network that connects consumer-grade GPU node operators to AI app developers looking for affordable compute power for AI workloads and general compute tasks.

By providing compute capacity from a network of distributed, high-end consumer GPUs, AI application builders can run inferencing, fine-tuning, data processing, edge and offline machine learning, and other tasks without the need of expensive, enterprise-grade GPUs. Node operators, in turn, get rewarded for providing idle capacity from their existing hardware.

Who does the Render Network serve?

The user base on the Render Network varies from individual artists, to VFX / animation studios working on TV/films, architects, NFT artists, advertising agencies, and others who create 3D graphics.

When was the Render Network launched?

The Render Network token was launched in 2017 and the network launched to the public in 2020, enabling 3D artists and creators to render graphics at a fraction of the cost of traditional rendering compute solutions in ways that centralized platforms simply can’t match. Individual consumer GPU operators are able to monetize their hardware’s idle capacity via rewards issued for both competing rendering jobs and making their machines available to the network.

What is the benefit of using the Render Network?

Artists and creators can’t always afford to buy their own GPUs to render their 3D work; traditional commercial rendering farms can be expensive. With the Render Network, artists and creators have access to a network of hundreds of GPUs at a fraction of the cost of traditional rendering farms so they can create graphics at speed by tapping into the compute power on the network.

The network supports three main rendering engines: OctaneRender, Blender Cycles, and Redshift. Popular tools such as Cinema4D are also integrated into the network, making it easy for artists and creators to use.

Compared to, for instance, Amazon EC2, there are a number of differences. EC2 is just hardware you rent; all the software needs to be licensed/paid for, setup, and maintained. Data centers also pay a premium for their hardware vs the commodity GPUs that consumers use, adding a premium cost on environments like EC2.

The Render Network is hardware in combination with software, designed in partnership with some of the industry leaders in the 3D industry (OTOY, Maxon, Autodesk, Blender, etc), making the platform accessible to artists and creators to easily get started.

What is the role and mandate of the Render Network Foundation?

The Render Network Foundation facilitates the strategic vision for the Render Network, with the goal of growing its adoption and usage through various strategic, marketing, communications, partnership, development, and community engagement initiatives. It does so by engaging with the community’s wide range of members and stakeholders—from creators, artists, GPU node operators and developers, to partners building on the network. Specifically, The Render Network Foundation’s core roles and responsibilities in the ecosystem include:

Facilitation of the Render Network Proposal (RNP) system, under which proposals are submitted for the strategic direction of the Render Network, for example: expansion or improvement initiatives for the ecosystem.
Implementation and operational oversight of the burn and mint equilibrium model (BME), including token burns, emissions, and rewards issued to node operators contributing their hardware capacity to the network.
Node operator onboarding as required to maintain adequate compute capacity as demand changes.
Management of foundation grants, designed to promote use of the Render Network such as supporting artists and creators via rendering credits on the Render Network as they carry out real 3D design projects, supporting projects that improve the functionality of the Network, and projects that expand the scope of the Network.
Growth of ecosystem partners interested in tapping into the Render Network’s capacity by building and managing applications and infrastructure to make the Render Network accessible to end users, for example the recent growth in demand for compute by various AI tools and projects.