LimeWire launches decentralized GPU marketplace, enabling users to earn crypto from excess capacity

Digital content platform LimeWire has launched a decentralized GPU marketplace called Blocknode.

LimeWire, originally launched in 2000, was a peer-to-peer file-sharing service that became popular for enabling users to share and download music, videos and other media. However, it faced legal challenges from the music industry, leading to its shutdown in 2010. After more than a decade of inactivity, LimeWire was revived in 2022 with a new focus on the crypto space. Rebranding itself as a platform for creators, LimeWire shifted into blockchain, NFTs and digital assets, allowing artists to sell tokenized versions of their work directly to fans.

Expanding further into the AI and web3 space, LimeWire’s Blocknode is designed to reduce the cost of accessing GPUs for AI startups.

LimeWire argues that Nvidia’s 80% dominance of the global GPU chip market has made access to high-performance GPUs increasingly expensive. Blocknode aims to solve this problem by enabling companies to sell their unused capacity on-demand at a fraction of traditional costs.

AI startups can purchase idle GPU computing power with crypto, while GPU providers earn LimeWire’s native cryptocurrency, LMWR.

“At LimeWire, we’ve faced the challenges of GPU availability and costly, underutilized instances firsthand,” LimeWire co-founder and CEO Julian Zehetmayr said. “With Blocknode, we’re removing the bottlenecks, optimizing resources, and accelerating innovation in the AI space. This is the future of AI infrastructure—flexible, scalable, and open to all."

LimeWire claims to have more than 1.5 million users on its AI Studio platform, tokenizing over 500 million AI-generated digital assets.