That’s exactly what our team is building with KubeCloud, a platform that brings Kubernetes to the decentralized ThreeFold Grid with simplicity, sovereignty, and scale.

🔗So, What Exactly Does Kubernetes Do?

At its core, Kubernetes helps teams run applications smoothly, no matter where they live, on laptops, in data centers, or in the cloud. It takes the heavy lifting out of day-to-day operations by automating what would otherwise be slow, error-prone, and manual:

• Tames complexity: The main benefit is simplification. Kubernetes can simplify the chaos of microservices, making large, distributed systems manageable for multi-team organizations.
• Boosts reliability: Built-in recovery, replication, and load balancing keep applications running with minimal downtime.
• Delivers consistency: Standardizes deployment and operations across clouds, virtual machines, and bare metal. This makes sure that apps run the same everywhere.
• Automated deployment: Roll out applications consistently across physical servers, virtual machines, and clouds without having to configure each by hand.
• Elastic scaling: Add or remove capacity when demand spikes or shrinks, keeping performance steady while optimizing resources.
• Self-healing resilience: Identifies system issues and resolves them automatically.
• Service discovery & load balancing: Gives each connected app a fixed name and address so they can always find each other, while also spreading traffic out so nothing gets overloaded.
• Storage orchestration: Works with many types of storage systems so apps can safely save their data and get it back whenever they need it.

In short, Kubernetes takes the chaos out of running modern applications. That’s why it’s become the global standard.

🔗Why the World Adopted K8s

K8s didn’t become the de facto standard by accident. Kubernetes adoption was fueled by two converging technology shifts: the rise of containers and the rise of the cloud.

🔗The Rise of Containers

Containers changed how software was built and shipped. These are lightweight “boxes” that package an app with everything it needs to run. They’re faster and more portable than traditional software setups. But once teams started running hundreds or thousands of containers, they needed a smart system to organize them. Kubernetes became that system.

🔗The Rise of Cloud

Cloud computing redefined infrastructure. These platforms allow everyone to rent computing power instantly. However, every cloud worked a little differently. What was needed was a universal system that worked across providers. Kubernetes stepped up by becoming a unifying layer for hybrid and multi-cloud strategies.

This combination made Kubernetes the go-to tool for modern infrastructure.

🔗Limitations of the Centralized Kubernetes Model

There is no doubt whatsoever about the practicality of traditional Kubernetes. As explained above, it has become the standard for running containerized applications. The issue, however, is that most clusters today live inside centralized cloud providers. This introduces several problems

• Vendor lock-in: Dependence on a single provider limits flexibility and leverage.
• Rising costs: Data-intensive workloads become expensive to run at scale.
• Reduced sovereignty: Organizations have little control over where and how data is stored or processed.

For developers, this means reduced flexibility. For enterprises, it means risk, especially when compliance, data privacy, or infrastructure resilience are on the line.

A decentralized approach to Kubernetes can potentially address these gaps by distributing workloads across independent, globally available nodes, while still preserving the ease and power of cloud-native operations. In this decentralized environment, developers can enjoy the same features, without having to surrender control to hyperscale platforms.

For AI and next-generation applications that demand both performance and sovereignty, decentralization is essential.

This is where KubeCloud comes in.

🔗KubeCloud: Decentralized Kubernetes on Steroids

KubeCloud is designed to make decentralized Kubernetes both real and accessible. Instead of relying on centralized cloud providers, it provides clusters directly on the ThreeFold Grid (TFGrid). The TFGrid is a decentralized, peer-to-peer cloud made up of independent capacity providers distributed worldwide. The Grid offers compute, storage, and networking resources contributed by individuals and organizations.

🔗What Powers KubeCloud

Under the hood, KubeCloud integrates Mycelium. Mycelium forms an adaptive, encrypted mesh across TFGrid nodes, routing traffic securely and efficiently. Unlike traditional networking, which often depends on centralized ISPs and data centers, Mycelium self-heals and reroutes around failures, creating resilient connections between workloads no matter where they run.

KubeCloud also supports multi-master clusters for high availability. Control plane nodes are distributed, and if one fails, the others automatically elect a new leader to keep the cluster running smoothly.

Key capabilities include:

• Zero-downtime upgrades: Apply updates without interrupting running workloads.
• Built-in failover: Automatically recovers from node or service failures.
• Elastic scaling: Expand or shrink services on demand to match workload needs.

For observability, users can track cluster health through integrated Prometheus and Grafana dashboards. Exposing applications to the public internet is equally streamlined. A simplified web gateway replaces the usual complexity of ingress controllers with built-in domain and prefix-based routing.

🔗What It Means for Users

So, how does KubeCloud help users? Let’s take a look.

🔗For Developers and DevOps

• Familiar workflows which includes declarative deployments, autoscaling, monitoring, logging, and collaboration workflows.
• Runs in a decentralized environment, not a centralized vendor cloud
• Users retain full control of compute, storage, and networking

🔗For Enterprises

• Production-grade Kubernetes, without lock-in. Run clusters confidently, free from dependence on a single vendor.
• Made for data-heavy teams. Tap into next-gen hardware on the ThreeFold Grid, built for AI and high-performance workloads.

🔗In Closing

Kubernetes has reshaped how the world builds and runs software. By automating deployment, scaling, and recovery. Yet, as powerful as Kubernetes is, most of its deployments still run on centralized clouds, bringing challenges of lock-in, cost, and sovereignty. That is why the next leap is decentralization.

KubeCloud combines the familiarity of Kubernetes with the resilience and sovereignty of decentralized infra. It takes the power of the TFGrid and Mycelium and packages it into a platform that anyone can adopt with minimal onboarding friction.

Kubernetes changed the world once. By leveraging decentralization and ThreeFold, KubeCloud may do so again.

Join our Telegram and stay up to date with the latest developments on ThreeFold.

Recapping an incredible DePIN Summit 2025: Africa Edition. Thanks to EV3 for bringing DePIN Summit to East Africa, Share, Singularity Venture Hub, our own team, ZICTIA, all of the organizers, venues, various staff and execution teams, speakers, and participants for being a part of this. Thanks as well to Proof of Coverage for some of the photos included in this post. Others are my own (see if you can spot the quality difference!).

Over the course of a powerful week in East Africa, DePIN enthusiasts, builders, founders, investors, government stakeholders, and dreamers from around the globe gathered for DePIN Summit 2025, a one-of-a-kind gathering that brought decentralized physical infrastructure to life through conversation, community, and concrete impact.

The summit unfolded in two acts: Mombasa, Kenya and Zanzibar, Tanzania, with some joining for a closing journey to Arusha and sticking around Zanzibar to further solidify discussions and work towards tangible outcomes.

🔗Part I: Mombasa

🔗Sunday June 29: Day Zero: Arrival & Alignment

As the sun set over the Kenyan coast, founders, speakers, and project leads touched down in Mombasa. The Share team, on-the-ground co-organizers of the first leg of the summit, hosted an informal gathering at their HQ, setting the tone for what would be a high-trust, high-purpose summit experience.

🔗Monday June 30: Day One: Learning from the Ground Up

We visited two Bridge International Academies where students and teachers are already engaging with digital learning through tablets, despite having a shaky power supply and not having an internet connection on-site. Currently, staff use a single smartphone to upload daily progress.

Share will soon equip the school with unlimited WiFi access, using its innovative technology to support and elevate the quality of student learning. It’s a powerful initiative, and one that rightly earned them praise for turning bold vision into real-world impact.

We’re thinking the obvious – and we’re exploring with the Share team how we can support in bringing ThreeFold nodes to Mombasa to ensure these schools will not have just have their connectivity, but that their own capacity as well.

During our visit, some students showed off local song and dance while others even prepared and performed spoken word poetry on the theme of the Internet. Later, that evening, a community dinner allowed conversations to deepen among builders, speakers, and local partners.

Do you spot our tall friends in the background? An epic photobomb and overall experience at Nguuni Nature Sanctuary.

🔗Tuesday July 01: Day Two: Build on the Beach & Dine on a Dhow

As a pre-summit kickoff, Beach & Build offered a relaxed afternoon on the Mombasa shoreline, designed for connection, collaboration, and casual networking, setting the tone for the week ahead.

Later in the evening, we enjoyed “DePIN on Deck,” aboard a traditional Swahili coast dhow boat. With stunning coastal views, fresh seafood, and vibrant conversations, guests enjoyed a relaxed, intimate setting to connect and unwind.

🔗Wednesday July 02: Day Three: DePIN Summit Launches

The first official summit day featured a full agenda of talks, demos, and showcases. Hosted at the headquarters of Swahilipot Hub, a foundation focused on nurturing youth talent through tech, arts, and entrepreneurship, the summit opened with EV3 and Share explaining why and why now for the summit to be held in Africa and introducing Share as a project.

The audience included mostly students and local and international entrepreneurs and founders. ThreeFold co-founder Florian Fournier delivered a keynote on the future of decentralized internet in East Africa.

Florian spoke about the ThreeFold story and showed off one of the original ThreeFold nodes (perched on top of the podium).

The other projects that gave keynotes included DeCharge, Arkreen, Titan, Element Pay, Onocoy, WeatherXM, RealityNet, Pickspot, Qualoo, Natix, and more.

🔗Part II: Zanzibar

🔗Thursday July 03: Day Zero: Crossing to Zanzibar

Some speakers and attendees took a chartered flight from Mombasa to Zanzibar, bringing the summit spirit over the Indian Ocean to Spice Island.

We were joined by new attendees and warmly welcomed with a sunset session to set intentions for the second leg of the summit.

🔗Friday July 04: Day One: Public Infrastructure Meets Policy

The first official day of the Zanzibar summit was held at the Madinat Al Bahr. The event brought together global builders and Zanzibar’s local ecosystem, including Eng. Shukuru Awadh Suleiman, Director General of Zanzibar Communication Corporation (ZICTIA), our partner on the ground on the island.

ThreeFold co-founder Kristof De Spiegeleer started with a presentation on ThreeFold and what it enables in East Africa and beyond.

There were also presentations from WeatherXM, Arkreen, Natix, Reality, Qualoo, Peaq (ThreeFold partner), DeCharge, Share, Swahili Pot, and Africa Amini Life. Along with that, we had:

• Investment Panel: Investing in DePIN, featuring Dylan, Rapolas, and Volt
• Ecosystem Panel: Flora (Sahara Ventures) and Msechu (Serengeti Angels) outlined challenges and opportunities across the region, hosted by Sal of EV3

Towards the end of the day, Kristof was joined on stage by Eng. Shukuru Awadh Suleiman of ZICTIA to discuss the collaboration between ThreeFold and the government of Zanzibar.

Following a long but inspiring day, the guests enjoyed Swahili BBQ with live music and with local artist Tryphon Evarist.

🔗Saturday July 05: Day Two: Demo Day & Closing Ceremony

At the historic Mbweni Ruins, DePIN builders showcased their hardware, software, and product experiences. Florian led a visit to the land of Dunia Cyber City and Zanzibar Free Zone.

WeatherXM deployed some of their hardware in Kenya and we’re working on getting a station live here in Zanzibar!

Builders from around the world presented real-world solutions for emerging markets.

Later, the community gathered with Light DAO for a thought session with Kristof and Florian, followed by a closing celebration with local music and performances to honor both global innovators and the communities they serve.

Students from the Dhow Countries Music Academy in Stone Town, Zanzibar performed and brought summit attendees on stage to participate.

🔗Part III: Arusha

Following the summit, a group of 35 attendees traveled to Arusha for a post-summit visit to experience authentic Tanzania. The trip included a safari and time with the Maasai tribe at one of their lodges, as well as a visit to a local school where students received tablets on their first day back. Both the lodge stay and the school visit are part of the Africa Amini Life project, with a portion of the lodge proceeds helping to fund the school, medical clinics, and other key local institutions.

ThreeFold and Africa Amini Alliance are working to collaborate to bring further digital inclusion to even the most remote communities in Tanzania.

Then, nearly twenty of us returned to Zanzibar to reunite with other summit attendees and ground the ideas and discussions from the summit into tangible next steps.

🔗Final Reflections

What an unforgettable experience. We were honored to co-host this landmark event along with EV3 and Share, and deeply proud to have showcased a diverse range of groundbreaking DePIN projects while spotlighting Africa as a powerful hub for emerging technology and innovation.

From Mombasa to Zanzibar to Arusha, we saw the DePIN vision become real.

We didn’t just talk about decentralized infrastructure.

We lived it.

Onward! Together we build.

More to share and more to come as concrete outcomes develop.

Greetings from Mombasa, Kenya! DePIN Summit Africa is getting underway this week, with Share hosting the first leg in Mombasa and ThreeFold hosting the Zanzibar side of things.

The summit brings together founders, actors, and investors in the space of Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) with local stakeholders to explore the future of infrastructure and infrastructure ownership.

We will be sharing as we go, stay tuned in here and on X.

“All websites are equally accessible.” Net neutrality is a key principle that has been challenged in recent years. Without it, Internet service providers (ISPs) could potentially prioritize or block access to certain websites, affecting the open nature of the Internet.

“The Internet is already decentralized.” While the Internet was originally designed as a decentralized network, much of it is now controlled by a few large corporations, leading to centralization of power and influence. Distributed and decentralized are different things, and even then, the Internet is not all that distributed.

“Everyone Has Access to the Internet.” While the Internet is widely available in many parts of the world, millions of people still lack reliable access due to economic, geographic, and infrastructural barriers. Digital inequality remains a significant global challenge, with rural areas and developing regions (particularly in the global south) often underserved.

“The Internet is free.” While many services on the Internet appear to be free, we often pay with our data. Companies collect and monetize personal information to offer “free” services, leading to privacy concerns. As the saying goes, “if it’s free, the product is you.”

“Online privacy is not a problem anymore.” Many people believe their online activities are private, especially when using “incognito mode” or similar features. In reality, much of what we do online is tracked, logged, and often shared with third parties – despite using privacy-enabling features.

“Well, I have nothing to hide, so privacy isn’t important anyway.” Many believe that if they aren’t doing anything wrong, they don’t need to worry about privacy. In reality, privacy is about controlling who has access to your personal information and how it’s used. Even seemingly harmless data can be collected, analyzed, and exploited in ways that affect your life, your choices, and your freedom.

“Everything on the Internet is true.” There’s a misconception that if something is online, it must be accurate or trustworthy. However, this is far from the truth. Misinformation, fake news, and unreliable sources are widespread, requiring critical thinking and fact-checking, and increasingly hard to differentiate from reality.

“The Internet is anonymous.” Many believe they can remain completely anonymous online, but in reality, most activities leave a digital footprint that can be traced back to the user with enough effort.

“Deleting something online makes it gone forever.” People often believe that deleting a post, message, or file online removes it permanently. However, copies or backups may still exist, and data can often be recovered or traced.

“Cybersecurity threats are overblown.” Some people underestimate the risks of online threats like hacking, phishing, and malware, assuming they won’t be targeted. However, the numbers are startling and everyone is vulnerable.

In an age where, for better or worse, our online interactions shape much of our daily lives, understanding the true nature of the Internet is more and more important. By recognizing misconceptions, we can better navigate the digital world. And the best part? ThreeFold has been working on a true solution to some of the Internet’s biggest challenges.

Dive in to learn more and how to get involved:

• From the ground up: Three inventions that make ThreeFold possible
• ThreeFold Docs: Litepaper, Tokenomics, Node Guide, & More

🔗A new bare metal operating system

It is challenging to use current Linux-based operating systems safely and efficiently on the edges of the Internet. They require central management, involve excessive complexity, and prove difficult to update and maintain, resulting in numerous security vulnerabilities. To revolutionize the internet, we had to rethink how we host our applications, essentially reinventing the concept of a cloud-based operating system.

Zero OS is an innovative operating system, retaining the Linux kernel but fundamentally redesigned for heightened security, efficiency, and support for true peer-to-peer and decentralized workloads. This unique operating system doesn’t require installation on hard disks or SSDs; it remains stateless, consistently up to date, and autonomously managed without human intervention. Its design enables scalability to millions of nodes and self-healing application delivery, opening new possibilities in system resilience and reliability.

🔗A quantum safe storage system

Traditional backend storage systems have their roots in centralized environments, focusing on low-latency and closed security setups. However, these characteristics make them less suitable for use in decentralized cloud contexts.

Newer generation storage systems such as protocol-driven or blockchain-based solutions may face scalability and performance limitations and may not fulfill certain critical requirements that we consider essential.

Quantum Safe Storage is an ultra-scalable system capable of storing data indestructibly and efficiently. Previous versions of this system created by our team are widely used to store Zetabytes of information by large organizations.

🔗A quantum safe network system

The current centralized state of the internet poses significant security risks, with compromised routers and growing cyber threats (trillions of USD per year now), making everyone vulnerable to hacking. Industry responses involve disabling original features, hindering true peer-to-peer connectivity and personal server capabilities. Workarounds and system hacks have become the norm.

Mycelium is an overlay network layer designed to enhance the existing internet infrastructure while remaining compatible with all current applications. It empowers true peer-to-peer communication. Mycelium can look for the shortest path, has a built-in naming and CDN (Content Delivery) system, and can survive disaster and network cuts much more efficiently as is possible today.

🔗The only way

The future of the Internet lies in breaking free from the constraints of outdated, centralized systems and embracing a new paradigm. By fundamentally addressing the root causes of inefficiency, insecurity, and centralization in today’s systems, we can create a more resilient and equitable digital world.

If interested, go deeper into the inner-workings of the Internet as compared to ThreeFold.

🔗Introduction

In a recently published collaborative episode between HATCH, ThreeFold, and Hub Culture’s Chronicle Discussions, innovative minds converged in Zanzibar, Tanzania, to delve into the intersections of technology, digital autonomy, and the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI).

🔗African Regenerative Futures - Part 1

Led by Tate Chamberlain, the conversation featured Stan Stalnaker (Founder and CEO of Hub Culture), Kristof de Spiegeleer (co-founder of ThreeFold), and Kalebu Gwalugano (Founder and CEO of Sarufi), each offering unique perspectives on the open-source Internet, the future of digital communities, AI development, and data autonomy.

Kalebu introduced Sarufi, a platform he created to empower developers and business owners to develop tailored chatbots in local languages, utilizing AI technologies. Gualugano’s vision resonated with Stan and Kristof, who emphasized the importance of community-driven initiatives and open-source principles in driving technological innovation.

Hub Culture’s commitment to digital identity, asset tokenization, and AI governance aligned closely with ThreeFold’s mission to revolutionize Internet infrastructure and promote individual autonomy. The two entities showcased the potential for collaborative efforts in advancing AI capabilities while maintaining ethical standards and data autonomy.

The conversation covered a range of topics:

• Evolving nature of AI: Ethical considerations in AI development; Concerns about data privacy and algorithmic bias; Importance of responsible AI development
• Zanzibar’s tech scene and initiatives by ThreeFold alongside Sarufi & Hubcluture: Potential to shape digital communities and AI development; Foster collaboration and promote open-source principles; Prioritize digital autonomy and human-centric design; Guided by ethical principles and community engagement; Aim to create a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable digital future
• Collaboration between Kristof, Stan, and Kalebu: Convergence of values and visions; Emphasis on open-source software, digital identity, and AI development; Shared journey towards empowering and ethically sound technology; Exploration of AI, digital autonomy and community-driven innovation
• Exploration of AI’s Present & Future: Questions of autonomy, control, and intelligence; Intersecting paths of technology, community, and digital innovation; AI as an autonomous being; Challenge to conventional views of AI development; Current limitations of AI; Importance of understanding ethical implications

🔗African Regenerative Futures - Part 2

The African Regenerative Futures Summit in Zanzibar brought together key voices to discuss Tanzania’s development opportunities in a lively manner, focusing on technology, education, and entrepreneurship. Veronica Likunama and Victor Muhagachi emphasized the importance of local context and community support in overcoming systemic challenges. Dr. Stephanie Dungu’s entrepreneurial journey underscored the need for innovative solutions in healthcare. Participants advocated for a unique, self-sufficient development path for Africa, prioritizing local talent, sustainable practices, and collaborative efforts to foster holistic growth and redefine success.

You can listen to the full podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud, or Apple Podcast