Team and Founders

• Mike Hanono, CEO: Over 5 years of startup experience and expertise in data science.

• Ben Frigon, CSO: Blockchain researcher with venture capital experience.

• Christos Loverdos, CTO: Leadership experience in deep tech, R&D, and product development.

• Stephen Liu, Chief Scientist: PhD in cryptography with 9+ years of blockchain research experience.

• David Choi, Head of BD: 7+ years as a Web3 founder and growth expert, focused on APAC.

• Isaac Valadez, Head of Product: 10+ years scaling startups and managing product development.

Investors and Notable Partnerships

• Polychain Capital: Led a $6M funding round valuing the company at $150M.

• Animoca Brands: Key early-stage investor.

• Sui Foundation: Provides funding aligned with Sui blockchain compatibility and scalability goals.

• Walrus Foundation: Partnered with Sui Foundation to provide a $10M fund for blockchain and AI capabilities.

Project Concept

The project aims to enable verifiable AI interaction on the blockchain. Nexus Protocol is at the center of this vision, allowing AI agents to securely interact with both on-chain and off-chain data.

Core Objective: To create a decentralized AI agent economy where anyone can deploy, earn from, and independently develop AI agents on-chain.

How the Project Works

The Nexus Protocol forms the core of Talus Network.

• Talus Tools modules combine to create complex automation workflows.

• Workflows execute in DAG format and are verifiably processed on-chain.

• The Leader Network coordinates off-chain computations securely.

• Talus Vision enables visual workflow creation without coding.

• Idol.fun introduces Agent-versus-Agent (AvA) games, where AI agents compete in social environments.

Technology and Operating Principles

• Move Virtual Machine (MoveVM): Provides high security and parallel execution capabilities.

• AI Agents: Can automate tasks in DeFi, gaming, and other domains without human intervention.

• Nexus: Provides the framework for developers to build on-chain AI agents.

Governance

Governance is managed by the Talus Foundation, overseeing security, research, ecosystem grants, Leader Network decentralization, and long-term strategy. The token gradually gains governance functionality.

US Token Use Cases

The US token powers all economic activity within the Talus ecosystem.

• Network Security: Staking secures the network.

• Transaction Fees (Gas): Used to pay for network operations.

• Governance: Enables voting on protocol decisions.

• Agent Services: Payments and earnings for AI agent services.

US Token Details

US is a native Sui asset with a total and maximum supply of 10 billion tokens. The model includes a 10% protocol revenue buyback and burn mechanism. Staking rewards are funded solely from real network fees.

• Total supply: 10B US

• Max supply: 10B US

• Circulating supply: 2.2B US

Token Distribution

The token allocation is structured for long-term sustainability.

• Community & Ecosystem: 57.5%

• Talus Foundation: 20%

• Investors: 20.5%

• Core Contributors: 22%

• Bootstrapping & Airdrop: 7.5%

Investor and team tokens have a 12-month cliff, followed by linear vesting. Approximately 22.2% of the total supply is circulating at TGE.

Ecosystem

Talus Network provides a multi-layered ecosystem for developers and users.

• Tool developers

• Agent creators

• Workflow users

• Leader Network operators

• Agent marketplaces and application developers

Key Features

• On-chain verifiable AI automation

• Sui Move security

• DAG-based workflow execution

• No-code agent workflow creation

• Revenue-based deflation model

• Expandable tool and ecosystem architecture

Official Links

• Website
• Twitter
• Discord

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The post What is Talus Network (US) ? appeared first on Coin Engineer.

• Data Chain: Combines data storage and smart contract execution in a single architecture.
• Programmable Data: Allows logic to be written directly into data.
• IrysVM: EVM-compatible execution layer that enables programmability.
• IRYS Token: Used to secure the network and pay for transaction and storage fees.

Team — Founders

Josh Benaron (Founder & CEO): The brains behind the project, Benaron dropped out of Surrey University’s Computer Science program. He founded Irys at age 19, focusing on data provenance and verification. Active on LinkedIn and X, he brings experience in team management and visionary leadership.

West Wolf (CMO – Chief Marketing Officer): Responsible for marketing strategies and driving the growth of the Irys ecosystem.

Tiffany L. (VP of Ecosystem): Coordinates partnerships and integrations, strengthening ecosystem connections.

Investors and Key Partners

Irys completed two major funding rounds in 2024 and 2025:

• 2024: $10 million raised in an extended seed round

• 2025: $10 million Series A round led by CoinFund

Notable investors:

• CoinFund

• Lemniscap

• Hypersphere

• Tykhe Ventures

• Varrock Ventures

• Breed VC

• Amber Group

• Echo Group

• WAGMI Ventures

This investor profile indicates the project is seen as a promising infrastructure in the “datachain + execution” category.

Project Idea

The core idea is to unify a data storage layer with a computation (execution) layer. In traditional blockchains, storage and execution are separate. Irys allows smart contracts to access, compute, and derive value directly from large on-chain datasets through IrysVM, a high-performance EVM-compatible environment.

This enables next-generation on-chain AI, analytics, and automation applications where datasets are not only references but integrated programmatically into logic.

How the Project Works

Irys features a two-layer architecture: storage and execution (IrysVM).

• Users can choose between temporary or permanent storage models.

• Pricing is designed as “at-cost,” meaning storage fees are close to actual infrastructure costs.

• IrysVM can read data directly from storage, interpret it, and execute embedded instructions.

• The network scales horizontally; new validators join as demand grows, distributing data partitions.

• Data retrieval is instantaneous with minimal latency.

This makes Irys a fully integrated Layer-1 network for both storage and computation.

Irys is the first blockchain that makes data not only storable but programmable. Users can write logic directly into data, allowing smart contracts and AI agents to interact with it natively on-chain.

Data first enters the Submit Ledger for validation and is then promoted to the Publish Ledger for long-term, verifiable storage. Term-based ledgers allow users to choose custom storage durations.

Governance

Irys aims for a fully decentralized governance model in the long term. The IRYS token will eventually be used for:

• Protocol updates

• Storage model parameters

• IrysVM improvements

• Economic adjustments

Currently, the focus is on technical infrastructure and ecosystem growth, with governance gradually rolling out.

Roadmap

Key milestones according to Irys’ official announcements:

• 2024: Data model design, IrysVM development, storage architecture completion

• 2024–2025: Testnet phases, validator onboarding, economic model deployment

• 2025: Series A funding, network infrastructure scaling, ecosystem partnership expansion

• Post-2025: Mainnet, governance launch, programmable-data-focused application layer

The roadmap emphasizes development phases and ecosystem partnerships.

IRYS Token Use Cases

The IRYS token has multiple uses on the network:

• Staking by validators

• Execution fees (smart contract operations)

• Storage fees (term & permanent storage)

• Fees for programmable data operations

• Value recovery through token burning

• Governance voting

IRYS functions as both an economic security layer and a network utility token.

Token Information

Known token details:

• Deflationary token model

• Annual validator reward: 2%, halving every four years

• 50% of execution fees are burned

• 95% of term-storage fees are burned

• Permanent storage fees go to the “Irys Storage Endowment” and are removed from circulation

This ensures token supply tightens as network usage grows.

• Total Supply: 10,000,000,000 IRYS

• Max Supply: Not specified

• Circulating Supply: 2,000,000,000 IRYS

Token Allocation

• Ecosystem: 30% (~3.0 B) – Grants, cross-chain projects, integrations

• Foundation: 9.9% (~1.0 B) – Core development, audits, education

• Airdrop & Future Incentives: 8% (~0.8 B) – Community & developer programs

• Liquidity & Launch Partners: 8% (~0.8 B) – Market making and exchange liquidity

• Team & Advisors: 18.8% (~1.9 B) – 1-year cliff + 36-month linear release

• Investors: 25.3% (~2.5 B) – 1-year cliff + 36-month linear release (Alpha round: 0.72% vesting variation)

Ecosystem

Irys targets data-heavy Web3 projects, including:

• On-chain AI model storage and execution

• DePIN device data systems

• On-chain media, NFT licensing, and archiving platforms

• Data licensing marketplaces

• Data-intensive DeFi applications

Through IrysVM, projects can use both their own and other protocol data, enabling cross-chain “data composability.”

Binance Alpha: Irys (IRYS) will debut on the Binance Alpha platform on November 25, allowing users to trade the token.

Features

• Unified Layer-1 architecture for storage and execution

• Execute embedded logic on data via IrysVM (Programmable Data)

• Term and permanent storage options

• Near-cost storage pricing

• Triple revenue model: storage + execution + programmable data

• Horizontal scalability (unlimited data capacity)

• Instant data retrieval

• Hybrid uPoW/S consensus

• Deflationary token model (high burn rates)

• Validator structure ensures data integrity through economic incentives

Official Links

• Website
• Twitter

You can also freely share your thoughts and comments about the topic in the comment section. Additionally, don’t forget to follow us on our Telegram, YouTube, and Twitter channels for the latest news and updates.

The post What is Irys (IRYS)? appeared first on Coin Engineer.