iExec RLC

iExec is an open-source, decentralized cloud computing platform that runs on the Ethereum blockchain. iExec allows decentralized applications to access “on-demand” cloud computing resources and technologies available on the iExec cloud. The iExec network helps dApps take advantage of cost-effective and high-performance resources such as servers, databases, SaaS applications, web hosting, and computer farms. iExec has a native cryptocurrency, the RLC token, which is the primary asset used to access services within the iExec infrastructure. RLC is short for “Run on Lots of Computers”.

The iExec organization is headquartered in Lyon, France, where it was founded by Giles Fedak and Haiwu He. Giles serves as CEO and Haiwu He serves as head of the Asian-Pacific region of iExec’s operations. Oleg Lodygensky serves as their Chief Technology Officer and Francis Otshudi serves as their Chief Sales and Marketing Officer. Gilles, Haiwu, and Oleg all have received their PhDs in various technical fields and are avid researchers in the distributed systems space.

To support the dApps which aim to leverage the iExec platform, iExec takes processing-intensive computations off-chain so the blockchain’s on-chain functions may remain running smoothly. To do this, iExec makes use of their open-sourced Desktop Grid Software, XtremeWeb-HEP. Desktop Grid computing, also known as volunteer computing, pools together unused computational resources and allows them to be used for a variety of tasks to the corresponding renter, such as a dApp.

It is important to note that the iExec team has made efforts to separate themselves from projects such as Siacoin, Storj, and Filecoin, and label them as non-direct competitors. This is mainly highlighted by the fact that those projects largely focus on file storage, while iExec focuses on computational resources aside from storage. The project could potentially take a step in that direction and have service offerings that compete with the likes of Filecoin, but for now, they seem to be staying in their own lane.