ThreeFold Bid Packages
ThreeFold commits to purchasing specific capacity packages at defined minimum specifications and pricing. These "bids" represent guaranteed demand that farmers can fulfill by providing qualifying capacity.
Bids are ThreeFold's standing offers to purchase specific types of slices. If your node meets the minimum requirements, you can fulfill these bids and receive the stated pricing.
Standard Bid Packages​
Standard Compute Slice​
Target Workloads: General web applications, APIs, microservices, development environments
Minimum Requirements:
| Specification | Minimum Value |
|---|---|
| Performance | 2,000 Passmark |
| Memory | 4 GB |
| GPU Memory | - |
Pricing:
- 1.2 CC/month per slice
- Can scale based on reservation duration (see Reservation Pricing below)
Total ThreeFold Commitment:
- 20,000 slices at this specification
- Total monthly value: 24,000 CC (~$3,072 at $0.128/CC)
Who Can Provide: Most node types qualify:
- 3Node Home ✅
- All Mini series (1, 2, 3) ✅
- Large TFGrid nodes ✅
- AI nodes (but better used for AI bids) ✅
Memory-Heavy Slice​
Target Workloads: Databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis), caching layers, in-memory processing
Minimum Requirements:
| Specification | Minimum Value |
|---|---|
| Memory | 8 GB |
Pricing:
- 2.4 CC/month per slice (2x standard compute price)
- Can scale based on reservation duration
Total ThreeFold Commitment:
- 2,000 slices at this specification
- Total monthly value: 4,800 CC (~$614)
Who Can Provide: Nodes with higher memory configurations:
- Mini 2 ✅
- Mini 3 ✅
- Large TFGrid Node ✅ (512 GB RAM - excellent fit)
- All AI nodes ✅
Memory-heavy slices command 2x pricing of standard compute. If your node has abundant RAM, prioritize these bids.
AI & GPU Bid Packages​
AI Slice (Standard)​
Target Workloads: AI inference, small model training, ML development
Minimum Requirements:
| Specification | Minimum Value |
|---|---|
| Memory | 124 GB |
Pricing:
- 50 CC/month per slice
- Based on full-node AI configuration (e.g., AI 395+ new nodes)
Total ThreeFold Commitment:
- 2,000 slices at this specification
- Total monthly value: 100,000 CC (~$12,800)
Who Can Provide: High-spec AI nodes:
- Mini AI 1 ✅ (entry point)
- Nvidia 6000 variants ✅
- Tenstorrent 8x ✅
Note: This represents full-node access for AI workloads with shared GPU resources.
AI Slice Big (Nvidia 1x)​
Target Workloads: Professional AI training, large model inference, production ML pipelines
Minimum Requirements:
| Specification | Minimum Value |
|---|---|
| Memory | 124 GB |
| GPU Memory | 96 GB (dedicated) |
Pricing:
- 500 CC/month per slice
- Dedicated GPU access (not shared)
Total ThreeFold Commitment:
- 50 slices at this specification
- Total monthly value: 25,000 CC (~$3,200)
Who Can Provide:
- Nvidia 6000 (Single GPU) ✅
- Nvidia 6000 (Dual GPU) ✅ (can provide 2 slices)
Key Feature: 96 GB dedicated GPU memory - significantly larger than typical cloud offerings (16-40 GB)
AI Slice Big (Nvidia 2x)​
Target Workloads: Large-scale AI training, multi-GPU model parallelism, enterprise ML operations
Minimum Requirements:
| Specification | Minimum Value |
|---|---|
| Memory | 250 GB |
| GPU Memory | 192 GB (dedicated) |
Pricing:
- 1,000 CC/month per slice
- Dual dedicated GPU access
Total ThreeFold Commitment:
- 50 slices at this specification
- Total monthly value: 50,000 CC (~$6,400)
Who Can Provide:
- Nvidia 6000 (Dual GPU) ✅
Key Feature: 192 GB AI Memory for massive model training and inference
AI Slice Big (Tenstorrent 8x)​
Target Workloads: Next-generation AI acceleration, cutting-edge ML research, high-throughput inference
Minimum Requirements:
| Specification | Minimum Value |
|---|---|
| Memory | 250 GB |
| GPU Memory | 192 GB (AI memory) |
Pricing:
- 1,000 CC/month per slice
- 8x Tenstorrent accelerators
Total ThreeFold Commitment:
- 50 slices at this specification
- Total monthly value: 50,000 CC (~$6,400)
Who Can Provide:
- Tenstorrent 8x nodes ✅
Key Advantage: 2,000 TPS (vs 700 for Nvidia) - significantly higher throughput for specific AI workloads
While Nvidia is industry-standard with broader ecosystem support, Tenstorrent offers superior performance (2,000 TPS vs 700 TPS) for certain AI workloads at the same price point.
Total Market Summary​
Combined ThreeFold Commitments:
| Bid Package | Slices | Monthly Value | Annual Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Compute | 20,000 | 24,000 CC | 288,000 CC |
| Memory-Heavy | 2,000 | 4,800 CC | 57,600 CC |
| AI Slice (Standard) | 2,000 | 100,000 CC | 1,200,000 CC |
| AI Big (Nvidia 1x) | 50 | 25,000 CC | 300,000 CC |
| AI Big (Nvidia 2x) | 50 | 50,000 CC | 600,000 CC |
| AI Big (Tenstorrent 8x) | 50 | 50,000 CC | 600,000 CC |
| TOTAL | 24,150 | 253,800 CC | 3,045,600 CC |
Annual Value in USD (at $0.128/CC): ~$389,837
These bids represent committed ThreeFold demand. This is baseline capacity the platform will purchase, providing farmers with guaranteed revenue opportunities.
Reservation Duration Pricing​
The pricing listed above is baseline monthly pricing. Actual prices vary based on minimum reservation duration:
Pricing Tiers by Duration​
Example pricing structure:
| Min Reservation | Price Modifier | Example (Standard Compute) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 hour | 1.0x - 10.0x | 1.2 - 12.0 CC/month |
| 1 day | 0.9x - 8.0x | 1.08 - 9.6 CC/month |
| 1 week | 0.8x - 6.0x | 0.96 - 7.2 CC/month |
| 1 month | 0.7x - 4.0x | 0.84 - 4.8 CC/month |
| 3 months | 0.6x - 3.0x | 0.72 - 3.6 CC/month |
| 1 year | 0.5x - 2.0x | 0.60 - 2.4 CC/month |
Key Principle: Longer commitments = lower per-unit pricing
Benefits:
- For farmers: More predictable income, can offer discounts
- For users: Cost savings for long-term workloads
- For platform: Improved capacity planning
These are baseline bids. Farmers can set custom pricing when the marketplace allows farmer price-setting (coming soon). See Implementation Roadmap.
How to Qualify for Bids​
1. Meet Minimum Specifications​
Your node must meet or exceed the minimum requirements for the bid package:
- Check Node Specifications for your hardware
- Ensure adequate CPU, RAM, storage, and GPU (if applicable)
2. Maintain Uptime​
High-quality, reliable capacity:
- Target: 99%+ uptime
- Stable internet connection
- Proactive monitoring and maintenance
3. Proper Node Configuration​
- Correct slice partitioning in node setup
- Accurate resource reporting
- Compatible with TFGrid v4 (when released) or v3 (currently)
4. Pricing Within Range​
- Set pricing at or below bid price ceiling
- Competitive with other farmers
- Consider reservation duration discounts
Beyond ThreeFold Bids​
These bids represent ThreeFold's committed demand, not the total market:
Additional Demand Sources​
End-User Applications:
- Applications built on TFGrid by partner teams
- Direct user deployments
- Enterprise customers
Marketplace Transactions:
- Custom capacity requests
- Bid-based capacity allocation (vast.ai model coming)
- Private arrangements between users and farmers
Partner Ecosystems:
- Integration with other platforms
- White-label cloud offerings
- Reseller channels
Offtaker Agreements:
- Large-scale enterprise commitments
- To be announced when commercially appropriate
- Potentially significantly larger than baseline bids
As the ecosystem matures, demand will expand beyond these baseline bids. Early farmers establishing reputation and capacity will be well-positioned for growth.
Strategic Considerations for Farmers​
Capacity Planning​
Question: Which bid packages should I target?
Factors to consider:
- Hardware you can afford: Start with budget constraints
- Market competition: Standard compute is crowded; AI is underserved
- Growth potential: AI demand is expanding rapidly
- Risk tolerance: Higher investment (AI) = higher potential returns but more risk
Investment Strategies​
Conservative:
- Focus on Mini 1-3 nodes
- Target standard compute and memory-heavy bids
- Lower investment, proven demand
- Slower but steadier ROI
Balanced:
- Mix of standard nodes and entry AI (Mini AI 1)
- Diversify across bid types
- Moderate investment and risk
- Flexible capacity allocation
Aggressive:
- Focus on high-end AI nodes (Nvidia 6000, Tenstorrent)
- Target AI bid packages
- High investment, high potential returns
- Bet on AI growth trajectory
Geographic Considerations​
Latency-Sensitive Workloads:
- Closer to major population centers = potential pricing premium
- Edge computing use cases value low latency
- Consider location when pricing
Energy Costs:
- High electricity costs reduce profitability
- Consider renewable energy for cost savings
- Factor into pricing strategy
Worked Example: Fulfilling Bids​
Scenario: You Have a Large TFGrid Node​
Your Node Specs:
- 36 CPU cores, 20,000 Passmark
- 512 GB RAM
- 4,000 GB SSD
- Max 100 slices, typically provides 20
Bid Fulfillment Strategy:
Option A: All Memory-Heavy
- Leverage your 512 GB RAM advantage
- Provide 20 memory-heavy slices at 8 GB each = 160 GB used
- Income: 20 × 2.4 CC = 48 CC/month minimum
- Premium positioning due to high RAM
Option B: Mixed Strategy
- 10 memory-heavy slices: 10 × 2.4 = 24 CC
- 10 standard compute slices: 10 × 1.2 = 12 CC
- Total: 36 CC/month minimum
- More flexibility, broader market
Option C: Target Higher Pricing
- Compete in marketplace when available
- Offer custom pricing for longer reservations
- Potential: 40-100 CC/month with market pricing
Recommendation: Option A or C - leverage your high RAM to target premium memory-heavy demand.
Next Steps​
For New Farmers​
- Review Node Specifications - Choose hardware
- Identify bid packages you can fulfill - Match specs to bids
- Calculate ROI with Pricing Model - Ensure profitability
- Acquire hardware and configure node - Get started
For Existing Farmers​
- Evaluate which bids you currently fulfill - Optimize allocation
- Consider upgrades - Add RAM for memory-heavy bids, or GPU for AI bids
- Plan for certification - Q4 2025 certified nodes coming
- Set competitive pricing - When marketplace allows
- ThreeFold Forum - Discuss strategies with other farmers
- Telegram - Real-time community support
- Community Calls - Weekly updates and Q&A
Share your experiences and learn from others building the decentralized cloud!
Important Notes​
(*) Revenue Distribution: All pricing listed is gross revenue. Farmers receive 80%, with 10% burned and 10% to ThreeFold operations.
CC Acquisition: Cloud Credits can be purchased at fiat equivalent of 1/1000 gram of gold ≈ $0.128 USD (Oct 8, 2024 pricing) or by converting 2 TFT per 1 CC.
Pricing Flexibility: Bids represent minimum commitments at stated prices. Marketplace implementation will allow farmers to set custom pricing for competitive differentiation.
Duration Matters: The pricing reflects monthly rates, but can vary significantly based on minimum reservation duration (hour, day, week, month, year).