by Mysterium Foundation
Quick Fact
Mysterium was one of the earliest dVPN projects, live since 2017, and offers apps for users as well as APIs for developers building censorship-resistant internet tools.
Mysterium Network is an open-source, decentralized VPN protocol that connects users to a global pool of residential IPs and bandwidth providers. It routes traffic through encrypted tunnels while removing centralized intermediaries, allowing for a censorship-resistant, surveillance-free internet experience.
At the heart of Mysterium is its bandwidth marketplace. Users pay for VPN services with the native $MYST token, while node operators earn $MYST by securely sharing their unused bandwidth. This incentivized model provides a robust alternative to centralized VPN providers and helps maintain uptime, decentralization, and geographic diversity.
Mysterium provides developer SDKs and APIs to build custom applications or integrate privacy tools into dApps and Web3 platforms. Its node and client infrastructure supports flexible deployment for both technical and non-technical users, with apps available for Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux.