A brief history
Theta was founded in 2017 by Mitch Liu and Jieyi Long. The Theta Network is a decentralized video streaming network which allows users to watch video content and get rewarded with tokens as they share their internet bandwidth and computing resources. Central to Theta is its unique consensus mechanism, which is a modified proof-of-stake (PoS). This mechanism keeps the distributed network of computers running Theta Network in sync, and it differs from traditional PoS in that both validator and guardian nodes participate in the consensus mechanism, adding an extra level of security to the protocol. The network is run by three different groups of participants: Enterprise Validator Nodes, Guardian Nodes, and Edge Nodes. Enterprise Validator Nodes are companies that stake THETA tokens for the right to process transactions on the network. Guardian Nodes are users who perform work to ensure that the transaction blocks proposed by the Enterprise Validator Nodes are accurate. Lastly, Edge Nodes are users who either share their bandwidth or relay video streams over the Theta network in return for TFUEL.

THETA in practice
Theta protocol runs on two tokens. THETA is the governance token of the protocol which is used for staking, contributing to block production, and various other governing tasks, and has a limited supply of 1 billion. The second token is TFUEL or Theta Fuel which is an operational token that works in conjunction with THETA. TFUEL is used to pay for transactions on Theta and is used as the micropayment currency when users pay Edge Nodes for sharing a video stream. TFUEL is earned through staking and running a node on the Theta network. Each network participant running a Validator or Guardian node will earn part of the supply of TFUEL, proportional to the amount of THETA they are staking.