1. Executive Summary
The year 2025 is a pivotal turning point in the development history of Irys (formerly known as Bundlr). In this year, Irys successfully completed its comprehensive transformation from a storage middleware within the Arweave ecosystem to an independent Layer-1 Programmable Datachain. With the official launch of the mainnet on November 25 and the issuance of the native token $IRYS, the project established its leading position in the fields of decentralized AI, verifiable data storage, and high-performance execution layers. This report will conduct an in-depth review of Irys in 2025 from four dimensions: technological breakthroughs, token economy, ecological expansion, and market performance.
2. Technical Milestones: The Birth of Programmable Data Chains
Irys's technological core in 2025 lies in breaking the boundaries between 'storage' and 'computation', achieving native programmability of data.
2.1 Launch of IrysVM and Activation of the Mainnet
In January, Irys launched the highly anticipated testnet, validating the feasibility of its unified execution layer. On November 25, the Irys mainnet was officially activated, introducing IrysVM. This innovation allows developers to write logic directly on data, enabling smart contracts to access and process large-scale datasets stored on-chain with extremely low latency.
2.2 Mixed Consensus Mechanism: uPoW/S
To ensure the permanence of data and the rigor of verification, Irys improved its hybrid consensus of Useful Proof of Work and Stake (uPoW/S) in 2025.
• Storage Proof: Validators must continuously prove that they maintain the allocated data partitions.
• Staking Security: Ensuring the network is protected from malicious attacks through $IRYS staking, and introducing a slashing mechanism to penalize data loss behavior.
2.3 Infrastructure for AI
Irys positions itself as a 'data chain built for AI'. By providing verifiable, time-stamped data provenance, Irys addresses the authenticity challenges in AI model training. In 2025, multiple technological updates focused on enhancing ZK proof storage efficiency and the parallel processing capabilities of large-scale AI datasets.
3. Token Economics: The Release and Deflationary Design of $IRYS
The TGE (Token Generation Event) on November 25 marked the official market entry of $IRYS , with its economic model designed to drive token value through high usage.
$IRYS is not only a means of payment but also the cornerstone of network security. By rewarding validators with an initial inflation of 2% per year (halving every four years) combined with a high destruction rate, Irys has initially shown its potential towards net deflation by the end of 2025.
4. Ecological Expansion and Partnerships
In 2025, Irys's ecological landscape expanded from simple NFT storage to decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) and AI fields.
• AI and Computing Collaboration: Formed strategic partnerships with decentralized GPU cloud service providers like Aethi r to explore seamless integration of AI model middleware and storage.
• Layer-1/2 Integration: As a verifiable data layer for multiple mainstream public chains, Irys carried out over billions of data interactions in 2025, becoming an important supplement to the data availability (DA) in Ethereum's L2 scaling solutions.
• Developer Program: Funded over 50 startup projects through the ecological fund, covering cutting-edge fields such as decentralized social media, verifiable legal documents, and on-chain gene data storage.
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Outlook for 2026
Looking back from the beginning of 2026, Irys has successfully laid the foundation. The future core objectives will focus on:
• Large-scale Application of IrysVM: Promoting the landing of more native programmable data applications.
• AI Agent Integration: Enabling AI agents to autonomously store and retrieve knowledge bases on Irys.
• Enhanced Cross-chain Interoperability: Further simplifying the process for other ecosystems to access Irys's permanent data.
"Data is not just stored; it is alive and programmable." - Irys's core vision for 2025 is already taking shape.
