drand

What drand does

drand is an open-source distributed randomness beacon that provides publicly verifiable, unpredictable, and unbiased random numbers as a service. The system is built on threshold Boneh-Lynn-Shacham (BLS) signatures over the BLS12-381 elliptic curve, with a Distributed Key Generation (DKG) protocol that allows a set of independent node operators to jointly produce a public/private key pair without any single party holding the full secret. Core products include the drand randomness beacon (delivered via JSON HTTP API, gRPC, and libp2p PubSub), client libraries in Go and JavaScript/TypeScript, and a timelock encryption suite (tlock Go library, tlock-js TypeScript library, tle CLI, and Timevault web app) that uses drand signatures to encrypt messages decryptable only at a future round. The network supports multiple beacon frequencies (default 30-second and quicknet 3-second) and chained and unchained modes.

drand operates under a consortium model called the League of Entropy, founded in 2019 by Cloudflare, EPFL, University of Chile, Kudelski Security, and Protocol Labs. The consortium has grown to 18+ independent organizations operating 21+ nodes globally. Production users include Filecoin (leader election, the first production deployment), Sui Network (zkLogin initialization), Scroll (EVM-compatible verifiable randomness via Anyrand), and gaming applications such as Proof of Play's Pirate Nation. The project has been security-audited by Kudelski Security and received a vulnerability audit funded by the Filecoin Foundation.

The business model is that of a public good: drand is provided free of charge with no authentication, rate limits, or commercial pricing tiers. Revenue is not generated from end users; instead, the project is supported by member organizations through grants, infrastructure contributions, and staffing (e.g., Protocol Labs hired for the project, Filecoin Foundation funded security work). The commercial entity behind the project is Randamu, Inc. (USA). There is no disclosed external venture funding, no headcount figures, and no pricing for premium service tiers; the project is positioned as foundational internet infrastructure rather than a monetized SaaS offering.

Name

drand

Legal name

Randamu, Inc.

Website

https://drand.love

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Short description

drand is an open-source distributed randomness beacon that delivers publicly verifiable, unbiased random numbers via HTTP, gRPC, and libp2p, operated by the 18+ member League of Entropy consortium and consumed primarily by blockchain, Web3, and gaming protocols.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cryptographic Infrastructure / Distributed Randomness

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Decentralized Node Infrastructure & RPC Networks (node providers, RPC relays, indexing-as-a-service) (FSAPALAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Layer-1 (L1) Network Validators & Node Operators (FSADAKAA)

Keywords

• Distributed randomness beacon
• Verifiable random numbers
• Timelock encryption
• Threshold cryptography
• Public randomness API

Headquarters

HQ city

Lausanne

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Open Source / Public Good: drand is an open-source project provided as a free, public service. The League of Entropy consortium provides the randomness beacon at no cost to users. Revenue is not generated directly; the project is supported by member organizations (Protocol Labs, Cloudflare, Ethereum Foundation, etc.) as a foundational internet infrastructure.
2. Grants and Organizational Support: drand development has been supported by organizations like Protocol Labs (hiring blog posts in 2020) and Filecoin Foundation (security audits). The project operates as a collaborative open-source initiative rather than a commercial entity.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

drand provides publicly verifiable randomness through an open-source distributed randomness beacon, accessible via HTTP API, gRPC, and libp2p PubSub. The service uses threshold BLS signatures on the BLS12-381 curve to produce unpredictable, unbiased, and publicly verifiable random numbers from a network of independent nodes operated by the League of Entropy consortium. Supplementary offerings include client libraries in Go and JavaScript/TypeScript, timelock encryption tools (tlock, tlock-js, tle), and the Timevault web app.

Product overview

drand is a distributed randomness beacon platform that provides verifiable, unpredictable, and unbiased random numbers as a service. The core offering consists of the drand distributed randomness beacon itself, accessible via HTTP API and client libraries in Go and JavaScript/TypeScript. The platform supports timelock encryption through the tlock (Go), tlock-js (TypeScript), and tle CLI tools, with a Timevault web demo for browser-based encryption. The League of Entropy consortium operates the global network of 22+ nodes across 18+ organizations to ensure decentralization and security.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• League of Entropy: A collaborative consortium of organizations running distributed drand nodes to provide verifiable, decentralized randomness beacons.
• Timevault
• tlock
• tlock-js

Products and services

• drand Distributed Randomness Beacon
• drand HTTP API
• drand Client Libraries
• tlock (Timelock Encryption Library)
• tlock-js (Timelock JavaScript Library)
• Timevault
• tle (Timelock CLI)
• quicknet Network

Quantifiable outcome

• 1M+ rounds generated without disruption
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

22 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ZKVcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 March 2025ZKV joined the League of Entropy in March 2025 to strengthen the global network for verifiable randomness.
• Lucerne University of Applied Sciences & ArtscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 March 2025Lucerne University of Applied Sciences & Arts joined the League of Entropy in March 2025 to advance distributed randomness research and implementation.
• Tangle NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 July 2024Tangle Network joined the League of Entropy in July 2024, enhancing security and trust for Web3 applications.
• Automata NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 March 2023Automata Network joined the League of Entropy in March 2023, contributing to the network's geographic distribution and diversity.
• IPFSForcecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 January 2023IPFSForce joined the League of Entropy in January 2023, expanding the network's presence.
• StorSwiftcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 March 2022StorSwift joined the League of Entropy in March 2022, contributing storage infrastructure expertise and operating HTTP relays.
• League of Entropy ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2019The League of Entropy is a collaborative consortium that runs the drand distributed randomness network. Founding members (2019) include Cloudflare, EPFL, University of Chile, Kudelski Security, and Protocol Labs. The consortium has grown to 18+ organizations operating 21+ nodes globally.
• CloudflarecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCloudflare is a founding member of the League of Entropy and provides HTTP CDN relay infrastructure for the randomness beacon. Also developed the dee Rust CLI tool for timelock encryption.
• Protocol LabscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProtocol Labs is a founding member of the League of Entropy. Hosts drand documentation, provided initial hiring for the project, and uses drand for Filecoin's randomness needs.
• Ethereum FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of the League of Entropy providing support and running drand nodes for the network.
• ChainSafecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChainSafe is a member of the League of Entropy, contributing to the distributed randomness network.
• EPFL Decentralized and Distributed Systems Laboratory (DeDiS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEPFL DeDiS lab is the originating research lab for drand. Founded the project as a research initiative in 2019 and continues as a League of Entropy member.
• Kudelski SecuritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKudelski Security is a founding member of the League of Entropy and conducted security assessments of the timelock encryption scheme (May 2023).
• Centre for Digital Trust (C4DT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerC4DT is a member of the League of Entropy, contributing to the distributed randomness network.
• University of ChilecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Chile is a founding member of the League of Entropy, running drand nodes and contributing to the research and development of distributed randomness.
• UCLcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity College London is a member of the League of Entropy, participating in the distributed randomness network.
• Emerald OnioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEmerald Onion is a member of the League of Entropy, providing routing infrastructure for the drand network.
• DIA AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDIA is a member of the League of Entropy, contributing to the distributed randomness network.
• QRL (Quantum Resistant Ledger)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerQRL joined the League of Entropy in January 2021, providing quantum-resistant blockchain expertise to the network.
• ZenGocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerZenGo, the first keyless cryptocurrency wallet, joined the League of Entropy in April 2021. Uses threshold cryptography for keyless wallets.
• Randamu, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRandamu is the creator and primary maintainer of drand. Created drand.love website, maintains documentation, and drives project development. Licensed under Apache 2.0 and/or MIT.
• Filecoin FoundationminorOthersFilecoin Foundation funded a vulnerability audit and fuzzing report for drand (December 2023), supporting security of the randomness beacon.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Chainlink: Chainlink is a leading Web3 oracle network whose Chainlink VRF provides cryptographically secure, on-chain-verifiable random values to smart contracts. It directly overlaps with drand's verifiable randomness API for blockchain developers.
• Supra: Supra provides oracle infrastructure and SupraVRF for blockchain applications, combining off-chain randomness generation with on-chain verification. Its product category and target developer base closely match drand's core offering.
• Pyth Network: Pyth Network distributes low-latency oracle data and offers Pyth Entropy, a verifiable randomness service for smart contracts. It is a direct category peer because both serve applications requiring publicly verifiable random inputs in Web3.

Emerging players

• DIA: DIA operates a decentralized oracle and data network for blockchain applications, serving a similar trust-minimized data and developer-infrastructure category. It is an emerging player whose broader data scope overlaps with drand's public-verifiability proposition.
• Automata Network: Automata Network builds privacy-preserving, decentralized infrastructure and verifiable-computation tools for Web3 applications. It is an emerging player with partial overlap in cryptographic security, node infrastructure, and trust-minimized execution.
• Witnet: Witnet is a decentralized oracle network that lets smart contracts retrieve and verify external data. It is an emerging category peer because both provide distributed, trust-minimized data infrastructure to Web3 developers, although Witnet's primary product is broader than randomness.
• Pocket Network: Pocket Network is a decentralized RPC and node infrastructure network serving blockchain applications. It shares drand's globally distributed node model and API-first developer distribution, though it focuses on general blockchain access rather than randomness.
• Lava Network: Lava Network is a decentralized API and RPC network for Web3, using distributed providers to serve developer-facing endpoints. Its node incentives and self-serve API model are materially comparable to drand's infrastructure and delivery layer.

Broad incumbents

• Ankr: Ankr offers RPC endpoints, APIs, staking, and node infrastructure across multiple blockchains. It is a broad incumbent that competes for the same Web3 developer and infrastructure budget, although its portfolio is wider than drand's randomness focus.
• Alchemy: Alchemy is an established Web3 developer platform providing node, RPC, indexing, and API infrastructure. It is a broad incumbent comparable by target market and developer-first service model, even though it does not specialize in decentralized randomness.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/drand_loe
• GitHubgithub.com/drand/drand
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/drand

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about drand