Akash Network (AKT)

Overview

Akash Network is a marketplace for cloud computing. It connects people who need computing power with independent providers that have servers or graphics processing units (GPUs) available to rent. Developers can use those resources to run websites, applications, blockchain services, and artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. The marketplace records agreements and payments on a blockchain, while the actual computing takes place on providers’ machines. (akash.network)

AKT is the network’s native token. It helps secure the blockchain, gives holders a role in governance, and connects the market for computing power to the network’s payment system. Akash also uses ACT, a dollar-denominated compute credit, so customers can work with more predictable service costs. (akash.network)

History & Team

From an idea to a working network

Akash grew out of Overclock Labs. The company introduced the project and released its software publicly in 2018. Its early plan was to let organizations offer unused server capacity to developers through an open marketplace. Greg Osuri and Adam Bozanich are co-founders of Overclock Labs; Osuri has served as its CEO and Bozanich as its CTO. (akash.network)

Akash’s first mainnet launched in September 2020 with staking and governance as its foundation. Compute services developed further in later releases. GPU support arrived in 2023, expanding the kinds of AI and other demanding workloads the network could host. A major change to AKT’s payment system went live on March 23, 2026. Each step brought the project closer to its original goal: an open market for computing resources. (akash.network)

Overclock Labs continues to develop Akash software, alongside contributors and businesses that build tools or provide computing capacity. Changes to the blockchain can also pass through on-chain governance, where the network’s participants vote on proposals. (akash.network)

Technology & How It Works

Renting compute through bids

A customer starts by describing a workload: the software to run, the amount of processing power and memory it needs, storage requirements, and any other features. Akash uses a file format called Stack Definition Language, or SDL, to describe these needs. Providers that can meet the request submit bids. The customer chooses a bid, creating a lease with that provider. The provider then runs the application on its own infrastructure. (akash.network)

Providers may offer standard CPUs, GPUs, storage, and network access. They can differ in location, hardware, available features, and service quality. These differences matter: a small website and a large AI model need very different machines. The bidding process lets customers compare suitable providers rather than rely on one cloud company’s fixed catalog. (akash.network)

Akash’s blockchain is built with the Cosmos SDK and uses CometBFT for consensus. Validators confirm transactions and maintain a shared record of deployments, bids, and leases. Provider software connects that record to the systems that run customers’ applications. In this way, the blockchain coordinates the marketplace without doing the heavy computing itself. (akash.network)

Keeping deployments funded

A deployment has an escrow balance that pays the provider as the lease runs. Under Akash’s current model, that balance generally uses ACT compute credits. Customers can obtain ACT by converting AKT, while the managed Akash Console also lets customers fund deployments with a credit card. Unused escrow is returned when a deployment closes. (akash.network)

Customers can work through a visual interface or command-line tools. Akash Console manages the wallet and billing experience for the customer. Console Air offers a self-custody path in which the customer connects a compatible wallet and approves blockchain transactions directly. (akash.network)

Tokenomics & Utility

AKT and ACT have different jobs

AKT supports staking: validators use staked tokens to help secure the chain, and holders can delegate tokens to validators. It also supports governance voting and pays blockchain transaction fees. Akash began with 100 million AKT created at genesis. Its original economic plan set out a long-term issuance schedule of roughly 389 million tokens, largely tied to staking rewards. The network’s economic rules have since developed through governance and protocol upgrades. (akash.network)

The March 2026 upgrade introduced a system called Burn-Mint Equilibrium, or BME. When compute credits are needed, AKT is burned to create ACT using a price supplied to the protocol. ACT is designed for spending on Akash compute rather than for transfer between users. Providers receive ACT for their services and can convert it back into AKT. This links use of the compute marketplace to AKT while allowing leases to be priced in dollar terms. (akash.network)

Burning AKT when ACT is created and minting AKT when ACT is redeemed are two sides of the same process. The number of AKT involved in each step can differ because the conversion price can change over time. Akash includes controls that respond when the system’s collateral measures cross set thresholds. (akash.network)

Ecosystem & Use Cases

From websites to AI workloads

Akash can host container-based applications, including websites, software services, and blockchain nodes. Developers can request GPUs for work such as running AI models, training or adjusting models, and rendering. Providers gain a way to offer capacity through the marketplace, while customers gain a wider choice of machines and locations. (akash.network)

The project has also built services around the core marketplace. AkashML provides managed access to AI models running on the network’s GPUs, reducing the setup needed for developers who want to use AI in an application. Akash has supported tools for deploying AI agents as well. These services show how the underlying compute market can support products aimed at users who do not want to manage every server setting themselves. (akash.network)

On the supply side, Akash opened a Homenode beta program in 2026 to explore using GPUs owned by individuals for AI inference. The beta added a possible route for compute capacity beyond conventional data centers. Akash reported that cumulative spending on network compute had passed $5 million during the first quarter of 2026, a dated measure of marketplace use rather than a token trading figure. (akash.network)

Advantages & Challenges

What the marketplace changes

Akash’s open bidding model gives customers choices across independent providers. A developer can compare offers based on location and hardware as well as cost. Providers, in turn, have a shared marketplace for reaching customers. The network’s open-source software and on-chain records make its rules and lease activity easier to inspect. (akash.network)

That choice also creates work for the customer. Providers may offer different features, and a suitable GPU in one location may not be available in another. Moving an application can require attention to its data, network settings, and software setup. SDL files, wallets, and provider bids add concepts for new users to learn, even though Akash’s managed tools simplify much of the process. (akash.network)

Akash has introduced confidential computing for supported workloads, using hardware features designed to protect data while it is being processed. Its published work also describes further development of attestation tooling, which helps a customer verify the computing environment. The availability of such features depends on the hardware and provider involved. (akash.network)

Where to Buy & Wallets

Getting and holding AKT

AKT is available on Coinbase and Kraken. Akash’s onboarding materials also name Crypto.com and the Osmosis decentralized exchange as ways to acquire it. Exchange access and supported payment methods vary by location. For a withdrawal to a self-custody wallet, the destination must support AKT on the Akash network. (coinbase.com)

Keplr and Cosmostation are wallet options shown in Akash’s Console Air onboarding guide. A self-custody wallet lets a holder manage AKT, connect to Console Air, and approve actions such as converting AKT into ACT. Akash Console offers another route for using the compute service: its managed account and card billing allow a customer to deploy without first setting up an AKT wallet. (akash.network)

Regulatory & Compliance

Digital-asset and cloud-service rules

Akash’s token activity and its computing services touch different areas of regulation. In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service treats transactions involving digital assets—including sales, exchanges, payments, and staking rewards—as matters that may need to be reported for tax purposes. In the European Union, the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework sets authorization requirements for businesses providing covered crypto-asset services. Hosting workloads can also involve rules about data handling and the location where information is processed. Akash’s provider attributes let customers select for factors such as region and available certifications. (irs.gov)

Akash’s cloud-computing purpose is relevant to a halal or Shariah assessment, but the assessment also involves the rights attached to AKT, how staking rewards work, and the terms of a particular transaction. Malaysia’s Securities Commission Shariah Advisory Council, for example, evaluates digital tokens by examining their issuance proceeds and the rights and benefits they give holders. Its ruling on permitted trading also has specific conditions and a defined jurisdiction. AKT’s use in a productive service is therefore one part of examining its Shariah status, rather than a complete classification on its own. (sc.com.my)

Future Outlook

Building on the compute market

Akash’s direction has expanded from renting basic server capacity toward offering easier ways to run AI services. Managed inference, agent-deployment tools, and the Homenode beta all build on the same marketplace. Continued work on provider access, deployment tools, and confidential computing could broaden the kinds of workloads customers choose to run there. (akash.network)

A central question for Akash is how well it can connect customers with the right hardware, in the right location, through an experience that is simple to use. Its BME model also makes real use of network compute more closely connected to AKT’s economic role. The network’s development will be shaped by both sides of its market: providers willing to offer capacity and customers who find that capacity useful. (akash.network)

Summary

Akash Network brings independent computing providers together in a blockchain-coordinated cloud marketplace. Customers use it to run applications and AI workloads; providers supply the machines. AKT secures the network and supports governance, while its conversion into ACT connects the token to payments for compute. Akash’s place in the crypto ecosystem rests on that practical link between a digital token and a working infrastructure service. (akash.network)