Grass (GRASS)

Overview

Grass is a network that uses spare internet bandwidth to gather publicly available web data. People join by running a Grass app on a computer or Android device. Their devices become nodes: connection points that help the network send web requests and receive responses. Grass turns the collected material into data products for organizations, including developers of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Participants can earn rewards for contributing to the network. (grass-foundation.gitbook.io)

GRASS is the network’s native token on Solana. It has a separate role from Grass Points, which record a participant’s contribution. Grass has used both GRASS and USDC, a dollar-linked digital token, for reward distributions. The form of a reward depends on the program and distribution period. (getgrass.io)

Grass belongs to a category called decentralized physical infrastructure networks, or DePIN. These projects coordinate resources supplied by many people rather than relying on one provider. In Grass’s case, the shared resource is internet access, and the main product is access to public web data. (grass.io)

History & Team

From an app to a data network

Grass grew out of work by Wynd Labs, which develops software and provides engineering services for the network. Andrej Radonjic, Wynd Labs’ CEO, described Grass as a concept formed in 2022, with development beginning in 2023. Its early product was a browser extension that let people contribute unused bandwidth and collect Grass Points. The project later added desktop and Android apps. (blockworks.com)

Wynd Network raised a $3.5 million seed round in 2023, led by Polychain Capital and Tribe Capital. Participants included Bitscale, Big Brain, Advisors Anonymous, Typhon V, and Mozaik. Grass’s token launch and first major airdrop followed in October 2024. An airdrop distributes tokens to eligible participants, often in recognition of earlier activity. (blockworks.com)

Grass describes Wynd Labs as a service provider to the network. In a 2026 update, the project said the network holds its infrastructure and commercial relationships, while Wynd Labs handles engineering and other operating work. That structure matters because the app, data service, foundation, and token each have different jobs. (grass.io)

Technology & How It Works

Nodes, routers, and validators

A Grass node runs in the background and makes part of a user’s internet connection available to the network. It handles requests for public websites and sends encrypted responses back through Grass. Routers help direct traffic, while validators check network activity. The project uses connection quality, reliability, and geographic demand to decide which nodes receive work. A node in a region where buyers need data may handle more requests than one elsewhere. (grass-foundation.gitbook.io)

The software works with a participant’s internet connection rather than drawing on their browsing history or personal files to create datasets. The distinction is important: sharing bandwidth gives a request a route to a public website; it does not make the participant’s own documents the data being gathered. Participants can view connection status and points in the Grass dashboard. (grass-foundation.gitbook.io)

Tracking contributions and data origins

Grass Points measure two kinds of activity. Uptime Points track how long a device is available, along with certain referral and milestone activity. Network Points track bandwidth that Grass actually uses for web requests. A stable connection can improve a node’s chance of being selected, but being online and handling traffic are different contributions. (grass.io)

Grass has also described a sovereign data rollup design for recording where collected data came from. The design links datasets to information about their source, known as data provenance. It includes a data ledger and a zero-knowledge processor intended to batch proofs before recording them through Solana. In simple terms, the aim is to give data buyers a way to trace a dataset’s origin without placing every web response directly on a blockchain. Grass’s apps, traffic-routing network, and Solana token can be understood as connected parts of this larger system. (grass.army)

Tokenomics & Utility

Supply and allocation

GRASS has a maximum supply of 1 billion tokens. Its published allocation divides that supply among community programs, the foundation, early investors, and contributors:

• 30% community: 17% for future incentives, 10% for the first airdrop, and 3% for router rewards.
• 22.8% foundation and ecosystem growth: support for operations, development, and network initiatives.
• 25.2% early investors: subject to a one-year initial lockup and later vesting.
• 22% contributors: subject to a one-year initial lockup and three-year vesting. (grass-foundation.gitbook.io)

Vesting means tokens become available over time instead of all at once. The allocation sets aside tokens for several purposes, but it does not mean that every network reward must be paid in GRASS. For example, Grass made its Stage 2 participant distribution available in USDC. That distribution covered eligible bandwidth contributions from October 14, 2024, through June 8, 2026, and did not create new GRASS tokens. (grass-foundation.gitbook.io)

Staking and planned uses

GRASS holders can delegate tokens to eligible network routers through Grass’s staking program. When a router receives staking rewards, its operator takes a commission and the rest is shared among its delegators according to the amount each has staked. Staking connects token holders to the infrastructure that helps move network traffic. (grass.io)

Grass has also described future uses for GRASS in paying for data services and taking part in on-chain governance. Governance would let holders vote on matters such as network upgrades and incentives once that system launches. Staking is an active use of the token; service payments and on-chain voting are described in project materials as planned functions. (assets-cms.kraken.com)

Ecosystem & Use Cases

Grass serves two broad groups. Participants supply network capacity by running nodes. Data customers use the network to obtain public web information for purposes such as research and AI development. Grass says its commercial work includes training data for AI systems and material used in applications involving text, video, speech, and coding. (grass-foundation.gitbook.io)

A training dataset helps an AI model learn patterns. Another use is giving an existing model fresh information when it answers a question. Grass calls its work on that second area Live Context Retrieval, or LCR. The idea is to retrieve timely public web content for AI applications rather than rely only on data gathered earlier. This connects the same distributed node network to two related needs: building datasets and finding current context. (grass.io)

The network’s scale also shows why contribution measures matter. Grass reported that, during Stage 2, about 150,000 users handled roughly 90% of its network traffic. The project linked that concentration to connection stability, updated software, and demand in particular locations. A large participant base therefore gives Grass potential reach, while the amount of useful work depends on where and how reliably nodes operate. (grass.io)

Advantages & Challenges

What the design offers

Grass gives individuals a way to contribute an existing resource with a relatively simple setup. Its mix of desktop and Android apps lets people participate from common devices, while the dashboard shows their connection and contribution records. For data buyers, a distributed group of residential connections can provide access across many locations. The project’s data-provenance design adds a method for linking collected material to its source. (grass.io)

What the network must manage

The main challenge is matching available connections with useful requests. A node can remain online yet receive little traffic if demand is elsewhere or its connection is less suitable. Grass must also turn raw web responses into data products that customers can use. Doing that well calls for reliable routing, checks on collected material, and enough processing and storage capacity as the network grows. (grass.io)

The token model adds another distinction for readers to understand. Grass Points, GRASS staking rewards, and participant distributions serve different purposes. The Stage 2 USDC distribution illustrates how the network’s reward approach can develop alongside its data business without changing the GRASS supply for that particular distribution. (getgrass.io)

Where to Buy & Wallets

GRASS is available on Kraken and OKX, which have published pages for buying or trading the token. Exchange availability and account requirements vary by location. GRASS can also be held in a Solana-compatible wallet after withdrawal from a supporting exchange. (kraken.com)

Grass introduced an in-app, non-custodial wallet in July 2026. It appears within a Grass account and supports holding, sending, receiving, swapping, and staking GRASS and other digital assets. A non-custodial wallet gives the user control of the wallet’s assets rather than leaving them in an exchange account. Grass also allows users to export the in-app wallet for use with an external wallet. (grass.io)

Regulatory & Compliance

Grass’s services and reward programs operate under eligibility rules. Its terms restrict participation by sanctioned persons and in jurisdictions where access is unlawful. The project also applies location-based rules to reward claims. Grass said regulatory considerations were part of its decision to pay the Stage 2 participant distribution in USDC. Exchanges and wallet service providers may apply their own identity checks and geographic limits. (grass.io)

In the European Union, a Kraken trading entity published a GRASS crypto-asset white paper under the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, naming Ireland as its home member state. The document describes GRASS as a crypto-asset and sets out its token functions and planned features. (assets-cms.kraken.com)

Islamic finance assessments consider a token’s activities and the structure of its rewards. Sharlife hosts a Grass screening entry, but the Shariah status and detailed analysis on its public page are reserved for subscribers. Its publicly available entry therefore does not give a readable halal or haram determination for GRASS. (sharlife.my)

Future Outlook

Grass’s development centers on making its network more useful to data customers while keeping participants connected and active. Its stated priorities include improving the quality of training data and expanding Live Context Retrieval. More demand for timely web information could give the network’s distributed connections an additional role alongside collecting larger datasets. (grass.io)

Other important steps concern the token and its users. The in-app wallet makes network rewards and GRASS functions easier to access from one account. Over time, the launch of planned governance and data-service payments would broaden what holders can do with GRASS beyond transferring and staking it. The project’s progress can be understood through these practical questions: how much useful traffic its nodes handle, what data services customers use, and which planned token functions become available. (grass.io)

Summary

Grass brings together shared internet bandwidth, public web data collection, and a Solana-based token. Participants run nodes that help gather information; Grass organizes that information for customers, including AI developers. GRASS supports staking and has defined allocations for community and network growth, while Grass Points track contributions and reward distributions follow their own program rules. The project’s place in crypto is its attempt to connect a distributed resource supplied by everyday users with a working data service. (grass-foundation.gitbook.io)