Coin columns · Mainnet Province
Akash Network: A Decentralized Cloud Run by Reverse Auction
The own coin of a marketplace for servers and GPUs
Akash Network is a decentralized cloud marketplace for renting servers and GPUs (graphics processors). AKT is its own coin, used for network security, governance and payment for compute.
1. A project pitched as the ‘Airbnb of cloud computing’
Akash grew out of Overclock Labs, founded in 2015 by Greg Osuri and Adam Bozanich, and launched its mainnet (the live network) in September 2020. The idea is to let anyone with spare servers supply a rental market led by giants such as Amazon and Google, hence the nickname Airbnb of cloud computing.
AKT is the native coin of the Akash chain, so on the Crypto Nation map it stands as the city-hall tower of the Akash chain in Mainnet Province, because it is a blockchain’s own coin. The chain is a proof-of-stake network built with the Cosmos SDK (a toolkit for making blockchains), where validators lock up AKT to produce blocks and confirm transactions.
2. A market priced by reverse auction
A user, called a tenant, posts the CPU, memory, storage or GPU they need and a price ceiling. Suppliers, called providers, bid prices downward in a reverse auction, and the tenant picks a bid to form a lease. Providers run the workload with Kubernetes, and Akash argues the competition makes renting cheaper than large clouds.
In March 2026 a governance vote (proposal 318) brought ‘Burn-Mint Equilibrium’ (BME) to the mainnet. Users burn AKT to receive ACT, a non-transferable compute credit tied to the dollar, and providers are paid with newly minted AKT as the work proceeds. Users pay a stable dollar-value price, while AKT is burned and minted as usage flows.
3. Where it is used, and what happened
Akash added GPUs to its rental list in 2023 to meet surging demand for AI training and inference. Workloads include AI model serving, web services and blockchain nodes. Its Q1 2026 report introduced a ‘Homenode’ beta, which lets owners of consumer GPUs such as the RTX 4090 and 5090 become suppliers, and an ‘Akash Agent’ platform for deploying autonomous AI agents.
In July 2026 the project announced confidential computing, a technique that processes data inside protected hardware environments. The aim is to reassure users with sensitive data.
4. Things to know
Akash competes with giant clouds and with other decentralized GPU networks such as Render and io.net. Provider quality can vary, and how much real usage will support the token is not guaranteed. BME is a new design, so the price oracle (a feed of outside price data) and its collateral safeguards need to keep working.
The technical base is another variable. According to press reports, founder Greg Osuri said Akash will leave its Cosmos SDK chain for another network better able to secure it. The destination is not yet chosen and candidates are being evaluated publicly, so check official announcements for how AKT and staking will change.
Written from information public up to October 2026. It does not recommend or rate any coin and is not investment advice. If something is wrong, please tell us through the contact page.