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Acurast

Acurast — a reference card for a crypto project: what the product does and how verifiable the project’s key claims are; also — alignment with the Decentralized AI thesis (DecAI Fit).

Acurast — an AI/Compute | Infra project: a decentralized compute network on smartphones (TEE) and a set of tools for running applications/workflows on distributed infrastructure; the ACU token participates in the network economy (fees/staking/governance).

Disclaimer

Important: this page is a reference overview of the project. Within DecAIHub, we separately record a verification based on open sources within the AI thesis (what is real AI/onchain/why a token, and which sources this is based on).
This is not financial advice and not a recommendation to buy/sell/hold any asset. We do not assess price, returns, or entry/exit timing.
Conclusions are based on publicly available materials found as of the verification date. The absence of confirmation does not imply the absence of the technology.

TL;DR (for readers who are not into AI)

  • What it is: a decentralized compute network where smartphones act as “executors” and developers deploy applications/tasks on distributed infrastructure.
  • Who it’s for: developers who need decentralised compute (including confidential workloads), and device owners/compute providers.
  • Why onchain/token: the network is described as a DPoS blockchain (settlement/orchestrator layer); ACU is used for fees, staking and governance; some economic incentives are distributed through compute staking.

How it works (very briefly)

  1. The user does: connects a smartphone as a “processor” or deploys an application/task as a developer.
  2. The system does: orchestrates workload execution on distributed devices; uses hardware mechanisms (TEE/attestation) and onchain accounting/settlement for trust.
  3. The user gets: a completed task/result and (for providers) rewards for providing compute.
  4. Where the blockchain is: onchain is used as a settlement/accounting layer (fees/staking/treasury/collators) and for some observable network parameters.
  5. Token role (if any): ACU is needed for transaction fees, staking (economic security) and governance.

Quick links: AI thesis fit

Project passport

Field Value
Project name Acurast
Also known as (aliases) —
Logo (logo) ../assets/901_acurast_logo.svg
Token symbol (ticker) ACU
Category AI/Compute | Infra
Primary chain (chain) Ethereum
Type EVM
Network status mainnet
Consensus (consensus) PoS (Ethereum)
Launch date (launch_date) 2026-01-20
Project status (status) active
Token (standard) ERC-20
Token contract 0x216b3643ff8b7bb30d8a48e9f1bd550126202add
Token model (token_type) utility (payments + staking + governance)
Max supply — (CONFLICT: supply values differ across sources)
Issuance fixed inflation: 5% annually (as claimed)
Tokenomics (tokenomics, brief) Initial supply 1,000,000,000 ACU; inflation and pool distribution are described in the Tier‑1 tokenomics post.
Governance —
Admins/keys —
Audit yes
Bug bounty —
Team (team) —
Funding (investors/funding) —
AI component (ai_component) compute infrastructure for AI workloads
Use‑case (use_case) decentralized compute on smartphones
DecAI Fit — AI thesis fit 3/6 — medium alignment with the Decentralized AI thesis
DecAI Fit component summary ai_score 1 / onchain_score 3 / token_score 3 / evidence_score 3
Last verified 2026-02-11

General project overview

Per Tier‑1 sources, Acurast is a decentralized compute network where the computational units are smartphones and trust in task execution is provided through hardware mechanisms (TEE/attestation) and onchain accounting. The documentation describes deploying applications and connecting devices as compute providers.

Per the tokenomics description, the network is considered a Delegated Proof‑of‑Stake blockchain that acts as an orchestrator/settlement layer for the compute economy: ACU is needed for fees, staking and governance, and inflation is distributed across pools, including Staked Compute.

Features/modules

  • Processor (smartphone as a compute unit): a device can be connected and participate in task execution.
  • Developer flow: deployment of applications/tasks to the network (per the documentation).
  • Staked compute: a mechanism where participants (committers/delegators) stake tokens and receive/share rewards; onchain epoch/rewards/slashing parameters are present (described in the documentation/staking page).

Typical scenarios

  • Scenario 1 (compute provider): a user connects a smartphone → keeps it online → receives rewards/participates in compute staking.
  • Scenario 2 (developer): a developer deploys a workload → the network distributes execution across devices → the developer receives the execution result.
  • Scenario 3 (delegator): an ACU holder delegates a stake to a committer → receives a share of rewards and shares slashing risks.

Getting started (wallet/network)

  • What you need: a device (for a provider) or ACU tokens (for staking/delegation), access to Acurast Hub and the documentation.
  • Network/chain: some user actions go through an EVM wallet (EVM‑ACU), while native network mechanics are described as a separate layer (see the staking guide and tokenomics).
  • Fees: onchain fees depend on actions on the network and are paid in ACU.

Architecture/tech (non‑AI)

  • Components: client applications/Hub, a network of compute providers (processors), the protocol part (DPoS network), token and staking contracts/modules.
  • Participant roles: compute providers (committers), delegators (delegators), users/developers, collators/network operators.
  • Where logic runs: workloads execute offchain on devices; settlement/accounting/incentives and network parameters are recorded onchain.
  • Dependencies: hardware mechanisms (TEE) on devices, EVM wallets and the infrastructure of networks where the token is available.

Token/economics (expanded, no forecasts)

  • Token utility: ACU is needed for network fees, staking and governance.
  • Inflation/pools (claimed): 5% annual inflation; distribution across pools (including Staked Compute) is described in the tokenomics post.
  • Staked compute: confirmation of uptime/compute is described as onchain‑verifiable; rewards and slashing for underperformance are provided for.

Governance

  • What is established (Tier‑1): governance through ACU holders is described as part of the token utility.
  • What is not established per Tier‑1: the specific UI/decision‑making process (forum/portal/threshold rules) for a brief description in this card.

Security and incidents

  • Audits (Tier‑1): audit reports for chain/token/app components are published in the documentation.
  • Bug bounty: not established per Tier‑1.
  • Incidents: not established per Tier‑1.

Project status and timeline

  • Current status: mainnet launched (per the official announcement).
  • Key milestones: mainnet + TGE — 2026-01-20.
  • Roadmap: available (see links_*).

AI component of the project

  • What is real AI here? AI is described in Tier‑1 sources as a class of workloads/cases (for example, LLM and high‑security tasks) that can be run on the network; the protocol itself is compute infrastructure (AI intent, not a “model”).
  • What is truly onchain? the network is described as a DPoS blockchain (orchestrator/settlement) with onchain parameters (fees/staking/rewards/slashing); the verifiable onchain artifact is the ACU token contract on a public EVM network.
  • Why is a token needed? ACU is needed for fees, staking (economic security/incentives) and governance.
  • Red flags (based on the information found): AI is used as an “area of applicability” (intent) — without Tier‑1 metrics/benchmarks for AI quality (AI_3=0); supply values differ across sources (requires re‑checking).

DecAI Fit component summary

  • DecAI Fit: 3/6 — medium alignment with the Decentralized AI thesis
Component Level Score
AI reality low 1
Onchain necessity high 3
Token necessity high 3
Evidence Tier‑1 present 3
Details

AI reality

AI_0 — AI intent (Tier‑1 roadmap) (1/0)

  • AI_0 (decision): 1
  • Claim (one line): Tier‑1 sources describe AI workloads (for example, LLM) as an area of network applicability (intent).
  • Evidence: Tier‑1 — https://acurast.com/ ; https://docs.acurast.com/
  • Why sufficient / why not (one line): AI is mentioned as a use case/area of applicability, but this does not prove an “AI component of the protocol”.
  • Conflict note (if any): —

AI_1 — what the AI does (1/0)

  • AI_1 (decision): 0
  • Claim (one line): It is not established that the protocol contains its own AI component (model/inference) as a mandatory part.
  • Evidence: Tier‑1 — https://docs.acurast.com/
  • Why sufficient / why not (one line): Tier‑1 artifacts where AI is part of the product, not just a type of workload, are needed.
  • Conflict note (if any): —

AI_2 — demos/examples (1/0)

  • AI_2 (decision): 0
  • Claim (one line): Demos/examples specifically of AI workloads are not recorded as a separate Tier‑1 artifact.
  • Evidence: Tier‑1 — https://docs.acurast.com/
  • Why sufficient / why not (one line): There is a product demo surface (Hub/docs), but an AI example is not singled out as proof of AI reality.
  • Conflict note (if any): —

AI_3 — metrics/quality (1/0)

  • AI_3 (decision): 0
  • Metrics: —
  • Context (version/date/how measured): —
  • Evidence: Tier‑1 — https://docs.acurast.com/
  • Why sufficient / why not (one line): Quality metrics are not recorded per Tier‑1.
  • Conflict note (if any): —

AI_4 — tech description/architecture/versions (1/0)

  • AI_4 (decision): 0
  • Claim (one line): A technical description specifically of the AI part (model/versions/architecture) is not recorded.
  • Evidence: Tier‑1 — https://docs.acurast.com/
  • Why sufficient / why not (one line): The documentation covers compute infrastructure, but does not record an AI module as part of the protocol.
  • Conflict note (if any): —

Onchain necessity

OC_1 — contracts/addresses/chain (1/0)

  • OC_1 (decision): 1
  • Chain: Ethereum
  • Addresses/identifiers: ACU token (ERC‑20): 0x216b3643ff8b7bb30d8a48e9f1bd550126202add
  • Evidence: Tier‑1 — https://etherscan.io/token/0x216b3643ff8b7bb30d8a48e9f1bd550126202add
  • Why sufficient / why not (one line): The token contract address on a public network is a verifiable onchain fact.
  • Conflict note (if any): —

OC_2 — onchain beyond just a token (1/0)

  • OC_2 (decision): 1
  • What useful logic is onchain: the onchain layer is described as an orchestrator/settlement layer for the compute economy (fees/staking/treasury/collators).
  • Evidence: Tier‑1 — https://acurast.com/blog/network-and-tech/updated-acurast-tokenomics-decentralized-compute-powered-by-acu/
  • Why sufficient / why not (one line): The Tier‑1 tokenomics description records the network’s onchain role as part of the product, not “token only”.
  • Conflict note (if any): —

OC_3 — onchain is critical (1/0)

  • OC_3 (decision): 1
  • “Replace the blockchain” test: without the onchain settlement layer, verifiable fees/staking/rewards/slashing and trusted coordination of the network economy are lost.
  • Evidence: Tier‑1 — https://acurast.com/blog/network-and-tech/updated-acurast-tokenomics-decentralized-compute-powered-by-acu/
  • Why sufficient / why not (one line): The Tier‑1 source describes the network as a settlement/orchestrator layer — this is the core of the economic part of the product.
  • Conflict note (if any): —

Token necessity

TK_0 — no token (1/0)

  • TK_0 (decision): 0
  • Claim (one line): The project has a token, ACU.
  • Evidence: Tier‑1 — https://acurast.com/blog/network-and-tech/updated-acurast-tokenomics-decentralized-compute-powered-by-acu/ ; https://etherscan.io/token/0x216b3643ff8b7bb30d8a48e9f1bd550126202add
  • Why sufficient / why not (one line): Tier‑1 sources confirm the existence of the token and the onchain contract.
  • Conflict note (if any): —

TK_1..TK_4 (1/0)

TK_1 — payment for the service (1/0)

  • TK_1 (decision): 1
  • Claim (one line): ACU is required for network fees (transaction fees) when interacting with the network.
  • Evidence: Tier‑1 — https://acurast.com/blog/network-and-tech/updated-acurast-tokenomics-decentralized-compute-powered-by-acu/
  • Why sufficient / why not (one line): The Tier‑1 tokenomics description directly states that ACU is needed for fees.
  • Conflict note (if any): —

TK_2 — incentives/collateral/penalties (1/0)

  • TK_2 (decision): 1
  • Claim (one line): Compute staking and inflationary rewards + slashing for underperformance are described as part of the network economy.
  • Evidence: Tier‑1 — https://acurast.com/staking ; https://acurast.com/blog/network-and-tech/updated-acurast-tokenomics-decentralized-compute-powered-by-acu/
  • Why sufficient / why not (one line): Tier‑1 sources describe incentives and slashing as mechanisms for network resilience.
  • Conflict note (if any): —

TK_3 — governance (1/0)

  • TK_3 (decision): 1
  • Claim (one line): Governance through ACU holders is described as token utility.
  • Evidence: Tier‑1 — https://acurast.com/blog/network-and-tech/updated-acurast-tokenomics-decentralized-compute-powered-by-acu/
  • Why sufficient / why not (one line): The Tier‑1 source directly includes governance in the token utility.
  • Conflict note (if any): —

TK_4 — token is replaceable (1/0)

  • TK_4 (decision): 0
  • Claim (one line): The replaceability of the token is not assessed without Tier‑1 data.
  • Evidence: Tier‑1 — https://acurast.com/blog/network-and-tech/updated-acurast-tokenomics-decentralized-compute-powered-by-acu/
  • Why sufficient / why not (one line): Tier‑1 data on the role of the token in the protocol is required.
  • Conflict note (if any): —

Evidence (table)

Tier Source What it proves
Tier‑1 https://docs.acurast.com/ Description of the compute network on smartphones (TEE), general overview and getting‑started guides.
Tier‑1 https://acurast.com/blog/announcements/acurast-mainnet-tge-are-live-a-new-era-for-decentralized-compute-has-arrived/ Mainnet + TGE live (2026‑01‑20) and the “permissionless production network” context.
Tier‑1 https://acurast.com/blog/network-and-tech/updated-acurast-tokenomics-decentralized-compute-powered-by-acu/ The role of ACU (fees/staking/governance), the DPoS network as an orchestrator/settlement layer, inflation parameters/pools.
Tier‑1 https://acurast.com/staking Compute staking: committer/delegator roles, liveness/benchmark verification, rewards and slashing (description of the mechanics).
Tier‑1 https://docs.acurast.com/audits Public security audits of network/token/application components.
Tier‑1 https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.15654 Whitepaper: the claimed architecture of the compute network on smartphones (TEE).
Tier‑1 https://etherscan.io/token/0x216b3643ff8b7bb30d8a48e9f1bd550126202add Onchain fact: the ACU token contract (ERC‑20) and network‑level parameters.
Tier‑1 — CONFLICT: the tokenomics post claims an initial supply of 1,000,000,000 ACU, while Etherscan shows Max Total Supply ~157,172,061.39 ACU for this ERC‑20 contract (what exactly this contract represents needs re‑checking).
Tier‑2 https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/acurast/ Aggregator profile: reference metadata and links (context).
Tier‑2 https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/acurast Aggregator profile (context).

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