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Acurast Introduction

Introduction to Acurast​

Acurast is a decentralized serverless cloud computing protocol that transforms smartphones into a global mesh of verifiable, confidential compute providers. Rather than relying on centralized data centers, Acurast coordinates idle mobile devices into a distributed computing grid, making it a leading DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) project.

Built on Substrate, Acurast operates as a Polkadot parachain, leveraging Polkadot's shared security model. The protocol features a modular three-layer architecture:

  • Consensus Layer (Orchestrator) — Matches developer deployments to processors via a liquid matching engine, reputation engine, and attestation service.
  • Execution Layer — A distributed backbone of mobile devices utilizing Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) for hardware-verified authenticity.
  • Application Layer — Hosts Web2 and Web3 applications across multiple ecosystems.

ACU is the native token of the Acurast ecosystem. ACU serves three main functions:

  • Governance of the network
  • Staking and securing compute through the Staked Compute mechanism
  • Paying for compute resources on the network

Learn more

AirGap Acurast Wallet​

AirGap Acurast Wallet is a convenient way to store and transfer ACU while keeping your private key offline. AirGap provides a secure, air-gapped signing experience for the Acurast network through AirGap Vault and AirGap Wallet with Beacon integration.

How to set up an ACU account in AirGap​

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How to stake ACU​

Acurast uses a Staked Compute mechanism that combines Proof of Stake with Quality of Service metrics. Token holders can participate as:

  • Committers — Lock tokens as collateral for promised computation and earn rewards based on benchmark scores, stake size, and cooldown period.
  • Delegators — Delegate tokens to committers without running hardware and earn rewards minus the committer's fee.

Staking is accessible via the Acurast HUB.

Acurast official Community​