Overview

Akash is a decentralized marketplace, where cloud providers (providers) can lease their computing power to users (tenants). The Akash marketplace functions by conducting reverse auctions whereby the tenant creates orders for computing power, and providers bid on these orders. When the tenant chooses a provider, they create a lease. After this, the user deploys a Docker container on the Akash Container Platform where users are able to then run any cloud-native application and access a range of cloud management services like Kubernetes.

Please note that the unstake period is 21 days. This means that you can only unstake and withdraw coins to your wallet after this time has passed. We wish you profitable staking!

How to stake AKT (Akash)

1. Install Keplr Wallet Extension

In case you don't have the keplr extension installed in your browser visit https://www.keplr.app/ and click on Install extension.

Click on Install Keplr for Chrome if you are using a Chrome browser or Brave if you are using the Brave browser and follow the installation instructions.

2. Create/Import Account

Click on the extension in the Chrome/Brave toolbar and the following page will open up.

In case you do not have an existing Keplr account you can create a new account

You will be shown 12 words as your mnemonic seed. Select24 words option for a more secure mnemonic. Back it up securely (read the warning below)

Back up your mnemonic seed securely.‍

• Anyone with your mnemonic seed can take your assets.
• Lost mnemonic seed can't be recovered.

Enter an account name and a passphrase to unlock your wallet. You will be asked for the mnemonic again. Enter the 24 words in order. This is to make sure you remember the mnemonic.

Finally, click on Next to create your account

3. Log in to your account

Regardless of whether you already have an account or if you created it just now you may now click on the extension to view your address or visit https://wallet.keplr.app/#/akashnet/stake to see the full dashboard.

4. Stake your AKT

If you don't already have AKT in your account fund it with some tokens. You may use an exchange to transfer the AKT tokens to your address or get it from someone who already holds those.

To stake click on the Akash network in the left panel and click on Stake

You will be shown a list of validators with whom to stake on the right side. Scroll to Chorus One and click on Manage.

A modal with Chorus One's description will pop up. Click once on Delegate to enter the amount of tokens you want to stake.

Clicking on Delegate again will take you to Keplr wallet for approval. Approve the transaction and you will be able to see your stake.

There is a 21-day unbonding process for staked AKTs during which delegator AKTs do not earn rewards and cannot be transferred, exchanged, or spent. AKTs can, however, be slashed during the unbonding period.

5. Claiming rewards

After some time you will see rewards getting accumulated in your account. You can simply go to the Keplr extension to claim them.

Why we joined Akash

‘Akash’ translating to sky/open space in Sanskrit is just that: a decentralized, open source, cloud platform that aims to challenge the oligopoly of Microsoft Azure, AWS and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) in the $286 billion cloud computing market. It does this by creating a marketplace, where cloud providers (providers) can lease their computing power to users (tenants). Akash refers to this marketplace as the ‘Airbnb of server hosting’.

The Akash marketplace functions by conducting reverse auctions wherein the tenant creates orders for computing power, and providers bid on these orders. When the tenant chooses a provider, they create a lease. After this, the user deploys a Docker container on the Akash Container Platform, which is a deployment platform for hosting and managing containers. Here, users can run any cloud native application and access a range of cloud management services like Kubernetes. The Akash token is used as the standard for payment of these leases.

The selling point and what we think makes Akash a serious candidate for disruption in the gargantuan cloud computing industry is its cost. Currently, hosting on Akash costs a third of what it does to do so on AWS, Azure and GCP. The reason for this is that Akash sources their computing power from unutilized capacity of data centres, that would otherwise sit idle. The reverse auction mechanism also helps in lowering prices. This tool compares the current price of the big three to Akash.

If Akash can keep its costs low and gain traction it has the potential to compete with some of the biggest cloud providers and even a small market share gain would mean dramatic usage for the network. Akash also presents an opportunity for Web 3 and 2 applications alike to decentralize a huge point of centralization, which is cloud storage.

About Staking on Akash:

Validating Rights: The weight of validators is determined by the amount of staking tokens (AKT) bonded as collateral.

AKT Inflation: 54% at genesis. Inflation rate reduces everyday and halves every 3.75 years.

Reward Rate: Rewards from staking AKT will vary depending on the inflation and total amount of tokens that are staked at a given time. Learn more about the details of staking reward rates for chains built using Cosmos SDK here.

Chorus Commission: 8%

Withdrawal Delay: After withdrawing, your staked funds will only become accessible after the unbonding period (usually 21 days) has passed.

Slashing: You can get slashed (loss funds) in case the validator you are delegated to commits an offense. Make sure to do due diligence to minimize this risk.

Re-Staking: You need to withdraw rewards and re-stake them with some frequency if you want to make use of compounding returns.