Akash Network: A Decentralized AWS For Crypto & Web3
One of the most exciting protocols on the Cosmos ecosystem is Akash Network, a decentralized cloud service, providing a distributed p2p marketplace for Cloud Compute in a way that is censorship-resistant, permission less, and self-sovereign
"The Airbnb of Cloud Compute"
Apps that can be deployed on Akash include decentralized protocols
For example, Osmosis is deployed on Akash and is one of the largest DEXs across crypto by Total Value Locked (“TVL”) ($1.5bn)
Value Proposition
Currently 85% of data center capacity globally is not utilized
Akash seeks to fix this by building a p2p cloud marketplace that enables utility on top of unused compute resources
By utilizing this unutilized capacity, Akash is about 3x cheaper than competitors such as AWS or Azure
Further Akash is super reliable and has never been down since providing cloud services, while its large competitors' services have been down multiple times
The decentralization, reliability, and cheap pricing is driving growth of Akash’s token, AKT into hyperdrive
With a total of 60k deployments, 9 partnerships, 7 new listings, and a handful of new product features (like storage) in our first year, 2021 was a big one for Akash
2021 Recap
Industry & Market Capture
On top of this growth, the cloud computing space is growing at 17% annually with the cloud services market reaching $1.3 trillion by 2025 (according to IDC)
A huge market for Akash to capture and accrue value to AKT
In pursuit of this market capture, Akash has announced multiple partnerships including:
And 2022 could even better with a goals that should help grow development even further
Reduce deployment time via templates
A GPU Marketplace unlocking new uses cases
UI Component Library to simplify tool development on Akash
In addition to the ASN Market, we’ve added some features on our blockchain like storage and tooling, ultimately clearing the pathway for a GPU Marketplace on Akash in early 2022.
Going forward for Akash to compete with the likes of AWS and Azure, they will need to continue adding capabilities to their cloud such as managed services, which is part of their roadmap
Tokenomics
AKT acts as a governance token, incentives providers to provide lower prices, and incentives long term participation via staking
AKT is a inflationary token with a decay curve and fixed supply
Staking rewards will also eventually include Take Income
Something this has been accelerating...
A risk associated with payment via AKT is the customers desire for a stable payment option
There are early discussions about using a stable coin and using something like the Terra Money burning mechanism with UST, an indirect way to accrue value to AKT stakers
With such strong fundamentals, AKT Market Cap has held quite well despite BTC and the general crypto markets down ~40%+
Great follows for Akash content:
@gregosuri ( Founder )
@boz_menzalji ( COO )
@KelseyRuiz ( Head of Comms )
@zcpeng ( @tendermintHQ CEO )
Conclusion
In summary of Akash:
Exposure to 2 fast growing industries, (i) cloud services and (ii) crypto/web3
Proven execution ability of its roadmap to add more capabilities and drive growth
AKT has potential to capture significant market and value accrual