Akash Network’s Token Surges 50% on Upbit Listing

Akash Network, a decentralized cloud computing platform, saw its token AKT rally to almost $7 on Tuesday as the token was listed on South Korean exchange Upbit.

AKT jumped over 50% over the past 24 hours after trading steadily at $4 over the past week.

Upbit is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea by trading volume. AKT currently has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, according to data from Messari.

Akash was built using the Cosmos software development kit (SDK) and implemented on the Cosmos blockchain. It’s an open network that offers users a way to buy and sell computing resources via its own marketplace. It connects server owners who need computing power to host applications with cloud computing resources.

The company also announced its ‘Akash summit’ on Monday, which will take place in May. The summit will have a focus on the decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) space.

Akash Network fits into the wider ‘DePIN’ narrative, which has had substantial interest from venture capitalists recently. Anand Iyer, founder of Canonical Crypto, an early stage VC, told CoinDesk it is seeing the true utility of decentralized hardware come to life as the computing needs for AI surge.

"Companies and protocols like Akash Network and Ritual are leading the way here and we expect to see more players leveraging decentralized networks for non-crypto use cases," Iyer said.