Acurast, a decentralized compute network powered by smartphones, introduces Staked Compute, a major protocol update that turns crowdsourced device power into a dependable, enterprise-ready compute fabric. By pairing hardware-verified execution on iOS and Android with stake-backed availability commitments, Acurast aligns economic incentives with real uptime to deliver reliable and confidential compute without centralized gatekeepers.
Decentralized compute and decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) projects have long struggled with reliability and ‘proof-of-hardware’. In the absence of verifiable, device-level assurances, networks have been compromised by virtualized or misreported hardware, resulting in broken deployments and unavailable capacity.
Acurast addresses this head-on by combining smartphone Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) with a global benchmarking protocol and new stake-based commitments that ensure workloads continue to run.
“Smartphones are already shipping secure hardware that’s world-class, and they’re everywhere,” said Alessandro De Carli, Founder of Acurast. “Staked Compute turns that ubiquity into reliability so that providers make clear availability promises, back them with stake, and earn more when they consistently deliver. No more data centers or intermediaries, just a protocol that pays for performance.”
Under the new design, each participating phone attests to integrity through the device’s TEE, is benchmarked to quantify real capabilities, and can then lock a portion of that capacity for one or more epochs. If a provider meets the commitment, rewards accrue; if they do not, the protocol applies proportional penalties. The result: a service-level mindset for decentralized compute enforced by economics, not a central operator.
“Enterprises want two things above all else: cost efficiency and confidentiality,” said Alessandro De Carli, Founder of Acurast.. “When your workload runs inside a sealed TEE on a consumer device, your sensitive data stays yours. Since comparable phone-class compute cost a fraction of service-class alternatives, Acurast can offer compelling prices without compromising security.”
Different deployments value different resources, so artificial intelligence (AI) inference might prize sustained compute, while lightweight data-fetching or automation tasks might emphasize availability or residential IP characteristics. In Acurast, benchmarking helps match the right jobs to the right devices, while Staked Compute ensures providers get paid for their reliability rather than just their raw speed.
The network’s natural diversity quickly addresses concerns about centralizing in only high-end devices, as many workloads do not require flagship performance. The global smartphone market is broad, spanning every price tier and manufacturer. This heterogeneity is a feature that allows Acurast to allocate tasks across a wide base, improving resilience while minimizing single-class hardware dependence.
This is not ‘mobile mining’ by another name. Mining burns cycles on synthetic puzzles; Acurast routes compute to productive work, whether that be AI and secure data processing or automation and proof generation. Stake-backed commitments ensure quality of service for builders and businesses alike.
Staked Compute is rolling out with Acurast’s latest protocol release, where providers can participate via the Acurast Processor apps. Developers can also target the network via the Acurast Hub, with full details, parameters, and benchmarking methodology documented in the Acurast docs.
About Acurast
Acurast is redefining compute by utilizing billions of smartphones – no data centers required. This verifiable, scalable, and confidential compute network enables users to run secure applications on decentralized infrastructure at scale—without compromising speed or privacy.
Acurast has already onboarded 119,000+ phones worldwide on its incentivized testnet, making it the most decentralized verifiable compute network available today. With more than 35,000+ compute deployments powering mission-critical workloads, and over 360 million on-chain transactions processed to date, Acurast is setting a new benchmark for decentralized compute. This scale enables high-security and AI-driven applications to run seamlessly across a global, community-powered network.