Acurast Association Schedules Token Generation Event for November 17, 2025, Preceding Mainnet Launch

Executive Summary

The Acurast Association has officially scheduled its Token Generation Event (TGE) for November 17, 2025, a critical step toward the anticipated Mainnet launch. This initiative aims to integrate decentralized confidential computing capabilities within the Polkadot ecosystem. The platform, which utilizes consumer mobile devices as secure compute nodes, has demonstrated substantial operational traction through its Acurast Canary network, recording over 137,500 onboarded phones and processing 447 million on-chain transactions.

The Event in Detail

On September 30, 2025, the Acurast Association confirmed November 17, 2025, as the planned date for its Token Generation Event. This event precedes the full Acurast Mainnet launch, which will enable the transferability of the ACU token. The adjustment in the timeline from an initial Q3 projection for 2025 was made to facilitate coordination with external partners, including exchanges and ecosystem collaborators, and to expand cross-chain integrations. The delay also allows for further testing of crucial mechanics, such as staked compute on the canary net. Post-Mainnet launch, the ACU token is planned for accessibility on Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) across various ecosystems and Centralized Exchanges (CEXs).

The Acurast Canary network has achieved notable operational milestones, including over 137,500 phones onboarded and 447 million on-chain transactions, alongside more than 40,000 deployments. Further development involves the onboarding of up to 18 Collators on Acurast Canary before Mainnet launch to decentralize block propagation and the imminent activation of Staked Compute. A Cloud Rebellion Airdrop of 10 million ACU tokens is also planned, proportional to MIST points accumulated by community members.

Financial Mechanics & Tokenomics

The ACU token serves as the foundational utility and governance asset for the Acurast network. The initial supply at TGE is capped at 1,000,000,000 ACU, with an adaptive annual inflation rate ranging between 1% and 5%. The token distribution emphasizes community engagement, with nearly 70% allocated to community-focused initiatives, including the Community Treasury, TGE Community Activation, Operational Funds, and Liquidity Provision. Only 6.5% of tokens are allocated to early backers, and team and advisors have the longest lock-up periods to align with long-term project objectives.

ACU functions as a unified settlement token, assigning and measuring reputation and quality of service for provided compute. A 30% burn mechanism is applied to every settlement transaction to prevent reputation score tampering. Additionally, ACU holders can participate in protocol governance and pay for network transaction fees within the Proof of Stake blockchain. Staking is enabled for ACU holders to provide economic security to the network, earning fees as rewards.

Business Strategy & Market Positioning

Acurast positions itself as a decentralized, serverless cloud platform, transforming consumer hardware, primarily mobile phones, into secure compute nodes. This strategy leverages the built-in security modules of mobile devices to form a global network capable of handling sensitive workloads, including confidential Artificial Intelligence (AI) processing. This approach provides a private, censorship-resistant, and cost-effective alternative to traditional cloud services like Amazon Web Services (AWS), by avoiding data-center lock-in.

Integrating with the Polkadot SDK, Acurast benefits from shared security and cross-chain interoperability, which enables on-chain verification of compute tasks. This framework eliminates the need for an independent economic security framework, allowing the team to concentrate on scaling. The platform contrasts with competitors such as Phala, Arcium, and Oasis, which rely on server-grade Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) and specialized hardware. Acurast