Besides being a unit of exchange, the Akash Token (AKT) performs three main functions: Resolve (Governance & Staking), Reward (Take Income, Subsidies from Inflation), and Reserve (for spot computing auction).
The intrinsic value of AKT is derived from the earning potential, which has two main contributors (besides inflationary rewards):
1. Transaction Fees
2. Take Income from GMV (~20% at Genesis)
Fees on Akash can be settled using a multitude of currencies along with AKT. However, the market order book uses Akash Token (AKT) as the reserve currency of the ecosystem. AKT provides a novel settlement option to lock in an exchange rate between AKT and the settlement currency. This way, providers and tenants are protected from the price volatility of AKT.
Akash’s value is a direct function of and backed by the total value of transactions in the marketplace made possible by a take rate where a percentage of transactions is paid to the staker — Akash’s proposed take rate is 20% and those proceeds go back to all AKT token holders that stake AKT tokens.
To learn more, please check out below resources:
– Economics Paper: https://akash-web-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/03/akash-econ.pdf
– Earning Potential of Akash Token: https://akash.network/blog/the-earning-potential-of-akash-token/
– Subsidies Proposal: https://dcs.akash.network/spec/dcs-9