New Feature Testnet Rollout Spurs DeFi Altcoin to Surpass Crypto Market This Week

As the project debuts a new payments feature on its testnet, an obscure decentralized finance (DeFi) altcoin is surpassing the broader crypto market this week.

In a recent development, the DeFi protocol Akash Network (AKT), known for its focus on cloud-based solutions, unveiled the testnet of its Stable Payments feature. This feature is set to revolutionize how traders settle payments by integrating Circle’s stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC).

Overclocked Labs, the brains behind Akash Network, confirmed that the Stable Payments feature on Akash had successfully completed the initial testing phase. This crucial component of AKT 2.0 paves the way for users to settle their deployments in USDC. Currently live on the public testnet, this feature is set to be incorporated into the forthcoming Akash GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) mainnet upgrade.

This announcement led to a significant surge in AKT value. The digital asset saw its price jump from $0.577 on August 6th to $1.17 on August 11th, marking a whopping increase of over 102%. As of now, the altcoin is trading at a robust $1.12.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire lauded the collaboration with Akash Network, characterizing the partnership as a decentralized cloud infrastructure with a globally available settlement currency.

Cheng Wang, the CFO of Overclock Labs, believes that adding USDC to the Akash Network will rectify the problems associated with solely using AKT as the protocol's payment method. According to Wang, these issues center around a lack of price stability and the steps users have to undertake to obtain AKT.

AKT, with its emphasis on machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), rolled out AI testing on its testnet back in May. This move too had a positive impact on the crypto asset’s price.

Aug 13, 2023