What is io.net?
io.net is a decentralized GPU cloud that gathers graphics cards from data centers, crypto miners and individuals and rents them to AI teams. IO is its Solana-based token, used to reward GPU suppliers, for supplier staking and, since June 2026, burned using network revenue.
Utility Lens
What io.net actually does
Lets AI developers rent clusters of GPUs, or call hosted open-source models, at lower prices than large cloud providers by tapping spare hardware worldwide.
- Real-world usage
- growingPaid GPU rentals and inference are real and rising, including a reported $8 million enterprise contract, though most metrics are company-reported.
- Token necessity
- integralIO rewards and collateralizes GPU suppliers and is burned from revenue, but customers can rent compute without holding it long term.
- Decentralization
- limitedHardware comes from many independent suppliers, but io.net the company runs the scheduling, verification and customer relationships.
- Track record
- developingThe token launched in June 2024, a few weeks after a GPU-spoofing episode forced the team to tighten supplier verification.
What it’s used for
Teams use io.cloud to spin up GPU clusters for training and fine-tuning, and io.intelligence to call open-source models through an OpenAI-compatible API. Suppliers connect hardware and earn IO rewards plus a share of customer payments. The company publishes customer case studies and says it is a leading decentralized inference provider on OpenRouter.
Role of the IO token:
Evidence of real use
- io.net reported a network of more than 2,752 verified GPUs and 80,000 CPUs across 138+ countries at the end of 2025. Source
- In June 2026 io.net launched the Incentive Dynamic Engine, burning at least half of the IO revenue the network keeps and expecting to burn at least 12 million IO in a year. Source
- IO's supply is capped at 800 million, released through emissions over about 20 years. Source
- In April 2024 io.net said it was removing users who had spoofed GPUs to farm token rewards. Source
The AI angle
- AI role
- compute marketplace
- What actually happens
- io.net rents real GPU clusters to AI teams for training and inference and also serves open-source models through an API and OpenRouter. IO itself does no computing; it rewards and collateralizes GPU suppliers, and revenue is now used to burn it. Usage is genuine and growing, but rely on independent data where possible, since the 2024 spoofing incident showed how incentives can inflate supply figures.
How io.net works
io.net acts as a broker between GPU owners and AI customers. Suppliers, ranging from data centers to individuals with gaming cards, install io.net's worker software, which registers their hardware and checks that it is genuine. Customers then pick GPU types and locations and launch clusters for jobs such as training, fine-tuning or batch inference. The platform supports bare-metal machines, Ray clusters and containers, and handles scheduling and networking across machines in different places.
For teams that do not want to manage hardware, io.intelligence offers more than 15 open-source models through an OpenAI-compatible API, with built-in tools for retrieval and structured output. io.net says it processes up to 4 billion AI tokens a day through OpenRouter, a popular model-routing service, which lets developers use the network without touching crypto at all. The company has also published case studies of startups that moved training and inference workloads from large cloud providers.
The IO token runs on Solana. Suppliers must stake a minimum amount of IO to operate a node and earn rewards, and other holders can co-stake alongside them. At launch, those rewards came from a fixed emissions schedule. In June 2026 the Incentive Dynamic Engine changed this so that at least half of the IO revenue the network keeps after paying suppliers is permanently burned, tying token supply more closely to paid usage.
Key moments
- 2024In April, io.net removes accounts that spoofed GPUs to farm rewards and tightens verification.
- 2024The IO token launches on June 11 through Binance Launchpool and exchange listings.
- 2025io.intelligence matures into a unified API for open-source models, and the network passes 2,700 verified GPUs.
- 2026On its third anniversary in June, io.net launches the Incentive Dynamic Engine with revenue-funded burns.
Supply
IO is capped at 800 million tokens, released through emissions that started at about 12.6% a year and taper over roughly 20 years. Since June 2026, at least half of the IO revenue the network retains is burned, which offsets part of that issuance depending on customer demand.
Risks to understand
- The 2024 GPU-spoofing episode showed that headline GPU counts can overstate usable capacity.
- Most revenue and usage numbers are company-reported, and a large share may come from a few big customers.
- Emissions continue for years, so burns only reduce net supply if paid demand stays strong.
- Decentralized GPUs can be less reliable and harder to network together than hyperscaler clusters, which limits some workloads.
io.net FAQ
Is io.net the same as IO?
io.net is the network and company; IO is its token on Solana. The CoinGecko listing uses the id "io".
Can I rent out my gaming GPU on io.net?
Yes, suppliers can connect consumer and data-center GPUs, but earnings depend on demand for your hardware type and passing io.net's verification checks.
What is the Incentive Dynamic Engine?
It is io.net's June 2026 token model that burns at least half of the IO revenue the network keeps, linking supply to paid usage.
Sources
- 2025: io.net Year in Review — io.net
- A new tokenomics for a new era: The IDE is now live — io.net
- IO Coin Allocation — io.net Docs
- $IO coin overview — io.net Docs
- Solana-based DePIN io.net CEO claims network was attacked in detailed postmortem — The Block
- Introducing IO.NET (IO) on Binance Launchpool — Binance
- The Incentive Dynamic Engine: A New Era for io.net Tokenomics — CoinDesk
Last reviewed October 4, 2026 by The Crypto Guide editorial team. Utility Lens ratings are editorial judgments, not investment advice. Market data from CoinGecko. Spot an error? Request a correction.