The synergies between Passage and Akash have been clear since early 2021 when our teams first connected. At the time, we had been building Passage for almost a year and were anticipating the launch of the decentralized GPU market on Akash Network.
Since then, Akash has been one of Passage’s greatest supporters and collaborators.
“Greg was the entire reason I entered the Cosmos ecosystem with Passage and Strange Clan. After launching virtual events for consumer brands like Amazon and Capitol Records, the need for Akash was obvious, because compute for these types of events was expensive and centralized. Beyond the Akash product, I was sold on the team. Greg had insight and intentionality that was unique in the fast-paced world of web3.”
— Lex Avellino, Founder of Passage
Beyond leading the PASG token private sale, Akash has served as a model for open-source developer communities. Their team has been integral in refining open-source initiatives for the Passage marketplace and blockchain, which just launched today with our first steering committee meeting!
Now, we are excited to announce the next big milestone in our collaboration: Passage has launched the first ever metaverse world on Akash decentralized GPUs!
With 1-click Akash integration for Passage worlds through the Elite dashboard, the implications of this development are big for both Passage worlds and the Akash GPU market.
The fundamentally unique Passage thesis was to never compromise on accessibility or immersion. We set out to create worlds that would push the bounds of immersion and graphical quality, but also be instantly accessible on any device in one click.
The one area we compromised on was cost. Running the GPUs for Passage’s unique streaming infrastructure is expensive—but we believed early on that cost would be the quickest to optimize.
Now, Akash is proving our thesis, providing permissionless access to cloud resources.
From initial testing, Passage GPU compute is up to 70% cheaper on Akash over AWS or Google Cloud for the same hardware. We tested with both high-density P100s and consumer-grade RTX 3090s.
Beyond performance improvements, this integration is unparalleled as the first metaverse application to leverage decloud in this way.
Akash was the only option for Passage, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
$5 million has been dedicated to provider incentives on Akash, which is expected to bring over 1,000 high-performance GPUs to the network. On the CPU side, total CPUs on Akash increased 460% in the last six months, and network storage has increased 320% since January. There are currently over 2,000 active leases on the network.
We look forward to Akash’s continued growth and the opportunity to advance virtual worlds on the cutting edge of decentralized cloud compute.
“This isn’t anything like what you see on something like Render Network. Render Network is cool, but it’s primarily used for ‘offline’ workflows: pre-rendered graphics, permissioned AI workflows, and stuff like that. It’s not built for live, interactive experiences, and they don’t offer generic compute. Render Network is permissioned, so it’s not possible to build on their hardware in the same composable way as Akash, which is open-source.”
– Lex Avellino
To celebrate this collaboration, we’ve teamed up with Akash to create a new AKT/PASG pool on Osmosis!
To launch the pool, both Akash and Passage have provided $200,000 in liquidity in AKT and PASG respectively.
Liquidity providers who contribute to the pool will now be able to receive exclusive LP roles in Discord thanks to a new feature we built with our friends at Apello. PASG stakers will also have access to exclusive roles and channels.
The future of the Passage x Akash collaboration is bright.
In addition to the integration of Akash to scale Passage Elite experiences, we will also pilot a cross-community working group for Passage and Akash with bounties to fund and support further development of Passage’s integration with Akash.
Akash and Passage will designate $10,000 to an initial bounty pool for this initiative ($5,000 in AKT and $5,000 in PASG).
We’re also excited to join Akash and our Cosmos fam at ETHDenver next week.
Passage Founder Lex Avellino will be speaking on two panels at ATOMDenver, including a discussion on AI with Greg Osuri of Akash, as well as a panel on the metaverse.
Hope to see you there!
