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What is Ankr?

Ankr is a decentralized Web3 infrastructure platform that provides remote procedure call (RPC) node services, liquid staking derivatives, and developer tooling across more than 50 blockchain networks. Ankr was founded in 2017 by Chandler Song, Ryan Fang, and Stanley Wu; Song and Fang met at the University of California, Berkeley. It was designed to solve the inefficiencies of blockchain node hosting by leveraging idle computing resources.

The project raised initial funding through a Binance Launchpad token sale in 2019, distributing the ANKR token and establishing one of the earliest utility-token ecosystems tied to infrastructure. Its headquarters is based in San Francisco, with a globally distributed team of engineers and node operators.

The platform's core product is its decentralized RPC service, which routes developer API requests across independent node providers in over 30 regions worldwide. This decentralized architecture competes directly with centralized providers such as Infura and Alchemy, offering greater censorship resistance, lower latency through geographic load balancing, and higher uptime through redundancy. Supported networks include Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Optimism, Fantom, and many others, making Ankr one of the most comprehensive multi-chain gateways in the industry.

Beyond RPC infrastructure, Ankr has built a significant presence in liquid staking. Its ankrETH and ankrBNB tokens allow users to stake ETH and BNB respectively while receiving a tradable, yield-bearing derivative that can be used across DeFi protocols. Ankr was among the first providers to launch liquid staking on BNB Chain and has partnered with Microsoft Azure to offer enterprise-grade node hosting services, a collaboration that significantly raised its profile among institutional clients.

The team has also worked with Binance on appchain infrastructure and co-developed a BNB Application Sidechain (BAS) framework.

The ecosystem has not been without controversy. In December 2022, Ankr's aBNBc (ankrBNB) smart contract was exploited after a former developer's private keys were compromised, allowing an attacker to mint quadrillions of tokens and drain approximately $5 million from liquidity pools. Ankr responded by reimbursing affected users, implementing stricter internal key management, undergoing additional third-party audits, and migrating to a new token contract. The incident prompted broader industry discussions around developer access controls in DeFi protocols.

Today, Ankr serves billions of requests per day across its network and supports thousands of dApps, validators, and enterprises. The company has expanded into AI infrastructure through its Neura initiative, an L1 blockchain designed to host decentralized GPU compute and AI workloads, reflecting a broader pivot toward the intersection of crypto and artificial intelligence.

Ankr's governance is partially community-driven through the ANKR token, which is used for node operator staking, service payments, and protocol voting. With ongoing integrations across rollups, appchains, and modular ecosystems, Ankr remains one of the most widely used infrastructure providers in Web3. Its ability to balance decentralization with enterprise reliability, combined with a broad product suite spanning RPC, staking, and compute, positions it as a durable player in the increasingly competitive blockchain infrastructure landscape alongside peers like Pocket Network, QuickNode, and Alchemy.

Key Features of Ankr

• Decentralized RPC Network: Ankr operates a globally distributed RPC layer spanning 50+ blockchains, routing developer requests through independent node operators rather than centralized servers. This architecture reduces latency, eliminates single points of failure, and provides censorship-resistant access to chains like Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, and Avalanche.
• Liquid Staking Tokens: Ankr issues liquid staking derivatives including ankrETH and ankrBNB, allowing users to earn staking rewards while retaining liquidity for DeFi activities. These yield-bearing tokens can be deployed across lending markets, DEXs, and yield aggregators without unbonding delays.
• App Chain Infrastructure: Ankr provides turnkey appchain deployment tools that let projects launch custom Layer-1 or Layer-2 networks with managed validator sets, RPC endpoints, and bridge integrations. This service has been used by gaming studios and DeFi protocols seeking dedicated block space.
• Enterprise Node Hosting: Through partnerships with Microsoft Azure and other cloud providers, Ankr offers enterprise-grade node deployment with SLA guarantees, monitoring dashboards, and dedicated support. This positions it as a bridge between traditional cloud infrastructure and decentralized networks.
• Neura AI Blockchain: Ankr is developing Neura, a purpose-built Layer-1 blockchain for AI and decentralized GPU compute workloads. The network integrates with existing Ankr infrastructure to tokenize AI services and offer on-chain verification for machine learning operations.

Ankr Use Cases

• DApp Development: Developers building decentralized applications rely on Ankr's Premium RPC endpoints to read blockchain data and broadcast transactions without running their own nodes. Projects across DeFi, NFTs, and gaming integrate Ankr's APIs to ensure fast, reliable multi-chain connectivity.
• Yield-Generating Staking: ETH and BNB holders use Ankr to stake their assets and receive ankrETH or ankrBNB tokens that continue accruing validator rewards. These derivatives can then be supplied to protocols like Pendle, Aave forks, or PancakeSwap to compound returns beyond base staking yield.
• Validator Operations: Professional node operators join Ankr's RPC network by staking ANKR tokens as collateral, earning fees for serving API traffic. This creates an incentive layer that aligns operator behavior with network reliability and performance benchmarks.
• Enterprise Blockchain Integration: Corporations exploring Web3 use Ankr's managed infrastructure to connect legacy systems to public blockchains without hiring specialized DevOps teams. Microsoft's node hosting collaboration with Ankr is a notable example of enterprise-grade adoption.
• Gaming and Metaverse Chains: Game developers leverage Ankr's appchain framework to launch dedicated networks optimized for high transaction throughput and low fees. This allows titles with in-game economies to avoid congestion on shared Layer-1s while maintaining sovereign chain control.

Ankr Tokenomics

Total Supply

ANKR has a fixed maximum supply of 10,000,000,000 tokens. No additional ANKR can be minted beyond this cap.

Circulating

The circulating supply is close to the total supply, as the majority of team, investor, and ecosystem allocations have vested over the years since the 2019 Binance Launchpad sale.

Utility

ANKR is used as collateral for node operators staking on the decentralized RPC network, as payment for premium API and infrastructure services, and for governance voting on protocol parameters. The token also plays a role in liquid staking products and upcoming Neura network operations.

Emission

ANKR has a fixed supply, so there is no ongoing inflation or new emission schedule. Token flow is driven by ecosystem incentives, treasury distributions, and staking rewards paid from existing reserves rather than newly minted supply.

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