{"id":"pearl-prl-layer-1-blockchain-with-proof-of-useful-work","title":"Pearl (PRL): Layer-1 Blockchain with Proof-of-Useful-Work","content":"Pearl (PRL) is a Layer-1 blockchain protocol developed by Pearl Research Labs, leveraging a Proof-of-Useful-Work (PoUW) consensus algorithm that replaces traditional hash-based mining with large-scale matrix multiplication, a core operation in AI training and inference. Its native token, PRL (¶PRL), is the network's currency. Its first major real-world validation came through a partnership with Together AI, an open-source AI inference provider [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-c06c41cc-3a0c-4c47-8c29-7b4c08a48017) [\\[4\\]](#cite-id-56f65b70-6aa7-4111-a1ad-18c86f46bafa).\n\n​\n\n## Background and Development\n\nPearl was developed by Pearl Research Labs, led by co-founder and CEO Omri Weinstein, a complexity theorist with a PhD from Princeton University; he holds a research affiliation with Hebrew University and previously held roles at Nvidia and Vast Data [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-c06c41cc-3a0c-4c47-8c29-7b4c08a48017). The Pearl whitepaper, grounded in peer-reviewed cryptography research on matrix multiplication proofs, was published in April 2025 [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-ad167b22-46d3-4032-88d5-acb19b8f330b). [Mainnet](https://iq.wiki/wiki/mainnet) launched on April 27, 2026 [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-ad167b22-46d3-4032-88d5-acb19b8f330b). Pearl Research Labs' open-source code is publicly available on GitHub (pearl-research-labs/pearl) [\\[8\\]](#cite-id-fa747496-0ccc-478d-8b1d-ba278c3014ab). Pearl Research Labs claims a fair-launch model — no pre-mine, no founder token allocation, and no venture capital — similar in structure to Bitcoin's permissionless launch [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-c06c41cc-3a0c-4c47-8c29-7b4c08a48017).\n\n## Technology — Proof-of-Useful-Work\n\nPearl replaces Bitcoin's SHA-256 hash puzzle with matrix multiplication (MatMul) as its proof-of-work function, using the same mathematical operation that underlies AI training and inference (the forward and backward passes of neural networks) [\\[5\\]](#cite-id-99bc8bac-fe30-4803-9e2b-58140dd1c370) [\\[6\\]](#cite-id-08ea4701-4397-4588-9ecc-802b6db95012). When GPUs run AI workloads, Pearl extracts valid proofs of those matrix multiplications as a side effect, allowing the same hardware to simultaneously secure the blockchain and perform AI computation.\n\nThe protocol combines MatMul commitments, BLAKE3 hashing, and zero-knowledge proofs to verify useful work without exposing private model weights or user data [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-ad167b22-46d3-4032-88d5-acb19b8f330b). The current implementation focuses on exact integer MatMul; the white paper discusses a future path toward low-precision floating-point formats (BF16, FP8, FP4), but it does not include a fixed timeline for that upgrade [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-ad167b22-46d3-4032-88d5-acb19b8f330b). Blocks are targeted every 194 seconds (approximately 3 minutes 14 seconds), which implies roughly 445 blocks per day under normal conditions. [Mining](https://iq.wiki/wiki/mining) initially required enterprise-grade GPUs such as Nvidia H100 and H200; consumer gaming GPUs were not supported in the initial implementation. [\\[9\\]](#cite-id-z3BeIJuxSi9YVBrs)​\n\n## PRL Token\n\nPRL (¶PRL) is the native cryptocurrency of the Pearl network. The token has a fixed maximum supply of 2,100,000,000 PRL (2.1 billion). Emissions follow a smooth polynomial curve defined as A(t) = t / (t + H), where H equals 650,226 blocks (approximately four years); under this schedule, approximately 50% of the total supply is scheduled to emit within the first four years [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-c06c41cc-3a0c-4c47-8c29-7b4c08a48017) [\\[3\\]](#cite-id-f5654123-e560-43b0-82fc-1982f4820436). This contrasts with Bitcoin's abrupt four-year halving events and is intended to avoid sudden miner incentive cliffs while front-loading a large proportion of supply in early years [\\[6\\]](#cite-id-08ea4701-4397-4588-9ecc-802b6db95012).\n\nAs of approximately June 2026, block rewards were around 2,700 PRL per block, implying roughly 1.2 million PRL in daily issuance before transaction fees. [\\[10\\]](#cite-id-5PrqxExPdSnhs26J) PRL reached an all-time high of approximately $1.65 on May 29, 2026, following the Together AI partnership announcement; price and per-GPU mining revenue subsequently declined as network difficulty rose [\\[7\\]](#cite-id-55cb81d3-6ea6-41f4-bdfc-989dcfc2d43e) [\\[3\\]](#cite-id-f5654123-e560-43b0-82fc-1982f4820436). PRL is listed on [\\[3\\]](#cite-id-f5654123-e560-43b0-82fc-1982f4820436).\n\n## Together AI Partnership (May 2026)\n\nOn May 15, 2026, Together AI, an open-source AI inference platform, announced an exclusive partnership with Pearl Research Labs [\\[4\\]](#cite-id-56f65b70-6aa7-4111-a1ad-18c86f46bafa). The partnership launched Gemma-4-31B-it-Pearl, an instruction-tuned variant of the Gemma 4 31B model, as a serverless inference endpoint on Together AI's platform. The endpoint is priced more than 25% below Together AI's standard inference rates, with the discount offset by PRL emissions generated in parallel during inference computation [\\[4\\]](#cite-id-56f65b70-6aa7-4111-a1ad-18c86f46bafa). Together AI had raised over 8 billion [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-c06c41cc-3a0c-4c47-8c29-7b4c08a48017). Omri Weinstein stated: \"Pearl changes the unit economics of AI, by allowing every GPU cycle powering AI training and inference to simultaneously produce a native proof-of-work digital asset — the ¶PRL coin — at no additional cost\" [\\[4\\]](#cite-id-56f65b70-6aa7-4111-a1ad-18c86f46bafa). Together AI commented that as the spot price of PRL increases, more of the value generated by Pearl emissions could be used to further reduce inference prices [\\[6\\]](#cite-id-08ea4701-4397-4588-9ecc-802b6db95012).\n\nThe deployment represented the first production instance in which a commercial AI inference provider's GPU workloads simultaneously mined a proof-of-useful-work cryptocurrency [\\[4\\]](#cite-id-56f65b70-6aa7-4111-a1ad-18c86f46bafa).\n\n## Risks and Limitations\n\nThe HashRate Index analysis (June 2026) noted that the majority of current [mining](https://iq.wiki/wiki/mining) was inference that had not been purchased by end users, which indicates that current [mining](https://iq.wiki/wiki/mining) activity was largely AI-shaped proof-of-work rather than genuinely user-purchased AI computation. [\\[10\\]](#cite-id-5PrqxExPdSnhs26J) [Mining](https://iq.wiki/wiki/mining) profitability declined rapidly after the Together AI announcement: an RTX 5090's estimated daily revenue approximately halved within weeks as network difficulty increased [\\[7\\]](#cite-id-55cb81d3-6ea6-41f4-bdfc-989dcfc2d43e). The smooth emission curve front-loads significant supply in the first four years, creating potential inflation pressure if miners sell rewards faster than markets absorb them [\\[6\\]](#cite-id-08ea4701-4397-4588-9ecc-802b6db95012). PRL liquidity has been concentrated on smaller trading venues; the PRL ticker has historically been used by unrelated projects, creating potential for ticker confusion [\\[5\\]](#cite-id-99bc8bac-fe30-4803-9e2b-58140dd1c370). The broader founding team, legal entity, headquarters, and investor list were not fully disclosed in primary materials as of mid-2026. [\\[10\\]](#cite-id-5PrqxExPdSnhs26J) The upgrade path to low-precision floating-point MatMul (BF16, FP8, FP4), which would broaden compatibility with standard AI workloads, had no disclosed timeline [\\[6\\]](#cite-id-08ea4701-4397-4588-9ecc-802b6db95012).","summary":"Pearl utilizes Proof-of-Useful-Work, substituting conventional mining with matrix multiplication, to secure its network. Native token PRL and a partnership with Together AI highlight its utility in AI inference.","images":[{"id":"QmeZcAJNDCz5SRNA5jDvQ6AxAREMfdXGv9hFokegmRZoHR","type":"image/jpeg, image/png"}],"categories":[{"id":"projects-and-protocols","title":"Projects & Protocols"}],"tags":[{"id":"Layer1"},{"id":"AIPlatform"}],"media":[],"metadata":[{"id":"website","value":"https://pearlresearch.ai/"},{"id":"github_profile","value":"https://github.com/pearl-research-labs/pearl"},{"id":"twitter_profile","value":"https://x.com/prlnet"},{"id":"references","value":"[{\"id\":\"c06c41cc-3a0c-4c47-8c29-7b4c08a48017\",\"url\":\"https://pearlresearch.ai/\",\"description\":\"Pearl Research Labs — official website\",\"timestamp\":1784126845693},{\"id\":\"ad167b22-46d3-4032-88d5-acb19b8f330b\",\"url\":\"https://pearlresearch.ai/research/whitepaper\",\"description\":\"Pearl whitepaper (April 2025)\",\"timestamp\":1784126845693},{\"id\":\"f5654123-e560-43b0-82fc-1982f4820436\",\"url\":\"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/pearl-2\",\"description\":\"CoinGecko listing for Pearl (PRL)\",\"timestamp\":1784126845693},{\"id\":\"56f65b70-6aa7-4111-a1ad-18c86f46bafa\",\"url\":\"https://www.together.ai/blog/together-ai-partners-with-pearl-research-labs\",\"description\":\"Together AI blog post on partnership (May 15, 2026)\",\"timestamp\":1784126845693},{\"id\":\"99bc8bac-fe30-4803-9e2b-58140dd1c370\",\"url\":\"https://www.coinex.com/en/academy/detail/6709-what-is-pearl-network-the-proofofusefulwork-chain-turning-ai-compute-into-mining\",\"description\":\"CoinEx Academy explainer (June 1, 2026)\",\"timestamp\":1784126845693},{\"id\":\"08ea4701-4397-4588-9ecc-802b6db95012\",\"url\":\"https://alearesearch.substack.com/p/pearl-proof-of-useful-work-for-ai\",\"description\":\"Alea Research report (June 10, 2026)\",\"timestamp\":1784126845693},{\"id\":\"55cb81d3-6ea6-41f4-bdfc-989dcfc2d43e\",\"url\":\"https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/ai-compute-cryptocurrency-pearl-sparks-124000702.html\",\"description\":\"Yahoo Finance / Tom's Hardware coverage (May 31, 2026)\",\"timestamp\":1784126845694},{\"id\":\"fa747496-0ccc-478d-8b1d-ba278c3014ab\",\"url\":\"https://github.com/pearl-research-labs/pearl\",\"description\":\"Pearl Research Labs — GitHub repository\",\"timestamp\":1784126845694},{\"id\":\"z3BeIJuxSi9YVBrs\",\"url\":\"https://coinex.com/en/academy/detail/6709-what-is-pearl-network-the-proofofusefulwork-chain-turning-ai-compute-into-mining\",\"description\":\"CoinEx\",\"timestamp\":1784127001183},{\"id\":\"5PrqxExPdSnhs26J\",\"url\":\"https://hashrateindex.com/blog/pearl-prl-ai-compute-cryptocurrency\",\"description\":\"HashRate Index\",\"timestamp\":1784127001183}]"},{"id":"previous_cid","value":"\"https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmaPrk4JfAhiSJMhoTgBpPr7PLewwv6KmrjCCQVDrTUzD9\""},{"id":"commit-message","value":"\"Updated category projects-and-protocols to Projects & Protocols and expanded events from 2 to 4 items\""},{"id":"previous_cid","value":"QmaPrk4JfAhiSJMhoTgBpPr7PLewwv6KmrjCCQVDrTUzD9"}],"events":[{"date":"2025-04-01","title":"Pearl Whitepaper Published","type":"CREATED","description":"The Pearl whitepaper, detailing its Proof-of-Useful-Work mechanism, was released.","link":"https://pearlresearch.ai/research/whitepaper","multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null,"id":"da11f4e6-080d-409c-bfec-0ec10aa26c74"},{"date":"2026-05-01","title":"Exclusive Partnership with Together AI","type":"DEFAULT","description":"Together AI partnered with Pearl, leveraging its tech for AI inference discounting.","link":"https://www.together.ai/blog/together-ai-partners-with-pearl-research-labs","multiDateStart":null,"multiDateEnd":null,"continent":null,"country":null,"id":"feda84d1-7440-425c-97d1-c13eccd2f235"}],"user":{"id":"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889"},"author":{"id":"0x8AF7a19a26d8FBC48dEfB35AEfb15Ec8c407f889"},"operator":{"id":"0x04e4a72e18b46EC55Ba1361CEFcEF0404b520f47"},"language":"en","version":1,"linkedWikis":{"blockchains":["bitcoin"],"founders":["omri-weinstein"],"speakers":[]},"recentActivity":"{\"items\":[{\"id\":\"b1dc76c4-1859-42bb-a94b-11e35a1b6c3f\",\"title\":\"Pearl (PRL): Layer-1 Blockchain with Proof-of-Useful-Work\",\"description\":\"Pearl utilizes Proof-of-Useful-Work, substituting conventional mining with matrix multiplication, to secure its network. 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