Ritual is moving toward the launch of an AI-focused Layer 1 designed to make model inference, autonomous execution and specialized computation native components of the blockchain rather than external services. The project’s Mainnet is not yet live and no launch date has been announced, but Ritual Foundation has now published the network’s tokenomics and says exchange, validator and launch details will follow before deployment.
In its original “Unveiling Ritual” architecture paper, the Foundation describes Ritual as a Layer 1 built for AI and other forms of expressive computation. Its core architectural distinction is EVM++, a backwards-compatible extension of the Ethereum Virtual Machine that exposes specialized compute through native precompiles and sidecars. Those sidecars can handle workloads including LLM inference, classical machine learning, zero-knowledge proving, trusted execution environments and chain abstraction outside the primary execution client.
EVM++ Makes AI Part of the Execution Stack
Ritual’s design differs from systems where a smart contract simply calls an external AI API or oracle. Node specialization allows operators to service workloads according to their hardware and proof-generation capabilities, while sidecars perform heavier computation without forcing every validator to execute the same AI workload directly. The network is attempting to make access to heterogeneous compute a protocol-level capability while keeping ordinary Solidity development compatible with familiar EVM tooling.
The architecture also includes native scheduling, allowing applications or agents to register recurring execution rather than depending exclusively on external keepers or cron infrastructure. That model overlaps with a broader move toward software agents becoming active economic participants, visible in developments such as Arc’s infrastructure for agentic economic activity and Gensyn’s on-chain markets for autonomous agents. Those examples provide sector context, but Ritual still needs Mainnet activity to demonstrate that its more deeply integrated architecture attracts sustained production use.
That distinction is important because infrastructure availability is not equivalent to adoption. Other protocols are taking narrower approaches, including Aave’s MCP interface for AI-assisted DeFi workflows, where agents can prepare transactions but users retain signing authority. Ritual is targeting a more autonomous model in which scheduling, keys, computation and economic activity can become native parts of an agent’s execution environment.
RITUAL Airdrop Targets Early Contributors
Ritual Foundation has confirmed an initial supply of 10 billion RITUAL. The token is intended to pay for AI computation, secure the Proof-of-Stake network and participate in governance. A total of 50 million RITUAL, equal to 0.5% of initial supply, is allocated to a community airdrop that will unlock fully at Public Mainnet launch.
Eligibility focuses on contribution before the token launch. Infernet node operators can qualify based on factors including uptime and workloads served, while Frenrug users and long-term community participants are also included. Ritual says Sybil clusters and artificial activity were filtered from the distribution. The allocation is therefore designed around documented network participation rather than an open claim available to every wallet. Eligible users will claim through a dedicated page when Mainnet launches.
The broader launch supply is substantially larger than the airdrop. Ritual says 18% of total supply will be unlocked at launch, including ecosystem funding, Foundation treasury assets and the community distribution, while contributor and investor allocations carry minimum one-year locks. RITUAL will also have an approximately 5% initial annualized issuance mechanism for staking rewards, while EIP-1559-style base fees will be burned.
Coinbase has meanwhile added RITUAL to its asset-listing roadmap under the Ritual network. Roadmap inclusion indicates that Coinbase is considering support, not that RITUAL is currently available for trading or that a listing is guaranteed. The exchange says trading begins only after market-making support and technical infrastructure meet its requirements.
For Ritual, the next concrete milestone is Public Mainnet itself. The architectural claims around AI-native execution will only become measurable after production launch, when developer deployments, agent activity, compute demand, validator participation and transaction volume can show whether EVM++ and specialized sidecars produce sustained usage. Security models for autonomous execution will also remain central, an issue reflected in work such as Algorand’s separation of AI-agent requests from user signing authority. Until Ritual publishes its launch date, token distribution and Coinbase roadmap inclusion remain preparation for that production test rather than evidence that the network is already live.