Ritual

Ritual (RITUAL) is the native cryptocurrency of Ritual, a Layer 1 blockchain designed to support applications that use artificial intelligence (AI) and automated processes. The network allows smart contracts to interact with AI models, access external data and execute computational tasks through blockchain-based infrastructure.

Ritual combines blockchain transactions with AI computation by allowing smart contracts to request services such as machine learning inference, data retrieval and automated decision-making. These requests are processed by specialised nodes, with results returned to applications on the network. Ritual also uses trusted execution environments (TEEs) to support the verification of computational processes.

RITUAL serves as the network's native token and is used to pay transaction fees, access computational services, participate in staking and support network governance.

RITUAL is used for several functions within the Ritual network:

• Transaction fees: RITUAL is used to pay for blockchain transactions, smart contract execution and scheduled operations carried out on the network.
• AI computation: RITUAL is used to pay for computational services, including AI model inference, external data requests and other processing tasks. These payments compensate nodes that execute the requested operations.
• Staking and network security: Validators stake RITUAL to participate in the network's consensus process and help secure the blockchain. Token holders can also delegate their tokens to validators and receive staking rewards.
• Governance: RITUAL is intended to allow token holders who stake their tokens to participate in decisions concerning protocol upgrades and network parameters. Governance responsibilities are planned to shift gradually from the Ritual Foundation and core developers towards token-based participation.

These functions connect RITUAL to transaction processing, computational services and the operation of the Ritual blockchain.

Ritual was co-founded in 2023 by Niraj Pant and Akilesh Potti, both of whom previously worked at Polychain Capital, a cryptocurrency investment firm. Pant has experience in cryptocurrency investment and distributed systems research, while Potti has worked in machine learning research and quantitative trading.

Ritual Labs is responsible for research and development related to the network, including its blockchain infrastructure and AI computation systems.

The Ritual Foundation was established in November 2024 to support the development and operation of the Ritual ecosystem. Its responsibilities include coordinating ecosystem initiatives, supporting network development and overseeing aspects of the RITUAL token's distribution and governance.