Which crypto assets can pay for AI inference?

Today one crypto asset can pay for AI inference on Gatewayz: ADA. You delegate ADA from your own wallet to the Gatewayz stake pool, and the staking rewards your stake earns become an inference discount balance instead of more ADA. Nine other proof-of-stake assets and several stablecoins are listed as coming, each with its own page explaining how its yield would work and what it would put at risk.

Which crypto assets can pay for AI inference today?

ADA is live; everything else is coming and has a waitlist. The table shows each asset, where its yield would come from and its status in the program.

The discount is not cash: it cannot be withdrawn, transferred or exchanged. How it works covers the accounting.

How does Gatewayz choose which assets to support?

Native staking that keeps custody with the holder comes first: the chain pays the rewards, and the holder never sends coins to Gatewayz or anyone else.

The order of preference is:

1. Native staking, holder keeps custody, no lock-up. The reward comes from the protocol, and nothing new can go wrong with your coins. ADA is the only asset that meets all three today.
2. Native staking with a lock-up, an unbonding period or slashing. The reward is still protocol-paid, but you accept waiting periods or a chance of losing stake when a validator misbehaves. Most coming proof-of-stake assets sit here.
3. No native staking. Stablecoins can only produce a return through lending. Gatewayz will add one only through a protocol with a published audit, and will list its contract risk on the asset's page.

The distinction between keeping and giving up custody is explained in Non-custodial vs custodial staking.

Why is ADA the first asset?

Because Cardano staking is non-custodial and has no lock-up. Delegation assigns your stake to a pool without transferring your ADA, you can spend it normally at any time, and you can switch pools whenever you like.

Three facts make Cardano the simplest starting point:

• No custody change. Delegating takes a single transaction containing a delegation certificate and costs only the usual transaction fees, plus a one-time stake address deposit of 2 ADA, returned in full if you deregister.
• No lock-up or unbonding period. Your ADA stays spendable while delegated.
• No slashing of your ADA. Because it never leaves your wallet, a badly run pool cannot take it. A pool that is offline when elected only misses that block and its rewards.

The full walkthrough is on the ADA page, and the network mechanics are in How Cardano staking works.

How do proof-of-stake chains differ on custody, unbonding and slashing?

They differ on four things that matter to a holder: where the coins sit while staked, how long it takes to get them back, the minimum to start and whether stake can be slashed. The table summarizes each chain's official documentation as of 2026-10-27. "Not stated in official docs" means the source pack found no official figure.

Each coming asset's page explains its staking model in more depth, for example Ethereum, Solana and Polkadot.

Why are stablecoins different?

Stablecoins do not stake. A dollar-pegged token does not help secure a proof-of-stake network, so the protocol pays it no rewards, and any return has to come from lending it to borrowers.

Lending changes the risk: withdrawals depend on unborrowed liquidity, a bad price feed can cause wrong liquidations, suppliers absorb bad debt, and a contract bug can lose deposits. That is why Gatewayz will add stablecoins only through a lending protocol with a published audit. The details are on Cardano stablecoins, USDC and USDT.

Why isn't Bitcoin listed?

Bitcoin has no native staking, so there is no protocol reward to convert.

Frequently asked questions

Which crypto can I use to pay for AI inference on Gatewayz today?

ADA is the only live asset. You delegate it from your own wallet to the Gatewayz stake pool, and 95% of the staking rewards your stake earns Gatewayz becomes a discount on AI inference. The program is pre-launch, with a working demo on Cardano's preprod testnet by invitation, and it is not available to US or Canadian persons.

When will other assets be supported?

There is no date. Each coming asset has a waitlist on its page, and the waitlists help decide the order. An asset goes live only once its staking or lending model and its risks are published on that page.

Why does Gatewayz prefer non-custodial staking?

Because it adds the least new risk. When your coins stay in your own wallet or account, Gatewayz cannot move them; custodial or contract-based staking adds the risk of whoever or whatever holds the coins.

Can my staked coins be slashed?

It depends on the chain. Cardano delegation does not put your ADA at risk of slashing, and Sui does not slash principal. Ethereum, Polkadot, Cosmos Hub and TON can slash stake when a validator misbehaves, and Solana has no in-protocol slashing today.

Can stablecoins be staked?

No. Stablecoins have no native staking, so any return on them comes from lending or protocol interest. That adds smart contract, depeg, withdrawal liquidity, oracle and bad-debt risk, which is why stablecoin support waits for a lending protocol with a published audit.

Sources

• Cardano.org: Stake your ada on Cardano, as of 2026-10-27
• Cardano Docs: Delegation, as of 2026-10-27
• Cardano.org Glossary: Stake Address Deposit, as of 2026-10-27
• ethereum.org: Staking withdrawals, as of 2026-10-27
• ethereum.org: Proof-of-stake, as of 2026-10-27
• solana.com: Staking, as of 2026-10-27
• Avalanche Builder Hub: How to stake, as of 2026-10-27
• Polkadot Wiki: Nominator, as of 2026-10-27
• Polkadot Wiki: Nomination pools, as of 2026-10-27
• Cosmos Hub docs: Delegator FAQ, as of 2026-10-27
• NEAR docs: Staking, as of 2026-10-27
• TRON developers: Staking on TRON, as of 2026-10-27
• Sui docs: Staking and unstaking, as of 2026-10-27
• TON docs: Nominator pools, as of 2026-10-27
• Liqwid docs: qTokens, as of 2026-10-27
• Liqwid docs: Liquidations, as of 2026-10-27
• Liqwid docs: Risk analysis, as of 2026-10-27
• Chainlink: DeFi stablecoins explained, as of 2026-10-27