Yield-as-inference, in one page

Gatewayz yield-as-inference lets ADA holders pay for AI with their staking rewards instead of selling ADA. Holders delegate to the Gatewayz stake pool from their own wallet; the ADA never moves. After each finished epoch, 95% of the rewards their stake earned Gatewayz is credited as an inference discount balance that pays 99% of every request on Gatewayz until it is used. This page is the short version for ecosystem partners.

What problem does it solve?

AI is becoming a recurring cost for DAOs, builders and agents in the ecosystem, and today it is paid in dollars. Covering it usually means selling ADA. Yield-as-inference lets the rewards a holder's stake earns pay that bill directly, while the ADA itself keeps securing the network and stays in the holder's wallet. For treasuries, that means part of the AI bill is covered without a spending proposal that touches principal.

How does it work?

A holder links their stake address to a Gatewayz account with a CIP-8 signed message, which needs no transaction. Gatewayz records the pool fees it actually received for each finished epoch, splits them across linked wallets by stake, and credits each account 95% of its share in USD. Nothing is credited in advance or from a promised rate, and anyone can recompute their share from public chain data; see Verify your discount.

Why Cardano first?

Cardano delegation already has the properties this design needs: it is non-custodial, has no lock-up and no slashing, and takes one transaction from any CIP-30 wallet. Rewards follow stake snapshots on a fixed five-day epoch, which gives a clean accounting period. The Cardano Developer Portal states that delegated ADA is never at risk: an underperforming pool only costs that epoch's rewards. Other chains are on the assets list as coming, each with its own trade-offs.

What would we like from the ecosystem?

• Feedback on the mechanism, the disclosures and the verify script, from anyone who reads it critically.
• Pilot treasuries that hold ADA and pay a monthly AI bill. Today linking needs a key-hash stake address; script (multisig) stake addresses cannot be linked yet, and we would rather design that with pilots than guess.
• Stake pool operator conversations about running the pool well and keeping the program healthy for decentralization, including how it should behave near saturation.

Frequently asked questions

Is this endorsed by any Cardano organization?

No. Gatewayz is an independent company, and this brief does not claim any partnership or endorsement. We are sharing it to ask for feedback.

Does the program touch holders' ADA?

No. Delegation is a certificate on the holder's own stake key. The ADA stays in their wallet and can be spent at any time; Gatewayz has no way to move it.

Who can take part?

Anyone outside the United States and Canada. Every participant confirms they are not a US or Canadian person before linking a wallet.

When will it launch on mainnet?

There is no date yet. The program stays switched off on mainnet until the preprod demo has been reviewed with early users and partners.

Get in touch

Tell us who you are and what you would like to explore: a demo, a pilot, an operator conversation or plain feedback.

Sources

• Cardano Developer Portal: Staking, as of 2026-10-28
• Cardano.org Glossary: Staking, as of 2026-10-28