Pearl

Pearl is a Layer-1 blockchain protocol developed by Pearl Research Labs that employs Proof-of-Useful-Work (PoUW) as its consensus mechanism. This protocol replaces traditional hash-based mining with large-scale matrix multiplication, which is a core arithmetic operation used in artificial intelligence (AI) training and inference. Pearl's native cryptocurrency is the PRL token (symbol: PRL). ^[1]​

Background and Development

Pearl Research Labs is developing the Pearl blockchain, with Omri Weinstein serving as co-founder and CEO. Weinstein, a complexity theorist, holds a PhD from Princeton University and is affiliated with the Hebrew University. He has prior experience with Nvidia and Vast Data. ^[2]​

The Pearl whitepaper was published in April 2025, which is rooted in peer-reviewed research on matrix multiplication proofs. By April 27, 2026, the Pearl mainnet became operational. ^[3] The project is purported to follow a fair-launch model with no pre-mine, no founder token allocation, and no venture capital, mimicking Bitcoin's launch. However, this claim has not been independently verified. ^[4]​

Pearl's open-source code is accessible on GitHub, supporting transparency and allowing for third-party verification of its protocol and technology. ^[5]​

Technology — Proof-of-Useful-Work

Pearl employs the PoUW consensus mechanism, uniquely utilizing matrix multiplication (MatMul) instead of SHA-256 hashing like Bitcoin. ^[6] This method not only secures the blockchain but also processes AI tasks simultaneously. During AI workloads on GPUs, including neural network forward and backward passes, Pearl extracts valid proofs of these operations, which become part of the blockchain’s security. ^[1]​

The verification of useful work without disclosing proprietary data is achieved through a combination of MatMul commitments, BLAKE3 hashing, and zero-knowledge proofs (ZK proofs). Currently, the implementation focuses on exact integer MatMul, with future upgrades potentially supporting low-precision floating-point formats (BF16, FP8, FP4) though no specific timeline for this transition has been disclosed. ^[3]​

Blocks on the Pearl network are targeted every 194 seconds, resulting in approximately 445 blocks mined daily, under normal conditions. The mining process necessitates enterprise-grade GPUs, such as Nvidia's H100 and H200, and initially excludes consumer-grade gaming GPUs. ^[2]​

PRL Token

PRL underpins the Pearl network as its native cryptocurrency, featuring a fixed maximum supply of 2.1 billion tokens. The emission follows a polynomial curve, defined as A(t) = t / (t + H), where H equals 650,226 blocks (~four years), ensuring gradual token release without sudden cliffs like Bitcoin’s halvings. ^[7]​

As of June 2026, the block rewards were approximately 2,700 PRL per block, which results in about 1.2 million PRL tokens being issued daily prior to incorporating transaction fees.^[6]​

Together AI Partnership

In May 2026, Pearl Research Labs entered an exclusive partnership with Together AI, a substantial open-source AI inference provider valued at over $8 billion following its Series C funding. This collaboration introduced "Gemma-4-31B-it-Pearl", a new inference endpoint available on Together AI's platform at a discounted rate, over 25% cheaper than standard offerings. The price reduction is counterbalanced by PRL emissions generated during the inference computation. ^[9]​

​Omri Weinstein noted that this integration marks a shift in AI economics by enabling GPU cycles used in AI tasks to also generate a native digital asset, PRL, without additional cost. Together AI highlighted that as PRL's market price climbs, the generated emissions could further diminish inference prices. ^{[7] [5]}​