Ritual Launches AI-Focused Layer 1 Blockchain to Power Autonomous Agents

Ritual, a lab for autonomous intelligence founded by former Polychain Capital partners Niraj Pant and Akilesh Potti, announced on October 26 the launch of Ritual Chain, a new EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain. The network is purpose-built to support autonomous AI agents, aiming to transform them into persistent economic actors with their own wallets and on-chain identities.

A New Architecture for AI Agents

Unlike traditional blockchains optimized for financial transactions, Ritual Chain is engineered for software that can operate independently, manage capital, and interact with external services without direct human oversight. The protocol integrates AI model access, private computation, and autonomous scheduling as native capabilities for EVM applications.

According to the announcement, an agent on Ritual Chain can persist independently of its creator, control funds in a non-custodial wallet, and maintain confidentiality for sensitive data through trusted execution environments (TEEs). The project reports its public testnet, live since June, has already processed over 40 million transactions.

The network features a novel architecture designed to handle computationally intensive workloads like AI inference. It employs an "execute-once, verify-many-times" model, where specialized nodes perform heavy computation that is then verified by the broader network, avoiding the need for replicated execution by all validators. The protocol also boasts sub-300 millisecond block times and has been audited by Zellic.

Key Features and Market Vision

Ritual Chain includes 15 native precompiles that allow smart contracts to directly call language models, access web data, and schedule future executions. This deep integration contrasts with other chains that rely on external oracles for AI capabilities.

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Key infrastructure partners are in place for the launch:

• Phala Network provides GPU-backed TEEs for confidential AI computation.
• LayerZero serves as the cross-chain messaging layer.
• Stargate enables USDC bridging from day one.
• Nous Research is bringing its Hermes AI model to the network.

"As we move toward AGI, intelligence is beginning to separate from human agency and enter the economy on its own terms," said Niraj Pant, co-founder of Ritual. "Ritual provides the infrastructure for those actors to exist and operate on their own."

Venture Backing and Industry Context

Ritual has secured more than $30 million in funding from prominent investors, including Archetype and Polychain Capital. The project is also advised by notable figures in the crypto space, such as NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin, Gauntlet founder Tarun Chitra, and BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes.

"Programmable value and programmable intelligence are the two most important technologies since the internet, and Ritual mainnet is where they finally run on the same rails," stated Ash Egan, Founder and General Partner at Archetype, which led Ritual's 2023 funding round. The launch represents a significant, well-funded effort to merge the rapidly developing fields of artificial intelligence and blockchain infrastructure.