BME Testnet Overview | Akash Network - Your Guide to Decentralized Cloud

What is BME?

The Burn-Mint Equilibrium (BME) is a new economic mechanism for the Akash Network that introduces a stable compute credit token called ACT (Akash Compute Token). ACT is designed to be pegged to ~$1 USD, providing stable pricing for cloud deployments while AKT remains the staking and governance token.

Key changes with BME:

Deployments are now priced and paid in ACT (not AKT)
Users mint ACT by depositing AKT into the vault
Providers receive ACT for compute, then burn ACT to receive AKT
A circuit breaker protects the system during extreme market conditions

Testnet Participation

Testnet Schedule

The BME test is scheduled to close on Wednesday, March 4th at 5PM US CT.

Category 7 (BME Warning State) testing is scheduled to commence on Tuesday, March 3rd at 10:30AM US CT and run for 24 hours.

Prize Eligibility

To be eligible for prizes, testers must submit proof of testing for each completed test:

Test Type	Required Proof
Query/Read operations	Full query output showing results
Transactions (mint, burn, deploy, etc.)	Transaction hash (`txhash`)
State changes	Before and after query outputs
Deployment tests	DSEQ, lease info, and deployment status

Example proof for a mint operation:

akash tx bme mint-act 10000000uakt --from mywallet -y
# Output: {"txhash":"ABC123..."}

akash query bank balances <your-address>

Submission Form

Submit your completed tests and proof here:

https://forms.gle/MH1KxhNmoJxzMRfz9

Prizes

There are up to $10,000 in total prizes, paid in AKT, for Akash BME Incentivized Testnet testers.

Testers are NOT required to complete all categories to be eligible for rewards.
Testers ARE required to complete all tasks in a category to be eligible for rewards in that category.
Submission(s) must be correct for the tester to be eligible for rewards.
Additional rewards will be given to the top 3 testers with the most correct submissions.
All prizes are paid in AKT.

Prizes by Category

Category	Total Prize Pool	Reward per Correct Submission (in AKT)	Max Rewarded Submissions	Limit per Tester
Category 0	$800 in AKT	$40 in AKT	20	1
Category 1	$800 in AKT	$40 in AKT	20	1
Category 2	$800 in AKT	$40 in AKT	20	1
Category 3	$800 in AKT	$40 in AKT	20	1
Category 4	$800 in AKT	$40 in AKT	20	1
Category 5	$800 in AKT	$40 in AKT	20	1
Category 6	$800 in AKT	$40 in AKT	20	1
Category 7	$800 in AKT	$40 in AKT	20	1
Category 8	$800 in AKT	$80 in AKT	10	1
Category 9	$800 in AKT	$80 in AKT	10	1
Category 10	$800 in AKT	$40 in AKT	20	1

Top Performer Bonuses (paid in AKT)

Placement	Bonus
🥇 1st Place	$200 in AKT
🥈 2nd Place	$100 in AKT
🥉 3rd Place	$50 in AKT

Bug Bounty (paid in AKT)

A bug bounty is available for verified bugs (Sev0, Sev1, Sev2) that fall outside the tasks in the Akash Network BME Testnet categories above. The Akash core team will determine the triage and severity for potential bugs.

Severity	Reward
Sev0 — Critical	$500 in AKT
Sev1 — High	$200 in AKT
Sev2 — Medium	$100 in AKT

Network Details

Full network configuration (RPC endpoints, chain ID, genesis, etc.) is available at:

https://github.com/akash-network/net

Quick Reference

Parameter	Value
Chain ID	`testnet-8`
RPC	`https://testnetrpc.akashnet.net:443`
Faucet	https://faucet.dev.akash.pub/

Test Guidance

Detailed test steps, expected results, and validation procedures are available here:

BME Testnet Test Plan

Getting Started

1. Set Up Your Environment

export AKASH_CHAIN_ID=testnet-8
export AKASH_NODE=https://testnetrpc.akashnet.net:443
export AKASH_KEYRING_BACKEND=test
export AKASH_GAS=auto
export AKASH_GAS_ADJUSTMENT=1.5
export AKASH_GAS_PRICES=0.025uakt

2. Get Testnet Tokens

Obtain testnet AKT from the faucet:

https://faucet.dev.akash.pub/

3. Mint ACT (Required Before Deploying)

akash tx bme mint-act 10000000uakt --from <wallet> -y

# Wait ~1 minute for epoch processing
sleep 60

# Verify ACT in your balance
akash query bank balances <your-address>

4. Create a Deployment

Ensure your SDL uses uact for pricing (not uakt).

akash tx deployment create deploy.yml   --deposit 5000000uact   --from <wallet>   -y

Key BME Commands

Query Commands

akash query bme status
akash query bme vault-state
akash query bme params
akash query bank balances <your-address>
akash query oracle prices

Transaction Commands

akash tx bme mint-act <amount>uakt --from <wallet> -y
akash tx bme burn-act <amount>uact --from <wallet> -y
akash tx deployment create <sdl-file> --deposit <amount>uact --from <wallet> -y
akash tx escrow deposit deployment <amount>uact --dseq <dseq> --from <wallet> -y
akash tx deployment close --dseq <dseq> --from <wallet> -y

Important Notes for Testers

Epoch Delays: ACT minting is epoch-based (~1 minute / 10 blocks). After mint-act, wait before checking your balance.
SDL Changes: Your SDL files must use uact for pricing, not uakt.
Provider Settlement: Providers receive ACT for compute, then call burn-act to convert to AKT. This is a two-step process.
Circuit Breaker: If BME status shows mint_status_halt_cr, minting new ACT is temporarily blocked. Existing ACT can still be used for deployments.
Document Everything: For prize eligibility, capture full command outputs including transaction hashes and query results.

Troubleshooting

”ACT not appearing after mint”

Wait for epoch (~1 minute), then query again. ACT minting is not instant.

”denom not supported: uact” from provider

The provider’s pricing script needs to be updated to support ACT. Report to testnet admins.

”insufficient funds” when deploying

Ensure you have ACT (not just AKT). Run akash query bank balances <address> to check.

BME status shows “halt_oracle” or “halt_cr”

The system is in a protected state. Check akash query bme status for details. During halt_cr, you cannot mint new ACT but can still use existing ACT.

Resources

Network Config: https://github.com/akash-network/net
Test Guide: BME Testnet Test Plan
Prize Submission: TBD
Discord: Join the Akash Network Discord for support

Questions?

For testnet support, reach out in the Akash Network Discord or open an issue in the appropriate GitHub repository.