What is Kite? Kite, also known as KITE, is an EVM-compatible, proof-of-stake Layer 1 designed for autonomous artificial-intelligence agents. Its purpose is to let agents identify themselves, operate within user-defined permissions, discover services, and make stablecoin payments without requiring approval for every transaction.
Core technology and blockchain architecture
Kite Chain is built using Avalanche Layer-1 technology and uses chain ID 2366 on its documented mainnet. The network combines smart contracts, agent identity, programmable authorization, service discovery, and payment settlement in one infrastructure layer.
Its Kite Passport system separates authority into three levels: the user, the delegated agent, and a temporary session. Users retain control of the root wallet, while agents receive restricted permissions through session keys. Spending rules can define transaction limits, approved recipients, time windows, and other conditions.
Kite is designed around stablecoin payments, including USDC and PYUSD. Transaction fees are intended to be paid in whitelisted stablecoins rather than the volatile native token, making costs more predictable for agents and merchants. Its payment-channel design supports frequent off-chain updates followed by on-chain settlement, including micropayments, escrow, refunds, streaming payments, and service-level agreements.
Earlier project materials describe Proof of Attributed Intelligence, or PoAI, as a framework for measuring contributions from data providers, model developers, and agents. PoAI is an attribution and incentive model, not the base-chain consensus mechanism.
What is Kite used for?
Kite targets machine-to-machine transactions where software must authenticate, obtain permission, pay for a service, and leave a verifiable record. Applications include AI inference, data feeds, software APIs, GPU computing, storage, and other pay-per-use services.
The network also supports agentic commerce. An authorized agent can discover products, make purchases, and settle payments under spending controls. Other proposed applications include automated procurement, supply-chain payments, treasury management, connected-device payments, gaming, creator payments, and knowledge marketplaces.
Kite’s Agent App Store is designed to help agents discover APIs, commerce tools, data providers, and other services. The project has also announced integrations involving PayPal and Shopify merchants, as well as compatibility with Google A2A, Google AP2, Anthropic MCP, Coinbase’s x402 payment standard, and Stripe MPP.
Who is behind Kite and where is it based?
Kite was co-founded by Chi Zhang, its chief executive officer, and Scott Shi, its chief technology officer. Zhang’s background includes Databricks and UC Berkeley, while Shi previously worked on AI infrastructure at Uber and Salesforce Einstein. Both founders were also involved with ZettaBlock, the predecessor to Kite.
The project’s history includes a transition from ZettaBlock’s data and AI infrastructure work to Kite’s agent-focused payment and trust infrastructure. Kite AI launched publicly in November 2024, while the founders’ public role dates indicate development began earlier. The exact founding year is not stated consistently across available sources.
Kite’s public company profile identifies San Francisco, California, United States, as its headquarters. The team is distributed internationally, including members in the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, and Singapore.
The legal structure is reported in two ways. Kite’s leadership profiles describe the project as a brand of DataLego Inc., but the jurisdiction of DataLego Inc. is not confirmed in the available sources. Separately, the MiCA whitepaper identifies Kite AI Ltd. as the entity seeking admission of KITE to trading, with a registered and head-office address in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. The sources do not establish whether Kite AI Ltd. and DataLego Inc. are the same operating entity.
KITE tokenomics
KITE has a total supply of 10,000,000,000 KITE and a circulating supply of 2,391,196,012 KITE. The official allocation is divided among ecosystem and community initiatives at 48%, modules at 20%, team, advisors, and early contributors at 20%, and investors at 12%.
The ecosystem and community allocation supports airdrops, liquidity programs, developer incentives, and broader network growth. Module tokens are intended for AI-service development, grants, and performance-based rewards.
Team and investor allocations have a one-year cliff followed by a four-year unlock. Of the ecosystem and community allocation, 30% unlocks at launch, with the remainder subject to four-year linear vesting. Of the module allocation, 60% unlocks at launch, with the rest subject to four-year linear vesting.
KITE is used for staking, validator and delegator participation, governance, module liquidity, ecosystem access, and network incentives. The documented minimum staking requirements are 30,000,000 KITE for a module owner, 1,000,000 KITE for a validator, and 166,667 KITE for a delegator.
The initial reward model uses emissions from a dedicated pool. A “piggy bank” mechanism allows participants to accumulate rewards, but claiming and selling those rewards permanently removes that address from future emissions. The project’s longer-term design aims to fund rewards through protocol revenue and gradually move toward stablecoin-denominated rewards rather than relying on continuous token inflation.
Consensus and network security
Kite uses proof of stake. Validators stake KITE to participate in consensus, while delegators support validators and selected modules. The model also includes module-specific incentives, agent bonds, and slashing for defined misconduct or performance failures.
Security extends beyond block production. Expiring session keys, user-controlled revocation, spending limits, self-custodial smart-contract accounts, and immutable activity records are intended to limit the damage from compromised agents or credentials. The network remains exposed to standard risks involving smart contracts, validator concentration, private-key loss, denial-of-service attacks, and dependence on Avalanche-based infrastructure.
Partnerships and development
Reported ecosystem relationships include PayPal Ventures, General Catalyst, Coinbase Ventures, 8VC, Samsung Next, Avalanche, LayerZero, Google Cloud, Crossmint, OKX Wallet, Bitget Wallet, and the Linux Foundation’s Agentic AI Foundation. Kite announced an $18 million Series A in September 2025 led by PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst, followed by a Coinbase Ventures investment in October 2025.
Kite Chain mainnet launched on 30 April 2026 alongside Kite Agent Passport and the agent interface layer. Current development focuses on stablecoin settlement, agent registration, service discovery, account abstraction, session-key permissions, state-channel payments, and EVM-compatible developer tools.
The stated roadmap includes zero-knowledge credentials, privacy-preserving compliance proofs, verifiable AI inference, portable agent reputation, trustless service discovery, and broader cryptographic attestations.
Kite is listed on CoinStats at $0.146, with a market cap of $349.20M (rank #194) and 24h volume of $17.59M. Its 24h change is +8.99%, and its all-time high is $0.3197, the current price is 54.34% below it.