AO, a new protocol on Arweave's permanent data storage layer, is set to launch on June 13, as announced on May 30.

Arweave co-founder Sam Williams described AO as “Bitcoin, but a supercomputer on Arweave.”

### Tokenomics

AO will introduce a token with the ticker AO. The launch will be entirely fair, with no pre-mining, pre-sales, or preferential access. Community members can mint tokens by bridging to AO, holding Arweave’s native AR token, or building on the platform. The total supply will be 21 million coins, similar to Bitcoin, with a four-year halving cycle. A non-profit organization will oversee the project with a community-focused mechanism, but U.S. residents and individuals from sanctioned jurisdictions cannot mint the tokens.

### AO’s Features

AO aims to provide a scalable blockchain solution through its modular architecture, supporting high transaction volumes and parallel processing. The platform introduces AOS, an operating system that supports the Lua programming language and various applications. AO's advanced data storage capabilities can handle massive datasets, such as those used in AI modeling and large language models (LLMs).

Additionally, AO is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine and other blockchain protocols via WebAssembly for smart contracts.

DeFi researcher Ignas highlighted AO's goal to combine blockchain reliability and security with high-end commercial server performance, like Amazon AWS. He noted:

“One standout feature of AO is its parallel processing ability, allowing numerous processes to run simultaneously without affecting each other. It’s like a smartphone that never slows down, regardless of how many apps are running.”