Phase Launches Mainnet With $45 Million Funding Commitment From Unlimit Founder
Key Facts
Phase launched its mainnet backed by a $45 million funding commitment from Kyril Evd, founder of Unlimit, according to a report by Blockchain Academics. The commitment covers the first two years of network development, then provides funding for two additional years of operations. The report said Phase has no external investors. The launch puts the company on a path that combines operating a blockchain network with using smartphones to provide internet- and AI-related services. The report describes the amount as a funding commitment, not a closed funding round.
The network gives smartphone users the opportunity to earn PHASE tokens in two ways: verifying transactions and sharing their internet connection through the Phase app. The model allows users to contribute their devices’ resources and connections to operating network services. Rewards are not limited to participating in verification; they may also be tied to data traffic passing through the shared connection. This gives the phone a dual role as a means of verifying transactions and a source of internet connectivity. The report said participants can become validators without an initial token stake or specialized equipment.
Phase Proxy launched alongside the mainnet to route web requests from AI agents through internet connections that phone owners choose to share. Validators who process traffic for the service earn additional rewards, according to the report. The product addresses a problem agents face when accessing websites through automated traffic originating from data centers. Evd said websites “regularly block or limit automated traffic coming from data centers, even when the agent is carrying out a legitimate user request.” Phase Proxy’s model relies on routing requests through connections made available by smartphone users, rather than confining them to data-center connections.
Evd links this approach to the processing capabilities available in modern phones, saying current flagship devices offer AI performance of roughly 35 to 45 TOPS, depending on the device. That equates, according to the explanation in the report, to 35–45 trillion operations per second. He added that this capability allows small open-weight AI models to run locally on a phone. This provides a technical backdrop for Phase’s plans to expand the use of personal-device resources beyond transaction verification and connection sharing. Actual capabilities still depend on the device, Evd said.
Phase plans to launch two additional services in November 2026, according to the report, which described them as planned for that month. The first is an AI computing service, in which smartphone users contribute their devices’ processing power. The second will route requests across different AI models. The services would expand the network’s current offerings into computing and request routing, drawing on participating phones. The report said part of the revenue from these services will be used to buy PHASE tokens on the open market and then reward node operators.
Evd heads Unlimit, which says it was founded in 2009 and describes its infrastructure as serving more than 50,000 businesses and more than one billion users worldwide. The company also says its payments network spans more than 180 countries. On October 23, 2026, Unlimit announced that it had been selected as a strategic enterprise by the Hong Kong government’s Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises, saying this supports plans to expand its payments business in Asia-Pacific. It also said it received a money services operator license in Hong Kong in August 2026. This information provides background on Phase’s founder’s work in financial infrastructure, while his new project focuses on a blockchain network and services for phones and AI agents.