AKT vs SHDW
Akash Network and Shadow Token scored on the same 25 variables, ranked against the same 251 tokens, with every gap between them shown.
Scoring pass 18 Sept 2026. Market snapshot 7 Oct 2026.
What separates them
AKT scores 129 of 250 and ranks 46th of 251. SHDW scores 103 and ranks 124th. AKT leads by 26 points, which is a wide enough margin that the framework is not ambivalent. AKT takes 20 of the 25 variables, SHDW takes 0, and 5 are level.
The framework rates AKT CAUTIOUS HOLD and SHDW WATCH. Two tokens close enough to compare do not have to land in the same band, and where they do not, the divergence table below is where the split comes from.
No single variable separates AKT and SHDW by as much as 3 points. The lead is broad rather than concentrated: AKT is ahead on 20 of 25 variables by one or two points each, which is what produces the composite gap without any one variable carrying it.
Both score 3 or below on Buyback and Burn. A weakness both sides share is not a reason to prefer either. It is a reason to check whether the category itself carries the problem.
AKT still has 23.2% of its eventual supply to enter circulation against 0% for SHDW. On the same market capitalisation, a buyer of AKT is taking the 1.3x dilution path and a buyer of SHDW the 1x one.
AKT is valued at $210.6M against $5.3M for SHDW, a 39.7x difference. The larger of the two also scores higher, so the market and the framework agree on the ordering here.
All 25 variables, head to head
Both tokens were scored by the same framework in the same pass, so the numbers are directly comparable. What a comparison adds over two separate pages is the gap: a 6 against a 6 is a non-event, a 9 against a 3 is the reason to hold one and not the other.
Cash flow
| Protocol Revenue | 5 | 3 | AKT +2 | |
| Revenue Trend | 6 | 4 | AKT +2 | |
| P/S Multiple | 5 | 4 | AKT +1 | |
| Real Staking Yield | 6 | 4 | AKT +2 |
Supply
| Supply Inflation | 6 | 5 | AKT +1 | |
| Vesting Schedule | 6 | 5 | AKT +1 | |
| Circulating / FDV Ratio | 7 | 5 | AKT +2 | |
| Buyback and Burn | 3 | 2 | AKT +1 |
Ownership
| Smart Money Flows | 5 | 4 | AKT +1 | |
| Insider Selling | 5 | 5 | level | |
| Holder Concentration | 5 | 4 | AKT +1 |
Traction
| TVL Trend | 5 | 4 | AKT +1 | |
| Active Users | 4 | 4 | level | |
| Developer Activity | 6 | 5 | AKT +1 | |
| Network Growth | 5 | 4 | AKT +1 |
Position
| Market Share | 4 | 4 | level | |
| Competitive Moat | 4 | 4 | level | |
| Institutional Adoption | 4 | 3 | AKT +1 | |
| Exchange Depth | 4 | 3 | AKT +1 | |
| Social Mindshare | 5 | 4 | AKT +1 |
Risk
| Regulatory Safety | 7 | 5 | AKT +2 | |
| Catalyst Calendar | 6 | 4 | AKT +2 | |
| BTC Alpha Potential | 4 | 4 | level | |
| Team Execution | 6 | 5 | AKT +1 | |
| Treasury Runway | 6 | 5 | AKT +1 |
Bars read outward from the centre: AKT to the left, SHDW to the right. The side that leads a variable is filled. Each score is 1 to 10 against the same definition applied to all 251 rated tokens.
Market and supply
| AKT | SHDW | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.7055 | $0.0314 |
| Market cap | $210.6M | $5.3M |
| Circulating | 76.8% | 100% |
| Dilution to full supply | 1.3x | 1x |
| Off all-time high | -91.3% | -98.9% |
| To recover the high | 11.5x | 90.9x |
| Total value locked | not published | not published |
| Network | Akash | Solana |
Price, market cap and all-time high from the CoinGecko snapshot fetched 7 Oct 2026. Supply shares are derived from circulating and eventual supply counts, which do not move with price. The 25 scores come from the research pass dated 18 Sept 2026.
Catalyst and risk on each side
AKT · CAUTIOUS HOLD
GPU leasing demand from AI startups; confidential compute and persistent storage launches
Actual AKT-denominated revenue remains modest; centralized clouds (AWS, Lambda) competing aggressively on price; token not required for marketplace use
SHDW · WATCH
GenesysGo storage demand from Solana network growth and potential SHDW token utility expansion.
Dependence on Solana network health and competition from other decentralized storage solutions.
Common questions
- Is AKT or SHDW the better investment?
- On this framework AKT scores higher: 129 against 103 of 250, and it is rated CAUTIOUS HOLD against WATCH. That is a ranking of fundamentals as recorded at the last scoring pass, not a price forecast, and AKT still wins 20 of the 25 individual variables against SHDW.
- What is the biggest difference between AKT and SHDW?
- Nothing separates them by more than 2 points on any of the 25 variables, which is unusual and means the two are close substitutes on fundamentals.
- Which is bigger, AKT or SHDW?
- AKT is valued at $210.6M and SHDW at $5.3M on the latest market snapshot.
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Research and analysis, not investment advice. A higher score is one framework applied consistently to 251 tokens, not a prediction that one asset will outperform the other.