What Is Kaito? 2026 Guide to Studio, Markets & KAITO Token

Key Takeaways

• Kaito.ai is an AI-powered Web3 search and intelligence platform, founded in 2022 by ex-Citadel hedge fund manager Yu Hu, that aims to solve crypto's information fragmentation problem.
• On January 15, 2026, Kaito shut down Yaps and its incentivized Yapper Leaderboards after X (formerly Twitter) revoked API access for apps that reward users for posting.
• Kaito replaced Yaps with Kaito Studio, a tier-based, selective creator–brand marketplace that expands beyond Crypto Twitter into YouTube, TikTok, and non-crypto verticals like finance and AI.
• In February 2026, Kaito partnered with Polymarket to launch Attention Markets — prediction markets where users wager on social-media mindshare and sentiment.
• Kaito Pro, Kaito API, and Capital Launchpad remain operational, and the KAITO token continues to underpin the ecosystem.

Kaito is an AI-powered information platform that organizes and distributes crypto intelligence, attention, and capital. After sunsetting its Yaps "post-to-earn" program in January 2026, Kaito now operates through four main products: Kaito Pro, Kaito Studio, Capital Launchpad, and the upcoming Kaito Markets — alongside its Polymarket-partnered Attention Markets.

What Is Kaito?

Kaito is an AI-powered InfoFi (Information Finance) platform that indexes thousands of Web3 data sources — including social media, governance forums, research, podcasts, and conference transcripts — to turn fragmented crypto information into actionable intelligence. Founded in Seattle in 2022 by Yu Hu, Kaito has raised over $10.8 million across two funding rounds from investors including Dragonfly Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Jane Street, Superscrypt, Spartan, Mirana Ventures, and HashKey Capital.

Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Gemini struggle with crypto because much of the sector's information is unstructured, dispersed across Discord servers, governance forums, X threads, and long-form research that sits outside typical training data. Kaito was built to fix this information fragmentation problem specifically for Web3, and over time has expanded from a search engine into a broader ecosystem covering intelligence, attention, capital allocation, and prediction markets.

Why Kaito Sunset Yaps: The January 2026 Pivot

On January 15, 2026, Kaito founder Yu Hu announced that Kaito would sunset Yaps and its incentivized Yapper Leaderboards, pivoting to a new product called Kaito Studio. The decision followed a major policy change by X (formerly Twitter), whose product lead Nikita Bier announced the platform would no longer allow apps that reward users for posting, citing a surge in AI-generated spam and "InfoFi" reply spam. X revoked API access for affected developers, including Kaito.

In his announcement, Hu explained that Kaito had spent the prior year iterating on Yaps with tighter eligibility, higher leaderboard thresholds, social and on-chain filters, and alternative incentive designs, but that low-quality content and spam persisted, compounded by X algorithm changes and competing InfoFi projects launching with weaker or no thresholds.

Following discussions with X, Kaito concluded that a fully permissionless distribution model was no longer viable. The KAITO token fell roughly 17% on the news.

Importantly, this change only affected Yaps and incentivized leaderboards. Kaito Pro, the Kaito API, Capital Launchpad, and the upcoming Kaito Markets product were unaffected.

Kaito's 2026 Product Lineup at a Glance

Kaito Pro

Kaito Pro is Kaito's flagship product: a vertical search engine and intelligence terminal built specifically for crypto. It indexes thousands of sources — social media, governance forums, research papers, news outlets, podcasts, and conference transcripts — and combines proprietary search algorithms, semantic LLM capabilities, and real-time analytics.

Kaito Pro is used by teams at Berachain, Polygon, Pantera, and 500+ other investment, marketing, and research teams in crypto. Features include MetaSearch, sentiment analytics, smart alerts, dashboards, an audio library of transcribed podcasts and conference talks, and a catalyst calendar for token generation events, governance votes, and protocol upgrades.

Subscription pricing starts at $833/month at the time of writing, with individual and team plans available at kaito.ai/pricing.

Kaito Studio: The New Creator Marketplace (Replaces Yaps)

Kaito Studio is a data-driven, selective creator marketplace launched in beta in February 2026 with 16 initial brand partners. Unlike Yaps, which was fully permissionless, Studio operates on a tier-based model where:

• Brands (called "Participating Brands") post campaigns with defined objectives, scopes of work, timelines, reward structures, and content guidelines.
• Creators apply to the platform (eligibility is determined by Kaito based on factors like follower count, social reach, and impression count), browse campaigns, and submit reward quotes for their work.
• Brands select creators at their sole discretion — submitting a quote does not guarantee selection.
• Selected creators enter into a direct contractual relationship with the brand, not with Kaito.

Key differences vs. the old Yaps model:

• Selective, not open: creators must qualify to participate; brands hand-pick who they work with.
• Cross-platform: Studio measures content across X, YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms rather than X alone.
• Beyond crypto: Studio covers crypto, finance, AI, and other verticals. Hu stated that 2026 would be the year Kaito "surpasses CT [Crypto Twitter] as its primary platform."
• Performance-based rewards: creators are paid against defined scopes of work, not automated scoring.
• On-chain verification: participants link a self-custodial digital wallet; rewards are paid in digital assets.

How to Apply to Kaito Studio

1. Visit kaito.ai/studio.
2. Sign up as a creator and connect a self-custodial wallet.
3. Wait for Kaito to review your eligibility (Kaito is not obligated to disclose reasons for rejection).
4. Once approved, browse campaigns from Participating Brands, review Brand Guidelines, and submit your Reward Quote.
5. If selected, fulfill the campaign scope directly with the brand and receive payment.

Attention Markets: Kaito × Polymarket

In February 2026, Kaito announced a partnership with Polymarket to launch Attention Markets — a new category of prediction markets where users wager on:

• Mindshare: how much an entity, trend, brand, or person is being discussed across social media.
• Sentiment: whether that discussion skews positive or negative.

Markets are powered by Kaito's AI aggregation of data from X, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Example markets include "Will Anthropic's mindshare be higher than OpenAI next month?" or "Will sentiment on [public figure] go up this month?"

Polymarket began rolling out dozens of Attention Markets in early March 2026, with plans to scale to thousands by year-end. Initial focus is AI-related topics, expanding into entertainment, finance, world events, sports, and geopolitics. Two pilot markets launched in November 2025 — one on Polymarket's own mindshare by March 31, 2026 — already crossed $1.3 million in trading volume.

Attention Markets are available on both polymarket.com and kaito.ai, with a dedicated standalone Kaito Markets site in development.

Kaito Capital Launchpad

Capital Launchpad is Kaito's merit-based token sale and fundraising platform, launched as an alternative to traditional first-come, first-served (FCFS) allocation models. Rather than rewarding whoever clicks fastest, Capital Launchpad allocates based on:

• Social Reputation: standing within the crypto community.
• On-chain Holdings: wallet history (not limited to KAITO holdings).
• Historical Alignment: past engagement and relevance to specific projects and sectors.
• Regional Factors: geographic distribution considerations.
• Conviction Level: demonstrated long-term commitment to the projects.

The Funding Process

The Capital Launchpad cycle has five stages:

1. Project Setup: the project team sets investment amounts, valuations, and vesting terms, and assigns participants to allocation "phases."
2. Pledging Phase: interested participants place a deposit to pledge their desired allocation.
3. Review Phase: the project evaluates pledges against the five allocation criteria above.
4. Final Allocation: successful participants receive allocation offers within a specified time window.
5. FCFS Stage: any unallocated remainder is offered to eligible users on a first-come, first-served basis.

Technical Requirements

• Supported currency: USDC on Base.
• KYC/AML: Required for all participants; users in certain restricted countries are excluded.
• Identity verification: All campaigns use Persona's identity verification system.
• Wallet: Purchases are completed through Capital Launchpad's embedded wallet.

Kaito Markets (Upcoming)

Kaito Markets is Kaito's forthcoming standalone attention-markets venue, currently in development. It is expected to operate alongside the Polymarket-powered Attention Markets and provide a native, Kaito-branded prediction-market experience. No public launch date has been disclosed.

KAITO Tokenomics

The KAITO token is an ERC-20 token on the Base network with a capped maximum supply of 1 billion tokens. It reached an all-time high of $2.92 on February 27, 2025, following its initial airdrop.

KAITO serves three core functions:

• Market Forces Driver : KAITO holders influence how attention is distributed across the InfoFi network.
• Network Currency: KAITO is the primary medium of exchange within the Kaito ecosystem.
• Community Governance: token holders propose and vote on protocol and algorithm changes.

Token distribution includes allocations for governance participation via Yapper Launchpad voting, regional and emerging creators, on-chain reputation holders, Genesis NFT holders, and ecosystem partners.

How to Participate in Kaito in 2026

With Yaps retired, there is no longer a public "post-to-earn" program. Active ways to participate in the Kaito ecosystem today are:

1. Apply to Kaito Studio if you are a content creator — sign up at kaito.ai/studio and wait for eligibility review.
2. Use Kaito Pro for research, either via a paid subscription or by leveraging publicly available MetaSearch features.
3. Participate in Capital Launchpad — complete KYC, fund a wallet with USDC on Base, and pledge to campaigns that match your thesis.
4. Trade Attention Markets — use Polymarket or kaito.ai to wager on mindshare and sentiment outcomes (subject to your jurisdiction's regulations on prediction markets).
5. Hold and stake KAITO for governance participation and any future utility tied to Kaito Studio and Markets.

Note: anyone encouraging you to "grind Yaps" or chase Yapper Leaderboard ranks in 2026 is promoting a product that no longer exists. The merit-based paths above replace that model.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Kaito Yaps still live in 2026?

No. Kaito shut down Yaps and its incentivized Yapper Leaderboards on January 15, 2026, after X revoked API access for apps that rewarded users for posting. Kaito replaced Yaps with Kaito Studio, a selective, tier-based creator marketplace.

Can I still earn Yap Points?

No. The Yap Points program ended on January 15, 2026. There is currently no direct replacement for earning points by posting on X. Creators can now apply to Kaito Studio to be selected for paid brand campaigns instead.

What is Kaito Studio?

Kaito Studio is a data-driven creator–brand marketplace where vetted creators are matched with campaigns from Participating Brands. It launched in beta in February 2026 with 16 partners and operates across crypto, finance, AI, and other verticals on X, YouTube, and TikTok.

What are Attention Markets?

Attention Markets are prediction markets launched in a Kaito × Polymarket partnership in early 2026. Users wager on the mindshare and sentiment of brands, trends, people, or topics, with outcomes resolved using Kaito's AI data aggregation.

Is the KAITO token still worth holding after the Yaps shutdown?

The KAITO token remains the native asset of the Kaito ecosystem and continues to function in governance and as network currency. Its utility is being reshaped around Kaito Studio, Capital Launchpad, and Attention Markets rather than Yap-based scoring. Like any crypto asset, KAITO carries risk and is subject to volatility and token unlock schedules — do your own research before buying.

What blockchain is KAITO on?

KAITO is an ERC-20 token issued on the Base network.

Is Kaito a legitimate project?

Kaito was founded in 2022 by Yu Hu, a former Citadel hedge fund manager, and is backed by investors including Dragonfly Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Jane Street, and HashKey Capital. Its Kaito Pro product is used by 500+ professional crypto teams.

Can US users participate in Capital Launchpad or Attention Markets?

Capital Launchpad requires KYC/AML and excludes users in certain restricted jurisdictions — check the platform's eligibility requirements. Attention Markets on Polymarket are subject to Polymarket's own jurisdictional restrictions, which currently exclude US users. Kaito Markets' jurisdictional policies will be announced at launch.

What is InfoFi?

InfoFi (Information Finance) is the framework Kaito uses to describe how attention and information can be quantified, tokenized, and rewarded like any other financial asset, using AI and market mechanisms rather than opaque platform algorithms.

Conclusion

Kaito's 2026 pivot marks one of the most significant strategic shifts in the InfoFi space to date. The January 2026 shutdown of Yaps — forced by X's API policy change — ended the permissionless "post-to-earn" era that Kaito helped popularize. In its place, Kaito Studio, Attention Markets, Capital Launchpad, and Kaito Pro now form a more selective, analytics-driven ecosystem that extends beyond Crypto Twitter into finance, AI, and entertainment.

For creators, the path is no longer grinding Yaps but qualifying for Kaito Studio campaigns. For investors, it's Capital Launchpad's merit-based allocations. For traders, it's Attention Markets. The KAITO token continues to anchor the ecosystem, though its utility narrative is actively being rewritten.

Whether Kaito's more professionalized, cross-platform model succeeds where the open-reward model was shut down is the central question for the InfoFi category in 2026.

This article is only for informational purposes and should not be taken as financial or investment advice.

An earlier version of this article was written by Stephanie Goh.