# LearnPearl

> The friendly, independent guide to Pearl (PRL), the layer-1 blockchain mined with matrix multiplication (“proof of useful work”): sourced, plain-English education. Not affiliated with Pearl Research Labs, an exchange, wallet, pool or token issuer. Pearl’s coin is PRL, listed as PEARL on CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap; it is not Perle (PRL on Solana, and what “PRL” means on most big exchanges), the 2017 Oyster Pearl (PRL) or Olas Pearl.

Site-wide source check: October 20, 2026. Each page carries its own date. Claims are labeled live and verified, officially planned, third-party evidence, or scenario. A valid proof of matrix work does not establish useful customer demand. Calculator outputs are scenarios, not forecasts or live data.

Every guide and story is available as Markdown: append .md to its path without the trailing slash. The complete text is at https://www.learnpearl.org/llms-full.txt.

## Reading boundaries

- LearnPearl explains and links; it is not a primary source. For anything that matters, quote what each page links: Pearl’s code and releases (https://github.com/pearl-research-labs/pearl), Pearl Research Labs’ site and papers (https://pearlresearch.ai, https://pearlresearch.ai/research), the improvement proposals (https://github.com/pearl-research-labs/pips) and the chain itself (https://explorer.pearlresearch.ai).
- It is written by the LearnPearl editorial team, for education only, and is not financial advice. It does not speak for Pearl Research Labs: their plans are reported as theirs, labeled officially planned until they ship.
- It does not track markets. Prices are CoinGecko’s, used only as dated defaults in the calculators.

## Chain snapshot

From Pearl’s public Blockbook when this file was built, October 22, 2026 at 13:09 UTC: block 131,829 (mined October 22, 2026); next block reward 2,232.59 PRL; 354.0 million PRL issued, 16.86% of the 2.1 billion cap; difficulty 42.5M. A dated reading, not live data: https://www.learnpearl.org/live-status/ shows the chain now.

## Pearl basics

- [What is Pearl?](https://www.learnpearl.org/what-is-pearl.md): Pearl (PRL) is a layer-1 blockchain, live since April 2026, whose miners prove work with AI-style matrix math instead of hashing. A plain-English intro.
- [How Pearl works](https://www.learnpearl.org/how-it-works.md): Follow a Pearl transaction from wallet to block: matrix-multiplication mining, noise, zero-knowledge certificates, difficulty and issuance.
- [Why Pearl could matter](https://www.learnpearl.org/why-pearl-matters.md): The strongest version of the Pearl thesis: AI compute paid once for useful output and again for securing a network, and the evidence so far.
- [Pearl’s risks and limits, plainly](https://www.learnpearl.org/risks.md): Is Pearl (PRL) safe? The main risks in plain language: young software, custody, mining economics, look-alike tokens, the usefulness gap and concentration.

## Get hands-on

- [Getting started with Pearl](https://www.learnpearl.org/getting-started.md): A safe, practical path into Pearl: choose what you want (learn, hold, mine, run a node, build or research), then follow the shortest verified sequence.
- [Choose and secure a Pearl wallet](https://www.learnpearl.org/wallet.md): Install the official Pearl wallet, back up your recovery seed, receive PRL, send safely in Wallet v3, and avoid costly custody mistakes.
- [How to buy Pearl without buying the wrong asset](https://www.learnpearl.org/buy-pearl.md): A careful guide to getting native PRL: verify the asset and the venue, avoid look-alike tokens, test a small withdrawal to your own wallet, and keep records.
- [How to mine Pearl](https://www.learnpearl.org/mine-pearl.md): A practical framework for mining Pearl: wallet first, measured costs, solo or pool, verified software, a 24-hour benchmark, and the profitability math.
- [Run a Pearl full node](https://www.learnpearl.org/run-a-node.md): What a Pearl full node does, how pearld differs from the wallet and miner, installing from an official release, its ports, and running it safely.

## Go deeper

- [Pearl network guide](https://www.learnpearl.org/network.md): Pearl mainnet parameters checked against the code, the live metrics worth watching, and how to read addresses, fees, confirmations and explorer numbers.
- [Pearl developer guide](https://www.learnpearl.org/developers.md): A map of the Pearl monorepo, build prerequisites, the test networks, the gotchas for Bitcoin developers, and how to contribute well.
- [Pearl research library](https://www.learnpearl.org/research.md): The papers behind Pearl (PRL): the matrix-multiplication proof of useful work, the INT whitepaper, the economics paper, the code and the critiques.
- [What is live in Pearl right now](https://www.learnpearl.org/live-status.md): A dated, source-checked view of Pearl: current core and wallet releases, inference integrations, what’s in development, and what remains unproven.

## Reference

- [About LearnPearl: independent by design](https://www.learnpearl.org/about.md): LearnPearl’s mission, editorial standards, sourcing, corrections, privacy, use of automation, commercial policy, and its relationship to Pearl Research Labs.
- [Glossary](https://www.learnpearl.org/glossary/): plain-English definitions of the terms around Pearl, mining, wallets and AI compute.
- [FAQ](https://www.learnpearl.org/faq/): every question answered across the guides.
- [Timeline](https://www.learnpearl.org/timeline/): forks, releases, partners and papers since genesis.

## News

- [Coinbase adds Pearl to its listing roadmap, as PEARL. On Coinbase, “PRL” is another coin](https://www.learnpearl.org/news/coinbase-roadmap-pearl-ticker.md): 2026-10-20. Oct 19, 2026: Coinbase put Pearl on its listing roadmap as PEARL. It isn’t tradable there yet, and Coinbase’s PRL market is Perle, a Solana token.
- [Pearl status: what is live, in development, and still unverified](https://www.learnpearl.org/news/pearl-status-october-19-2026.md): 2026-10-19. October 19, 2026: core v1.5.2, Wallet v3.0.0, Pearl’s own inference platform, FP8 in development, and the useful-work number that is still missing.
- [Pearl v1.5 “Security hardening” and Wallet v3.0.0: what operators need to know](https://www.learnpearl.org/news/pearl-v1-5-security-hardening-wallet-v3.md): 2026-10-17. v1.5.0 consolidates security fixes and tightens a script rule; Wallet v3.0.0 changes how uncertain payments are retried. v1.5.1 and v1.5.2 follow.
- [Pearl publishes an FP8 protocol spec, and code for certificate V4 lands. It isn’t live.](https://www.learnpearl.org/news/pearl-fp8-protocol-spec-v4-code.md): 2026-10-05. Pearl now presents an FP8 scheme as “The Pearl Protocol”, and certificate V4 code is on a development branch. No release ships it and no fork height is set.
- [Pearl status: what is live, announced, and still unverified](https://www.learnpearl.org/news/pearl-status-august-26-2026.md): 2026-08-26. Mainnet, core v1.4.1, Wallet v2.0.5, the Together AI integration, and the product claims that still need evidence, as of August 26, 2026.
- [Pearl releases v1.4.1 and Wallet v2.0.5 for the salted noise-seed hard fork](https://www.learnpearl.org/news/pearl-v1-4-1-salted-noise-seed-hardfork.md): 2026-08-11. The core and wallet releases align software with Pearl’s salted noise-seed hard fork at block 99,000. Every node, pool and miner had to upgrade.
- [Pearl reports low proof overhead on two production-scale model setups](https://www.learnpearl.org/news/pearl-production-overhead-benchmarks.md): 2026-08-06. Pearl reports single-digit end-to-end overhead on Llama 70B and DeepSeek V3.2 configurations. Promising, and project-reported.
- [The usefulness-gap study challenges what Pearl mining proves in practice](https://www.learnpearl.org/news/usefulness-gap-study-pearl-cupow.md): 2026-06-05. An empirical study argues that valid proofs show matrix work, while its live-network sample found no evidence that the mining served outside AI tasks.
- [A new economic model maps when proof of useful work can improve compute supply](https://www.learnpearl.org/news/economics-of-proof-of-useful-work-paper.md): 2026-06-04. The paper models when block rewards can increase the supply of useful compute without making majority attacks cheap.
- [Together AI launches a Pearl-powered inference endpoint with a stated 25%+ discount](https://www.learnpearl.org/news/together-ai-pearl-inference-partnership.md): 2026-05-15. Together AI announced a Gemma endpoint whose discount is tied to expected PRL rewards from the same inference work.

## Tools

- [MatMul playground](https://www.learnpearl.org/tools/matmul-playground/): Multiply two small matrices, watch every cell get made, then turn the work into lottery tickets and try to win a toy block.
- [Emission explorer](https://www.learnpearl.org/tools/emission-schedule/): Scrub through Pearl’s smooth issuance curve, compare it with a Bitcoin-style staircase, and get the exact reward of any block.
- [Mining calculator](https://www.learnpearl.org/tools/mining-calculator/): Turn your measured payout, power draw and costs into an honest daily, monthly and yearly scenario, with a stress test.
- [Compute opportunity lab](https://www.learnpearl.org/tools/compute-opportunity/): Model the net value of adding Pearl proofs to AI workloads you already run, then share or export the exact assumptions.
- [Meme studio](https://www.learnpearl.org/tools/meme-studio/): Create original Pearl images in social-ready sizes, with your own picture if you like. Everything stays on your device.

## Optional

- [Complete text of every guide and story](https://www.learnpearl.org/llms-full.txt)
- [RSS feed](https://www.learnpearl.org/news/feed.xml)
- [Sitemap](https://www.learnpearl.org/sitemap.xml)