Alchemy Launches Cortex: AI-Powered Blockchain Engine

Alchemy, a leading blockchain infrastructure provider, has launched Cortex, a high-performance AI-powered blockchain engine. Designed to supercharge on-chain applications, Cortex delivers real-time scalability, ultra-low latency, and enterprise-grade reliability for developers building on Ethereum, Solana, and other leading blockchains.

Unlike traditional blockchain solutions, Cortex is not a separate chain. It serves as a foundational infrastructure layer optimized for high-frequency, large-scale blockchain operations. Alchemy calls it “the world’s first intelligent blockchain engine.”

Performance at the Speed of Finance

Cortex cuts average response times from 300–400 milliseconds to under 50 milliseconds, a 66% drop. This performance rivals traditional payment networks like Visa and Mastercard.

The engine can handle millions of requests per second. Its node throughput reaches 500–1000 times that of conventional blockchain infrastructure. In real-world use:

• Polymarket saw market update speeds jump 50×
• World Chain reported 50× faster wallet creation and transaction finality
• Stablecoin operations experienced improved performance for USDC, PYUSD, Paxos, and USDT-related activity

AI at the Core

Cortex uses artificial intelligence to optimize traffic and adapt to changing network conditions. The system performs context-sensitive routing, real-time monitoring, and automated scaling. It’s trained on seven years of network data and trillions of requests.

This AI layer powers:

• Zero dropped WebSocket connections during high load
• Faster event scans (getLogs up to 265× faster)
• Block-perfect consistency—ensuring all users access the same data instantly

Trusted by Major Institutions

Cortex already supports over 70% of the stablecoin transaction infrastructure. It underpins systems at companies like Coinbase, Stripe, J.P. Morgan, Robinhood, and Chainlink. Alchemy built the engine to meet the demands of high-throughput platforms.

The platform boasts 99.995% uptime with automatic failovers, emergency backups, and consistent routing logic.

The Cortex engine runs on bare-metal servers, not generic cloud infrastructure. Alchemy optimized the system with:

• Kubernetes pod co-location and Istio for locality-aware routing
• A modular microkernel proxy architecture
• Custom traffic observability tools
• Real-time scaling driven by AI

Cortex is the result of an 18-month overhaul of Alchemy’s backend systems. It’s built to meet the demands of next-gen applications like stablecoins, DeFi, rollups, wallets, and agent-based commerce.

New Blockchain Infrastructure

Cortex isn’t just a performance upgrade. It’s a rethinking of how blockchain apps should operate in real time. Developers building high-frequency trading apps, real-world payment systems, or massive consumer Web3 platforms now have an engine that scales as fast as they do.

With its focus on low latency, high reliability, and AI-powered optimization, Cortex marks a new era for blockchain infrastructure, one where on-chain performance no longer lags behind traditional finance.