cPen Network news broke this week through the project's official token distribution update. $INK balance verification is now underway, and the team expects phased INK distribution to start around mid-September 2026, once verification wraps up.

The announcement came from cPenCoreTeam, days after HATN mining fully replaced INK mining inside the app. This cPen Network News update closes out a long INK rollout that began with KYC checks earlier this year.
INK mining officially ended on July 30, 2026, at 23:59:59 UTC. HATN, short for Human Attention Token, took over the next day, running on what the team calls the Attention-Token Economic Model.
Quick timeline so far:
July 30, 2026: $INK mining ends
July 31, 2026: HATN mining begins
August 21, 2026: final KYC deadline for INK, after one extension
Mid-September 2026: phased INK distribution expected to start
$CPEN, the project's original token, still runs a buyback-and-burn program funded by app ad revenue, with burns tracked on-chain every quarter, per the team's updates.
cPen Network News today has stayed steady even as attention shifts to $INK token.
Only wallets tied to accounts that finished KYC before the August 21 deadline qualify for $INK. Those balances are being verified now, and payouts will roll out in stages, not one lump sum. Before that starts, the team wants three things checked:
Confirm the BSC wallet address inside the app's Wallet page
Use a self-custody wallet, such as a MetaMask BSC wallet or Trust Wallet
Avoid centralized exchange deposit addresses entirely
Lock the wallet address once confirmed correct
Locking adds a step before any change, guarding against unauthorized access. This wallet verification step matters since $INK will not list on a centralized exchange at launch.
It debuts on PancakeSwap, a decentralized exchange on BNB Chain, so tokens sent to an unsupported exchange address may not be recoverable. The team has also said it will never message first asking for a seed phrase.
cPen Network tokens run on BNB Smart Chain, which uses Proof of Staked Authority, a mix of staking and authority validators built for speed and lower energy use than older proof-of-work chains.
That differs from a classic Proof-of-Authority chain, where a small, fixed group of approved nodes takes turns producing blocks, fast and cheap but concentrated in trust.
$CPEN Network works differently again. Participation depends on verified human activity in the app, KYC checks, daily claims, and attention-based mining.
It is backed by real ad revenue rather than heavy staking or a closed validator group. Whether the planned independent mainnet resembles classic Proof-of-Authority remains unclear; the team has only called it an "advanced consensus mechanism" so far.
This distinction is one reason the latest cPen Network News has drawn attention from people comparing mobile-mining projects to traditional chains.
KYC will reopen later for HATN and other features, though that will not restore $INK eligibility for anyone who missed the deadline, as per official team.
Near-term plans include standalone Web2 games meant to fund buybacks, a Wall feature turning into a $CPEN Market, and expanded cStory social features.
Longer-term, the roadmap points toward a testnet in early 2027, with cPen Network mainnet 2027 work continuing through the year.
The clearest path forward runs through the app itself. Wallet checks and the mid-September window will decide how smoothly this phase plays out, and the next cPen Network News update should bring more clarity.
This article is drawn entirely from a project's own social post and self-reported roadmap, not from independent reporting or verification. Project announcements about token distribution and wallet security carry real financial risk if something in the official account gets spoofed or changes later. Worth double-checking the live cPenCoreTeam account before making any decision.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Crypto markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.