Greed remains high as Bitcoin (BTC) carries the market, yet many alts are struggling to keep up.
TL;DR…
- Bitcoin hits $94K; AI tokens climb: BTC nears $100K while AI tokens rank 8th in relative performance. PAAL AI (+59.8%) and Akash Network (+24.6%) lead gains, though Bittensor (TAO) struggles (-15.3%).
- DeSci surges with AI-powered projects: DeSci sees big wins as Solana-based Pump.science tokens URO and RIF skyrocket over 1,000%. AI meme tokens, however, show mixed results.
- Big AI funding moves: Ai16z launches $5M AICombinator incubator, while OpenLayer raises $5M for blockchain-based AI data layers. Injective and Morpheus Mainnet debut innovative AI solutions.
- AI use case highlight: O2 combats scammers by wasting their time using AI. 🤣
Another week, another turbulent market.
Greed remains high as Bitcoin (BTC) carries the market, yet many alts are struggling to keep up.
AI tokens, on the other hand, are currently outperforming the altcoin market average. Let’s dive in and see which tokens are benefiting most from the positive change in momentum.
Market Overview
Earlier today, Bitcoin (BTC) hit another all-time high, smashing through the $94,000 threshold to reach a peak of $94,265 (as of writing).
The OG cryptocurrency is now up 4% in a week while maintaining a dominance of 59.7%, which is still close to its highest point this year.
To put this into perspective, it’s now just a 6% positive move away from hitting the fabled $100K price point.
Given Bitcoin’s extreme strength, the altcoin sector has struggled to keep up, largely due to the relative weakness of Ethereum (ETH)—which currently constitutes more than one-third of the altcoin market.
Despite this, some altcoin sectors are beginning to pull away. These include meme coins, tokenized real-world assets, Solana ecosystem tokens, and, wait for it… the AI sector.
Let’s see what happened in the AI space this week.
AI Market Recap
As we previously hinted, the AI token sector is currently among the best-performing by mCap-weighted returns, ranking eighth out of the 22 sectors tracked by DefiLlama’s narrative tracker.
Looking at the Top AI and Big Data Tokens page, we find that the vast majority of AI projects are in the green over the last seven days.
Seven of the top 10 largest AI projects have recorded gains over the last week, with Akash Network (AKT) leading the pack with a 24.6% return.
Some smaller AI tokens have pulled off an even more impressive return. These include:
- PAAL AI (PAAL): gained 59.8%
- Virtual Protocol (VIRTUAL): gained 51.9%
- Artificial Liquid Intelligence (ALI): gained 34.1%
But it’s not all sunshine and roses in the AI sector—one of the largest pure-play AI tokens is seeing a weekly downtrend.
We’re talking about Bittensor (TAO).
The project has suffered a 15.3% loss over the last week, likely due to concerns surrounding how a handful of subnets attract more than half of TAO emissions.
Developers behind the project are seeking to address this concern with dynamic TAO (dTAO), a proposal that would allow the staking system to control emissions rather than the root network.
This week also saw the dramatic resurgence of Decentralized Science (DeSci). Many of these projects leverage AI to some degree and have put on an impressive performance lately.
This includes Pump.science, the recent Pump.fun graduate. The platform allows users to speculate on anti-aging interventions applied to model organisms via Solana-based tokens. Both of its initial tokens, Urolithin A (URO) and Rifampicin (RIF), gained more than 1,000% in a week.
Source: Fartcoin (FART) Token Page
Meanwhile, AI-based memes have been a mixed bag this week. Heavy hitters like Goatseus Maximus (GOAT) and Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) managed to gain 10.4% and 24.4% respectively this past week, whereas ai16z (AI16Z) lost a whopping 48.3%.
Tonight's Nvidia earnings report may impact how the AI token market moves for the next few weeks.
AI News Roundup
It’s been a heavy week of AI news, developments and updates. We’ve selected some of the most important stories for this week to help you get up to date quickly:
Autonomous Investment Fund to Launch AI Incubator: Ai16z, an AI-driven venture capital firm, has partnered with Ryze Labs to launch AICombinator, a program supported by a $5 million fund. This initiative aims to support developers creating projects that integrate artificial intelligence with cryptocurrency technologies. Participants will gain early access to ai16z's Eliza framework.
OpenLayer Secures $5 Million Seed Funding for AI Data Layer: OpenLayer, a blockchain-based AI data layer startup founded by ex-Robinhood employees, raised $5M in a seed round with participation from a16z, Eterna Capital and others. The platform aims to optimize AI data processing and analytics, leveraging blockchain for transparency and efficiency in AI workflows.
Injective Launches iAgent On-Chain Agent Solution: Injective launched an AI Toolkit enabling on-chain AI agents to execute smart contract functions autonomously. This toolkit integrates AI with blockchain, allowing developers to create decentralized, AI-driven applications and streamline smart contract interactions.
Morpheus Launches Mainnet: Lumerin Protocol has launched the Morpheus mainnet, a decentralized AI network featuring personal AIs called Smart Agents. The platform aims to democratize AI access, enhance transparency, and protect user privacy by decentralizing AI compute resources.
Use Case of the Week
On an AI-related side note, the British Telecom giant O2 has begun using artificial intelligence to waste the time of telecom scammers—a devious yet underrated idea in my book.
>> That’s all for this week’s AI roundup. Join us next week for another dose of AI news, updates and market coverage ✌️
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