AI tokens: While the broader crypto market has been enjoying a well-earned rally that kicked off at start of this year, a relatively niche subset of cryptocurrencies have been outperforming the rest of the in a big way. What is this relatively unknown yet wildly successful group of cryptocurrencies, you ask?
Crypto’s hottest sector is quite literally any token that claim an association with artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. With the headlines being dominated by stories of Open AI’s mega-viral ChatGPT, Google’s long-awaited answer to it, ‘Bard’ and all of the related controversies that have come along with it, it makes sense that a growing number of risk-hungry crypto investors would look to capitalise on the AI trend.
What is surprising however, is the degree to which this interest has has managed to send literally all of the AI-adjacent cryptocurrencies into a frenzy of epic proportion.
If we take a deeper look at how AI tokens have performed since the onset of crypto’s mini “bull market” that kicked off at the beginning of this year, we can see that AI cryptocurrencies have posted some seriously impressive numbers, with some gaining more than 1000%. Fair warning, many of these tokens are incredibly niche and their newfound success doesn’t seem to rest on much in the way of reasonable fundamentals.
So with this in mind, let’s take a look at all of the biggest gainers in the strange world of crypto-adjacent artificial intelligence since January 1 this year.
1. SingularityNET (AGIX) grew 1,182%
The biggest gains witnessed in the strange world of AI-related cryptocurrency came from a token that markets itself as a distributed network AI platform called SingularityNET. SingularityNET markets itself as a blockchain-powered artificial intelligence marketplace where anyone can “create, share, and monetise” AI services.
The native token of SingularityNET, dubbed ‘AGIX’ began the year at a price of just US$0.04 and over the course of the next 38 days, it surged more than 1000%, reaching a new yearly high of US$0.59 yesterday on February 7.
It’s worth noting that the website is somewhat janky and it’s unclear as to what kind of services individuals or business would actually be purchasing on the platform. To summarise, it seems to be a very early stage project that was extremely well-positioned to capitalise on the AI hype coursing through the market right now.
2. Artificial Liquid Intelligence (ALI) grew 987%
Sliding into second place among the biggest AI gainers is Artificial Liquid Intelligence, whose AI token has surged a staggering 987% since January 1. ALI kicked the year at a price of just US$0.008 and grew to a new yearly high of US$0.087 which it reached yesterday.
For those of you reading along wondering exactly what Artificial Liquid Intelligence does, its kind of hard to break down exactly this token does but here goes. ALI is the native token of ‘Alethea AI’ a company working on what a decentralised blockchain-based protocol that will create what it calls an “Intelligent Metaverse”, set to be inhabited by interactive and intelligent NFTs, dubbed ‘iNFTs’.
3. DeepBrain Chain (DBC) grew 820%
Clinching the number three spot on the AI gains list is DeepBrain Chain, with its native token ‘DBC’ posting a whopping 820% gain since the beginning of this year.
DBC began the year at a price of just US$0.001 and over the last 38 days has managed to rocket an astonishing 820% reaching a new yearly high of US$0.0082 on February 7.
DeepBrain Chain markets itself as a blockchain-based business that reduces the cost of running AI utilities, making them more affordable for businesses. And, DeepBrain Chain has reportedly already been utilised by a number of businesses to assist in the development of cloud-based games and engineering simulations.
At the end of the day, DeepBrain Chain is another curious example of an “AI token” that seems to offer very little in the way of real utility. It’s also worth noting that DeepBrain Chain remains down more than 98% from its all time high of US$0.66 which it reached all the way back in 2018.
4. AI tokens: Fetch.AI (FET) grew 533%
Fetch AI is easily the most legitimate artificial intelligence-powered project in the cryptocurrency space today. Much like all of the other AI tokens, Fetch is hard to explain, but it stands out as a project that actually maintains are large base of clients.
In simple terms, Fetch is a blockchain network that connects and secures data networks through the use of what it calls “autonomous AI”. By joining together massive datasets it optimises Decentralised Finance (DeFi) trading services, transportation networks like parking and traffic, as well as smart energy grids. Basically any super-complex digital system that relies on massive datasets can leverage Fetch AI for optimisation.
Fetch AI’s ‘FET’ token has grown roughly 530% since January 1, surging from US$0.09 apiece to US$0.57 at the time of writing. It’s price is still increasing at the time of writing and it’s yet to experience a major pullback, although judging by the price action on all of the other AI tokens, it wouldn’t be too surprising if the price were to drop suddenly.
5. AI tokens: Ocean Protocol (OCEAN) grew 247%
In fifth place is Ocean Protocol whose aptly named native token ‘OCEAN’ surged just under 250% on the back of the AI craze.
While it’s still not exactly clear as to how the Ocean Protocol really works or what its relationship to artificial intelligence technology is, the simplest explanation is that Ocean Protocol allows people to monetise their data while preserving privacy and control over said data.
Where Big Tech companies vacuum up user data and sell it in secret, Ocean Protocol allows for users to select which data is purchased and find unique datasets that were typically hidden from view. Data can be browsed on the Ocean Market, which serves as a marketplace for data owners and buyers to buy, sell, or trade data assets in a secure manner.
At the time of writing Ocean Protocol is down a little more than 70% from its all time high, which it reached nearly 2 years ago on April 10, 2021.
AI tokens are a very risky investment
It’s worth noting that less than two months ago, most people in cryptoland wouldn’t have been able to name a single “AI token”. Now, the cat is well and truly out of the bag.
It should also go without saying but FOMO isn’t an investment strategy. All investments in cryptocurrencies whose intended function is what can only be described as “a little hazy” should be approached with a healthy dose of caution. Still, if you’re interested in looking at artificial intelligence cryptocurrencies in a little more detail, you find The Chainsaw’s deep dive on all of the biggest AI cryptocurrencies here.
