Key Takeaways
- • Grayscale's research note, published Friday, said Bittensor (TAO), NEAR and World (WLD) play "more prominent roles" in AI services, agent commerce and proof of personhood, but spotlighted three smaller projects: DATA Network (DATA), USD.AI (CHIP) and Pearl (PEARL).
- • AI-focused crypto tokens traded mixed on Sunday, with CHIP the only one of the six tokens cited by Grayscale to rise, up over 4% over the past day.
- • DATA fell more than 2% over the past 24 hours, while PEARL edged up about 0.3% on Sunday.
- • Grayscale said PEARL is "up 580%" over the past three months, tied to a model where GPUs run AI workloads while securing a proof-of-work blockchain.
- • USD.AI's onchain pools let investors fund loans backed by GPUs and the income they generate, offering potential yield to capital providers.
Summary
Grayscale, the crypto asset manager, published a note on Friday highlighting AI-linked tokens beyond the largest names in the sector. The note said Bittensor (TAO), NEAR (NEAR) and World (WLD) were playing "more prominent roles" in AI services, blockchain-based agent commerce and proof of personhood, but argued that "there's a lot more going on beneath the surface." It then spotlighted three lesser-known projects operating deeper in the AI buildout: DATA Network, USD.AI and Pearl.
DATA Network, formerly known as Story, is building tools to "collect, license, and track human-contributed data," including photos, videos and voice recordings, according to Grayscale. Applications on the network can license those datasets to AI labs and reward the contributors. DATA's price fell more than 2% over the past 24 hours, while retail sentiment on Stocktwits remained in the "bullish" zone.
USD.AI (CHIP) arranges loans backed by graphics processing units and the income those chips generate. Grayscale noted that compute providers often need outside capital because the hardware is costly. The project's onchain pools allow investors to fund these loans and potentially earn yield. CHIP was the only one of the six tokens cited in the green, rising more than 4% over the past day, although Stocktwits retail sentiment remained "bearish."
Pearl (PEARL) aims to let GPUs perform "double duty": running AI workloads while securing a proof-of-work blockchain, allowing compute providers to earn PRL rewards on top of AI revenue. Grayscale said PEARL is "up 580% in the past three months." The token was up over 0.3% on Sunday, with Stocktwits sentiment "bullish" and chatter easing to "high" from "extremely high" levels.
DATA Network, formerly known as Story, is building tools to "collect, license, and track human-contributed data," including photos, videos and voice recordings, according to Grayscale. Applications on the network can license those datasets to AI labs and reward the contributors. DATA's price fell more than 2% over the past 24 hours, while retail sentiment on Stocktwits remained in the "bullish" zone.
USD.AI (CHIP) arranges loans backed by graphics processing units and the income those chips generate. Grayscale noted that compute providers often need outside capital because the hardware is costly. The project's onchain pools allow investors to fund these loans and potentially earn yield. CHIP was the only one of the six tokens cited in the green, rising more than 4% over the past day, although Stocktwits retail sentiment remained "bearish."
Pearl (PEARL) aims to let GPUs perform "double duty": running AI workloads while securing a proof-of-work blockchain, allowing compute providers to earn PRL rewards on top of AI revenue. Grayscale said PEARL is "up 580% in the past three months." The token was up over 0.3% on Sunday, with Stocktwits sentiment "bullish" and chatter easing to "high" from "extremely high" levels.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.