Compilation: Coolman, Foresight News
Some AI tokens achieved a threefold increase in price in 2024, leading observers to question the true value of some projects.
The AI token market has been showing a significant upward trend over the past few months and reached a fever pitch last month as trading volume and market valuation soared.
According to data from the cryptocurrency platform Bitget, the trading volume in the AI token section surged by 400% in February alone, with a total market value exceeding $39 billion.
The rapid rise in the market is attributed to a large influx of investors into the token market with AI as the core concept. Various tokens, including Worldcoin (WLD), Livepeer (MPT), and Arkham (ARKM), have skyrocketed in price over the past few months. In early March, the trading price of WLD rose to $7, representing an increase of over 350% from its 2023 issuance price. LPT and ARKM have also seen increases of nearly 140% and over 100% respectively since their issuance.
Furthermore, compared to January data, the average market value of AI concept coins on Bitget increased by 77% in February. During this period, the average daily trading volume increased by 80%. From February 15th to 29th, the trading volume of Bitget's AI tokens surged by 480%.
Another reason for the surge is the upcoming release of OpenAI's Sora model, which has generated significant excitement among investors and enthusiasts due to its AI model for text-to-video generation.
As of the current situation, there are no signs of waning enthusiasm for AI tokens in the market, especially as industry giants like Nvidia have reaped the benefits of the increasing demand for AI computing power, achieving record-high revenues and profits. It is reported that Nvidia's profit in the fourth quarter of 2023 reached $22.1 billion, far exceeding the company's expectations. The AI boom at the end of 2023 is widely believed to have been the catalyst for driving its performance to new heights and has also fueled widespread enthusiasm for AI tokens in the cryptocurrency market.
Is the valuation of AI tokens reasonable?
Although AI technology has made significant advancements, the overall field is still in its early stages. So, are the valuations of these AI tokens, reaching as high as $40 billion, reasonable, or are they purely speculative?
Calanthia Mei, co-founder of Masa Network, a blockchain platform that aggregates AI developer resources, believes that the current AI token market is showing a coexistence of genuine potential and speculation:
"I would advise anyone looking to enter this market to ask themselves a key question: Does this project really need a token, and has decentralization played a crucial role at its core? Furthermore, in the long run, where will this token ultimately accumulate value?"
While the current market valuations are filled with speculative trading, Mei believes that AI technology has enormous long-term value and potential, and AI tokens will continue to exist in the crypto market.
Kevin Heng, Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder of the Thai cryptocurrency exchange Bitazza, told Cointelegraph that this growth not only signifies a temporary market enthusiasm but also highlights the overall transformation of AI towards a decentralized role. Heng pointed out that although the AI market is still in its early stages, he believes that this valuation is realistic. AI has the power to grow blockchain by a hundredfold, and vice versa.
However, some are skeptical about the intrinsic value of AI tokens.
Coinbase analyst David Han pointed out in a recent report that at least in the short term, the value growth of AI-related tokens is more driven by speculation than actual value. While he acknowledges that some encrypted AI tokens are indeed profitable, the long-term sustainable development of the ecosystem requires more than just decentralized AI components.
Albert Edwards, Chief Global Strategist of the French bank Société Générale, is even more critical of the market, likening the AI token frenzy to past financial bubbles: Every bubble has a compelling story. The current optimism about AI tokens all assumes that AI models "have a hand" in driving corporate profit growth, thereby indirectly proving the current valuation to be reasonable. However, for those of us who experienced the "technology" bubble at the end of the 1990s, these inferences are not convincing.
Speculation and credible AI use cases both exist
While market figures indicate that user investment behavior largely drives the AI token sector, many market observers point out that there are substantial driving factors behind the fervent market activity for AI tokens.
Mei believes that the market is surging because AI is the defining basic technological trend of our generation. It is estimated that by 2030, the value created by AI companies will exceed $1 trillion. While speculation in the AI industry certainly exists, in the end, projects that can truly bring value and widespread adoption will thrive, while overhyped projects will gradually exit the stage. Potential investors should carefully evaluate whether the AI tokens they favor are truly useful.
Toufi Saliba, CEO of the AI blockchain infrastructure HyperCycle, repeatedly emphasizes that the sustained rise of AI tokens should focus on technological developments and points out that the adoption rate of AI technology, increased awareness, and breakthroughs in research could be key drivers of the market.
He added that whether this growth can be sustained in the long term will depend on how effectively projects like HyperCycle, SingularityNET, Fetch.ai, Ocean Protocol, and other decentralized AI technologies continue to develop and bring value to enterprises and consumers.
The future of AI tokens
As the AI frenzy continues to permeate the global tech industry, the surge of AI concept cryptocurrencies has shown the future potential of this new asset class.
Industry experts, including Markus Levin, co-founder of blockchain data storage company XYO Network, believe that AI tokens can play a crucial role in addressing some key challenges currently faced by the industry, such as privacy issues and the demand for computing power. As AI systems and blockchain continue to evolve, we will continue to see more and more cases of integration between the two fields.
In addition, investment management company VanEck believes that AI+ encrypted tokens can play a crucial role in solving digital ownership and data verification issues, ensuring the integrity and traceability of AI-generated content. As the distinction between AI output and human-created works becomes increasingly difficult, this is particularly important for the sustainable development of the AI industry.
As the technology field continues to mature, these tokens will bring new possibilities to the AI+Crypto field and reshape the industry. Whether through the development of decentralized AI markets, secure data verification platforms, or incentive mechanisms involving computing power aggregation, these AI concept coins undoubtedly offer a glimpse of the endless innovation in this field.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
