A Beginner’s Guide to AI Tokens

Artificial
intelligence
(AI)
is
transforming
many
industries,
and
the
crypto
space
is
no
exception.
With
this
convergence
of
blockchain
and
AI,
we’re
seeing
the
rise
of
unique
digital
assets;
AI
crypto
tokens.

In
this
beginner’s
guide
to
AI
tokens,
we
will
explain
what
they
are,
how
they
work,
and
list
some
of
the
most
prominent
AI
cryptocurrencies
in
the
market.

This
is
partner
content
sourced
from



Laura
Shin’s
Unchained


and
published
by
CoinDesk.

AI
tokens
are
cryptocurrencies
that
support
AI-based
projects,
applications,
and
services
within
the

blockchain
ecosystem.

AI
tokens
play
three
pivotal
roles;
the
first
is

facilitating
transactions.
They
are
the
medium
of
exchange
within
AI-powered
platforms.
With
them,
users
can
pay
for
services,
access
data,
and
participate
in
the
platform’s
activities.

Additionally,
they
are
crucial
in

enabling
protocol
governance.
Some
of
these
tokens
confer

governance
rights
to
their
holders,
empowering
holders
to
participate
in
decision-making
processes
shaping
the
development
and
direction
of
the
AI
project
or
platform.

Finally,
they
incentivize
users
to
contribute
towards
the
growth
of
the
AI
protocol/project.
These
may

receive
rewards
in
tokens
for
contributing
data,
providing
computational
resources,
or
developing
AI
applications.

AI
crypto
tokens
typically
work
in
the
following
ways:

Specifics
can
vary
widely
depending
on
the
project.
Each
AI
token
system
is
designed
with
its
own
rules
and
purposes.

The
crypto
AI
landscape
is
rapidly
evolving,
and
many
projects
are
coming
up
to
address
various
aspects
of
the
space.
Here
are
the
top
five
leading
AI
tokens
measured
by
market
capitalization.

The
Injective
Chain
is
a
layer-2

decentralized
exchange
and
derivatives
trading
platform
powered
by
the
INJ
token.
It
enables
advanced
trading
tools
like
margins/leverage,
using
AI
for
optimized
order
execution,
strategy
testing,
and
predictive
analytics.
At
the
time
of
writing,
INJ
was
the
biggest
AI
token
with
a
market
cap
of
$1.418B.

The
Graph
(GRT)
is
an
indexing
protocol
for
organizing
blockchain
data,
allowing
for
its
easy
querying
for
AI
analytics.
GRT
is
the
second-largest
AI
token
by
market
cap
($1.379B
at
the
time
of
writing)
and
coordinates
the
decentralized
network
of
nodes
(Indexers).
These
earn
the
rights
to
index
and
serve
application
data
by

staking
their
GRT.

Render
Token
enables
a
decentralized
GPU
cloud
computing
network
for
high-demand
AI/ML
training/rendering
tasks.
Users
stake
and
lock
up
RNDR
for
access
to
GPUs.
The
project
rewards
Render
Farm
suppliers
in
RNDR
for
leasing
out
graphics
horsepower
capacity.
RNDR
has
a
market
cap
of
$1.22B
at
the
time
of
writing.

The
Theta
token
(THETA)
powers
the
Theta
decentralized
video
delivery
network
and
is
the
fourth
largest
AI
and
big
data
token,
with
a
market
cap
of
$960M
at
the
time
of
writing.
It
aims
to
provide
improved
video
streaming
quality
and
reduced
costs
through
AI
and
ML
innovations.
Users
and
relay
nodes
earn
THETA
for
sharing
bandwidth
resources.

The
Oasis
Network
uses
a
token-incentivized
architecture
to
enable
privacy-preserving
AI
computations
on
blockchain.
ROSE
tokens,
which
have
a
market
cap
of
$567M
at
the
time
of
writing,
coordinate
the
network
of
nodes,
providing
secure
computing
via
technologies
like
Intel
SGX,
differential
privacy,
and
federated
learning.

As
blockchain
platforms
aim
for
large-scale
adoption,
AI
innovations
will
be
critical
for
unlocking
new
capabilities
and
efficiencies.
Specialized
AI
tokens
help
coordinate
the
incentives
and
collaboration
necessary
for
advancing
AI
in
a
decentralized
context.
These
have
strong
potential
as
the

tokenization
of
ML
processes
grows
on-chain.

But
the
category
remains
technically
complex
and
volatile,
as
with
most
crypto.
Therefore,
investor
due
diligence
before
their
adoption
remains
vital.