Written by: Xiyou, ChainCatcher
Editor: Nianqing, ChainCatcher
In the past two months, the explosive growth of Agentfi has once again demonstrated the enormous potential of the 'AI+Crypto' (also known as crypto AI) integration. In a recent 2025 trend prediction report released, industry-known institutions such as a16z partners, Messari, and Blockworks co-founders simultaneously mentioned that the combination of 'AI and crypto' will be a mainstream hotspot in the crypto market in 2025, with the intersection of crypto technology and AI expected to achieve breakthrough progress, driving the emergence of numerous AI projects and tokens.
Looking back at 2024, the crypto AI market has welcomed an unprecedented investment boom, with major investment institutions flooding in and investment amounts skyrocketing. In this field, top venture capital firms in the crypto industry such as Grayscale, Coinbase Ventures, Binance Labs, and a16z have actively engaged in the layout of 'Crypto+AI' projects.
Notably, investment institutions such as Delphi Venture, CoinFund, Coinbase Ventures, Binance Labs, and a16z have demonstrated firm confidence in the crypto AI field through multiple investments.
On December 24, the Messari (2025 crypto outlook report) showed that crypto AI is the most eye-catching emerging investment theme for 2024, with the total financing in this field achieving approximately 100% year-on-year growth and a significant increase of 138% in financing rounds. This article will systematically outline the layouts of top crypto VCs in the Crypto+AI field in 2024 and the fundamental situations of the specific projects they invested in.
Grayscale, Delphi, Coinbase, Binance Labs, and other crypto investment institutions have laid out plans for 'Crypto+AI'.
Capital, as the core force driving industry progress and capturing cutting-edge projects, has always been regarded as an important barometer for market trends based on its funding flows and public investment activities. The 2024 crypto AI market has also welcomed an investment boom, with major investment institutions flooding in, and the enthusiasm for investing in crypto AI projects is unprecedented, with investment amounts sharply rising.
Many top industry crypto venture capital institutions, such as Grayscale, Delphi Venture, Coinbase Ventures, Binance Labs, and a16z, have publicly announced their active involvement in the investment layout and strategic deployment of 'Crypto+AI' projects.
In early January, Delphi Digital co-founder Tommy publicly expressed on social media platform X that he is highly optimistic about the combination of crypto and AI and encourages relevant project developers to contact him. He also revealed that Delphi Ventures has invested in multiple crypto AI projects, including the decentralized GPU project io.net, AI blockchain OG Labs, and the AI venture fund Mythos Ventures, among others. In October, its research department, Delphi Lab, launched an AI accelerator in collaboration with the NEAR Foundation, aiming to promote the development of AI and Web3 cross-field projects.
a16z crypto, as the venture capital fund specifically established by a16z for the cryptocurrency sector, is often regarded as a bellwether in the industry. Its relevant leaders have publicly stated multiple times: supporting the integration of cryptocurrency and AI projects. As early as March, media reported that a16z was raising a new fund as large as $6 billion, focusing on investments in the AI sector, planning to allocate 15% of the funds specifically for the development of AI infrastructure and applications. Among the 21 projects selected for the a16z Crypto Fall Accelerator (a16z CSX) released in September, 5 were related to crypto AI, including Skyfire, the decentralized AI network OpenGradient, the GPU project Kuzco, the enterprise-designed blockchain AI solution Banyan, and PIN AI. Several AI Agents, including the GOAT (truth_terminal) project which exploded in popularity in October, have also received cryptocurrency funding support from a16z crypto partners.
Entering the second half of the year, more crypto venture capital institutions announced their foray into the crypto AI field, with some institutions establishing dedicated AI funds and increasing investment in crypto AI projects.
On June 19, Pantera Capital announced it was raising a new $1 billion fund, with over $200 million to be used for investing in AI-related projects. The fund's investment manager Cosmo Jiang stated that in the next 10 to 20 years, all crypto companies will become AI companies, and Pantera Capital has already invested 15% to 20% of its capital in AI-related blockchain projects in its early funds.
In August, Grayscale launched a new decentralized AI trust fund focused on AI, primarily investing in project tokens related to AI. The first batch of selected projects includes Bittensor (TAO), Filecoin (FIL), Livepeer (LPT), Near (NEAR), and Render (RNDR), and will be adjusted quarterly based on holdings. As of December 23, Grayscale's AI fund has included Bittensor (TAO), Filecoin (FIL), Near (NEAR), Render (RNDR), and The Graph (GRT), with total assets under management valued at approximately $1.5 million.
Similarly, in August, Binance Labs' investment director Max Coniglio publicly stated its recent strategy: focusing on promoting the development of decentralized applications (DApps) driven by AI, and has consecutively invested in the decentralized AI network Sahara AI and the AI robot platform MyShell. Max Coniglio believes that the combination of AI and blockchain is a formidable force, and if the two can work together towards open-source protocols, it will jointly usher in a prosperous new era. In a recent interview, Binance co-founder He Yi expressed that the integration of AI and cryptocurrency is sparking a productivity revolution, with impacts far beyond imagination. Blockchain technology primarily changes labor relations and profit distribution models, while AI is a revolutionary technology that directly enhances users' productivity.
In October, Coinbase Ventures also announced that its investment strategy has shifted from single cryptocurrency investments to a deep layout of 'Crypto+AI' projects. Its head Hoolie Tejwani pointed out that there is a natural complementarity between cryptocurrency technology and AI, which are closely intertwined like the double helix of DNA, jointly laying a solid foundation for future digital life. In fact, as early as August, Coinbase Ventures had already participated in investments for AI Agent payment projects Skyfire and Payman.
The collective optimism of this series of crypto venture capital institutions towards the crypto AI field undoubtedly sends a strong signal: in the future market cycle, venture capital institutions will engage in large-scale and far-reaching layouts and bets in the crypto AI field.
According to the Q3 2024 crypto investment report released by Messari, crypto venture capital institutions injected over $213 million into AI projects in that quarter, representing a quarter-on-quarter growth of 250% and a year-on-year increase of 340%.
Additionally, in the freshly released Messari (2025 crypto outlook report) on December 24, there is a clear trend: investor interest in the intersection of crypto and AI is growing stronger, with crypto AI becoming the most dazzling emerging investment theme for 2024. This field not only achieved approximately 100% year-on-year growth in total financing but also saw a dramatic increase of 138% in financing rounds. Notably, well-known Web3 accelerator projects such as a16z CSX and Beacon have included many projects from the crypto AI field in their selected lists. This data indicates that more and more venture capital investment companies are flocking into this emerging field, and the influx of capital will undoubtedly further accelerate the rise of the crypto AI track.
The AI investment strategies of crypto institutions: favoring decentralized AI infrastructure and application products.
According to the investment data of crypto venture capital institutions on the Rootdata platform for 2024, a16z, Delphi Venture, Coinbase Ventures, Pantera Capital, Binance Labs, Hack VC, Polychain, and others have participated in multiple crypto AI project financings in 2024. Notably, Coinbase Ventures, Delphi Venture, Binance Labs, and Hack VC have been particularly active, demonstrating a strong confidence in this field through multiple investments.
Coinbase Venture has increased its investment efforts in crypto AI projects since August, investing in two AI Agent payment infrastructure projects, Payman and Skyfire; while Binance Labs and a16z Crypto have participated in multiple early projects through direct investments and incubator programs.
Binance Labs, as the venture capital and incubation department of Binance, has its invested projects often regarded by the crypto community as a wealth code for early coin listings, wielding significant influence. According to the crypto AI investment projects disclosed in 2024, their strategy involves first selecting projects for the MVB incubator and then further participating in investments, such as the invested NFPrompt (NFP) and MyShell, which are projects emerging from the MVB incubator, mostly focused on AI applications.
a16z Crypto's parent fund a16z has a deep investment history in the AI field, having participated in over $100 million in financing for several AI star companies, including Open AI, AI chatbot Character.AI, and AI pharmaceutical company Genesis Therapeutics.
However, according to Rootdata's data, from the direct investment data of a16z crypto in 2024, there are not many crypto AI projects directly invested by a16z, with only the AI Agent development network Axal and the AI virtual human creation platform Balance.fun disclosed. Axal is still part of a16z CSX investment. It focuses more on participating as an a16z CSX incubator, among the 21 projects selected for the a16z Crypto Fall Accelerator (a16z CSX) announced in September, 5 were related to crypto AI, including Skyfire, the decentralized AI network OpenGradient, the GPU project Kuzco, the enterprise-designed blockchain AI solution Banyan, and PIN AI.
In a recent 2025 trend outlook released, a16z emphasized that the intersection of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence will be a focus in the coming year, particularly optimistic about the development of crypto AI Agents, believing that AI Agents can own and manage their own wallets, operate on-chain transactions like node validation, and are true autonomous AI chatbots rather than human-controlled, capable of achieving functions like autonomous validation.
ChainCatcher's analysis of project data involving participating investment institutions found that many projects invested in 2024 were related to AI technology infrastructure and application products, with institutions like Polychain, Pantera Capital, etc., inclined to invest in AI infrastructure such as decentralized AI networks, GPU tokenization, and AI data, while Hack VC and Binance Labs preferred AI application products.
The investment list of crypto AI projects laid out by Coinbase, a16z, and other venture capital institutions in 2024
Coinbase Venture's 2024 crypto AI project investment list
1. AI Agent payment tool Payman
Payman is an AI Agent payment proxy solution designed specifically for AI models and developers, created in May of this year, aimed at building a payment infrastructure for collaboration between AI and humans. Developers can integrate Payman's payment API to enable their AI Agents to automatically handle payment transactions between AI and humans, whether AI developers looking to pay for human assistance or humans wanting to be compensated for collaborating with AI, can automate the payment process between both parties through the integration of Payman API.
The core advantage of Payman is to provide AI developers with a complete set of robust AI Agent payment proxy systems that can autonomously and intelligently handle all payment processes, greatly simplifying operational complexity. Payman not only supports fiat currency payments but also allows for the use of cryptocurrency as a payment method, such as USDC.
On August 8 this year, Payman announced the completion of $3 million in pre-seed round financing, with investors including well-known venture capital firms such as Visa, Coinbase Ventures, and The Spartan Group. Additionally, the project was selected for Binance Labs' MVB accelerator program as early as July.
Coinbase Ventures' support for Payman is reflected not only in financial support but also in its strong public endorsement of the project multiple times. At the Devcon2024 offline event held in November this year, Payman collaborated with HYBE's virtual idol under the South Korean entertainment giant to demonstrate how to use the USDC stablecoin for seamless payments between AI and humans.
Additionally, it is worth mentioning that the project's co-founder Tyllen Bicakcic has held key developer relations positions at Uniswap Foundation and Flow public chain.
2. AI Agent payment system Skyfire: The Visa of the AI world.
Skyfire is also an AI Agent payment solution system that received investment from Coinbase Ventures. This product was founded by former Ripple executives in June of this year. It has designed a complete transaction process for AI Agents to operate independently without any human intervention, such as purchasing and completing any goods required for specified tasks.
It is well known that AI Agents will be able to autonomously perform functions such as shopping, booking tickets, route planning, and app listings, but general AI Agents cannot autonomously complete the final payment process, such as bills, tickets, website hosting fees, etc. Skyfire was created to solve this pain point, as it builds a comprehensive cryptocurrency payment system for AI Agents, allowing them to autonomously conduct financial operations such as receiving and making payments without any human intervention. For example, when a user provides a sum of money to an AI Agent, it can use this money to meet the user's needs without human intervention, just like a real assistant using cash or credit cards to buy coffee. Therefore, Skyfire is regarded as the 'Visa' payment center of the AI field, supporting AI Agents in autonomously handling payments, receipts, and savings.
In terms of financing, Skyfire also performed excellently, receiving strong support from several well-known crypto capitals. In August of this year, it successfully completed $8.5 million in seed round financing, attracting investments from well-known institutions like Circle, Ripple, and Gemini. In September, Skyfire was also selected for the a16z Fall CSX Accelerator. In October, Coinbase Ventures and a16z Crypto CSX announced a new strategic investment of $1 million in Skyfire.
As of December 21, Skyfire's publicly accumulated financing has reached $9.5 million.
3. Decentralized AI data network Vana
Vana is a decentralized data network aimed at creating a platform that allows users to tokenize and trade their personal data and AI models. The project originated from a research project at MIT in 2018, dedicated to building a data pool network owned by users, enabling them to truly own and control their data, autonomously build AI models, freely determine how their data is used, and receive economic returns for contributing data.
Vana provides users with a decentralized data market, allowing users to autonomously control their social data through smart contracts. Whenever the data is used, users automatically receive rewards, such as providing high-quality data generated on platforms like Google, Reddit, etc., to AI developers for model training and earning revenue from it. This not only effectively addresses the scarcity of training data for AI models but also opens a new avenue for users to earn income through their own data.
On September 18, Vana announced the completion of $5 million in strategic financing, led by Coinbase Ventures. In April of this year, Vana revealed that it had previously received $18 million in Series A financing led by Paradigm in October 2022, which had never been publicly disclosed before, and stated that its total financing has reached $20 million.
As of December 21, Vana has accumulated a financing amount of $25 million.
On December 13, Vana (VANA) was launched on Binance Launchpool.
4. Decentralized AI network OpenGradient
OpenGradient is dedicated to creating a decentralized AI network that supports developers in creating, distributing, and deploying AI models and applications in an open and permissionless manner. OpenGradient not only provides developers with AI development tools but also allows for the secure and seamless integration of AI workflows into web3 applications, enabling decentralized and universal access to AI models.
Currently, OpenGradient is building an EVM-compatible blockchain network that allows developers to deploy AI models using Solidity smart contracts. It is regarded as the 'HuggingFace' of the Web3 space. AI developers' GitHub, Hugging Face is an open-source model library supporting users to share various machine learning models, often referred to as the 'GitHub of the AI world.'
In September this year, OpenGradient was one of the 21 selected companies in the a16z Crypto Fall Accelerator (CSX).
On October 10, OpenGradient announced the completion of an $8.5 million seed round financing, with participation from investment institutions such as a16z CSX, Foresight Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Symbolic Capital, and others.
5. Decentralized AI model production factory Pond
Pond is building a decentralized AI model network that allows any user to easily create their own AI models and tokenize them for profit, regarded as a 'decentralized AI model production factory.'
In the Web2 world, there is a data modeling and analysis competition platform called Kaggle, supporting developers to compete in building the best AI models. However, creators do not have ultimate ownership. Pond aims to solve this problem by not only providing developers with a series of infrastructures necessary for creating AI models but also allowing creators to own, control, and tokenize their AI models, regarded as an 'improved version of Kaggle in the Web3 space.'
Unlike most projects based on LLM models, Pond is based on a large GNN graph neural network to perform real-time statistics and predictions on on-chain data. Compared to LLMs, it is better at processing and generating information. Based on GNN, Pond excels at mining relationships between data and extracting valuable information, utilizing the on-chain data native to the crypto industry and learning and predicting on-chain behaviors through technologies such as graph neural networks. Many new business logics have emerged from behavior predictions, such as token price predictions, AI-enhanced MEV, and DeFi strategies.
On November 7, Pond announced the completion of $7.5 million in seed round financing, with investment institutions including Archetype, Delphi Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, etc.
The investment list of 2024 crypto AI projects by a16z Crypto and a16z CSX Accelerator:
1. AI Agent development network Axal
Axal is dedicated to building a verifiable AI Agent development network for any task, providing users with a complete set of AI Agent creation tools, allowing users to create their own AI Agent intelligent systems by stating their intentions.
In October, Axal announced the completion of $2.5 million in pre-seed financing, led by CMT Digital, with other participants including a16z Crypto Startup School, Escape Velocity, IDG Vietnam, and Artichoke Capital.
Meanwhile, Axal launched its flagship product Axal Autopilot, an AI Agent-driven trading automation platform that offers users personalized trading strategies, including price tracking, on-chain trade execution, and yield management features.
2. AI virtual human creation platform Balance.fun (EPAL)
Balance was originally launched in February of this year by the E-PAL gaming companion platform as a Web3 experience infrastructure, aiming to provide a smooth transition to Web3 for Web2 users. The Balance platform incorporates an AI-driven system as a core element, supporting users to create personalized AI virtual companions that can engage in gaming, learning, entertainment, and even productivity tasks, adapting to personal preferences, behaviors, and needs.
In September this year, E-PAL disclosed that it successfully completed two rounds of financing led by a16z and Galaxy Interactive, with a cumulative financing total of $30 million. In November, Balance.fun announced that it had raised over $10 million in sales from institutions through early node sales, with participating institutions including Animoca Brands, Amber Group, GSR Markets, etc.
Currently, Balance.fun is selling nodes, with each node priced at $599. According to the roadmap, the ETP token is expected to be issued in January 2025.
3. Decentralized personal AI network infrastructure PIN.AI
PIN AI aims to create an open AI network that can access vast amounts of contextual data without restrictions, enabling AI builders to create various useful personal AI applications. It is well known that the reasoning of AI models is limited by the input data, but currently, due to privacy reasons, much data remains on users' mobile phones, computers, and other private devices. PIN AI hopes to tap into this personal data and support users in creating personal AI applications based on their needs, enabling AI developers to provide very everyday and practical AI services such as shopping, organizing trips, and planning finances.
The main goal of the PIN protocol is to achieve an open ecosystem for personal AI applications. Through three foundational layers: personal data (focusing on privacy and data ownership), personal AI (a useful and trustworthy companion AI on private devices), and external AI (an open market for AI services).
Enables AI applications to easily access user context data and match user intent with specialized external AI while always protecting user privacy.
On September 10, PIN AI announced the completion of $10 million in pre-seed round financing, with participation from a16z CSX, Hack VC, Blockchain Builders Fund (Stanford Blockchain Accelerator), and others.
Binance Labs' 2024 crypto AI project investment list:
1. AI content creation platform NFPrompt (NFP)
NFPrompt (NFP) is an AI-driven NFT content generation platform that provides creators with AI content creation work such as images, videos, PFPs, music, etc., allowing users to easily create stunning works through prompts and generate NFTs to obtain ownership verification. It was selected for Binance Labs' sixth incubation program in September 2023, and the NFP token was launched on Binance in December last year, with an investment announcement from Binance Labs in March this year.
2. Decentralized AI data network Privasea
Privasea, originally named Nulink, mainly focuses on privacy data computation. In May 2022, it was selected for Binance Labs' fourth quarter incubation program. It now provides solutions to privacy issues in AI computing data, supporting data privacy and security during AI model computation. Additionally, its launched verification program ImHuman functions similarly to WorldCoin, allowing the collected human biometric characteristics to be converted into training data for AI models in a data privacy-secure manner.
In March this year, Privasea announced the completion of $5 million in seed round financing, with participation from Binance Labs, etc.;
3. AI knowledge sharing and search platform QnA3.AI (GPT)
QnA3.AI (GPT), abbreviated as QnA3, is an AI-driven Web3 knowledge sharing and search platform aimed at providing users with accurate knowledge in the cryptocurrency field. It not only provides access to information and information acquisition but also offers complex logical analysis functions for users to make trading decisions, etc. Additionally, it was one of the projects selected in Binance Labs' sixth incubation program in September 2023, with the QnA3.AI token GPT launched on OKX in February and an investment announcement from Binance Labs in March.
4. AI robot platform MyShell
MyShell is building an AI consumer application layer that connects users, creators, and open-source AI researchers, providing a complete set of AI Agent robot creation tools, enabling users to easily discover or create various applications or robots based on AI Agent technology, such as voice chatbots, language learning assistants, image generation tools, etc. It is also one of the selected projects in the 2023 Binance Labs Season 6 incubation program, completing a $5.6 million seed round financing at a valuation of $57 million in December of the same year.
In March this year, MyShell announced the completion of $11 million in Pre-A round financing, with investment institutions including Dragonfly, Delphi Digital, Bankless Ventures, etc. In August, it announced further investment from Binance Labs.
5. Decentralized AI network Sahara AI
Sahara AI is a decentralized AI network infrastructure that aids AI assetization, aiming to help users deploy or build customized, personalized AI products, etc., and ensure that all contributors in the AI chain receive fair attribution and rewards.
In August this year, Sahara AI announced the completion of $43 million in financing, led by institutions including Binance Labs, Pantera Capital, and Polychain Capital.
In the 2025 roadmap released on December 24, Sahara AI stated that it has launched a data service platform and testnet, allowing users to earn rewards through data collection and labeling, with the Sahara Chain mainnet set to launch in Q3 2025.
Pantera Capital's 2024 crypto AI project investment list:
1. Decentralized AGI system Sentient
Sentient is committed to building a decentralized artificial general intelligence (AGI) platform through community contributions, aiming to compete with traditional closed-source AI development models like OpenAI. It supports AI model creators to tokenize their work and incentivizes users to contribute and expand AI models using Web3 technology, collaboratively building open-source AI models contributed by the community.
In July this year, Sentient announced the completion of $85 million in seed round financing, with investment institutions including Pantera Capital, Framework Ventures, Delphi Ventures, and Hack VC.
Delphi Digital's 2024 crypto AI project investment list:
1. Decentralized AI operating system 0G Labs
OG Labs (full name Zero Gravity Labs) initially debuted with a modular AI blockchain narrative, claiming it has a scalable DA layer to support AI DApps. In March this year, OG announced the completion of $35 million in Pre-Seed financing, with investment institutions including Hack VC, Animoca Brands, Delphi Digital, etc.
However, in November, OG Labs announced the acquisition of $290 million in new funding, which includes $40 million in seed round financing and a $250 million token purchase commitment. OG Labs co-founder Michael Heinrich stated that the OG token will be able to extract funds from the token commitment once it goes live and circulates on cryptocurrency exchanges next year.
Meanwhile, OG Labs has shifted from a modular AI blockchain narrative to building what is referred to as a decentralized AI operating system (dAIOS), aimed at developing on-chain AI applications. The previously mentioned modular AI is just one part of it.
According to co-founders' public statements, the mainnet release of the OG protocol is expected in the first or second quarter of next year.
2. AI data collection platform Grass (GRASS)
Grass is a decentralized network resource sharing and redistribution platform (DePIN) developed by Wynd Network that allows people to sell idle internet bandwidth and network data.
Users can automatically share idle bandwidth and personal data by downloading the Grass Chrome browser extension and earn additional rewards, similar to a new concept of earning tokens by utilizing traffic and data. Additionally, Grass will transform the collected personal data into AI datasets for developers to use for AI training. Hence, Grass is also regarded as a data provision layer for decentralized AI.
In September this year, Grass announced the completion of Series A financing, reportedly reaching a valuation of nearly $1 billion, with investment institutions including Hack VC, Polychain Capital, Delphi Digital, etc., though specific financing amounts were not disclosed. On October 16, the Grass token GRASS was officially launched.
On November 25, Mechanism Capital partner Andrew Kang stated that the development of AI has made data one of the most valuable commodities in the world. Grass creates a data pipeline that most AI companies cannot touch through a cryptocurrency incentive mechanism, with the current growth rate expected to achieve nine-digit high-level revenue next year, even surpassing billions.
3. Decentralized AI network Allora
Allora, formerly known as Upshot, was initially an NFT stock price protocol, renamed to Allora in February this year, shifting from an NFT evaluation platform to a decentralized AI network.
On the Allora platform, users can evaluate the performance of an AI model under current conditions using multiple AI Agents through predictive tasks and allocate rewards based on the quality of predictions and evaluations from the agents. This incentive mechanism allows models on Allora to continuously learn and improve, adjusting as the market evolves.
In June, Allora announced the completion of $3 million in strategic financing for the decentralized artificial intelligence network Allora Labs, with investment institutions including Archetype, Delphi Ventures, CMS Holdings, and others. So far, the total financing for the Allora project has reached $35 million.
4. Decentralized GPU project io.net (IO)
io.net is a decentralized AI computing DePIN protocol aimed at addressing the insufficient computing demands in the field of AI and machine learning by utilizing distributed GPU and CPU resources. It has established a bilateral market around chips, with the supply side being globally distributed GPU and CPU computing power, and the demand side being AI engineers looking to complete AI model training or inference tasks. Its mission is to integrate millions of GPUs into its DePIN network.
In March this year, io.net announced the completion of a $30 million Series A financing, with investment institutions including Hack VC, Multicoin Capital, Delphi Digital, Solana Labs, among others. To date, the project has raised a total of $40 million, with a valuation of $1 billion.
In June, the IO token of io.net was issued on Binance Launchpool; in October, the IO token was launched on Coinbase.
Hack VC's 2024 annual crypto AI project investment list:
1. GPU tokenization platform Exabits
Exabits aims to unlock over $1 trillion in the AI computing market by tokenizing physical GPUs into investable liquidity financial assets. By segmenting and tokenizing GPU computing resources, investors can purchase EGPUs representing GPU capacity as assets to earn returns.
Currently, the Exabits platform has created a pathway to GPU-Fi (G-Fi), allowing GPU assets to flow between various financial platforms, improving capital efficiency across the entire AI ecosystem while democratizing AI computing, enabling anyone to participate in the AI computing economy. According to official data, Exabits has provided enterprise-level GPU resources for companies such as EMC, Viggle, Lepton, IO.NET, Aethir, Akash, MyShell, Nebula Block, Game Killer, and others.
In February this year, Exabits announced the completion of a seed round financing, with the specific amount not disclosed. On December 11, Exabits announced the completion of $15 million in seed round financing at a valuation of $150 million, led by Hack VC. This round of financing brought Exabits' total financing amount to $20 million.
2. GPU asset tokenization platform GAIB
GAIB aims to release trillions of dollars of value in the AI computing market by tokenizing GPU assets, changing traditional GPU financing methods. On December 13, it announced the completion of $5 million in seed round financing, with participating investment institutions including Hack VC, Faction, Aethir, and others.
According to official disclosures, GAIB has completed prototype development and will launch a pilot project this month, with plans to release the Alpha product and platform token within the next two months.
3. AI Agent infrastructure Theoriq
Theoriq is a modular, composable AI Agent infrastructure network launched by the Web3 machine learning platform ChainML, supporting any user to create their own AI Agent without coding by providing relevant AI Agent development infrastructure tools.
In May, ChainML, the developer of Theoriq, announced it raised $6.2 million in seed round expansion financing, with Hack VC leading this round.
Currently, Theoriq is in testnet status. According to the roadmap, it will return to the mainnet by the end of 2024.
4. AI image generation robot imgnAI
imgnAI is a consumer-facing AI image generation robot that allows users to automatically generate images through simple text commands, similar to text-to-image models like Midjourney. However, users on the imgnAI platform need to purchase the native token IMGNAI to unlock more creative tools and functions.
In January this year, imgnAI announced the completion of $1.6 million in seed round financing, led by Hack VC, while also developing the Twitter AI Agent virtual character @Naifu.
Polychain's 2024 annual crypto AI project investment list:
1. Decentralized AI cloud platform Hyperbolic
Hyperbolic is building an open AI cloud platform that plans to integrate global GPU computing resources through blockchain technology to address the industry's bottlenecks in AI model computing costs and allocation. To this end, Hyperbolic has built a specialized AI inference service platform and a GPU market, allowing developers to easily call open-source AI models through simple API calls, supporting AI model training and fine-tuning, while the GPU computing power can be traded like commodities, allowing users to rent or buy and sell GPUs.
On December 11, Hyperbolic announced the completion of $12 million in Series A financing, led by Variant and Polychain Capital. As early as July this year, Hyperbolic announced the completion of $7 million in seed round financing, also led by Polychain Capital. Thus, Hyperbolic's total financing has reached $20 million.
2. L1 network Talus Network designed specifically for AI Agents
Talus Network is an L1 network infrastructure designed specifically for AI Agents, supporting any user to create their own dedicated AI Agent. It is noteworthy that this L1 network is designed based on the Move language and has not yet launched its mainnet; applications for joining the testnet can be made.
On November 26, Talus Network announced the completion of $150 million financing at $6 million, led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Foresight Ventures, Animoca, etc. As of December 24, Talus Network's publicly disclosed total financing has reached $9 million.
3. Decentralized AI data network OpenLedger
OpenLedger is a data blockchain for AI that provides the infrastructure for creating specialized language models for specific domains, supporting developers in creating various AI Agents, chatbots, intelligent driving applications, and more, collecting and managing specific data through its data network, and utilizing blockchain technology to attribute reward model data to contributors and creators.
On July 2, OpenLedger announced the completion of an $8 million seed round financing, led by Polychain Capital and others.
4. Decentralized AI network Ritual
Ritual is a decentralized AI network infrastructure aimed at creating a system that allows for the open and permissionless creation, training, improvement, and trading of AI models. Its provided SDK supports developers in seamlessly integrating AI models into any on-chain applications or protocols, and within the network, users can also fine-tune, tokenize transactions, and perform inference training on AI models using cryptocurrency schemes.
On April 8, Ritual announced that it had obtained several million dollars in A1 round financing from Polychain Capital, with specific investment amounts not disclosed. As early as November 2023, it had completed $25 million in financing, with Archetype and others investing.
The Ritual Chain testnet was launched on November 19, providing developers with a platform for building AI-native applications.
