The latest data from CoinMarketCap reveals that the market capitalization of AI and big data tokens has surged by 47% over the past four weeks to $34.3 billion. Bittensor (TAO-USD) and Optimus AI (OPTI-USD) took the lead, reflecting renewed investor confidence in the sector. As AI-focused companies like OpenAI and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) gain market dominance, this casts the spotlight on virtually anything AI-related, giving crypto startups fertile ground to capitalize on the trend.
Artificial intelligence-based tokens demonstrated strong performance in the first week of October, with OPTI, surging by 155% in 24 hours. Other leaders — Zero1Labs (DEAI-USD), TAO, and DIA (DIA-USD) have gained 241%, 168% and 151% over the last 30 days, surpassing the top 20 cryptocurrencies in terms of growth.
The latest charts leader — TAO — secured a 1,106% annual growth, signalizing the strong bullish year for the AI market. Other cryptocurrencies in the AI sector have also shown growth over the past month, including Synesis One (SNS-USD), Turbo (TURBO-USD), and Near Protocol (NEAR-USD), which have increased by 203%, 69%, and 20% respectively.
Although some established leaders like Aleph (ALEPH-USD) are experiencing a downturn following the broader crypto market sentiment, the rebalancing of charts and the performance of new tokens not only help maintain the total market cap but also hint at potential bullish sentiment for Q4.
What’s Behind the AI Token Momentum?
Among the reasons that have given investors confidence to take an interest in AI tokens and crypto as a whole again is the optimistic U.S. labor market report, which showed better-than-expected figures. In total, 15 countries account for 74.4% of AI token market volume by interest, with the U.S. leading with 19%.
The surge of investor interest towards tokens like TAO can also be attributed to the general increase in AI adoption and attention to related companies over the last year. The presence of the “AI” prefix has helped smaller projects pull their prices, even those with remote relevance to AI.
The growing success of the AI market can be best described by the performance of giants such as Nvidia (NVDA), which has showcased 167% growth in year-to-date terms. Trailing close behind is Meta (NASDAQ:META) Platform (META) at 69%. The growing interest of investors towards AI and crypto has driven Grayscale to swell its shares of TAO in the crypto-focused section of the fund to 27%, up from just 3% in July.
AI Token Indices Indicate Early Bullish Sentiment
The GMAI Index, which gives a measure of the top AI tokens on the market, showed stellar performance over the last week. It yielded an increase of over 30% for AI-related projects, leaving ETH behind with 11.5% and BTC at just 7.5% for a sense of perspective. At present, the GMAI index shows TAO, FET, and RENDER to be the top performers in the AI token arena.
Data from specialized index service CryptoIndex reveals that a compilation of the top AI token market players like FET, NMR, OCEAN, and others, could have generated a profit of 26.58% over the course of last month. The benefit of having a custom index becomes obvious when compared to the yield of NMR alone, which stands at 11%.
According to CryptoIndex, the indices allow tracking of the entire AI market sentiment and quickly detect any reversal trends. They display a more complete picture of market dynamics than individual digital assets' performance. For example, only a few AI tokens reacted to the recent statements made by U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris regarding her support for AI developments. Meanwhile, the overall AI index could have provided a prompt bullish signal, even if 2 out of 10 tokens reacted positively. As such, an index allows market players to predict the behavior of the remaining assets with a higher degree of probability.
According to ASC AI data, the AI index comprised of 20 AI tokens returned 211% in the past year, outshining both the leading crypto and equity indices.
AI Revival in 2024 Boosts Investor Interest in Infrastructure Tokens
AI continues to make a comeback in 2024, despite the altcoin and token dips that have been seen along the way. Real-world use of generative AI and LLM is putting more emphasis on the available physical infrastructure and shared GPU that some of the projects provide, increasing investor interest in the underlying tokens.