- NEAR led Grayscale’s AI crypto sector in September with a 183% monthly gain, ahead of Venice, World, and Bittensor.
- Grayscale’s AI crypto sector rose 54% in September, outperforming the broader crypto market’s 24% return.
- The AI-focused crypto sector remained the smallest of Grayscale’s six sectors, with a market value near $15 billion.
Grayscale’s Artificial Intelligence Crypto Sector gained 54% in September, outperforming the broader crypto market’s 24% return. NEAR led the sector with a 183% monthly increase, followed by Venice (VVV), World (WLD), and Bittensor (TAO). Grayscale Head of Research Zach Pandl attributed the sector’s performance to growing interest in blockchain infrastructure for artificial intelligence.
NEAR Leads September’s AI Token Gains
Grayscale reported that NEAR rose 183% in September, while Venice gained 70%. World’s WLD token increased 47%, and Bittensor’s TAO advanced 37% during the same period. According to Pandl, NEAR is developing a platform for agentic commerce.
The project was co-founded by a researcher involved in the development of the transformer architecture. Meanwhile, Bittensor operates an open ecosystem of specialized AI networks. Its applications span inference, AI agents, data, and computing resources.
World, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, provides a proof-of-human network. Venice, meanwhile, offers a privacy-focused consumer AI chatbot that provides access to AI models without storing users’ prompts or responses.
Blockchain’s Potential Role in AI Infrastructure
Pandl said artificial intelligence development remains concentrated among a handful of companies, despite its potential significance as a technology. He noted that public blockchains could complement centralized AI systems through open infrastructure.
These potential applications include agent payments, digital identity, private computing, and verifiable records. The sector’s performance in September came as investors showed growing interest in these blockchain-based applications.
AI Crypto Sector Remains Small
Despite its monthly gains, Grayscale’s AI crypto sector remains the smallest of the six Crypto Sectors. Pandl estimated its market value at approximately $15 billion, even after September’s rally.
Grayscale’s research suggests the sector could produce one or more major winners over the next five years. However, Pandl’s report identifies this as the firm’s outlook rather than an established outcome.
The September performance placed the AI-focused sector ahead of the broader crypto market by 30 percentage points. NEAR, Venice, World, and Bittensor recorded the largest gains among the tokens highlighted in Grayscale’s report.
