Grayscale Sees Potential AI Crypto Winners in a $15B Sector

Key Takeaways

• Grayscale sees potential major AI crypto winners within five years.
• AI tokens gained 54% in September, versus 24% for the broader market.
• NEAR led the highlighted projects with a 183% monthly increase.

A $15B Segment Outpaces the Broader Crypto Market

Investors are showing greater interest in blockchain services supporting artificial intelligence, according to an Oct. 2 analysis by Zach Pandl, head of research at digital asset manager Grayscale. He linked September’s outperformance to the emerging economy of software agents, programs that perform tasks and transact on users’ behalf.

The firm’s thesis centers on blockchain infrastructure for AI within a segment worth roughly $15 billion, the smallest of its six crypto sectors. Its monthly gain exceeded the broader market’s increase by 30 percentage points. Pandl wrote:

“We believe the AI sector could produce one or more major winners over the next five years.”

The argument centers on public blockchains complementing AI development that remains concentrated among a handful of companies. Potential applications include agent payments, identity, verifiable records, and private computing, which protects sensitive information during processing. The analysis interprets the rally as growing recognition of those uses.