AI cryptocurrencies are a relatively new frontier in the crypto space, combining decentralised finance with machine learning technology.
Here’s a look at the biggest AI cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation.
What is a cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are digital currencies that can be traded or used to make purchases.
Cryptocurrencies aren’t issued by central banks or kept in traditional financial institutions because they’re decentralised.
This means records of users’ balances and transactions aren’t held and maintained by a central authority, but by regular people using specialist software.
Volunteering to do this earns people the opportunity to earn valuable cryptocurrency without having to pay for it.
Speculation on cryptocurrencies has led to a boom in the number and value of assets over the last few years – peaking in November 2021 before crashing in the spring of 2022.
What is AI?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a field of computer science in which machines make decisions autonomously, based on data.
Increasingly, AI technology is mimicking human intelligence, with programmes able to create digital art or write essays based on written prompts.
What is an AI cryptocurrency?
An AI cryptocurrency is a crypto token native to an AI blockchain platform such as The Graph. Users spend these tokens in order to consume their services.
Here’s a list of the top five AI cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation.
1. The Graph (GRT)
Market cap: £1.1 billion
The Graph is to blockchains what Google is to websites. The project indexes data from blockchains and makes it searchable. Users spend its native currency GRT to perform searches, and earn GRT from helping out with the indexing process.
The Ethereum-based GRT token was worth £0.13 at the time of writing, down from its February 2021 peak of £2.09.
2. SingularityNET (AGIX)
Market cap: £412 million
SingularityNET is a blockchain platform for building, sharing and monetising AI services. It has a marketplace where users can browse and buy AI services sold in SingularityNET’s native cryptocurrency – AGIX.
Developers can earn money selling AI solutions and models without having to build fully fledged apps. Conversely, they can buy AI solutions and models to use in own applications.
AGIX is currently worth £0.34. Back in January 2018, AGIX peaked at £1.34.
3. Fetch.ai (FET)
Market cap: £281 million
Fetch.ai is an AI and machine learning platform based on the blockchain.Designed to automate business tasks like data processing and trading, users spend its native cryptocurrency, FET, on its services.
At the time of writing, FET was valued at £0.34, down from its September 2021 peak of £0.87.
4. Ocean Protocol (Ocean)
Market cap: £237 million
Ocean Protocol is an Ethereum-blockchain-based platform for data trading and monetisation. For example, a user could make their data available to researchers without relinquishing it.
OCEAN currently trades at £0.38, down from its April 2021 peak of £1.42
5. iExec RLC (RLC)
Market cap: £133 million
iExec uses AI and blockchain technology to allow users to monetise their computing power, or leverage others’ computing power.
RLC is iExec’s native currency and pays for services on the platform. RLC is currently trading at £1.65, down from an all-time high of around £10 in October of 2021.
How do I buy AI cryptocurrencies?
Most AI cryptocurrencies are sold on crypto exchanges like Crypto.com and Coinbase.
To buy and sell AI cryptocurrencies, you’ll need to open an account on an exchange. This typically involves some identity verification and an initial deposit of fiat currency (pounds Sterling).
After that you can navigate to the page of the AI cryptocurrency you want to buy, enter the amount you’d like to spend and execute the trade.
How do I store AI cryptocurrencies?
Most crypto exchanges offer a free wallet in which to store your private and public keys. You need these keys to spend or trade your crypto assets. The keys themselves are just long alphanumeric strings that would be incredibly tough, if not impossible to guess.
Alternatively, you can store your keys in an offline, cold wallet. Cold wallets are considered more secure than hot wallets, since hackers can’t reach them as easily. However, if you lose your login details, you won’t get the support to regain access to your keys that you’d get with a hot wallet.
