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Thereโs a fair chance that more AI applications will use blockchains to manage and store data in the future. And, yeah, blockchains might be slower than centralized data servers right now, but theyโre also likely better for data privacy and integrity.
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Some crypto projects stand to benefit from the integration of blockchain and AI. Solana and NEAR Protocol could better suit AI applications than other core blockchains.
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Render, Arweave, and Chainlink all enhance blockchain data in unique ways and could be seen as solid crypto-AI plays.
๐๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ขโ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ โ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ (๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ง ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ). ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ตโ๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ณ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฐ. ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐บ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด.
๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐, ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฏ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐?
AI, of course, allows machines to do things that typically require a human brain, like making decisions, recognizing patterns, and learning from experience. But AI needs tons of data to thrive, and blockchains can be (among other things) a way of storing and managing that data, working across a decentralized network of computers without a central entity that keeps everything in check.
Thatโs one of its distinctive features actually. Look, most AI today runs on central servers like Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud. These make AI data requests quick and easy to manage, and with cutting-edge security to boot. Blockchains, meanwhile, are still a bit behind on the speed and usability end of things, but they could be much better for privacy โ without a central authority holding the keys to the kingdom. Plus, blockchains donโt have a single point of potential failure like those central servers. And once data goes on the blockchain, it becomes immutable โ as in, it canโt be altered in any way.
So thatโs what makes this intriguing. The Big Ideas 2024 report from Cathie Woodโs Ark Invest says convergence among disruptive technologies will define this decade โ and that the convergence of blockchain and AI will be a part of that story. When I asked ChatGPT for its assessment, it said thereโs a โhigh probabilityโ that AI will run on a combination of central servers and decentralized blockchains in the future.
๐ฆ๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒโ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ?
If you agree with me and see a future between blockchain and AI, then youโll want to invest in the crypto projects that are positioning themselves as AI leaders. And rather than trying to pick a single winner, youโll want to spread your bets across a few. Here are the five that Iโd consider.
1. ๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ (๐๐๐)
According to a recent survey from CoinGecko, Solana is now the worldโs fastest blockchain in terms of transactions per second (TPS). That speed could come in handy if itโs going to support AI data requests and applications. Whatโs more, Solana could get even faster after its Firedancer upgrade, which is expected to go through later this year.
The fastest blockchains by transactions per second (TPS). Source: CoinGecko.
2. ๐๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฉ๐ค๐๐ค๐ก (๐๐๐ผ๐)
NEAR Protocol isnโt as fast as Solana, but it makes life easy for developers who are looking to build AI projects on its blockchain. The project actually started as an AI business in 2017 โ and now processes over five million blockchain transactions per day. It uses โNightshadeโ technology to split its blockchain into smaller parts. So, in theory, it can scale to handle a lot of data without a problem. Keep in mind, however, that NEARโs market value is only about a tenth of Solanaโs, so the token could be more volatile (both to the upside and the downside).
The number of transactions processed per day on NEAR Protocol, using a rolling seven-day average. Source: The Block (using data from NearBlocks).
3. ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ง (๐๐๐ฟ๐)
Nvidiaโs stock has exploded because of AI-led demand for its graphics processing unit (GPU) chips. GPUs are like car batteries for handling AI computations and data: the more powerful the battery, the better the car performs. Render is essentially a decentralized network of GPUs all working together to lighten the load. If youโre looking for more GPU power, you hand over some RNDR tokens. And if youโre looking to lease out your GPU power, you earn RNDR.
This image shows the difference between a centralized rendering network, at left, and a decentralized one, at right. Drawn with Visio.
4. ๐ผ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐ (๐ผ๐)
Arweave is a blockchain-based data storage solution that could work well with AI. The gist is that Arweave keeps data secured forever through its โpermawebโ network. AI applications can easily retrieve that data, but it canโt be changed or tampered with. Thatโs useful for AI models that rely on historical data for training. And AR tokens are the currency you pay to store data on Arweave.
5. ๐พ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ (๐๐๐๐)
Last, but not least, thereโs Chainlink, which brings accurate and reliable data to blockchain. It uses a network of โoraclesโ (pieces of software that link blockchains to the internet) to find the best available data out there. Since AI needs quality data, and Chainlink is the market leader in the oracle niche, itโs a natural fit for this list.
